Godzilla Lives - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the Nissan R32 Skyline GT-R
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BACKGROUND
When Nissan released the R32 Skyline during the summer of 1989, it also revived the range-topping GT-R (Gran Turismo Racer).
The GT-R moniker had first appeared back in late 1968 when it graced the PGC-10 Skyline 2000 GT-R, a four-door Sedan created to pave the way for Nissan to use the most extreme platform possible in Japanese Touring Car racing.
Having crushed the opposition during the 1969 and ‘70 seasons, the PGC-10 was replaced with the two-door KPGC-10 for 1971 and ‘72. Similarly dominant, the KPGC-10 continued its predecessor’s remarkable success and, by the time Nissan quit Touring Car racing in late ‘72, the GT-Rs had won a combined 52 consecutive races.
For the 1973 model year, the third generation C10 Skyline was replaced with the restyled fourth generation C110 variant. Once again, a GT-R was offered (the KPGC-110), but the combined effect of no motor sport programme and poor trading conditions meant the KPGC-10 was a commercial flop.
16 years later, the GT-R returned to spearhead Nissan’s attack on the enormously popular Group A Touring Car scene which, at the time, was dominated by Ford’s Sierra RS Cosworth and the BMW E30 M3.
To qualify for Group A, a manufacturer first had to build 5000 copies of the base car within a twelve month timeframe. From the point of homologation and then every twelve months thereafter, further enhanced Evolution variants could be created to usher in even more extreme equipment, so long as an additional 500 copies were produced every time.
The R32 Skyline GT-R was conceived to qualify for the premier 4.5-litre Group A class and bristled with state-of-the-art equipment. At its heart was a twin turbocharged straight six engine which put its prodigious output down through advanced four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering systems. Kitted out with all kinds of next generation electronics, the GT-R came to symbolise the emergence of Japanese manufacturers as world class builders of ultra high performance sports cars.
Production of the R32 GT-R started on August 24th 1989 and Nissan’s Group A application was approved on March 1st 1990. At this point, Nissan also homologated its Evolution variant, the GT-R Nismo (RA).
Initially, the R32 GT-R was offered exclusively in Japan where it proved a massive hit. Demand was sufficient that, having originally expected to build just the 5000 cars required for homologation, Nissan decided to keep the model in production.
CHASSIS
Each R32 GT-R was based around a two-door E-BNR32 unitary steel chassis with a 2615mm wheelbase and 72-litre fuel tank located in the trunk floor.
Suspension was independent all round. At the front, Nissan used double wishbones with a third link at the outer end of the upper wishbone. A multi-link arrangement was used at the rear. Stiffer than normal GTR-specific coil spring / damper units were installed at each corner along with an anti-roll bar at either end.
A sophisticated four-wheel steering system was called Super HICAS (High Capacity Actively Controlled Steering). It allowed the rear wheels to steer a maximum of one degree making the car feel more nimble and improving stability. The rear wheels could turn in either the same or opposite direction to the fronts which also assisted low speed manoeuvrability.
Ventilated brake discs measured 297mm at the front and 296mm at the rear. They came with four and two-piston calipers respectively.
The 8 x 16-inch five spoke forged alloy wheels with a Gunmetal finish originally came shod with 225/50 R16 Bridgestone Potenza tyres.
ENGINE / TRANSMISSION
The longitudinally mounted straight six engine was developed at Nissan Kohki (Nissan’s power train engineering and manufacturing facility).
A twin turbocharged 2.4-litre version of the RB25 engine was originally considered. With the 1.7 Group A multiplier for turbocharged engines, this would have put the car in the four-litre class with a 10-inch wide wheel limit. However, the 100kg weight of the four-wheel drive system meant the GT-R would have been at a disadvantage to other cars in its class.
Nissan therefore opted for a 2.6-litre displacement and put the GT-R in the top flight 4.5-litre class where 11-inch wide tyres were permitted.
