OPPOSITE
R32issoimportant
this200,000km
exampleisthe
onlyoldcarNissan
Australiaowns
ABOVE
Forgedaluminium
wheelscarry
thecuriouslabel:
“Weproduced
withspartanair”ABOVE
RIGHT
Old-schoolfive-
speedmanual
H-shiftgearbox➜
HELACKOFFLAIRinmostcurrentNissanproducts,it’s
lt torememberthatfora briefperiodbetween 1989 and
1994 theNissanMotorCompanywasa dynamic,exciting
kerhell-bentonglobaldomination.
you readthatcorrectly.An ambitious globalproduct
mcalledProject 901 (whichtranslatedas‘numberone
’90s’)wasintendedtosetNissanona courseforall-out
logicalwarfare,displacingHondaasJapan’spremiercar
acturerintheprocess.Andinthebeginningit reallydid
utwell.
ensuingfive-yearpurplepatchproducedsomecracking
t began with the fourth-generation 300ZX/Fairlady Z
y 1989 beforegainingmomentumwiththeaudacious
Q45limousine,Euro-bashingPrimeramediumcarand
erPulsar/Sunnyrange(theN14),nottomentiontheera-
g S13Silvia/180SXandS14Silvia/200SXsportscoupes.
ever, thecrowning glory waswithout doubt theR32
GT-R.
vingNissan’sreveredGT-Rbadgeafter 15 yearsonthe
, theflagshipR32Skylinewasa totallynewcar,completely
s withitssquare-edgedrear-drivepredecessor.Whilethe
umped-upformcarrieda surprisingamountofvisual
restraintforan’80s Japanesecar,therealitywasasublime
combinationofbruteforceandbeautifulengineering.Inmid-1989,theleveloftechnology(withaccompanyingacronyms)
crammedintotheGT-R’scompactformwasunheardof.
The R32 acted as a flag-waver for Nissan’s burgeoning
engineeringexpertiseandfeatured‘SuperHICAS’four-wheel
steeringaswellasan‘ATTESA-ETS’(AdvancedTotalTraction
Engineering System for All-terrains, with Electronic Torque
Split)all-wheeldrivesystem.TheATTESAset-upcouldsend
100 percentoftheGT-R’sthrusttoitslimited-sliprearaxleuntil
itneededtodeployeverythingithad,atwhichpointupto 50
percentofdrivecouldbedirectedtoitssurprisinglymodest
225/50R16fronttyres.
Suspensionwasa multi-linkarrangementatbothends– the
frontemployinga laterallink,trailingstrutanddiagonalupper
controllinkthatlocatedthesteeringknuckleoneachsideofthe
car.Andthebrakesconsistedof296mmventilatedfrontdiscs
with four-pistonaluminiumcalipersand297mm rears with
two-pistoncalipers.
ButundertheGT-R’ssubtlycreasedaluminiumbonnetbeat
theheartofNissan’sracecarfortheroad– theRB26DETT,an
enginecodethatwouldquicklybecomecommonparlance.
A2568ccrelativeoftheRB30E3.0-litrestraight-sixengineseries already powering Nissan’s R31 Skyline range (and
Holden’sVLCommodore)inAustralia,theRB26DETTadded
dualbelt-drivenoverheadcamshafts,fourvalvespercylinder, a
pairofceramicGarrettturbochargersandanintercooler.
Theresultwasa robust205kWat6800rpmand355Nm at
4400rpm– thepowerfigurenotcoincidentallyrightonJapan’s
old ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ for maximum quoted output.
Given theGT-R’snot-so-lithe 1430kgkerb weightin Aussie
guise,therealitywasprobablyquitea bitmore– especially if
youtakeintoaccountNissan’s0-100km/hclaimof5.0sec.
TheGT-R’scentre-mountedtachoturnedredat7450rpm,
butsuchwastheengine’sbalance(andoutrightbrawn) that
itcouldextendallthewaytothe8200rpmrev-limiterwithout
itspowercurveplungingintoahole.OnlytheRB26DETT’s
driveabilitycharacteristicsbetrayeditslate-1980sheritage – the
engineneeding3000rpmonboardbeforethefireworksstarted
toerupt,stirredalongbya manualtransmissionwithjust five
gearratios.
WhereallthisR32GT-RhooplafitsintoanAussiecontext
is linked directly to the desires and aspirations of Nissan
Australia’s motorsport team and Special Vehicles Division
(SVD).Andsomeill-fateddecisionsbymanagement.
First,somebackground.
Following several generations of fully imported Skylines,Nissan Japan gave the Australians a green light to fully
manufacture the HR31 Skyline in Clayton, in conjunction
withafour-cylindervariant(thePintara)andanAustralian-
commissioned station wagon – all replacing the rear-drive
Bluebird(1981-’86).ThelogicatthetimewasthatAustralia
waspredominantlya rear-wheeldrivemarket,andthere was
a turbochargedSkylineracecartoactasa halovehicle(which
wouldn’thavebeenthecasehadthecrampedfront-drive U11
Bluebirdenteredlocalproduction).
AsPaulBeranger,long-timechiefofNissanAustralia’sdesign
department (1977-’92)and managerof Nissan’smotorsport
division,pointsout:“Theoverridingreasonwewent motor
racing, or continued to go motor racing, was because it
supportedtheimageoflocalmanufacturing.”
SettinguptheSpecialVehiclesDivisionin 1987 thenacted as
a bridgebetweenlocalmanufacturingandmotorracing, while
producingsometerrificroadcarsliketheSkylineGTSsedan.
But management in its wisdom decided that the front-
driveU12Bluebird(thesecond-genPintara,dubbed‘Project
Matilda’ and launched in November 1989) would become
NissanAustralia’sgreatwhitehope– twinnedwithabadge-d motorofficial f motor_mag^87