1990 Nissan Skyline GT-R

This 1990 Nissan Skyline GT-R is finished in silver over a gray cloth interior, and power comes from a twin-turbocharged 2.6-liter inline-six paired with a five-speed manual transmission and all-wheel drive. Equipment includes black 18″ NISMO wheels, four-wheel anti-lock brakes, and HICAS rear-wheel steering, while modifications include an HKS twin-turbocharger kit, a Haltech engine-management system, a Tomei titanium exhaust, an aftermarket front-mounted intercooler with 3.5″ piping, a Koyorad aluminum radiator, Audi R8–sourced ignition coils, NISMO-style aerodynamic bodywork, a Seibon carbon-fiber hood, and auxiliary gauges.

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The car was originally ordered in Jet Silver Metallic (KG1) and features NISMO-style aerodynamic bodywork, and a Seibon carbon-fiber hood. Black 18″ NISMO LMGT4 wheels are mounted with 245/40 Toyo Proxes 4 Plus tires. HICAS four-wheel steering and four-wheel anti-lock brakes were standard on the GT-R. Other equipment includes front and rear shock-tower braces and yellow-finished brake calipers.

The right-hand-drive cabin features bolstered seating trimmed in gray cloth with matching door-panel inserts. Additional features include a Tomei shift knob, an HKS turbo timer, and an aftermarket head unit.

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A three-spoke Momo steering wheel frames instrumentation that includes a 320-km/h speedometer, a 10k-rpm tachometer, and auxiliary gauges. Additional gauges are mounted in front of the factory HVAC panel. The six-digit mechanical odometer indicates 136k kilometers (~85k miles).

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The twin-turbocharged 2.6L RB26DETT inline-six features an HKS twin-turbo kit, a front-mounted intercooler with 3.5″ piping, Haltech engine management, Audi R8 ignition coils, a Tomei titanium exhaust system, and a Koyorad aluminum radiator.

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Power is sent to all four wheels through a five-speed manual transmission.

 

"Nobody's got to sell you on why you ought to want Nissan's Skyline GT-R. What began as a performance-based spinoff of a luxury car made by a manufacturer you've never even heard of later culminated into the twin-turbo, all-wheel drive R32 GT-R produced from '89 to '94 that boy racer fantasies are made of and that much of today's import-tuning landscape owes a debt to. It's a car that dominated the Japanese Touring Car Championship (JTCC), claimed numerous victories in Australia, and that, some three decades later, you've got a shot at owning.

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You already know that the R32 GT-R's powered by the almighty RB26DETT engine and that it's got an AWD layout. That is, in part, why you need one. For Nissan, FIA homologation was always a consideration when developing this engine, which means it was built with a purpose—to go racing. Nissan will tell you that the 2.6L, twin-cam, inline-six is good for a maximum of 276 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque, but history's revealed that those figures are nothing short of conservative. The RB26DETT is based off of things like a nearly indestructible cast-iron block, parallel-mounted twin turbos, and individual throttle bodies. Together, they make up a recipe that stinks of '90s supercars and that today's automotive manufacturers with their dinky hybrids and belt-driven transmissions have all but forgotten about.

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It's the AWD layout that makes the GT-R a GT-R, though. The longitudinally mounted engine up front bolts up to what you think looks like a regular, old RWD transmission that allows it to behave more like something powered by its hind end until you let things get squirrelly. Nissan does all of this with ATTESA E-TS (Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All-Terrain, Electronic Torque Split), a system based off of that RWD-style gearbox that drives the rear differential through a standard tailshaft. At the end of the transmission sits the AWD transfer case where a short driveshaft travels back to the front wheels through another differential. Inside the transfer case a multi-plate clutch pack distributes torque. Information like G-force, throttle position, and individual wheel speed is fed into the computer. If traction's lost, the clutches intervene, engaging and splitting torque up evenly. It's sophisticated, it's elegant, and you want it."

-MOTORTREND