d motorofficial f motor_mag^13Dylan Campbell
M FRONT END. ED’S NOTE
IT’SIT’S 5050 YEARSYEARSOFOF NISSAN’SNISSAN’SICONICICONIC GT-R,GT-R,BUTBUT
IT’SIT’S ALSOALSO 3030 YEARSYEARSOFOF THETHESEMINALSEMINAL R32R
GT-RGT-R – THE– THEMOSTMOST IMPORTANTIMPORTANTOFOF THEMTHEMALLALL
WE DON’T FIGHT much over keys at MOTOR. If somebody
wants to drive the McLaren and they haven’t really spent much
time in one before, they get the car, no questions really asked.
Whoever has the strongest business purpose to drive the car
wins out. We’re, ahem, professionals.
But one car this month reduced us to savages at each other’s
throats. And it’s older than some of the staff on the magazine.
A maroon red R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R spent quite a bit
of time in the MOTOR car park this month and it was just
a honey, it must be said. A total surprise. Its clean, timeless
styling admittedly had the wives and partners of MOTOR
staff wondering what about this old, brown car was making
grown men so giddy with excitement. But it’s because the R
GT-R remains a total revelation to drive, even 30 years on. The
engine, despite having the world’s quietest (stock) exhaust
rendering it almost entirely intake, turbo and valvetrain noise,
is laggy but eager when it does hit that vertiginous boost
curve. It feels faster than it is. All the controls are just lovely,
from the forgiving, feelsome clutch to the notchy gearchange
and blissful hydraulic power steering. The car feels small, the
handling predictable with a perfectly judged blend of traction
and rear slip. Power oversteer is possible! And the ride comfort
stuns with its suppleness, something most new performance
models struggle with even today.
The R32 GT-R remains an achievement and for anybody
who’s spotted all our Nissan GT-R anniversary content this
issue and is wondering why we’re having a birthday in
August, when the original GT-R was first available
in Japan in Februar y, 1969, should know that we’re
really hinging this around another anniversary. On
August 21, 1989, the R32 GT-R went on-sale and forgetting the
original, and the ill-fated second-generation ‘Kenmeri’, this is
where the whole GT-R thing really kicked off.
It was advanced for its time like a Porsche 959 was, with its
twin-turbo 2.6-litre straight-six (supposedly the Nissan board
wanted this to be a V6, but the engineers wouldn’t budge). Its
ATTESA all-wheel drive system and HICAS all-wheel steering.
The R32 paved the way for R33, R34 and, though a totally new
generation, R35, where GT-R had earned its right to standalone
as its own sports car and brand. And it was R32 that formed
the first connection between GT-R and Australia, courtesy of
the Australian-delivery program (prior to R35 Australia was
one of the tiny handful of countries to officially sell a GT-R)
and, of course, its early nineties thumping of everything else
in the Australian Touring Car Championship, the bloodshed
so brutal they had to change the rules to get rid of it.
Would you believe it took until the R35 for the world to
properly pay attention to GT-R? Outside of Japan, Australia
is the only country that has its own special relationship with
GT-R for the reasons outlined above. It’s taken until recent
years for the Americans to really know about the R32 and the
impact it made. And when it comes to GT-R, R32 is The Car, the
most important.
This issue, we’ve attempted to relive the GT-R story with
a bulging 66-page special feature section. There’s a special
subscriber cover, too. In case GT-R is not your bag, at no extra
cost we’ve also quietly slotted in an extra 16-page section
to this issue to fit in more non-GT-R stuff. In any case,
I hope you enjoy this very special
edition. Feedback always welcome.- This man once
did 358km/h in a V
Toyota Supra. Also now
a MOTOR subscriber! - Mark Skaife driving
Fred Gibson in an R
GT-R and we were in the
back, pinching ourselves - Editor DC just loves
getting fines. Especially
ones he can’t read, in
totally foreign countries - We were pleased
to welcome some very
special guests to the
MOTOR garage this month - We tortured ourselves
over four cover options
this month. The Contents
pic was almost the cover
In the
MADHOUSEOUT-TAKES
THISMONTH
AT MOTOR05