Review: 1998 R34 Skyline

For many owning a brand new sports car is only a dream, and for me it is also true. As for a young or even middle ages person the price on those cars are far, far beyond many of our sensible balances. And due to that many have dived back into the 90s chasing the good old 'cheap' sports cars. And one of the most famous of those is the Skyline. The Skyline has been around since 1957 before Nissan made its appearance and the company was known as Prince. However in my opinion, the most known and sort after Skyline is the R Chassis. The first R chassis was created in 1981 with the creation of the R30 Skyline, however it was its successors that made the big noise. The final version of the R Chassis was the R34 Skyline, mostly known by the world as the Nissan R34 GTR that Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) drove in the second Fast and the Furious movie "2 Fast 2 Furious" and with that suddenly rose to fame. However, not everyone could afford the GTR version of the R34 Skyline and with that the babies of the R34 series came to life. Such as my 1998 Nissan Skyline R34 GTT. Running the Nissan RB25DET Neo motor. The 2.5L, six cylinder, single turbo motor was not at all competitive with its big brother, but was still a bunch of fun and quite a fast car. However this model came in both sedan and Coupe, increasing their potential seller base. Now back in 2016 I managed to get a hold of one of these mighty fine pieces of artwork, and fortunately not one that was ran into the ground with disappointing and useless modifications. Along with the low KMs on the clock and its freshly imported status, it was a clean slate in Australia.

Sitting pretty after a nice wash.

Now everyone seems to expect a car like this to be uncomfortable and purely focused on power and speed. Boy are they wrong, I mean, yes getting in can be a little tough with how low you sit in the car. But once you're in, its like drifting on a cloud. With built in climate control, its years ahead of its time. With my other car still using dials and numbers to change heating and cooling. Moving on from that, the dash of the skyline is quite open, but still practical and very useful. With everything slightly tilted to help view better. But not going to the extent of the Toyota Supra where the whole dash is centered around you like a fighter pilot cockpit. Along with that, the interior is quite easy to remove and replace, as its a matter of popping a few clips and unscrewing a few screws and your whole center console and dash can easily come apart for any reason. Although there was one thing I didn't like about the interior; and that is the material used for the centre console. Now it is like a plastic based compound. But here on the Gold Coast the temperatures can reach staggering temperatures. And the dash really doesn't like it, almost feeling like its melting as it can get almost sticky like.

All dash and gauge lights changed.

Now onto actually driving the beast. When I brought it, it was completely stock from tip to toe. No modifications at all, unless you count an aftermarket stereo to listen to Australian music. But lets just not include that. Anyhow it was quite and unsuspecting, if it didn't already have such a reputation. However they never affected its performance and from the get go it drove smoothly and quickly. Gear changes are a breeze whether your hitting up the track trying to hit some good numbers, or just casually driving around your home town. It generally does the best of both. The suspension on it is a bit of a let down. As it is generally towards the softer side, but not to the extent that you can avoid feeling little bumps in the road. However with the ride height so high, it does affect the cornering ability of the car. However it isn't such a thing that I would avoid getting one, as such simple things as coilovers will rule out that problem completely. But overall the drive is amazing for the age of the car. As it is coming up on 19 years.

However like any car there is some downfalls. Nothing particularly mechanic wise, more the perception and expectation that comes along with it. One such perception is that you are a hoon and everything you do will be scrutinized, however on the other side of the fence you'll be expected to race by all those 'hoons' who thinks their car is faster than yours. And trust me there are plenty. One thing that does confuse me slightly is the HICAS system, or to those unfamiliar (Pretty much 90% of people) is the 4 wheel steering that Nissan introduced during the production of the R34 Skyline, where in slow instances the rear wheels will turn in aid of tight corners and during fast speeds it will turn with the front wheels, apparently helping lane changes. This is something I can not say I've noticed, after speaking to a few people it is believe mine has been disconnected, but due to that I can't really comment on how that effects the vehicle. However a guy from the ER34 Crew recently spoke to me regarding how his R34 handles with he HICAS system operational "...with HICAS car turns really well around round-a-bouts pretty useless on the track as you find yourself fighting against it to correct yourself existing a turn...". Well with that, I can definitely say mine is no longer connected as mine loves to boat through round-a-bouts, but at least I can its not something I have to worry about later.

Anyhow all in all, if you can handle the expectations, perceptions and police activity that follows the car it really is a great thing to own. The slick styling and the reliability of the RB engine along with the good amount of power it produced is amazing. However choosing the right R34 for you can be difficult during these times of car modifications as there is plenty of things you need to watch out for when purchasing one. The main thing is modifications, closer to stock you can find, typically the better car it will be. As most things haven't been messed around with and left in Nissans capable hands.

But I would definitely suggest getting a piece of the Japanese 90s history, weather it is the Skyline or something else. Do it, because they are something special.

Specifications: 1998 Nissan Skyline R34 GTT Sedan

Engine: RB25DET

Power: 207kW 277HP

Transmission: 5Spd Manual or 4spd Auto

Length: 4,705 mm (185.2 in)

Width: 1,725 mm (67.9 in)

Height: 1,375 mm (54.1 in)

Weight: 1430Kgs (Manual/Sedan)