10 Things That A Nissan Skyline GTR Enthusiast Should Know

The Godzilla, or as other people call it, the Skyline was a series of performance cars manufactured by Nissan from 1957-2014. Initially, the skyline series was created as 4 four-door sedans and a skyline station wagon, but it came onto the radar when the first Nissan Skyline GT-R the Hakosuka came into existence. It was no longer a boring family sedan, which was meant only to commute. Over the years, there have been a few R34 station wagon variants offered.

Later generations, made the Skyline tag a household name among car enthusiasts. It was the R32 GT-R was the first car from the Skyline series to come with some serious performance. The eighth generation of the Skyline was the first car to come out of Japan that was able to beat European supercars in terms of driving dynamics. In May 2023 Nissan Skyline was legalized in the USA, making it a delight for JDM fans.

10 things you need to know before you buy any Skyline

10. GTR?

The GT-R stands for ‘Grand Tourismo Racer’ which is an Italian means High-Performance Automobile. There has not been a perfect attribute for a performance car, as it symbolizes the high-performance attributes of the car. Additionally, the name also denotes the racing success of the car.

The first car to wear this badge was the first generation PG10 Nissan Skyline GTR, which made its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1968. And the Skyline series is not the only car that wears the GTR badge, companies such as BMW, Mclaren, and Mercedes give their cars the GTR treatment. The new Nissan Titan GTR truck is next in line to be decorated with the GTR batch.

9. Why is the GTR called Godzilla?

Godzilla was the king of monsters; In the late ’80s when the newest, most powerful, and technologically advanced car was unveiled to the public in the form of the Nissan R32 GTR. It defined the engineering and craftsmanship abilities of Nissan. The R32 got the Godzilla tag, because of its sheer dominance in the competitive racing scene.

It was going against some of the monsters of that time and bagged several titles in some of the most competitive races among them. According to Nissan, the Australian media ‘Wheels’ began referring to the R32 the ‘Godzilla’, as the king of monsters from Japan.

8. First Skyline was not made by Nissan

Yes, indeed, the Skyline name was not originally related to Nissan, the first Skyline was made by Price Motor Company in the form of the S50 Skyline Deluxe in 1963. Later in 1966, when Prince and Nissan merged they started selling the skyline under the Nissan badge.

With humble beginnings as a 4-door luxury sedan, the skyline starting to evolve as a performance bread sportscar in the upcoming years.

7. R34 Skyline was supposed to be a mid-engined sports car

Earlier when all the manufacturers were experimenting with a mid-engined orientation for their cars. Nissan also went for it, with two prototypes the MID4 and later the MID4 II with the VG30 DETT engine from the Z32. Nissan also decided to develop a new 6-cylinder engine for the car, however, they dropped the idea because, to build the car, it was necessary to have a dedicated production line.

We are not complaining as, we got the Nissan Skyline R34 GTR, a front-engine masterpiece in its best form. But it would have been very interesting to see the mid-engine sportscar battle between the midengined Nissan R34 and the Honda NSX.

6. GT-R had the perfect 50-50 weight ratio

As the GT-R is race-bred, the engineers of Nissan made sure that the car should have perfect weight distribution for perfect balance. With the lightweight V6 engine in the front of the car and the transaxle sitting between the rear wheels, Nissan was able to achieve the perfect ratio.

This helped in improving the handling, traction, and overall driving dynamics of the car. It became more responsive and predictable around the corners, which inspired confidence among the drivers to push their capabilities.

5. The GT-R is better than an SUV in snow

The GT-R is the perfect car if you are driving in slippery conditions, thanks to the ATTESA E-torque vectoring system. The Advance Total Traction Engineering System for All Terrain is a clever four-wheel drive system, that works by adjusting the power for each wheel. The technology was primarily designed for maximum traction from the launch till you are doing three-digit speeds.

However, it also greatly helps when you drive the GT-R in slippery conditions like snow, the wheel with the most traction will be utilized by the system to move the car. There was also the Bliston DampTronic suspension that can actively adjust the firmness for better control over the car.

4. The nitrogen tires can withstand a puncture at 124 mph

What moves your vehicle, The tires are the only point of contact between your car and the road, if not crashed of course. They bear the weight of your car and use the laws of physics called friction to move the car. Thus, it becomes an integral part of the development and thankfully Nissan does not cut any corners in this aspect.

To handle the performance, the tires were specifically made to withstand a flat tire at a terrifying 124mph. They improved the safety of the car, and also provided extra stability, improved handling, and fostered steering feedback.

3. Engines were handbuilt by race engineers

It took more than mere engineers to build state-of-the-art engines for GT-R. The amount of precision and quality that goes into the heart of the Skyline is down to the efforts of four ‘Takumi’ of the Nissan Yokohama plant. These master craftsmen made every engine that went into the GT-Rs.

Takumi Kurosawa, Tseumi Ooyama, Izumi Shioya, and Nobumitsu Gozu, collectively had more than 100 years of experience which was put into the development of each engine, and the only equipment they used was their hands.

2. The bayside blue was originally called “Wangan Blue”

The bayside blue was not the original name of the most iconic color choice for the Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R. Tamara-San, the Chief Product Specialist at that time wanted to call this color Wangan Blue. It was inspired by the Wangan-sen (bay shore route), which is infamous as the street race venue and high-speed runs.

However, Nissan officials persuaded him to change the name, to not be associated with the legendary Midnight Club, which broke because of a multi-car accident, right after the R34’s debut.

1. The R34 GTR had the first-gear lockout

Nissan used a clever first-gear lockout mechanism that prevented drivers from accidentally shifting to first gear. The lever had a ring that required pull to put the car in the first and reverse gears.

This prevented the problem of stressing or damaging the transmission system. This problem generally occurred when the owners went racing and had to change gears very frequently.