Nissans

[j0nbubz]

hes probably just comparing those 3 cars for his own interest

haha the micra is cute. My girlfriends dad has one. It is great fun to drive! I call it little turtle (cause its blue/green)

I personally would pick a 350z over the rest. I think it is a great overall package (bar the fact that its a 2 seater). I believe it might not always be top runner in performance, but that is made up elsewhere. IE) looks, age, street appeal, ITS NA!

btw: S15 should be in that list!!

[BF]

Manny says, S15 > *

While Manny is clearly wrong (and the S15 is only > than his evo), when discussing Nissan's performance cars I think it's important to include the s15.

[szymonsta]

well from what i know the s15 has very similar streight line performance to the r34 25gtt, only it is more nimble and lighter..

reviewing a couple of my old BMi dvds, the 350Z's best tsukuba circuit lap time was about the same as dc2R's and dc5R's..(in the low 1:09's i beleive?)
anyone know a stock r34 25gtt's time?

[05dc5S]

the APS twin-turbo 350Z is yummy

[matt]

i was unimpressed the first time i drove a 350z and a freind bought one new which i have driven a few times and i still hold the same opinion.
it just didn't seem to pack the punch i thought it would, it does handle well but i thought it would be quicker. i would say its more of a touring car than a track car.
havent had much to do with the R33 and R34 other than i few trips in my mates R33GTST and another friends R32GTR. the R32 was definately quick and did felt like it had buckets of grip (4WD for ya).

i did have a good drive of a s15 before i bought my dc5r and was certainly teh most fun i've had in a nissan but in the end went for the dc5r.

[AKS200]

the s15 is much better than the r34 gtt.

take both for a good drive and you will see.

[szymonsta]

interesting comments..

yeah ive driven an s15, really nice, i lique the turbo rush.

me, i'd go for an R33 GTR over the others for sure..

[speeder]

the s15 is much better than the r34 gtt.

take both for a good drive and you will see.

In standard form though IMO. I would prefer an RB25 over an SR20 in most if not in all cases.

[00dc2]

Beau's GTR:

He has a huge exhaust on it. i dunno.. maybe 6" tip. not sure how fat the pipe is before that... i'll take a look next time i see it. either way its loud as anything. but it actually sounds awesome. unlike 99% of exhausts i hear out there. this sounds like business! Its loud and harsh and essentially hardcore. I find that i cant really notice any turbo spool up noise.. just exhaust/engine noise. which i like.

The car is running on wider/larger rubber/wheels, dunno the size of the wheels and cant remember the exact rubber.. but pretty sure its 275 or 265 though.. (Stock was 225 all round)

Its also got coilovers. he doesnt know what sort and how stiff they are but they are significantly stiffer than stock DC2R susy, but not as stiff as your zeal coilovers. closer to yours than mine so pretty jittery on shitty adelaide roads.

I am guessing that together with the fat rubber, the suspension gives great feed back of "planting" to the ground. the car feels like its sitting in acres of rubber. its the same feeling i had when i was taken around in a 1982 porsche carrera. I dont know how to explain it. its weird. maybe its the low ride height. the car sits quite low, but not ludicrously low. I dont think the coilovers are height adjustable either.

The seating position is low. there is NO feeling that i am sitting any higher in his car than in my car. you probably sit a little lower in his based on my gut/ass feelings.

the stock seats are old and HARD. they offer no comfort but are bucket style so they hold you in place no problems. No match for our recaros but they are probably lighter!

The drivers seat actually feels like it faces to the left of the steering wheel. so there is probably something wrong with it as i have sat in R32 GTR's before and the seat/wheel positioning was fine. The foot well is much smaller and more cramped than the dc2r. When i put the seat all the way back i can comfortably place my feet on the pedals but my legs/knees have nowhere to go. there is maybe 1cm gap between then and the steering wheel. at first i thought this would be a problem but i found it was a non issue while driving it. snug but not too snug.. i guess its made for people 6 foot 3 and under.

