Fool in the States

[Kip]

Hi all,

I just purchased a '98 Stagea Autech 260RS. Based on my research, it's #412 of 1784 across both series. It has 142k km and is mostly stock, save some GT-R R34 rims and a Tomei(?) front grill. I'm based in the States, so this car was never sold here in any form. We didn't get the GT-R here until the R35, so the drivetrain is an unicorn (ironically). I'll be picking up the car in a couple weeks and driving it cross country to its new home. For now, I'm scouring the internet and educating myself on the care and feeding of these beasts. So far, I've determined that I can't just look up parts anywhere in the US, so starting to amass a list of cross-referenced parts. Anyway, I'm excited that there's an active forum for these cars and their sisters. I plan on gleaning all sorts of information from you.

Hi. I'm Kip. I've bought a car that doesn't exist where I live. I'm a fool.

-Kip

[joshuaho96]

5 hours ago, Kip said:

Hi all,

I just purchased a '98 Stagea Autech 260RS. Based on my research, it's #412 of 1784 across both series. It has 142k km and is mostly stock, save some GT-R R34 rims and a Tomei(?) front grill. I'm based in the States, so this car was never sold here in any form. We didn't get the GT-R here until the R35, so the drivetrain is an unicorn (ironically). I'll be picking up the car in a couple weeks and driving it cross country to its new home. For now, I'm scouring the internet and educating myself on the care and feeding of these beasts. So far, I've determined that I can't just look up parts anywhere in the US, so starting to amass a list of cross-referenced parts. Anyway, I'm excited that there's an active forum for these cars and their sisters. I plan on gleaning all sorts of information from you.

Hi. I'm Kip. I've bought a car that doesn't exist where I live. I'm a fool.

-Kip

It's not that hard. Many parts are sold direct through Nissan USA dealers now, just look up the part numbers through the parts catalog. The 260RS is entirely R33 GTR as far as drivetrain goes.

[soviet_merlin]

From one fool to another, I'm sure you'll be fine. Do you have any photos of the car?

[Duncan]

Welcome Kip.

You'll be fine. I have a car (well, "truck") that not only does not exist where I live, but I had to have  converted from LHD to RHD as well.

Both drivetrain and engine are generally R33 GTR, but you can get info here on specific differences

[Kip]

On 10/26/2023 at 4:44 PM, soviet_merlin said:

From one fool to another, I'm sure you'll be fine. Do you have any photos of the car?

Here are a couple of the "glamor shots" from the dealer. It's pretty much stock (as mentioned above), but does have a set of meister coilovers and a modified exhaust. The interior is untouched which is nice. Tires are on order to add a little more sidewall and I'll adjust the coilovers to put the wheel wells just above the tire instead of down on the rim.

[Kip]

On 10/26/2023 at 3:53 PM, joshuaho96 said:

It's not that hard. Many parts are sold direct through Nissan USA dealers now, just look up the part numbers through the parts catalog. The 260RS is entirely R33 GTR as far as drivetrain goes.

I didn't know Nissan USA would help me out. Very cool. That's half the battle (the first being tracking to the right part numbers).

Yeah. Reading a lot about the R33, since mine is essentially the wagon/estate/combi/avant model of it. I'm excited to have one of the ultimate sleepers.

[soviet_merlin]

Nice one, looks very clean! I always much prefer the boxy more aggressive look of the S1 over the S2.

[Kip]

18 hours ago, soviet_merlin said:

Nice one, looks very clean! I always much prefer the boxy more aggressive look of the S1 over the S2.

Thanks. Just picked it up last week. Drove it 32 hours across the country to its new home and then some more local, holiday travel. Over 4,000 kms in all. The car can really eat up the miles.

And the petrol! It seems the car is more modified than I realized. I think it has an old school tune on it that is dumping too much fuel into the mix, based on the soot collecting on my rear bumper cover and the 13l/100km consumption I'm seeing. Regardless, it's an interesting car. I'm enjoying getting to know it. I'll get it off the ground this week and go on a fact finding mission. See if I can get a better understanding of the mods.

[soviet_merlin]

Oh wow, that's some serious distance! That's an easy half a year worth of driving for many. I'm glad to hear it made it okay.

I wonder if the soot could also be from the exhaust setup. There's a highflow catalyst on mine that does pretty much nothing and smells terrible. I have been blaming the gunk on the bumper on that. Not sure though.

[Kip]

4 hours ago, soviet_merlin said:

Oh wow, that's some serious distance! That's an easy half a year worth of driving for many. I'm glad to hear it made it okay.

I wonder if the soot could also be from the exhaust setup. There's a highflow catalyst on mine that does pretty much nothing and smells terrible. I have been blaming the gunk on the bumper on that. Not sure though.

It drove beautifully. It really likes to just cruise around 130-140 kph. The exhaust quiets down. It's off boost. It just eats up the kms. It's almost zen like. 😉

You're right. The exhaust has something to do with it. I believe it's some sort of HKS exhaust, at least from the cat back. It has an ~10cm tailpipe that has both limited clearance of the bumper cover and points upwards a little. It's a cool visual that's a total 90s throwback for me, but it's creating some of the discoloration.

[GTSBoy]

Per your other thread. If you drive that brick at 85mph you're going to use fuel. The old RB is not a modern engine.

[Watermouse]

19 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Per your other thread. If you drive that brick at 85mph you're going to use fuel. The old RB is not a modern engine.

Would a modern aftermarket ecu change that somewhat?

[GTSBoy]

2 hours ago, Watermouse said:

Would a modern aftermarket ecu change that somewhat?

If you ran a wideband and tuned for a lean cruise you could save some. But it's just not an "efficient" engine design. Manufacturers have put a metric shit tone of work into reducing fuel consumption in the 35 years since that engine was born. Port design, chamber design, high compression, valve timing control, injector placement (and quality!), low tension piston rings, thin oils, smaller bearing journals, low drag engine ancillaries, etc etc. None of these modern things have you, hmmm?

[joshuaho96]

2 hours ago, Watermouse said:

Would a modern aftermarket ecu change that somewhat?

It will help a little as others have said but don't expect miracles. And most tuners are not remotely interested in tuning fuel economy so expect to have to learn and do it yourself. 

[funkymonkey]

Welcome! You've effectively got an R33 GTR wagon, so most of those parts can come from an R33, which most Nissan spares can order for you in the US these days. Body panels will be hard, but the US has some of the best body work and trim shops if reality TV is anything to go by

Sounds like you might have a remapped ECU, pop the carpet out under the passenger side and see if there's any tuning shop labels on the ECU, that's usually the easiest way to tell, or you might have to open up the ECU to see if there's any EEPROMs changed out etc.

[I gotta R34gtr v-spec]

is that an aftermarket blow off valve thats not plumbed back into the intake and u have the stock airflow meter ?