I have to say that the Nissan Skyline GTR R34 is one of the best cars ever made for under $100k. It's sleek body, lovely rims, aggressive twin turbo, advanced ATTESA E-TS Pro 4wheel drive, and that little GT-R badge all add to its glory. I was truly saddened when I heard the R34 was coming to an end and even more saddened by the 1999 and 2000 concepts for the R35. However, the legacy of the R34, track, drag, or street, will live on.
Of course, I always hear "What? only 276 hp? thats so lame-ass! My Cheverolet Camaro has 315hp and costed 50k less!" and of course "It's impossible to get one in America, so it doesn't matter. It'll cost too much to ship."
Well first off, It's true 276hp is lame-ass for a car this pricey. But even stock, that's not the real potential of the R34. With a $0.00 dollar modification, about 350hp can be easily attained. How? Replace the ECU with one from a 96 300ZX TT, which you can find in a junkyard.
But what if I dont want to mod my car?
Well, the R34 was practically designed with versitility in mind; basically, it's the ultimate mod vehicle for the more common person (as in, modding McLaren F1s is a little out of most of our leagues). Japanese cars are just amazing at how they can mod to your likings (unfortunately, usually most kids rice out their cars =( ). But the Skyline, yea, now there is a vehicle that has endless possibilities. More simple upgrades and we are in the 400hp+ range. Even more, (like Blitz or something), and with much much less than many other exotic sports cars, approx. 800+HP can be had! 0-60 est. 3.x seconds! Legal too! The illegal, yet extremely fast ones I hear get upto 1400-1800+hp, but that doesn't really count.
It's much like building your own computer. It's the satisfaciton of knowing you did it, put your effort into it, (not just pay big bucks snobbishly) and you have your finished product, able to contest with the top PC's out there, but for half or even a third of the cost. So what if you don't have the name like Ferrari tacked onto your car, just like you dont have Dell on your computer. If you wanted to pay for the Ferrari, you would have done so for different reasons.
Now, as for avaliability, I believe the number of R34 GTR's was about 16,000. About 3500 were sent to the UK and 7 made it inside the US. Atleast those are the numbers since I've last updated this node
But my Dodge Viper is only $150,000 and goes 0-60 in 2.4 with slicks! Your Nissan Skyline is far inferior!
Hmm. A few things. First, the price of a Skyline in the US verses the price of a Viper in Japan. Just think about it for a second. Secondly, I'm sure that with upgrades, the Nissan Skyline in the US can be an incredibly close contestor with the 800TT. Sure, buy a used GTR, ship it for about 25k, buy about 60-70k worth of upgrades, and there we have it. Track would be no contest. Hands down the Skyline. Don't even compare the Viper to the Skyline (or McLaren F1) on the track, that's just disrespectful. (Comparing a souped Skyline to a McLaren is another debate...) So the point is, Japan is still in the supercar running.
Moment of silence for the Honda/Acura NSX ..... Oh how we knew thee, back in 1991; your spirit was wild, the VTEC was roaring, and such a reliable partner....
Anyways, back to the Skyline... "well, I just think all Japanese cars suck."
Well that's good for you. Even though you have been practically and thoroughly disproved, you still attempt your final attack with shallow disses and sometimes swearing. If you are ignorant enough just to say that, you should move onto another node cause I hate wasting my time trying to convince people like you. I will admit, I'm not a big fan of American cars, but there are some I respect. C5 Corvette, HUGE respect. '03 Viper, I respect, but nothing before that. cough, deathmobiles, cough. The old GT40, (yes, a Ford) and even the Mustang Cobra R. And of course, other cars, like German cars I like, expecially the BMW M3 YUMM!
Wrapping up now; no need to fight against the Skyline. It has it's ups and its few lows, but it's such a fine vehicle. I would love to hear other arguments for the best vehicle under $100k. I would pick the Z06 and the BMW M3, any others?
To all those Skyline owners out there and members of the Skyline enthusiasts clubs, I envy you. Keep on driving, feel the heart of the car.
UPDATE: This summer, 07/2004, I talked with some connections and was offered a Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R, right hand drive and everything, shipped to the US for only $20,000. See, it's not too hard to get them, you just gotta know people, hehe. Of course, all R33s have like 150k miles and a rebuilt engine, but it's the nostalgia that counts. Now getting an R34 here for that cheap is another matter....