“New cars” built in 1999

It is no wonder that JAPO Motorsport GmbH selected this vehicle as the demo object to start a new field of activity: with the specialised restoration of Japanese super sports cars the performance specialists from Essen are opening up new markets – with used vehicles in good condition which, after extensive restoration, almost have the feel of new cars. The individual concept of each project enables the construction of absolute rarities.

Let’s get back the vehicle: JAPO Motorsport bought a used Nissan R34 GT-R (constructed in 1999, chassis no. BNR34000500), took it apart down to its basic structure, followed by an extremely complex rebuilding – closely based on the legendary Z-tune model in terms of technology and appearance. The 100 percent restoration of the high performance coupés took 3.5 months, the result being truly breathtaking.

Original Z-tune

Without laying it on thick, original NISMO Z-tune components (front aprons, front mudguards and rear wheel housing) provide the skyline with impressive racing optics. NISMO also offers red rear lights. The expression “Technology made visible” could not be more fitting for anything but the ARC rear diffuser which purists are especially thrilled about due to its edges and naked metal.
Apropos naked metal: the bodywork was completely stripped of paint in the immersion bath, subsequently sealed and painted in the original silver “KY0″, formerly reserved for the Z-tune.

HKS-Bi-Turbo-Power

Without exception, JAPO Motorsport refined the legendary RB26DETT straight six cylinder engine bi-turbo motor with a cylinder capacity of 2.5 litres cylinder capacity using the finest HKS components. To name but a few, two GT RS turbo chargers are now blowing into the cylinders with powerful 1.5 bar boost, sparking off a true hell fire. The intercooler, elbows, half pipe, racing suction and chamber kit, injectors, ignition plugs and cylinder head gaskets are also made by HKS. An HKS Fcon Pro standalone engine management system is responsible for the combustion process. Due to its ARC-4 inch titanium exhaust system, you will already hear the JAPO-Skyline from far. Performance measurement resulted in powerful 523 PS and 597 Nm – on the wheel!

Traction with the gearbox is enabled due to a considerably resilient HKS clutch. JAPO Motorsport treated the switch box as well as the rear axle differential with additional coolers by ARC for optimised stability.

There is no doubt about the HKS Hipermax thread chassis – it has absolute cult status among experts. It is supplemented by an ARC strut mounted between the two front strut pillars, which makes the handling of the coupé even more reliable.

Semi slicks and classy interior

Real NISMO Z-tune 9.5×18 inch five spoke wheels are rotating in the GT-R wheel housing. Once they are heated, the Toyo Proxes R888 semi slicks in 265/35R18 offer an extremely high level of grip which should however not be tested to the limits by inexperienced drivers. The serial braking system of the R34 GT-R is often scolded. However, after the installation of a stoptech brake with 355/35 millimetre discs and four-piston callipers in front as well as 355/32 millimetre discs and two-piston callipers on the rear axle, JAPOS’s “new vehicle” now offers deceleration values to make the passengers’ eyeballs bulge.

The interior is sporty, classy and not purist at all. JAPO Motorsport installed leather/alcantara fittings for the front and back seats, the dashboard, the centre console, door and side panels, the columns, the roof liner as well as the rim of the Sparco steering wheel. The NISMO tachometer unit is scaled up to 320 km/h, the large multifunctional display above the centre console was extensively updated and now even includes a lap timer.

By the way: the vehicle shown, the no. 1 of an edition limited to 20 pieces (just like the grand original) is for sale. For EUR 89,900, which is quite appropriate given the elaborate, new construction, the exclusive Skyline could be yours.

The Eibach Pro-Kit lowers the car by approximately 30mm, bringing the roadster’s centre of gravity closer to terra firma, reducing roll under cornering and endowing the Nissan with an aggressive stance. The Pro-Kit’s trump card is its progressive winding technology that uses a softer part of the spring for everyday driving, yet utilises a much stiffer section under hard cornering, meaning true precision in the turns, balanced with real comfort on the straights.

The springs are pre-fatigued to eliminate sagging before undergoing Eibach’s OEM-quality surface and paint preparation which is backed by a full 5 year warranty and full TUV approval, The kit is priced at £173.04 + VAT.

