That car will, eventually, be the GT-R that we first saw at Tokyo Motor Show 2005
But it's been a long time coming, so Nissan - quite rightly - felt the need to remind people of just what it is they've been missing. More significantly, this limited edition Skyline could also be Nissan's way of telling the faithful that the GT-R - which won't be with us until 2007 - will not forget its performance heritage.
So what, exactly, have we been missing? Well, I spent a lot of time behind the wheel of the last Skyline and can reliably report that it was a Porsche 911-grade experience - which is to say fantastically good.
From the beautifully weighted steering, to the Niagra delivery of thrust, to the throttle-adjustable cornering attitude, all had plainly been sorted by men who care deeply about such things. And, in spite of a massive amount of computing power being brought to bear on the car's four-wheel-drive dynamics, the Skyline never felt nannying.
In fact, the R34 was capable of lurid power-on oversteer without much effort. I hasten to add, this is something I discovered driving around Silverstone. That's where I also discovered that if you did deliberately overcook an oversteer moment, the car's Stephen Hawking-like brain would step in and put some power through the front wheels to pull you through the corner and out of the spin.
In short, it was a heroic car that flattered the averagely gifted driver in a way that no Porsche 911 ever would or ever will. And while some enthusiast drivers will argue that this is precisely what makes the 911 so rewarding, there are many more who will be grateful for the relative absence of Skyline-shaped holes in the underbrush.
Thank the boys from NISMO - Nissan Motorsports International Co Ltd. Formed back in 1984, NISMO is the company's motorsport arm with a long record of competition in GT series, rallying and one-make race series.
But, you ask, how is it that Nissan are producing a Skyline some three years after production of the last GT-R R34 ended? Well, just 20 of these NISMO Skyline GT-R Z-tune cars will be built. Actually, that should be rebuilt, as these are used Skylines - NISMO went in search of twenty GT-R R34s with less than 20,000 miles on their clocks and no body damage. Which is harder than it sounds
Now it gets interesting. The NISMO crew took the original R's 2.6-litre straight-six and bored it out to 2.8-litres, swelling power to a colossal 500bhp. Then it applied everything it has learned from successfully contesting the Japanese GT Championships for over a decade to create, effectively, a road-legal race car.
And this car really is oh-my-god quick. For the record, over the quarter mile sprint, the Skyline Z-Tune will leave a Porsche 911 GT3, BMW M3 CSL and even a Ferrari F50 for dead - and by a large margin, too.
Launch the car from standstill - in our case a rolling-start, as conditions were monsoon-like - and from about 2500rpm, full-bore acceleration arrives in a way, as one colleague puts it, that makes you feel like a golfball that's just been attended to by Tiger Woods. Steering feel is sensational and the car gives you the sense that any corner could be taken at least 20mph quicker. It really does feel like a full-house race car and it certainly rides like one.
Stopping power is courtesy of six-pot Brembo's and the six-speed Getrag gearbox whines like it's got proper straight-cut racing gears (it doesn't, but it's a supremely effective 'box). The steering is heavy, but the weight is perfectly judged for high-speed feel and progressive turn-in.
This is a devastatingly capable car and I'd dearly love to see what it could do around the Nuburgring. I'd also love to see the look on the face of Porsche 911 GT3 drivers as they fade to a small spec in the Skyline's rear-view. Because they absolutely would.
Now the bad news. For the privilege of owning a used Skyline - albeit one breathed on by NISMO genius - you will pay 84,000. And as we mentioned, there's only 20 of the things in the pipeline, most already spoken for.
The cost reflects the fact that this isn't just a tuned Skyline. In addition to a bespoke race-engine build, specially developed Sachs suspension and Brembo brakes, carbon fibre is used extensively to bring down the weight. Even the exhaust pipe is made of titanium.
So, a fitting salute to the memory of a superstar and a statement of intent that the next GT-R will be (must be) similarly gifted when it arrives in 2007. Then, finally, the high-performance stratosphere will be whole again.
source:http://www.channel4.com/4car/r....html
