ever notice how much the lotus elise looks like a lamborghini miura?


if you want to talk about what makes a supercar a supercar, I think the definition varies largely by the individual.

I would think if own a lamborghini you probably scoff at the idea of a nissan being called a supercar... but at the same time, I've heard NSX's being called exotics/supercars, and the same could possibly be argued of the elise.

IMO, if there's more than one made a day, it's not a supercar.

As far as my engine is going - I'm going to be rebuilding it myself which will minimize labour costs. (aside from machine work)

I've purchased just about every required part now - I am just waiting to recieve some of them.

it's getting:

Upgraded oil pump drive (fixes an issue they have)
Nismo oil pump
Eagle rods, Wiseco pistons, HKS rings
tomei head oil restrictor (improves oiling - the head gets too much oil stock, starving the crankshaft, and eventually the pickup at high RPM due to all the oil being stuck in the head)
Nismo twin disk clutch,
and dual GT28RS turbos

going to megasquirt it, too.

 

Should make a few ponies eh.

Had it been my skyline, I would have spared no expense, going with a complete top to bottom HKS setup with an F-Con Vpro and of course a set of probably GT 3037's. After all, they built their companies sucess on the success of the skyline.

----------------------

As for the supercar discussion:

I've always imagined a supercar as an almost unatainable (by the middle class worker) automobile. It would have to be somewhat hand crafted, and built for the absolute. The first car that comes to mind when I think of 'Supercar' is the Lamborghini Countach, shortly followed by the Murcielago.


Im sorry to say, as much as I like the GTR. No matter how fast they built it, how exclusive or how expensive (in this case cheap), I just cant see it as a supercar. Im sure in 5 years the streets will be flooded with them, much like the Z06 has done.

 

I agree that a key supercar element is that of unattainability; back in the '90s, the FD, the NSX, and Mk4 Toyota Supra (and to a lesser degree Skyline GT-Rs) were referred to as Japanese supercars in the automotive press - but always with the "Japanese" modifier. And I at least took that to mean they rivaled the performance and styling of cars like the V8 Ferraris and Porsche 911 Turbo's, if not the more exotic V12 Ferraris and Lambos, for example. But they needed that "Japanese" modifier as a caveat that they weren't true supercars - they were too affordable, not quite extreme enough, and (relatively) reliable, and suitable for everyday driving duties.

 

GTR is undoubtley the supercar of Japan. It pretty much always has been. IMO the FD was a far more capable out of the box car.

But the GTR has the same appeal of a Hemi Cuda. Big power, Big car, Big performance.

 

which GTR are you talking about alak?

as far as the HKS thing goes - a fully built HKS skyline costs about $40k to build and gets roughly what I'm building at 1/8 the price. (these days, you pay for the name more than the parts)

stock vs stock, the gtr smashes the FD everywhere but the looks department.
and size wise, it's not much bigger than my FD - I have some pictures of them side by side if you'd like to see.. unless you're talking about the new GTR, because I think they're pretty big.

 

I was talking about GTR in general, like R32, etc.

I think the best GTR is a stock one. It was fine the way they built it. I prefer the R32 myself.


As for the stock vs. stock, your right. But I found the FD was a way better car to drive. Its simply awesome on the track, and for average driving. The GTR seemed more like point and shoot. It goes wherever you point the acellerator. Its not happy unless its wide open. Which theres nothing wrong with, just not my cup of tea.


I still say the FD is a better car.

 

A supercar... well, unattainable is hardly a requirement, as if anyone wants one, they take their time, save, and can eventually get one. They may be old ******* by then but it can be done. A supercar is something elegant, mean, dripping with technology. A price tag does not make a supercar, only limits the experience to people with money, therefore limiting most of the cars to people who want to look good, not drive the hell out of them. Not all end up with that life, but most do. Hollywood comes to mind. Price, to me, reflects the R&D and technology put into the car. The NSX, while not posting the numbers was a supercar. Sure many European vehicles could beat it, but there is a reason it was never really changed, and only had a mild facelift and a slightly larger engine change. It took a long time for alot of manufacturers to catch up. Something I remember from a Sport Compact Car article, "It has the looks to rival a Ferrari(true) and the gumption to walk away from one on the track". Depends on the Ferrari of course, but we're talking Accord driveablity, versus *** kicking, please start today exotic. Match similar numbers ant the NSX is a contender.

