I've sold the G8 a long time ago, to pay for the build of the R33 and for parts for the Supra. I'm pretty happy with the two cars I have now, although each is a little too extreme for a daily driver.
The two cars in my garage currently, that are "mine" (as opposed to being previously mine and then sold):
The Skyline is incredibly rough to daily drive, in addition to being inconvenient because it's RHD. It turns the most heads, obviously - which is a good thing and a bad thing, since I don't exactly want people thinking I want to race them all the time; and it's red, and a Skyline, so police pay more attention to it. Consequently, it doesn't get a lot of mileage except on track days. Ultimately, it's built to be a highway battle and one-mile top speed machine, but I don't want to actually use it that way out of fear of wrecking it.
Picking up and building the Supra was a wise idea. Rather than organizing a lot of the work myself, I had a shop handle a lot of it, and the result that came back is a much more usable street car that's just as much fun to drive as the R33, just less of a "prima donna".
Specs on each:
Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec (BCNR33)
Spoiler: - 1996 / Series 2 car.
- One of the few Motorex imported cars - federally legal, and with as solid provenance as you can get with these kinds of things.
- Was originally Sonic Silver (KP4); has been repainted Nismo Red (AR1)
- Completely stripped down inside and rebuilt, to remove any rust spots or potential problem areas, and to add chassis bracing.
- Right hand drive. It's more authentic that way; and besides, I don't want to cheap out on a conversion with a Maxima dash or some crap like that.
- Front and rear bumpers are Nismo. Lip is a no-name brand; I'm going to replace it with a Nismo one eventually. Sideskirts are Top Secret; eventually these will be Nismo 400R items as well. Fender flares are by Abflug, with some modifications to make them go on cleaner.
- Tarzan G-Box to improve AWD response. I can also put the car in full RWD mode, but it becomes too much of a handful if I do, so I usually don't.
- Full R34 rear subframe, and lots of modernized suspension all around.
- Endless 6-piston brakes with vented rotors.
- Volk TE37s in 19" with Advan Neova tires.
- (Car should have a bolt-in 6-point cage with a removable rear cross bar, but I haven't modeled it yet. Pretend it's in there.)
GT-R Engine
2817cc displacement. 11.4:1 compression.
10,000 RPM rev limiter. I regularly wind it up to 9000 or above when driving hard.
RB26 N1 block. I would like to have started with a Super GT "RRR" block, but I don't know how I could have gotten one.
Nismo 87.0 over-bore
Brian Crower "RB29" 79.0mm stroker crank and connecting rods
CP Pistons
JUN Auto full cylinder head
Unknown spec HKS camshafts, probably discontinued. I would have installed V-Cam, but it was too expensive when I built the engine and would have added a layer of complication I didn't need.
At 4.5bar boost setting and most aggressive tune:
1055BHP @ 5250RPM. (For reference, that's 900 all-wheel horsepower.)
832 ft-lbs of torque @ 5250RPM
At 1.5bar boost setting and a specifically restrictive tune:
581BHP @ 9000RPM. (I don't know why it takes it that long to make power under these conditions.)
322 ft-lbs of torque @ 5500RPM
R34 Getrag gearbox with reinforced gears. Super tall 2.7 final drive ratio, because again, Wangan car.
Theoretically, this car can reach 220MPH. I'll probably never know. All I know is that I've nearly gotten in trouble a few times because I couldn't convert from KM/H on the dashboard to MPH in my head quickly enough, and the car gets to really high speeds at an absolutely scary rate at full power.
Toyota Supra Turbo (JZA80)
Spoiler: - 1997 USDM car. Bought from a single owner.
- Was originally coated in a very faded coat of Alpine Silver Metallic. I had it repainted a shade of Lexus pearl white.
- Abflug front bumper / Bomex skirts / Blitz rear bumper / TRD rear spoiler.
- The Abflug front bumper is temporary while I get the kinks sorted out with a JUN replica bumper.
- Brembo 6-piston brakes with drilled rotors.
- BBS LM 18" wheels with Bridgestone Potenza tires.
Supra Engine
3430cc displacement. 10.0:1 compression.
Apex'i 88mm over-bore kit
Brian Crower 94mm stroker crankshaft and connecting rods
JUN Auto / Cosworth high compression pistons
JUN Auto complete cylinder head
Brian Crower Race camshafts with GReddy cam gears
Twin Garrett GT45 turbos
At 5.0 bar boost and most aggressive map:
867BHP @ 4250RPM
914 ft-lbs torque @ 3750RPM
At 1.0 bar boost and "street" setup map for pump gas:
668BHP @ 5250RPM
547 ft-lbs torque @ 4500RPM
Stock V161 transmission and gears, 3.2 final drive rear end for higher top speed.
As I said, I sold the G8 to pay for the build and running costs of the R33, and to obtain the Supra. The owner happened to absolutely love everything that I had done with it, and didn't do much of anything to it except maintenance. He loaned it to me for the photo shoot. All I know is, I'll miss it.
Pontiac G8 (VE)
Spoiler: - 2008 Pontiac G8 Sedan. Yes, the V6 version. I bought a G8 V6 because prices on GT's and GXP's were too high, and I was planning on swapping the motor and doing other body work anyway. It was originally Liquid Red, and stayed that color the whole time.
- GXP front bumper with faux carbon grille
- GXP rear diffuser
- JHP Senator style rear lip, with Commodore SS wing attached on top of it
- V6 / base model door handles. I didn't like the chrome handles on the G8 GT / GXP anyway.
- LS7 engine swap, mated to an Australian-imported Commodore SS manual transmission. I made sure everything was done as cleanly as possible.
- Borla exhaust.
- Never figured out exactly how much power it made, but it made about 500HP to the wheels. That was good enough for me.
- The guy borrowed the "HOT ROD" plate from one of his old cars, to put onto the G8.
Full image set here.