Owners looking for the ultimate turn-in can also opt for the Pro-Spacer kit, which uses precision machined hub-centring spacers to effect a track increase. Available in a variety of widths to work with both OEM and aftermarket wheels, they make a tangible difference to the car’s point-to-point ability. These are priced from £81.74 + VAT for the 10mm versions.

Of course, there are some enthusiasts who will always want more – and when one of these enthusiasts contacted Switzer about pushing the P800 GTR to the limit, the crew at Switzer Performance got to work developing the car you see here.

“The P800 is already at the limit of what we feel comfortable for the stock GTR transmission,” explains Switzer. “So to go further we really needed to beef up the transmission. We contacted Dodson Motorsports in New Zealand and explained what our goals were with the car – 900 hp, more clutch area, ad smooth shifting at every speed. The new transmission is the product of several months’ co-development between Switzer and Dodson, and is exactly what we needed in order to start pushing the GTR forward beyond 800 hp.”

The next thing Switzer needed to address to keep “pushing the GTR forward” was fuel. “We didn’t want to just deliver a race-gas package that tethered the client to a fuel drum in his garage, but we wanted to be able to turn up the boost, also.” The solution? Readily-available E85.

“In a way, the solution was all around us,” offers Switzer, whose shop is located deep in Ohio’s farm country, surrounded – literally! – by cornfields. “E85 isn’t without its trade-offs. We had to modify the fuel system to handle the fuel and significantly increase the size of the injectors, also, but in the end we had a fuel that gave us everything we needed to crank up the boost on this car and deliver over 900 hp.” The E85 delivered other benefits as well: it is significantly “greener” than the pump-gas and race-gas versions of the GTR. “With most high-horsepower cars, you can barely breathe after just a few dyno runs. With the E85, we were able to run pull after pull to dial in the tune without feeling any effects of the usual emissions. It’s hardly scientific, but there was a noticeable improvement in the air quality in the shop compared to race gas.”

The final product – dubbed the E900 for “Ethanol fuel, 900 hp” – is a fast, capable package that offers linear power delivery and massive midrange torque with superior transient response compared to larger-turbo/race-fuel combinations, while maintaining a bit of environmental responsibility along with its blistering sub-6-second 60-130 mph acceleration.

This first P800 also sports an Amuse carbon fiber aero package, 3-way adjustable suspension, and 20″ BBS wheels that are an inch wider than stock at all four corners. Switzer’s new E85-fueled E900 PKG is available now. Contact Switzer Performance for more.

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His rocket from the Land of the Rising Sun represents real tuning martial arts. Despite the extensive body kit and a massive spoiler on the boot lid, the subtle grey paintwork gives the Nissan also a noble appeal. The Shaft model is distinguished from the regular Dotz Tupac rims by its white paintwork. The contrast with the dark rubber of the giant 255 and 275 Toyo Proxes makes the wheels a real eye-catcher. Additional design stripes and Dotz logo stickers from the Dotz Custom Finish Program make these rims really unique.

Considering the Nissan Silvia, even the basic model is rare in most European countries. In Germany the model was previously distributed under the alternative name 200 SX, but this does not apply to the S15 generation, which was built in Japan only from 1999 to 2002. Therefore, Mehyar had to transport his car from Nippon himself. Although the newer Silvia models are rare, they quickly became “it-cars” in the professional drift scene. Connoisseurs of the alternative way of drive rely on Dotz rims, of course; after all, the brand is doing its best to support the drift scene. Numerous Team Riders have been successful in this sport. Mehyar Daneshmand might also fancy giving it a try in the near future, sliding sideways on his Tupac Shaft. After all, the Silvia has enough power – the turbo version reaches standard values of 250 hp. We guess: Mehyar’s career will soon be on the move – but not on a straight-line!

Despite setting the expectation bar high, the cars didn’t disappoint their new owners on the track – but as their comfort levels with the GTR grew, some of the GTR’s new owners started to realize something that Lotus buyers had known for years: on a racetrack, mass is the enemy.

Mass affects the way a car stops, turns, and accelerates. Less mass is good. Less mass means a driver can get more grip in the corners, more stopping power from the brakes, and – with a superior power/weight ratio – more miles per hour in the straights. More mass, however, is bad. More mass means the tires get overworked, the brakes fade early, and – with more pounds to motivate – fewer miles per hour in the straights. Even fuel economy suffers!

