[David.Yu]

According to Autocar this week, Carlos Ghosn the new chief exec of Nissan is excited about the unveiling of a "new Skyline GT-R concept" at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2 weeks time. I thought they were dropping the "Skyline" moniker for the R35 GT-R? Also why is it a concept, surely the production model must be around the corner?
Dino, are you going along to check it out?

 

[DCD]

I already have my ticket!!
I read something along these lines in Best Car magazine. The also mentioned the Skyline name! I really hope thy are going to drop it...there is way too much confusion around this.

Expect to see a few hundred pics I will be going armed with my laptop for quick downloads!! Needless to say the first stand I visit will be Nissan...they will also have a closer-to-production version of the new Z!
Cant wait!

 

[Alan]

Dino
Don't forget to save some memory sticks for the scantilly clad women which you forgot to do on your trip to Montegi
Best regards

 

[DCD]

 

[bnr34vspec2]

I will also be at the Tokyo motor show too. I am ready with my 1GB IBM microdrive, I am ready to take 1000 high quality digital pictures with this microdrive. I can't wait either!

Jeff

 

[stu]

V6 R35

I read in 'EVO' yesterday that the R35 GTR will have the same V6 as the Z-car and not the V8 as originally speculated . Anyone know anything about this?

 

[Bean]

These things change week by week. There is no definitive info yet. However, the most likely is that the Japan model and the export model may have different engines. This is already done by Toyota/Lexus with the Aristo/GS series. The top level Aristo has a straight 6 twin turbo, but the equivalent export Lexus is the GS430 with a V8.

I hope we'll learn more at the show in a couple of weeks.

 

[DCD]

It should be a twin turbo version of the engine currently offered on the V35 Skyline 350GT 4WD. I'm sure a great amount of tuning will be done to assure it has a sporty character. These new engines are very advanced and should provide a great basis for the next GTR...
...but they have to be something real special to take over from the great RB26...what an engine!!

Oh and there is talk of a 7 speed sequential!!

 

[Bean]

I like the sound of that gearbox

 

[Fuggles]

Let's just hope the gearbox is backward-compatible. Now wouldn't that be fun!

 

[Joss]

Engine

The only problem I can see with the engine in the V35 Skyline 300GT is that it has an 11:1 compression ratio without turboing it ... so lord knows what it would be like with a turbo slapped on.. the R34 is 8.5:1 and has all sorst of det issues.

my ¥2 worth

 

[David.Yu]

Regarding the compression ratios, it wouldn't be hard for Nissan to fit different pistons for the turbo versions. But the significant point is : no newly designed engine would be capable of producing 1000+bhp, no engineer worth his job would design in such an unnecessarily large safety margin. Even a race engine has no need of such high specific outputs, it was merely a happy accident that the old iron block RB26 turned out to be so strong, a bit like the Chevy small-block.
Therefore, the days of the mega-tuned Skyline may be limited. The earlier models may go up in value!

 

[Bean]

I think David has a point; the RB26 was a 'miracle' of engineering and the R32, 33 & 34 are likely to become classic items because it would be too costly to do that again.

 

[David.Yu]

Actually, the point I was making was that the huge tuning potential of the RB26 was NOT the result of expensive state of the art design back in the 80's when they first brought it out, it was one of those flukes of "over-engineering".
An engine designer will obviously factor in a reliability margin that coincidentally allows the engine to be tuned. But with modern design technology, there is no way a new engine will be produced that will allow over 380bhp/litre! They would rather use less material, design in greater fuel economy, lower emissions etc.
The net result is that there is no way the R35 engine will prove to be as tuneable as the RB26, in my opinion.

 

[Joss]

pistons

I agree about that the old engine was hugely over engineered, which enabled people to get it to mega power quite easily and that this is unlikely to be replicated in the new power plant, which will probably be engineered to the tolerance required

I was only commenting on the difficulty of just turboing the 300GT engine... consider; just to get 11:1 to say 8.5:1 to allow the turboing, the 3litre lump would have to enlarge the compression chamber by 30% or reduce the capacity to 2.3l and keep the same head as on the current 300GT ... or a mixture of the two ... all quite big changes!

 

[DCD]

But its the 350GTs engine they are using for the GTR!
Either way its gonna be a challenge and I too doubt that it will ever be as successful as the RB was. The thing is they will have to use this new engine in the Super Taikyu and GT 500 races, so some sort of "tunability" will have to be possible

 

[David.Yu]

compression ratios

Joss, there are loads of engines out there that have a high C/R in NA form and a lower C/R for the turbo version. e.g. Subaru Impreza, Nissan Pulsar, Nissan 300ZX as well as Skyline. I don't understand the specifics, but usually some "dishing" of the piston crown design seems to do the job. There are plenty of aftermarket GT-R pistons, that combined with thicker head gaskets can reduce the C/R for mega high-boost cars.

 

[JohnD]

The V6 is not an entirly new engine.
It is a development of the 300ZX twin turbo engine.
According all the articles read so far the displacement is 3.5LTR which could handle 400HP out of the box.
If Nissan wants to make a statement this engine is probably stronger than the RB26.
With most modern technologies the engine can be less weight with better strength.
Maybe Nissan is using a low pressure setup with variable valve timing to enhance the engine's basic performance to reduce lag.
I don't know anything about 300ZX's but I guess one of you guys has experience with them and can tell how strong these V6's are?

 

[DCD]

The Nismo Z tune for example has a 8.0:1 C/R and develops 600bhp.
The new VQ engines, if thats what they will be named, have a lot of technology such as variable valve timing and direct injection so I'm sure something positive is bound to come out of this.

Does anybody know if the pattern David mentioned applies to Porsches?? i.e. GT3/Turbo/GT2?

 

[David.Yu]

300zx TT

When we first started the Register 6 years ago, we had close ties with the 300zx TT Register. There were a few tuned ones, but none were above about 450bhp and Alan Davis who ran the Register spent loads of money on his to get it to around 450 but had more blow ups than I did!
I have never heard of a reliable 300zx above 400. There were also some hilarious "600bhp" nitrous 300s at a Performance Car shoot out Joss and I attended, none of whom managed a single run!
As I said, I think the days of the mega-tuned GT-R are coming to an end. Just like there has not been a faster Ford than the ancient Escort Cossie, the R32, 33 & 34 will become regarded as the pinnacle of nutter-bastard GT-Rs.