A new cast-iron engine block with light alloy four-valve head was developed to suit the increased capacity.
Designated RB26DETT, this engine displaced 2568cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 86mm and 73.7mm respectively.
It had dual overhead camshafts and ran wet-sump lubrication.
Two Garrett T28 ceramic turbochargers were installed along with an air-to-air intercooler. The ceramic route was taken as it offered better heat resistance than standard steel turbo rotors. Boost pressure was 0.7 bar.
Compression was 8.5:1 and a custom multipoint fuel-injection system was developed.
At the time, Japanese manufacturers had a gentleman’s agreement that limited engines to 276bhp in order to avoid a horsepower war. The R32 GT-R officially developed 276bhp at 6800rpm. However, the true horsepower rating was 313bhp at 6800rpm.
Peak torque was 260lb-ft at 4400rpm.
Transmission was via the existing ATTESSA E-TS permanent four-wheel drive system, a five-speed manual gearbox, multi-plate hydraulic clutch and limited-slip differential.
Nissan developed the ATTESSA E-TS torque-sensitive electronic four-wheel drive system specially for the R32 GT-R. An acronym for Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All Terrain – Electronic, the ATTESSA E-TS system used a microprocessor to sense lateral G, throttle opening and engine speed. Upon sensing oversteer or broken traction at the rear, it sent torque the rear wheels couldn’t handle up to the front axle. This data was also fed to the anti-lock brake system (ABS) which measured wheel speed and longitudinal G force.
BODYWORK
Whereas the R31 Skyline had been characterised by sharp, angular lines typical of early 1980s design language, the R32 transitioned to a softer, more compact shape. At the front was a slender, air-piercing nose with slim projector headlight assemblies and smoother bumper integration. The R32’s back end was most famous for its iconic quad tail lights and shortened, sloping tail that further improved air flow.
Visually, the GT-R was given a number of enhancements over standard R32 Skylines.
The front bumper was redesigned. It housed a deep front spoiler, brake cooling ducts and an enlarged intake for the radiator.
Another intake was located between the new ellipsoidal headlights. The shorter bonnet (like the front fenders) was now formed in lightweight aluminium.
Body coloured side skirts were installed along with a bigger rear spoiler.
The bumpers, side skirts and rear spoiler were a mix of polypropylene and fibreglass. Everything else was steel.
Five exterior colours were initially offered: Gun Grey Metallic, Jet Silver Metallic, Black Pearl Metallic, Dark Blue Pearl Metallic (all with grey-tinted glass) and Red Pearl Metallic (with bronze-tinted glass).
INTERIOR
Changes were also made to the interior, but like most Japanese cars of this era, there was an abundance of hard plastic in the cockpit.
Special GT-R equipment included high-backed sports seats trimmed in dark grey fabric, a three-spoke leather-rimmed steering wheel and matching leather gear knob.
The main instrument binnacle housed large analogue read outs for road and engine speed. To the right were smaller gauges for oil pressure and water temperature. To the left was a small fuel level indicator and a torque split gauge that showed how much power was being sent to the front diff.
A bank of three extra gauges were located on the centre console: an ammeter, oil temperature gauge and boost read out.
Air-conditioning was standard along with electric windows and a four-speaker audio system.
OPTIONS
Greyish Blue Pearl Metallic was offered as a special order option (with grey-tinted glass).
There was also a Cold-Climate Package with a larger capacity battery, heavy-duty battery tray, heated exterior mirrors and a trunk liner.
To save weight, customers could request deletion of the audio system, air-conditioning and electric exterior mirrors.
WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE
The R32 GT-R weighed in at 1430kg and had its top speed artificially limited to 112mph (180kph). Its true top speed was 165mph. 0-62mph took 5.6 seconds.
For comparison, the next hottest all-wheel drive R32 (the GTS-4 Coupe which featured a 212bhp single overhead cam two-litre straight six) tipped the scales at 1390kg, had a 144mph top speed and 0-62mph time of 6.6 seconds.
