500 Horsepower Nissan Skyline GT-R to Make Speed World Challenge Debut

[tyndago]

Originally Posted by Super13

where does one get those wheels / tires? (1 lug)

This car does not have center lock wheels.It has normal lug nuts.

Centerlocks are normally race only items. Lots of companies have them, its just not something you can buy though a normal wheel channel.

[HONDAPITSTOPCOM]

Congrats on the Skyline! That car makes me drool!

Just curious is the ATTESA E-TS Pro 4 wheel drive system an AWD system?
Did the Skyline come AWD factory?
If not how was the AWD system fit?

Man I wish Honda would make a car like that one!

[BigTDawg]

tiger if that info was presented sooner this thread would only be 6 pages long what fun is 6 pages

[tyndago]

Originally Posted by HONDAPITSTOPCOM

Congrats on the Skyline! That car makes me drool!

Just curious is the ATTESA E-TS Pro 4 wheel drive system an AWD system?
Did the Skyline come AWD factory?
If not how was the AWD system fit?

Man I wish Honda would make a car like that one!

ATTESA is the Nissan name for the all wheel drive system. Its unique in the way it controls torque split between the front and rear wheels.

The 1989 up Skyline GT-R came factory with all wheel drive. there are versions of the Skyline that were not all wheel drive. There are older Skyline GT-R's that are rear wheel drive.

Honda has a fairly unique new all wheel drive system..... look at the new Acura RL.

[Layla's Keeper]

Originally Posted by tyndago

Centerlocks are normally race only items. Lots of companies have them, its just not something you can buy though a normal wheel channel.

Tell me about it. I own a 1970 MGB GT with the wire wheels and I hate having to preserve the one set of inner tubes I have for the tires (MGB 14in wire wheels don't have beads to seal the tire).

ProperMG.com so far has the only reasonably priced road alternative, and at $1,300 for the set, that's still not exactly chump change.

[R.S. Vlady]

Originally Posted by Tiger Racing

So why on Gaia's Green Earth didn't anyone mention this earlier? Would I have kept repeating that Igor has zero experience if someone had? Fer pity's sake, all we know is what is posted here.
C.

Tigerr,
Yeah, the info is kind of here and there. Some of the staff about amateur racing with NASA can be found on project vehicle page for the retired 350Z.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/350z/

Additional info about his past racing is also on automotivearticles, see one in motorsports coverage on Bondurant, for example.

http://www.automotivearticles.com/bo...g_school.shtml

http://www.automotivearticles.com/ji...g_school.shtml

P.S., it's kind of ironic: Nissan retires R34 in favor of 350Z while we here retire a brand new Z for a GTR.

[tyndago]

Originally Posted by Layla's Keeper

Tell me about it. I own a 1970 MGB GT with the wire wheels and I hate having to preserve the one set of inner tubes I have for the tires (MGB 14in wire wheels don't have beads to seal the tire).

Are those actual center lock hubs or are they adaptors with center locks. I dont know much about MG's.

Wire wheel companies make center lock adaptors. They use a bolt on hub and then the wheel is held on with a single lug.

We also have a set of Interspeed centerlock wheels for a GT-R that use a bolt on hub. Not the most desireable way to do centerlocks.

[HONDAPITSTOPCOM]

Originally Posted by tyndago

ATTESA is the Nissan name for the all wheel drive system. Its unique in the way it controls torque split between the front and rear wheels.

The 1989 up Skyline GT-R came factory with all wheel drive. there are versions of the Skyline that were not all wheel drive. There are older Skyline GT-R's that are rear wheel drive.

Honda has a fairly unique new all wheel drive system..... look at the new Acura RL.

Thank you for that info. I'm not up on Skyline history since in the US it's harder than heck and an arm and a leg to buy one.

I did check out the new 2005 Acura RL. Man that's a sweet car but it's more of an executives sports sedan at $50K USD and more luxurious than I need ;o) Now if Honda would make a two door version of the 2005 RL and throw some twin turbos on it and strip all the NAV out and luxury items it might have a contender on it's hands for autocross. Of course they have the NSX but too much money for me. I'm thinking more of a something Honda should put out to compete with the WRX Sti's in either a 2 and or 4 door sports awd sedan at a price point of $30 to $40K USD.

[Layla's Keeper]

Tyndago, they're honest to god centre-lock wheels. While there are bolt on kits to convert four lug MG's to wire wheel, the actual wire wheel cars use an entirely different hub assembly.



This is the parts schematic for an MGB front suspension from Moss Motors' site. Part #68 is the splined hub for a wire wheel/centre lock car. Part #64 is a regular four lug hub.

[tyndago]

Originally Posted by HONDAPITSTOPCOM

Thank you for that info. I'm not up on Skyline history since in the US it's harder than heck and an arm and a leg to buy one.

I've been selling them in the US since 1999. Not that many are in the US. Even the least expensive ones weren't that inexpensive. Getting them legal for the US wasn't that easy though...

Originally Posted by HONDAPITSTOPCOM

I did check out the new 2005 Acura RL. Man that's a sweet car but it's more of an executives sports sedan at $50K USD and more luxurious than I need ;o) Now if Honda would make a two door version of the 2005 RL and throw some twin turbos on it and strip a 2 and or 4 door sports awd sedan at a price point of $30 to $40K USD.

