Ever since I moved to US I've been looking to buy a 90s JDM car. Ever since my first visit to Japan in 1999, I've always wanted to own the best cars of the Bubble and post-Bubble era from Japan because back then they were just so much ahead of their times. Just imagine the shock to see someone talk to a magical TV, and the TV announcer tells them which way to go and shows the directions on that TV. That's what voice GPS navigation looked like to a Chinese who could barely afford a color TV and cassette player. There aren't many good JDM importers in the Northeast area and I got the best one near me in NH. Over two months I was able to get my hands on three of my favourite cars of that era: the R32 Skyline GT-R, the Mark II Tourer V JZX90 and the Century V12.
Let me start with what most of you might be interested in: the GT-R. In fact the first car I ever drove was a R32 Skyline sedan with the base RB20E engine. This was before China banned RHD "foreign garbage" cars. So for me it's both familiar and exotic at the same time. We car lovers all have a tendency to view those legacy performance cars with rose-tinted glass, thinking they are driving machines with monstrous performance. The R32 GT-R is not. When we say some car is "raw" today (like the IS500), we underestimate what a true "raw" car is.
The steering is very heavy, because almost the entire engine (almost 270kg/600lbs too) hangs in front of the front axle (later generations solved this issue with much better weight balance). 90s brakes without ABS have very little stopping power, so I think driving it in rain and winter is out of the question. The clutch is very heavy and gear engagement requires a lot of skill to do properly. Driving it smoothly is almost impossible. And the engine, that legendary RB26DETT with 4-digit horsepower potential: it is very laggy, has no torque, and requires constant attention to not drop out of the power band. It's the exact opposite of a modern turbocharged engine with easily accessible torque like B58. And the sound? There isn't any. Remember Japan has one of the most stringent noise regulations so all JDM cars have very muted exhaust. And it has two large turbos harvesting all the exhaust gas to drive the compressor. Many of us forget turbocharged engines are supposed to be quiet, and almost all modern performance cars require fake engine noise generators to make mildly pleasing sounds. Without those they all sound like vacuum cleaner.
In conclusion: if you want to buy a 90s GT-R expecting it to be a good performance car, you would be very disappointed. In fact, you would be better off with a V6 Camry: it has more responsive steering, much stronger braking, and much better overtaking power. Modern technology is so good that even common cars perform much better in the hands of common driver. You have to be very skilled to make an old performance car work and not hurt yourself.
That being said. The R32 is the best looking GT-R among all generations. It feels lean and athletic and has that brutally simple late-80s aesthetic.
The tachometer goes to 10k rpm with red line at 7500. You really want to keep it above 5000rpm to get any meaningful power. It's not like the 2JZ with strong mid-range torque.
Let's not compare the engine to a B58 (or even the 2JZ, 2JZ rules!). You'd be lucky to outrun someone with a B48 or 2GR.
Let me start with what most of you might be interested in: the GT-R. In fact the first car I ever drove was a R32 Skyline sedan with the base RB20E engine. This was before China banned RHD "foreign garbage" cars. So for me it's both familiar and exotic at the same time. We car lovers all have a tendency to view those legacy performance cars with rose-tinted glass, thinking they are driving machines with monstrous performance. The R32 GT-R is not. When we say some car is "raw" today (like the IS500), we underestimate what a true "raw" car is.
The steering is very heavy, because almost the entire engine (almost 270kg/600lbs too) hangs in front of the front axle (later generations solved this issue with much better weight balance). 90s brakes without ABS have very little stopping power, so I think driving it in rain and winter is out of the question. The clutch is very heavy and gear engagement requires a lot of skill to do properly. Driving it smoothly is almost impossible. And the engine, that legendary RB26DETT with 4-digit horsepower potential: it is very laggy, has no torque, and requires constant attention to not drop out of the power band. It's the exact opposite of a modern turbocharged engine with easily accessible torque like B58. And the sound? There isn't any. Remember Japan has one of the most stringent noise regulations so all JDM cars have very muted exhaust. And it has two large turbos harvesting all the exhaust gas to drive the compressor. Many of us forget turbocharged engines are supposed to be quiet, and almost all modern performance cars require fake engine noise generators to make mildly pleasing sounds. Without those they all sound like vacuum cleaner.
In conclusion: if you want to buy a 90s GT-R expecting it to be a good performance car, you would be very disappointed. In fact, you would be better off with a V6 Camry: it has more responsive steering, much stronger braking, and much better overtaking power. Modern technology is so good that even common cars perform much better in the hands of common driver. You have to be very skilled to make an old performance car work and not hurt yourself.
That being said. The R32 is the best looking GT-R among all generations. It feels lean and athletic and has that brutally simple late-80s aesthetic.
The tachometer goes to 10k rpm with red line at 7500. You really want to keep it above 5000rpm to get any meaningful power. It's not like the 2JZ with strong mid-range torque.
Let's not compare the engine to a B58 (or even the 2JZ, 2JZ rules!). You'd be lucky to outrun someone with a B48 or 2GR.