The clutch on this thing is rock hard. takes a little while to get used to and after that its fine. the clutch is not on/off.. there is some area in between on and off so you can easily pull away from the lights. not to mention lots of low end torque compared to a dc2r...

the steering feel and rate is good. not particularly vague or slow compared to the dc2r.. fine really and quite comparable. actually possibly slightly faster? though it doesnt have the ultra precise feel imo. ie doesnt feel like you can place the car as accurately. The steering wheel itself is fine too. no problems there.

The handbrake and gear knob placement is stupid imo. i dunno who invented the idea of putting the handbrake in a position such that it gets in the way of the gear changes. I dunno. maybe others dont mind but for me its in the way.
Then you come to the problem of actually changing gears. not easy. takes a while to get used to. the throw is longer than on the dc2r and nowhere near as accurate/easy. it takes longer and it doesnt feel great at all though it might get easier once you get used to it. it did get better and better during the half hour i drove it. Still not good though. i think we are a little spoilt on this front at Honda. Also the whole seating position is a bit different interms of gear changes. your my height so you will likely have the same issues. my whole left arm from the elbow down sits on the centre console when holding the gearknob. and you have to move your whole arm to change gears. it feels weird compared to the way you can just change with just your fingers/wrist on a dc2r.

The grip and handling around corners is very good. the car feels balanced and low and stiff. the grip is ok, but beau's tyres are cheap crap despite being quite wide and taking the right hander from melbourne street next to the lion at around 45kph caused a little tyre screech where it would be fine in my car. i put this mostly down to the tyres... ? I did not drive it up in the hills so cant comment on this too much....

I never really got to launch it from first or really gun it in first as the engine was rebuilt for $9k 2 months ago.... obviously i dont want to be the one to break this car!!!! In 2nd the turbo lag isnt very big. the car is definately now slow before boosting but once it starts boosting you can feel it coming on and the car just flies. The feeling of acceleration that you get in 1st in a dc2r comes in 2nd and 3rd in the GTR. Its great when you can pick gaps in traffic that are just so far ahead and then the car can explode you to them so quickly.

The brakes on the GTR were not great. i tend to brake long and slow when coming to a halt at the lights and i still felt a little anxious in this thing. it just didnt have the stopping ease. its possibly just the pedal requiring more push before it starts working. in comparison, my car's brake pedal is light as a feather and stops the car with ridiculous ease. Its also possible his brakes are worn/old/fucked... etc this would warrant further investigation if i owned this car!

I really enjoyed my first R32 GTR drive, overall the car is more hardcore than my typeR with its stiff coilovers, loud harsh engine noise and feel... fan-bloody-tastic actually.. Its just missing that manicness that you get from the DC2R engine when you really really giving it some. The engine is more ballsy, less manic. The car as a whole feels like your driving a caged tiger around. your right foot controls the door to its cage.. and the tiger wants out!

While turning right from north terrace onto frome street i was waiting for a gap in the cars so i could turn.. there was a car coming and i had to hustle around to get out of its way (i am an impatient driver obviously). as i pulled from standstill in first the car started boosting as i gave it some welly but my instincts told me to back off just as it really started boosting as it was not pointing straight and the road is far from smooth there.. i had this "its going to come round on me isnt it?" moment that feel really weird having driven a FWD all my life... i listened to the instinct and a few moments later beau said "the rear would probably have come around if you stayed on it there"... 1 for me, 0 for the GTR



not as safe and sanitised as the DC2R that's for sure!

[00dc2]

wow.. that's a long post...

[szymonsta]

thanks 4 the writeup mic. sounds impressive. GTRs are cool.
so, how big does the bribe have to be for beau to let me drive it?

[00dc2]

i think your pushing shit up hill on that front

[szymonsta]

with a pointy stick? hehe

i'll work some magic on him next time we catch up. i'll make sure i wear something 'revealing'. i'll be driving that GTR faster than you can say 'beau, what the hell are you doing with your pants down?'

lol.