At a portly 3800 lbs., even the most die-hard Skyline fans admit that the R35 GTR has a lot of mass to carry around a track – which motivated one New England GTR owner to contact Ohio-based tuning firm Switzer Performance, and see what Tym Switzer and his crew could do to help Godzilla zig.

“The client had some pretty clear goals with this car.” explains Tym, “This GTR couldn’t be trackday special that would deafen you out on public roads. The client was looking for a car that he and his wife could drive out 2 or 3 hours to the track in reasonable comfort, fill it up with pump gas, set killer times lap after lap after lap, and drive to a nice dinner afterwards without issue. Basically, it’s a race car with climate and cruise controls, and that’s kind of a lot to ask!”

The Switzer crew set to work on the Super Silver 2010 GTR, starting with the company’s proven P800 kit, which replaces the car’s intercoolers, intakes, and turbochargers with Switzer components that bump the GTR-engine to 800 hp and almost 700 lb-ft of torque … but didn’t stop there. “Adding 300 more horsepower the car obviously helped its power-to-weight,” Tym adds, “but more importantly none of the components in our P800 package and our new cooling package, which this car also has, are any heavier than stock. When we built the kit originally we didn’t want to make the car any heavier than it already was, and with this car in particular we wanted to reduce the weight as much as we could, without sacrificing the ‘GT’ aspect of the GTR.”

To that end, Switzer fitted featherweight carbon rotors from AP, which cut a significant amount of unsprung weight (the enemy of handling) and rotating mass (the enemy of acceleration) from each corner of the GTR, while improving fade resistance. Application-specific pads, high-temperature brake fluid (AP), and stainless steel braided brake lines round out the brake package with improved pedal feel and increase stopping power.

Weight was also cut with the addition of a lightweight (ceramic-coated) titanium exhaust system, dry-carbon decklid, and lightweight sports seats from Bride. “We chose these seats because of their adjustability. You can be comfortable, still get to the back seat, and it’s not an extreme one-piece seat that’s not comfortable on the highway. They fit the project goal perfectly.”

Up on the scales, this weekend warrior weighed in at a much-improved 3600 lbs, which is enough to make a significant impact on handling, braking, and straight-line speed.

Further enhancing handling is a fully-adjustable JRZ suspension system, complemented by stiffer adjustable swaybars, an underbody diffuser, and an active-aero wing from Aeromotions, which supplements braking and cornering by constantly varying the wing’s angle of attack.

“This car is really an amazing collaborative effort,” offers Tym. “Everyone involved really came through on this build, and the data we got from JRZ and the brake guys at Stillen who import the AP rotors helped us tie it all together into a coherent package that is at home on the track and in town, too. All we need to do now is get it on the track with the client behind the wheel, and dial it in to his driving style – that’s what’s really important here, that we get it right for him and deliver the ‘track animal’ he ordered. Once he’s comfortable in the car, we’ve got a list of GTR ‘track records’ that we’d like to beat. I think this is the car to do it.”

Switzer’s P800 and upgraded cooling packages are available through Switzer dealers. Contact Switzer Performance for more information.

The plates are equipped with the new GRS (Guided Roller System) which provides even more safety and precision when opening and closing the doors due to its adjustable roller guide.

LSD plates are delivered with a part certificate by the German Technical Control Board which ensures that the LSD gull-wing doors fulfil all security standards.

Compared to other retrofit-sets for gull-wing doors, the LSD plates “made in Germany“ impress with a fully developed technology and the highest-possible quality standard. Moreover, a test laboratory accredited by the Federal German Transport Authority confirmed in a side crash-test that the LSD-solution which is patented in Germany is as safe as any serially fitted door. That means that passenger safety in a side crash is guaranteed according to guideline 96/27/EG by the LSD hinge system. LSD enables an easy and quick assembly without welding or painting works and impresses by its perfect fitting accuracy due to its three-dimensional adjustment.

The LSD plates are fitted to the original door attachment points of the dismantled original plates. After the assembly, the otherwise unchanged original door first opens outwards and then securely guided and damped upwards. Adjustable plates stop doors from opening too far or from falling inwards or downwards when opened. And also, it only takes one grip to close the doors. The LSD gull-wing doors render a sensational look to any car and are the ideal solution of fans of extraordinary tuning- and show cars. The LSD door plates can be obtained directly from LSD or from a specialist dealer.

