When I was reaching legal driving age (18 here) I was rapidly gaining interest into cars.
ENGINE:
rb25det
ENGINE MODS
HKS GT2540 Turbo
HKS down pipe
DEI Turbo blanket
DEI Heat wrapped down pipe
DEI heat wrapped turbo coolant lines
CXracing SS Turbo Manifold
5Zigen Border304 exhaust
Blitz SUS Power Air Filter
Arc intercooler
300ZX Z32 MAF sensor
Chipped ecu rev limiter=8000RPM
Oil catch can
Sard radiator cap
HKS Oil cap
Bronze painted Valve covers
ENGINE MGMT
Greddy Boost warning meter
Greddy EGT temp warning meter
Greddy water temp warning meter
Greddy turbo timer
Apex rev/speed meter
Blitz dual solenoid boost controller
SUSPENSION:
HKS Hipermax – D’ Coilovers
Nismo Strut Tower Bar
EXTERIOR:
400R front bumper
GTR rear pods
GTR spoiler
Carbon fiber spoiler blade
Nismo carbon fiber pillars
Nismo carbon fiber spoiler end caps
Nismo smoked side markers
Axiac Ieon Gold annodized
6000k HID Kit
Shaved Antenna
Smoked indicators
Shaved Antenna
INTERIOR:
Greddy single gauge pod
Momo Race steering wheel
Blue Thunder Racing seat
Nismo shift knob
Razo pedals
2 x JL audio 12″ subs W/fiberglass enclosure
JL 500/1 Mono amp
JL 300/4 amp
Alpine Type R 6.5″ components
Alpine Type R 6×9’s
Monster cable
My first car was a hand-me-down from my dad, a 98/99 Chrysler Stratus (European model). It was quite nice with its leather interior and a V6 but it wasn’t anything too exciting. After its auto transmission bit the dust, I was without a car for about a year after which I got a 2003 Tiburon GT.
I loved that car at the time and I still appreciate its sleek lines and torquey v6. I kept that car for about 2-3 years and had some big plans for it, but I decided that I would move onto a better platform to start out with.
Now, the first R33 skyline I ever saw in person I thought was ugly as hell, but it had a stock body, which to this day I still don’t like. But when I saw what those things could do on the road I started respecting them.When I saw what just a few exterior mods can do to the looks of the car I was in love!
So the combination of a powerful Inline 6 turbo engine and a sweet looking exterior were what made me decide on the skyline. Oh I almost forgot RWD! My next car absolutely had to be RWD as I was never a big fan of FWD.
As I was browsing through the Skylines available on the internet, I decided to focus on vehicles which already had a number of the more expensive and/or basic bolt-on performance upgrades already installed.These requirements consisted of performance upgrades like coilovers, intercooler, exhaust etc. Other than that it had to have some nice exterior mods to round out the package. The visual condition of the exterior didn’t matter much as I was going to give it a fresh paintjob anyway.
At first I was aiming for a silver one with a GTR bodykit and I was planning on painting the body black and painting the rims bronze. But after looking around a bit more I stumbled onto the one I have now. As soon as I saw it, I was in love! It was exactly what I wanted, a diamond in the rough. It had a whole slew of performance upgrades, a nice looking exterior and, to top it off, it was already black with gold rims!!!
As I had said, the condition of the paint was not important as it was getting a new paintjob either way, but since it was already black it made the decision easier.
After the purchase and when the car finally arrived, I discovered many additional parts were installed that had not been documented on the website which made the deal much better! The best surprise was that my turbo had already been replaced with an HKS turbo, the ECU was chipped, the intercooler was a $900 ARC model and the exhaust was a 5zigen model. These were just bonuses on top of others I already knew about like the awesome HKS coilovers, the 60mm Greddy gauges, Momo steering wheel, etc, etc.
After driving the car around for 2 months, it went off to the body shop where it spent almost 6 months to be completed (long story). But after all was said and done, I was very pleased with the results.
The front bumper was fiber glassed and rebuilt where it was all torn up.My GT-R rear pods received a custom fitting and the whole car was repainted a color I chose from an Audi catalog. The name of the color is Schwartzmatic Black which shows a faint pearly shade of gray in certain lighting.
With the paint work complete I was finally able to install the parts I had sitting on my shelves.These parts consisted of a carbon fibre spoiler blade, Nismo carbon fibre spoiler end-caps, Nismo carbon fibre pillars, CXracing SS turbo manifold etc.
The car is still not in a completed state as I’m now waiting on a Greddy twin 60mm gauge pillar pod to arrive so I can finally install my innovate LC1 wideband to monitor my af levels a bit to see what else I can squeeze out of this car.
My future goals are to get a standalone engine management system, possibly a Microtech LT12, bigger injectors, bigger turbo, etc, etc. and to eventually reach the 450-500hp mark. But before all of that I’ll be getting some new tires to get the power to the ground!
So that’s my story for now. Enjoy the pics and thank you for picking my car as this month’s ROTM!!!