R32 SKYLINE GT-R NISMO (RA) & NISMO N1 (ZN)
In December 1989, Nissan started production of its R32 GT-R-based Group A Evolution special: the Nismo (RA). Launched on February 22nd 1990, these cars (covered in detail separately) featured an array of aero, mechanical and weight reduction changes to pave the way for the most effective Group A racing version.
560 were built between December ‘89 and March 1990, the 60 extra units having been earmarked for racing.
In July 1991, the Nismo N1 (ZN) was released. Aimed at Japanese customers that wanted to go racing in the domestic N1 category, the N1 (ZN) version was suitably uprated over the basic Nismo version but still fully road legal.
245 N1 versions were built in total over the next three years. This figure comprised 118 units in ‘standard’ N1 trim, 64 in V-spec trim and 63 in V-spec II trim.
PRODUCTION CHANGES
In August 1991, Nissan made a series of changes were made to the GT-R.
Side impact protection bars were added that resulted in a 50kg weight gain. The headlight projectors were also modified, the oil pump drive was widened and the cylinder head was modified to reduce weight and increase strength.
New exterior colours offered included Crystal White and Spark Silver Metallic (the latter of which replaced Jet Silver Metallic).
AUSTRALIAN VERSION
Having contested a handful of Australian Touring Car Championship races with works GT-Rs during 1990, Nissan undertook a full campaign for the 1991 season.
To capitalise, between April and June of 1991, 100 GT-Rs were built for the Aussie market.
These export cars came with a host of minor modifications to include different lights, badges, instrumentation, switchgear, upholstery and wiring. However, no major alterations were made to the base specification.
R32 SKYLINE GT-R V-SPEC
To celebrate the GT-R’s success in competition, a V-spec package was made available from January 3rd 1993.
Bigger brake discs were added (324mm front and 300mm rear) along with a bigger brake master cylinder, uprated Brembo calipers and 17-inch BBS wheels.
R32 SKYLINE GT-R V-SPEC II
On February 14th 1994, the original V-spec was replaced by the V-spec II package.
Nissan added a retuned ATTESA E-TS system and wider tyres (245/45 R17 instead of 225/45 R17).
END OF PRODUCTION
R32 Skyline GT-R production ran from August 1989 to November 1994 by which time a total of 43,937 cars had been completed, all of which were right-hand drive.
This figure comprised 40,430 copies of the base GT-R to include 100 export units for Australia.
In addition, a further 1396 base cars were built to V-spec trim and 1306 to V-spec II trim.
The remaining 805 cars were completed in Nismo trim (560 built) and Nismo N1 trim (245 built).
A replacement, the R33-based Skyline GT-R, arrived in 1995.
COMPETITION HISTORY – GROUP A
Over the course of four seasons between 1990 and 1993, the R32 Skyline GT-R had a spectacular run of success on Group A Touring Car racing. It was in fact so utterly dominant that, within a few years, most championship organisers switched to a new regularity framework in order to make the GT-R obsolete.
Perhaps most famously, the R32 GT-R took pole and won every single race in the 190 through ‘93 Japanese Touring Car Championships. Outise of Japan, the model also won the 1991 and ‘92 Australian Touring Car Championships plus the standalone Bathurst 1000km in 1991 and that year’s Spa 24 Hours.
COMPETITION HISTORY – GT1
In anticipation of the Japanese Automobile Federation’s decision to adopt Super Touring regulations for the 1994 JTCC (effectively outlawing the GT-R), Nissan embarked on a GT1 programme with the R32 that ultimately yielded the ‘93 and ‘94 Japanese GT Championship titles. Using a combination of GT1 class R32s and R33s, the firm also won in 1995 and was only dethroned when McLaren arrived for a works-backed attack on the 1996 series with its F1 GTR.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Nissan - https://www.nissan-global.com