The R34 was about $45k US when sold new in Japan. So to some people maybe an equivalent. The GTR is not an STI or Evo. Different kind of, different class of car.

Back to Honda, recently - not too sure the direction they are going. Toyota seems to be holding all the right cards there. Honda was doing well with the youth market, but maybe only by default.

The problem would be how many cars would they sell at $30-$40k. Mitsubishi is only selling about 5000 Evos a year. Subaru sells a lot of WRX's but the pricepoint is lower. I dont know STI sales numbers.

It always has to make sense to make dollars , and make dollars to make sense.

[HONDAPITSTOPCOM]

Originally Posted by tyndago

I've been selling them in the US since 1999. Not that many are in the US. Even the least expensive ones weren't that inexpensive. Getting them legal for the US wasn't that easy though...

The R34 was about $45k US when sold new in Japan. So to some people maybe an equivalent. The GTR is not an STI or Evo. Different kind of, different class of car.

Back to Honda, recently - not too sure the direction they are going. Toyota seems to be holding all the right cards there. Honda was doing well with the youth market, but maybe only by default.

The problem would be how many cars would they sell at $30-$40k. Mitsubishi is only selling about 5000 Evos a year. Subaru sells a lot of WRX's but the pricepoint is lower. I dont know STI sales numbers.

It always has to make sense to make dollars , and make dollars to make sense.

I see thanks for the info.

I agree about the manufacturers wanting to make the most dollars. Still there's that "engineering" respect factor that some manufacturers like to achieve. Honda's pretty much achieved that with cars and engines that can easily last 500K miles and more with routine maintenance. However, Subaru and Mitsubishi seem to have achieved the "race engineering" niche with their AWD $30-40K USD cars. I see the 30's to 50's age bracket buying STI's more now because it's a 4 door during the week and then a viable choice for auto-x on the week-ends.

Also, I'm not sure if this is an indicator or not but the last Auto-x I went to here in Portland, OR I think there were about 11 cars competing for points in the SM class and out of that 11 cars 8 were WRX & STI's and 1 was an EVO8.

[Z432]

I am a very loyal Nissan fan and have several Nissan cars in various states of tune. I have to say that I like the project car being a Nissan. But I really have to take on several issues surrounding this GT-R.

First;
*Quote: “but injecting that much capital into the 350Z would have been simply inappropriate and irresponsible, considering an opportunity of acquiring this GT-R arose”

I can understand the thinking behind that, but it proves that this project is not being done out of love and devotion to the Z-cars. Somehow I doubt this was about money; a GT-R is not cheap either. It’s about “marketing”, and what is more drooled over and has higher visibly than a GT-R? Winning with a GT-R would really set the program apart from everyone else (let’s face it, there are many racing Z-cars). It’s one thing to build a winning car, but a whole other thing to just buy a turnkey race car from of all people a Japanese Tuning operation. I would just have more respect for the 350Z, but I am not going to worry, there are plenty of privateers running the 350Z, so no problem there.

*Quote: “The uniqueness of the present situation cannot be overstated - this is the opportunity for the GT-R to shine in a series where not a single Japanese vehicle has recently succeeded and the manufacturers (namely Cadillac, Audi, and Volvo) dump countless millions of dollars into the development of their race program.”

It’s easy to “make history” with enough money and an awesome car (that I suspect that there are not many classes, especially in the stogy SCCA, for a JDM car to enter into). Somehow I don’t really think this is a matter of the under-funded underdog with a car he built in a garage in his spare time and bumping off a works team.
And I know what you are going to say; “Well, it takes money to go racing, you know that”. Yes, I do know that; “the best way to make a fortune in racing, is to start with a large one”, but there is still a point here.

*Quote: “There is a large gap between the automotive enthusiast culture and the racing world, and one of our goals in this motorsport endeavor is to close this gap by the intoroduction of the Skyline GT-R, an icon and a legend, in racing, where it will shine more than at any car show.”

How will a car that has almost no relevance to the average enthusiast, shinning in a racing class that most people are not participating in, help close this “gap”?
The real deal is that it is a “icon and a legend” and is a high visibility car, that is perfect for sponsors like Automotive Forums. Racing at this level is either a business itself, or an extension of a business (for advertising, etc. Not that this is somehow “wrong”). I admit it, racing does sell well.

*Quote: "The entry of this extremely special car in the Speed World Challenge series will help leverage what Automotive Network accomplishes online, and help us make a non-Internet world connection,"

This would be the same thing as if Nissan itself was entering a “works team”; it sells good and services (i.e. all the other Nissan cars be association). And again, there is nothing wrong going out and playing with the big boys if you have the cash.



Again, I am not saying this is “wrong” or “bad”; I am just stating things the way I see them.

[unbeatable3kgtvr4]

Congrats AF

[4-THGENH24LUDE]

I read up until two posts into page 6, while doing this I just kept getting upset. I find it honorable and couragous that you guys are gonna try and get in there and win, I find it sad and kinda pissy that quite a few of these people here are being pestemistic [Insert most offending name here]. I think you guys should get as uch practice possible and do your damnest to keep up and beat the competition. Congratulations on the new Skyline, i'm sad to see the Z go. Best of luck to you in the '06 season!

[thecackster]

You guys should think about entering it in the Silver State Classic....It's the world's fastest road race. Web Site