The supercars most refer to however, are big heavy machines, and they unfortunatly don't need to be. Are they beautiful, yes of course, but they do not need to be so large. A supercar needs to be engineered to be fast (think McLaren F1), not given a larger motor to make it seem fast, because it grosses over 4000LBs. Think of what the many Lambo's could be with the engines they have and 500-1000LB dropped of the scale. Ferrari has it right, they use carbon fibre and other lightweight materials to keep the performance up, not to make the car sound good on paper.

The new GTR was designed with those Euro exotics in the crosshairs, and the amount of R&D in it and the numbers it puts down, puts it in the realm of supercar. So what if it wasn't designed by Pininfarina. Does it matter that it was made by the Japanese? It matches the criteria for a supercar, and in some cases raises the bar. It has what it takes.

Terrh- Consider getting rod bearings with lead, not the tri-metal ones that come stock, as they have been said to be the reason for those types of failures. The tri-metal does not handle the heat as well as the lead type, and also suffer from oil starvation. Can't remember the rest of the details about that, but I think i said the important stuff.

 

Problem with Ferrari is Ferrari is the more exciting car. Just like comparing anything to ferrari. It can be fast as all hell (see that new Shelby fastest thing whatever in the world), but its the total experience I think. I know I get shivers when I sit in one, especially the 355.

Im a Porsche guy however, so I usually compare things to the wholesome, all around usage nature of the 911. Which is another discussion in itself.



But like I always say, people will find something newer and exciting to look forward to. I mean, Its been along while since anyone has mentioned the 'new' Z06 Vette. And an eternity since the NSX was mentioned.

 

new GT-R is a little nuts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDoJdQXmwu8

 

That's the idea

 

0-60 3.3sec

11.6sec in the 1/4 mile

Geez...

 

really though, that's no faster than an FC with $5k thrown at it...

 

it's a full package though, not just the power.
for the price point, it seems like the new GTR is going to become the best bang for the buck performance car.

 

hey congrats on the Gr3 GTR, thats my favorite style, hands down.
I wish they were easier/cheaper to own in the US, especially since I'm just an hour or so fromt he damned border but you canadians get to have all the damned fun, boo! Our cheapest legal option in NY would be a FullRace R14 240sx setup but with all of that time and effort I'd rather build an LS1 fc/fd/s13/s14 instead.

nice spec sheet for the rebuild, I bet youre stoked to get it back up and running asap. any more pics? what are your plans with the car and will you hit any track events with it? it looks great, was it in good shape other than the motor on its last legs? what are your impressiosn so far and what made you buy it in the first place?

 

Right... except that I could go out to my garage for a little rip knowing that I wouldn't have to pray that it's going to start or worse be out for a drive and have it die somewhere, require appointments with stand alone tuners once a year, etc.

And where is everyone seeing these Z06's? I think I saw around 5 or 6 last year and my commute takes me through some seriously affluent neighbourhoods.

Congrats on the purchase, I'm one of the few that think the R34 is the prettiest of the bunch. Come on Nissan, give me a Z-Tune.

 

the car is in incredible shape. It has less rust than my friend's 07 honda civic. Clean interior too.
It's currently getting a fully built motor, including eagle rods, wiseco pistons, etc...

as far as Z06's go, there's TONS around here... I bet parked within a 5km radius of me there's 10 of them. And I live in a small town (16,000ish), they just happen to be popular here. And I'd think that bang per buck, they're still going to be the king... (except here where they're $20k more, stupid canada... )

 

I bought a rhd fd3s from them as well, really good condition and got an amazing deal on it. the GT-r looks great. I was considering it myself but went with the fd3s.....