Motor Australia – September 2019

146 september 2019 whichcar.com.au/motor

M THE HEROES.LOSTINTIME

9. 20

PLUS:

IFANYCARhaseverhoggedthelimelightfromanother,
it’s the GT-R taking attention awayfromtheGTS-R.Andwe
don’t mean the banana yellowHoldenVSCommodorewith
thegiantrearwing.
No,wemeantheHR31SkylineGTS-R,effectivelythelate-
’80s,rear-drive,turbochargedstraight-sixprecursortothe
R32GT-R.MadefortheJapanmarketonly,it hasa special
AussieconnectioncourtesyofJimRichards,whoracedone
towinthe 1990 AustralianTouringCarChampionship.
Motorsportis tothankforthiscar’sgenesis.Nissan
AustraliahadbeencampaigningitsSkylinebasedonthe
Japan-onlyGTSandGTS-XCoupes,butin pursuitofmore
pacetookadvantageoftheGroupA homologationrules
permittinglower-volume‘evolution’modelsforracing.
EntertheGTS-R.Powerfroma nowsix-cylinder2.0-litre
turbochargedenginewasincreasedthankstoa larger
throttlebody,biggerGarrettturbocharger,largerintercooler

andtweakedECU.A lightenedflywheelmatedthe

‘RB20DET-R’inline-6toa five-speedmanualtransmission

andlimitedslipdifferentialdrivingtherearwheels.There

wasalso‘HICAS’all-wheelsteering,aswellasimproved

suspensiongeometryoveritsDR30predecessor.

Productioncommencedin 1987.Allwerepainted “Bluish

Black”andcamewithfixedfrontandrearspoilers to

overcometheDR30’snotoriousaerodynamicinstability at

racespeeds.BBS15-inchwheelswereavailableas an option,

wearing205/60tyres.

Only 500 unitshadtobebuilttomeethomologation

requirementsbut 823 GTS-Rsendedupproduced. All

weresoldonthefirstdayofrelease.It is saidthe GTS-R

contributedvitallytotheR&DeffortsofR32,theprogram

thatresurrectedGT-R.Andit’sin thiscar’sshadow the GTS-R

continuestolive,havingneverreallyoutgrownits cult status,

eventhoughit morethandeservesto.

992 v F-TYPE SVR v M850i

Two would-bestry to pip

Porsche’s sublime new 911

Supradrivenin Oz;AlpineA110vsbaseCaymanvsAlfa4C;HennesseyExorcistvsDodge Demon

NEXT

10/19 ISSUE

ON SALE SEPTEMBER 19

➜

THE COMPARISON TEST

ABOVE

As a racecar, the

GTS-R made its mark

not just in Australian

touring cars but also

in Japan and Europe.

Values today for clean

road-going versions

are starting to go

stratospheric

Precursor to R32 GT-R not given the credit it deserves

➜

BY MOTOR STAFF

SKYLINEGTS-R

1987

ENGINE

POWER

TORQUE

0-100KM/H

PRICE

1998cc inline-6, 24v, turbo

154kW @ 6400rpm

245Nm @ 4800rpm

5.8sec(estimate)

$40K(currentvalueestimate)