policyvote

Okay, first of all, the Skylines didn't just have "awd", they had ATTESSA, which is an incredibly advanced performance-oriented AWD system. It is heavily RWD-biased. and gave the SKyline a monster performance edge over most cars. Plus, the engine and tranny were bulletproof, and responded dramatically to tuning and modification. Skylines ended up getting banned by many motorsport sanctioning bodies, since they were just that much better than the competition.

And the Skyline was faster, and handled better, than the Fairlady Z. It was certianly more reliable and better to modify.

Peace

shelleys_man_06

Ugh. The Z32 utilized that horrible Super HICAS 4-wheel steering system. It was worthless on the track. I love ATTESA-ETS. I believe Mazda has a counter-system with its new MS6, but I'm not too sure.

With ATTESA-ETS, I believe you can get a 0:100 torque split in certain instances. This system most definitely helped the GT-R crush all other Japanese supercars. Nissan has always been an innovator when it comes to motorsport, whether grassroots or professional.

epitrochoid

its 0:100 whenever the rears arent spinning, up to 50:50 if they do. you can hack the traction computer to keep it full rear for dorifto!

unlike an sti or evo, which is 50/50 under normal condition and only 70% max bias to either front or rear.

s13lover

Not dissing the ATTESSA system b/c I don't know much about it, but a lot of modern awd systems variably split the torque between the axels and even individual wheels, such as on Volvos.

And just as a side note, RX-7 were also banned from several league do the cars handling, power per liter, and weight advantages thanks to the rotary engine. So, I really wouldn't say that Skylines were that dominating compaired to the high level of success that the RX-7 also experienced.

Shiri

When the Skylines were banned, they were seriously banned. They created a new league altogether in Japan and still they were penalised in some ways.

epitrochoid

attessa takes care of front/rear, the seperate diffs take care of left/right

PoorCollegeKid

Mazda's new system is much like the Haldex system in that it is the complete opposite of Nissan's ATTESA-ETS drivetrain. The car is FWD until the wheels start to slip, then becomes, at best, a 50:50 AWD car. This system works great for predictability and poor condition driving for the average driver, but is quite far from a performance biased ideal.

shelleys_man_06

Yeah. Haldex is more FWD-biased, if that's what you want to call it. I'll agree with you on this system's road racing ability. Gaining complete control of RWD is quite difficult, especially with the dynamics involved. I guess the AWD system Mazda is planning is more of a safety blanket.

Is there any way to improve vehicle dynamics, drivetrain-wise, using a Haldex-like AWD setup?

Japan8

ACTUALLY... do you have any idea of the markup on BMW's and other imports in Japan? Let's just say that the Mustang GT (not Cobra... not available) runs in the neighborhood of 3.5 million or 4 million yen. The most basic BMW 4 door 3 Series with a 4 cyclinder engine (will always have one in Japan because of car taxes) costs around the previously mentioned price of a Mustang GT. You can buy a used GTR... the last two bodystyles from around 3 million yen to about 4 million yen or so. I haven't checked recently, but that's what it was about 3 years ago. So I'd say... yeah you can get one for less than an M3... it ain't selling for 40k USD here!

Ike

Sorry to backtrack so much but some of these statements just had to be addressed further... The R32 GT-R was basicly designed to fit group A racing in Japan. In the year of it's introduction in group A it entered 29 races. How many races did it win you ask, 29. The class was abolished because no one wanted to race the R32. The R32 could run with the likes of Ferrari and many other supercars and at a fraction of the cost in a more everyday type car. Seems pretty damn mystical to me... Then came the R33 which improved upon the R32 in just about every way (though some still liked the R32 better). Then the grand daddy of them all, the R34 was again an improvement on the previous cars and had a greatly improved chassis. It held the record for a production car at the Nurburgring until the 996 Turbo unseated it. Think for a second about the other cars that the R34 topped around the Nurburgring. In assition as a result of group A being abolished the JGTC championship was formed and is considered by many the best GT series in thw world and has an extensive list of manufacturers that compete in it. McLarens, Ferraris, Moslers, Vipers, Porshes, NSXs, Supras, among others. Against that competition the Skline managed 5 drivers and 4 constructors titles making it the most successful car in the series. Did I mention that there are several examples out there with well over 1000hp? Pretty freaking mystical if you ask me, and justification for why this car is held in such regard by so many car freaks. Want to tell me how it's not any better than the 300ZX now?

The GT-R was an amazing machine for its time, though the rest of the world had caught up to it at the end of its run. The 911 was again the benchmark, and cars like the Evo and STi were as fast/faster, lighter, and cheaper. Mostly due to financial difficulties Nissan had to scrap the Skyline without having a new design ready to go. They just didn't have the money to allocate towards developing a new engine for the ever more stringent emissions regulations, nor to refine the AWD system that had remained nearly unchanged for so many years.

It won't be cheap, but it will be one of those cars (if it can live up to it's predecesors) that people will find a way to afford. I can't wait to see if Nissan can set the automotive world on fire again with the V35 GT-R, something tells me they won't disappoint.

sofl_g

IKEWRX had it all covered, especially about the history.
The RB26DETT was basicly a 500+ HP race motor detuned to a claimed 280 HP to fit in the Japnese gentlemans agreement for max HP. Accura NSX was also rated at 280 HP, now consider this: the 280HP, 3000Lb NSX in the 90's ran high 13's and so did the 280 HP 3500+ Lb GT-R. Seems someone brought some clydsdales to the dyno for comparison
The VQ motor is also fairly robust but with 2 very important caveats. The rods and pistons are not usable for anything over 400RWHP, above that level and broken rods become a real possibility. Replace the rods and pistons and the basic VQ35 is supposed to be good for 1k HP. It has many of the other pieces in place, a good crank and strong block, but the rods are the achelies tendon. It just might make a worthy RB26 successor with the right combo.

Shiri

My friend's recently bought BMW 318i wagon costed her 5 million yen. We're talking about M3s so no I don't know the actual price but it will be a lot more than 5 million.

Actually I should clarify that the newest GTR (R34s) are the ones costing more than M3s here, the older ones are much cheaper (if they are still stock).