For more information and the always current application list, please visit www.lsd-doors.com

The VTR rear diffuser and VTR front bumpe give your GTR a track car apperance and performance. The diffuser creates more downforce to help keep the car planted on the road and reduces pressure drag that exists with stock aerodynamics. The complete carbon fiber features aerodynamic diffuser fins with amazing attention to detail. The integrated lip spoiler creates more downforce to help reduce under / over steer and keep the car planted on the road.

Vorsteiner is a leader in premium carbon fiber aerodymanic performance. Vorsteiner carbon products offer the industry leading dry carbon vacuum technology that is commonly used for building lightweight & strong body panels within the Formula 1 and aircraft industry. Vorsteiner’s unique vacuum forming process allows the parts to be up to 60 percent lighter than your stock factory parts for maximum performance and balance.

Each and every Vorsteiner part is fully handcrafted with the utmost attention to detail and quality.

About Vorsteiner
Vorsteiner’s brand and root foundation is built upon building nothing but the absolute highest quality parts for the most discerning clientele. The brand is the embodiment of Vorteiner and its cars, reflecting the aesthetic beauty of technically advanced solutions and the very soul that comes from hands that create purely sensational parts.

Vorsteiner’s vision is quite simple. The company vision is to create the most advanced, innovative quality parts that each and every customer can be proud of. Each and every part must be tested and pass our highly detailed quality control before leaving the Vorsteiner factory.

Using the same 3.7-litre V6 Senner has upped power by 15kW (21hp) from the standard 244kW (331hp) to 259kW (352hp). The engineers did this by installing a new Invidia stainless steel exhaust system with improved air flow and larger tailpipes (101mm diameter). More performance is currently being developed.

Technical changes include a lower suspension system – 50mm up front and 45mm at the rear, adjustable compression damping and an increased track width. The wheels are light alloys measuring 9×20 at the front and 10×20 at the rear. They come in either Racing White or Matt Black Polish. Fitted tyres measure 245/35 R20 and 275/30 R20 respectively.

Senner is currently working on a body kit that consists of carbon fibre accessories, a front apron, a rear apron and a rear spoiler. Stay tuned.

For AVUS PERFORMANCE a Nissan GT-R Black Edition was the basis for a very ambitious project. Besides optical changes they also put the emphasis on more power. A new modified ECU and a special new exhaust pipe (2 cats and the middle silencer have been removed) help the GT-R up to an impressive 580bhp and 700 Nm of torque (stock 485bhp and 588Nm).

Visually you can only imagine the power the GT-R has. The matt black, the lowering via coilovers (stock adjustments for the dampers will be kept) and the black painted 20″ wheels combined with wheel spacers sum up the package. Individually painted parts like the front bumper, the rear diffusor, air vents, tinted windows can be seen when taking a close look.

- matt black foliation – 2.499 Euro

- coilovers – 1.299 Euro

- modified ECU – 1.899 Euro

- exhaust pipe – 998 Euro

- painted 20″ wheels – 999 Euro

- wheel spacers – 349 Euro

A full two inches bigger than the standard 19” wheels, the three-piece wheels make the Nissan look even more aggressive – especially with the optional black-painted forged stars. Cargraphic can, of course, paint the wheels any colour according to the customer’s needs. With its striking five double-spoke design, the “GT” shines in every version and comes with the presence and punch of a heavyweight boxer. But the Nissan still swings around bends on “light feet”, because Cargraphic focuses on lightweight construction in its in-house wheel manufacturing facility that comes with the stamp of quality that goes with “made in Germany”.

The GT has hidden air pockets and a heat-treated, forged alloy star and it takes a full 90 minutes for the special machine to make each one. In addition to the rigid centre star the vehicle tuner counts on highly polished, high quality steel outer rims. These create an attractive contrast and are resistant to brake sparks and high speed impacts.

Manufacture: Three piece alloy-forged star, strengthened alloy inner- rim and high quality steel outside rim

Locking nuts: Fix drilled from 5×108 to 5x 130

Dimensions: Available from 7,0 x 19 inch to 12,0 x 22 inch

Load: 775 kg per wheel

Colour: Silver is standard, individual colours with a surcharge