r34 Skyline 25 Gt four GTR conversion (ENR34)

[Auto Budha in training]

I'm a life long lover of the R34 GTR and whilst they were attainable when i was a kid now that I'm an adult they are totally unobtanium thanks to the collector car market. from My research it seems the ENR34 shares the Atessa AWD system of the GTR, are the only drive train differences between an ENR34 and BNR34 the gear box and engine? because if so would it not then be possible to "build my own GTR" (speaking purely in regards to drivetrain) with an engine swap to an ENR34 and maybe platinum racing Atessa ETS pro system? does anyone know what the differences are between ENR34 and BNR34 rear diff's? because if the only difference is that one has an LSD and the other doesn't that's also a relatively easy thing to correct. From research on this forum it seems that the ENR34 uses the same gearbox as the r32-r33 gtr. I don't care about an interior conversion nor do I care about an exterior conversion, the bottom line is that I'm asking if I can build an ENR34 that drives like a BNR34 with the above drive train upgrades and aftermarket suspension. even if it costs 30 grand to upgrade the drive train of an ENR34 to be close to that of a BNR34 it would still be a fraction of the cost of buying an actual GTR Afterall, and I don't care if I'm not driving the genuine article I just want a car that drives as similarly as possible to the BNR34. 

*EDIT ( I know the obvious answer to this question is "for how much this would cost you could just buy an r32 GTR" i know that, but I dont love the r32 GTR or the R33 GTR so I would never buy one of them, I do however love the R34 enough to be willing to spend even as much as 60k on this conversion even knowing that if i chose to sell it I would be lucky to get 20 grand for it later.)

Edited June 25, 2024 by Auto Budha in training

[GTSBoy]

Yeah, you could do it.

Better off putting the money into super though.

[Kinkstaah]

Drive one. Rent one. Meet your hero, be disappointed.

This is the easiest way. Everyone mods them for a reason, and that reason is they need the mods because OEM they are pretty bland. A 2015 Honda Accord will be a better drivers car.

[niZmO_Man]

Honestly not that great, you have to mod the shit out of them.
They (R34 GT-Rs) were good value when they were selling for 45-65k AUD but now there's no point, better off spending half on a modern performance car (which will chop the GT-R in every metric except maybe internet points).

[JarrettL]

I know this is an old thread but I have a particular attachment to the ENR34, so I don't think additional content hurts.

For starters, I agree with everyone here in that the performance of a stock R34 GTR is a pretty low bar and one that you're going to spend a lot of money "matching". Now if you're willing to deviate from that template as your goal, you'll be much better off and enjoy the car much more.

The engine in the NA R34s is a real kick in the nuts in terms of upgradability compared to previous generation NA cars. The NA heads on the RB2X NEOs have MUCH smaller intake port cross sections and are not compatible with any of the aftermarket forward-facing manifolds available for the RB25DET. This can be remedied with a RB25DET NEO head, but those are expensive relative to what they are. A full long-block from a turbo AWD Stagea is generally a better value and will run you about $4000 USD to get it to you. This will get you the stronger RB26DETT rods, as well. That would give you a base to build off of to be safe in the 400whp range. Not shooting for the moon, but if the stock R34 was your bar, this engine would buy you enough to be just North of stock GTR power.

A forward facing manifold would allow for the easiest method toward using Bosch EV14 format injectors such as those from Injector Dynamics and FIC, to name a couple. People hate them because they're copies, but Greddy fakes can be had for around $300 USD. With what the fuel rail, regulator, injectors, and the rail adds, figure $2000 USD for the whole setup including the manifold.

With the OEM brackets and a bit of trimming to the ends of the lower frame rails, the OEM intercooler mounting brackets can be used to mount an OEM GTR intercooler, or an aftermarket one made for a GTR. Those are handy vs a universale due to the angles that the end tanks have on them. Then your plumbing become super straightforward at that point despite having to cut a hole where the battery is an a matching one on the other side for the pipes. Battery can go to the trunk. I'd round up to a healthy $2000 USD here too (maybe even a tiny more) to allow for a nice aftermarket unit and some pipe fabrication. Or if you can find someone that's upgrading to something larger, the used market comes in clutch here for a decent savings.

I won't even get into turbo sizing as that's something that would be for yourself to determine. HOWEVER, for the purposes of your stated goals, a Borg Warner 7064 with an internal wastegate would be a perfect spooler and would make stock GTR power easily. It would also bolt up to your OEM manifold (that would come with the DET you purchased a couple steps above) if it were ordered with a T3 flange. More with adequate fuel. If you can stick with the OEM exhaust manifold then expect to be in the whole about $6000 USD for decent turbo like the one suggested, a down pipe, new O2, and full exhaust to mate up, and upgrades to the integrated BOV in an EFR or a standalone BOV for a different turbo, as well as an aftermarket IWG (internal waste gate). Those last two are definitely optional and unnecessary.

All of this stuff above does you no good without any way of tuning and or monitoring the engine. Bite the bullet on a standalone engine management solution. If your experience with wiring is limited, you're going to have to hand it off to someone else, though. Unfortunately, the adapter/patch harnesses available are typically made around the GTT which does not include AWD, and the GTR, which integrates into a lot of chassis features that aren't present in your wiring interface. So the ENR34 is the oddball. So you'll want to expand a bit on your selection and find an ECU that's capable of running the ATTESA pump also. I have a Link Thunder, but you don't need quite that much ECU to accommodate that. You WILL need someone with the know-how to tune it and code those features into whatever software it uses. And to wire it up. This will be your most significant expense. Call it $6000 USD with an ECU, an okay wiring job (no motorsport grade at this price), aftermarket triggers and R35 coils, and the time it takes to tune the ECU with added features (electronic boost control solenoid, MAP, IAT, the new triggers, and ATTESA) and don't be surprised if it's more if you want better work done.

Grab a clutch made for any RB pull transmission R32/R33GTR made for the power handling capacity you're looking for. Budget $1500 USD for a new good one.

That's about $20,000 USD for an engine you've upgraded yourself and had wired and tuned by someone else. That's no brakes (ENR34 brakes are pathetic), suspension (again, pathetic), or wheels and tires. So you're pretty spot on in terms of spending $30,000 USD extra on the car just to get it to perform a little better than a stock R34 GTR while looking like a bone stock ENR34 with some wheels and suspension mods. That doesn't include fluids, maintenance items, gaskets/seals, repairs needed or anything else discovered along the way. But you'll have a car you can take to the track and have fun without worrying as much about nicks and dings.