autopartswarehouse

R33 GT-R Nismo 400R - Nissan Skyline
The R33 series was very similar to its predecessor, the R32 series. The GT-R was continued, as was the optional all-wheel-drive layout of the sedans and coupes. The car was still very sporty, although it had grown a little in size and weight and had thus become less agile. The weight disadvantage was compensated in the engine department though, by the new normally aspirated RB25, a 2.5l inline-6 with 190hp for the GTS-4 and GTS25 versions, and the far more powerful RB25DET, a 2.5l inline-6 turbo with an output of 255hp, which worked in the GTS25t.

The R33 Skyline GT-R - Nissan Skyline
A heavy burden lay upon the R33’s back when it was introduced in 1995. It’s predecessor had been very successful (almost unbeatable) and anybody hardly thought the new GT-R could possibly improve on the R32’s perform-ance. Surprisingly, the R33 GT-R was better than the old version in almost any way, although it too had gained some weight. . It kept the RB26DETT engine with an unchanged 280hp, but had a broader torque band which made the engine more flexible. Also standard were improved versions of ATTESA-ETS and Super-HICAS.

NISMO 400R and GT-R LM - Nissan Skyline
NISMO stands for Nissan Motorsports and is the (you guessed it!) Motorsports division of Nissan which was responsible for the former Group A racing cars, as well as today’s JGTC (All Japan Grand Touring Car Champion-ship) racing cars. Since engine power for production cars is restricted to 280hp in Japan, having a car built by a tuning division is the only way to get round such a regulation. And this is exactly what Nissan did with the 400R in February 1996, a car that was produced in a very limited number of only 99 pieces.

Nissan had been racing the Skyline in the GT 1 category of the 24 hours endurance race of Le Mans in 1995 and 1996, so the GT-R LM and the 400R were intended as road-going versions of these race cars. Both got derivatives of the RB26DETT engine, the GT-R LM with 305hp and the 400R with 400hp. Unfort-unately only one GT-R LM was built to homologate the car for racing, which is confined to a museum today. The 400R on the other hand, got an enlarged RB26DETT engine with 2.8l of displacement, the RBX-GT2, a twin-turbo with an astonishing 400hp at 6.800rpm.

The engine was not the only similarity with the GT-R though, since both cars were based upon the R33 GT-R V-spec (Victory Specification). But where the GT-R LM only got RWD (like the race-cars), the 400R got further improved GT-R technology, like ATTESA-ETS etc. Naturally, both car’s inner potency was resembled in their design as well. Each one of them featured bigger wheels, wider spoilers and wheel arches and lower suspension, to give them a look even more dramatic than the already not so inconspicuous standard GT-R.

Autech GT-R 4-door - Nissan Skyline
Autech is a subsidiary of Nissan specialized in tuning cars. The Autech GT-R was a four-door version of the R33 GT-R, which was introduced as a limited edition for the 40th birthday of the Nissan Skyline. The Autech version got all of the standard GT-R’s technology, as well as the most vital parts of its interior like bucket seats etc. So it really was a GT-R in terms of performance - just a lot more practical. NISMO also brought up a tuned version of the Autech GT-R, which featured the spoilers of the NISMO 400R and a 380hp engine. It is not difficult to imagine that this car was THE attraction on its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show.