Monday, January 21, 2013

New Page - NISMO R33 GT-R Catalog

I've added another page - the Nismo R33 Skyline GT-R Street & Motor Sports Parts options catalog. Putting aside the ridiculous Nismo pricing as well as the parts themselves (which I cannot believe were cutting edge at the time - 17 inch wheels, anyone?) there are some pretty interesting parts, such as the combo radiator/oil cooler as well as the oil cooler with a separate water tank (swirl pot).

Also some interesting tidbits such as - that titanium strut tower bar cost only 69,800 yen at the time (!) and also came in an aluminum version; and the assorted motor sports parts they sold (but were not street legal!).

Anyway, check out the page... I may have to see what other catalogs are out there that I haven't posted yet!

3 comments:

Michael said...

Aki,

Given the same selection in tyre choice (which is not the case) I would lean towards the lightest wheel possible for any car.

A 17x9.5 +12 Nismo LM GT4:
http://tougefactory.com/shop/gallery/wheels/wheelweight97/

A 18x9.5 +12 Rays TE37:
http://tougefactory.com/shop/gallery/wheels/wheelweight1/

It would be interesting to see what an 18x9.5 +12 LM GT4 would weigh (I'm guessing just a touch less than the TE37)

What seems to be the most commonly used size amongst Japanese workshop BCNR33s (according to the Hyper Rev BCNR33 edition) is 255/40/17. That said, most are R compound in that size. So if it were a street tyre, a 265 would probably be more suited to the wheel and having said that a 265/40/17 has the least diameter difference compared to stock. However there is next to nothing in tyre choice from my findings.

With the 18x9.5 +12 there's obvioulsy much better tyre selection 265/35/18 and 275/35/18.

But once again, extra wheel, extra tyre, extra weight. I think it's like one of the "R34 N1 turbos vs HKS GTSS turbos" decisions. Many will find it difficult to choose as there's pros and cons of both.

Aki said...

Michael - funny you should mention wheels. I was flipping through some other catalogs I have and found an old Nismo one (their full range, for all Nissan cars). They DID have the LM-GT1s (18 inch only) and the LM-GT2s (17 inch only) in addition to the ones that were in the GT-R Nismo parts catalog. But it seems that 18 inch was cutting edge at the time...

As for the HyperREV BCNR33 edition, this was published in 2001, by which time 18 inch wheels were pretty popular. I just reviewed it and it seems that at least half the cars featured are wearing 18s.

When my car had the standard Brembos, yes I stuck with 255/40/17 as well for semi-slick tires. And they worked very well. I would agree that, with 17s the ride quality is a bit more comfortable, but the TE37s on my car now are in fact lighter than the stock R33 alloys I used earlier.

Finally - with such a heavy car - a brake upgrade is almost inevitable - and for that, you need 18s.

So as you say, pros and cons of both.

I hope to scan in the other Nismo catalog soon, some VERY interesting stuff in there as well!

Thanks for reading AND commenting - appreciate it very much.

Aki

Unknown said...

Again, a great piece of information. Awesome website!