Hey all just a quick introduction. I'm Sam 22 and live in Sydney. I love rare and different cars, I currently own a R33 GTST Sedan (WTF33R plates becuase people see it and go WTF? 4 door Skyline?) that i love to bits but im after a fun change. Ive admired the Z for years, and am tossing up between a Z31 Californian Turbo or a Z32 2+2. Ive loved the Californian body since i was 5years old and a family friend wants to sell his for a really good price, but all my workmates are talking me out of the Cali saying its an old POS thats gonna cost me heaps to run, impossible to get parts, constantly break down, etc. Ive done a bit of work on this particular Z31 and thought it was pretty easy to work on, and i know it'll be pretty reliable. I also love the shape of the Z32, but ive been told they are a prick to work on and not many people want to work on them. Could anyone who has owned or worked on both shed some light, on wether its worth paying the extra for the Z32, and are they really that bad to work on? what are price and availabilty of parts for both like? and with the rarity of the Z31 Californian does anyone think it'll be come a collector car in the next 5-10 years? Also if anyone has owned an R33 could they compare the performance, handling, fuel consumption and overall ownership to both the N/A or TT Z32. Sorry for this long post and i hope to own a Zed soon. Sam - WTF33R
havent owned a z31 so i wont comment on it, but i have driven an r33 with basic bolt on's and i own a 2+2 tt z32, the r33 is comparable to an n/a z32.. it doesnt even come close to the performance or handling of a TT z32, the sheer rush of torque and power from the vg30dett is addictive and you will soon see what i mean by that. as for unreliable, get one thats been maintained and you wont have any problems, i've had 4 years of trouble free ownership so far.
Agree with Mafi... Performance of 33 sedan (with slight boost increase only) in a straight line is ~ stock NA zed (NA zed possibly a tad faster but marginal depending on condition of both), handling of the skyline is behind.
mate... I too like the californian z31.. I saw some nice examples at the Nissan nationals last year.... BUt the z32 is just a much nicer car in my opinion. I have never driven the z31, but I have seen some impressive numbers from some of the turbo models (modified of course)... I also like the R33, and I know trav (mafi-zed) was quick to say that they are slower, but just like the z32, I have seen some R33's out there with some very impressive and scary power figures.... and much to the disgust of this forum, skylines dont handle that bad at all.... infact I have seen Bens (Blipman) R33 around the track, and it does impressive times and leaves many of the z32's for dead. As with everything, its all about how much money you want to spend. I think the z32 and R33 are both great cars, and when setup correctly, very menacing in both looks and performance. Personally, I just think the z32 looks better. But then, I would say that because I own one..
yep your right mark, but ben's has coilovers and other supporting suspension mods (correct me if im wrong), just about any japanese sports car (and others too) can handle great with suspension modifications, and the aftermarket support for the rb25 is pretty good.. but when it comes to bolt on to bolt on performance between the z32 tt and the r33gtst, really the z32 wins hands down.. GTR is another story though.
fair enough.... yeah I think you're right.... Bens car is mostly a track car and it does have some brake and suspension mods... Cheers
Z31 parts are pretty rare and some parts simply can't be had anymore. Ones in good nick are also rare, most are rusted clapped out hunks of junk. 300ZXT's black 2 seater turbo is very nice, I'm sure he will be along shortly.
z31s are getting old. if you can find a nice one you could spend as much as you would on a z32 because they are very rare. you could pick one as cheap as 3g, but it would ned work. i owned a z31, they r great cars, they do need new suspension, hard to find nice one for sale.
Thanks guys, thats quite interesting that the R33 GTST is comparible to the Z32 N/A in performance. I forgot to mention my 33 has Coilovers and FMIC as well. Also to the 2+2 owners out there how useable are the rear seats? and what is the city and highway fuel consumption like both n/a and turbo. The Z31 im looking at is in pretty good nick, no rust, mechanically sound, and has said i could buy it for a pretty good price.
rear seats are rubbish and only good for midgets. even they would complain... if i put my seat up to the grandma driving position (right up to the wheel and can barely move) they're still complaining it's too cramped.
an n/a zed is no where comparable to a gtst, i owned a few r32 gtst's and they were ALOT faster then my n/a zed, my zed does have more torque down low, but thats about it, standard rb20's with a lil boost make 150kw+ @ wheels and in a lighter car also, so to the nub saying an n/a zed is faster blah!! n00bie a TT zed however is a fair bit faster then a gtst, not by alot thought, few tenths in it, after mods though this is where the TT will take the lead, as for handling, i think my r32 gtst's handled better then my zed on the road (zed is very twitchy in the rear, even after installing some pirelli p zero's), in my r32 just had some after market springs only 10mm lower and stiffer and some pedders shocks, but i still love the zed, love the looks and grunt of torque, will love it more when i build my TT engine
I've had mine for six years. Had new rings and bearings done not long after purchase and have run up over 70k of trouble free motoring and it still pulls like a schoolboy with his first copy of penthouse
Nemz, stock for stock the NA Z and R33 GTST are quite close, guess the Skyline a little infront. To be honnest I was quite dissapointed in the first Skyline I drove, got absolutely nothing on a standard TT Z.
Im not bagging you mate, but i think there might be somethig wrong with your rear suspension if it is twitcy. Mine is extremely stable up to ridiculous speeds.
im really tempted to get a TT but im just after a cruiser targa top with reasonable fuel consumption and good handling
lol yeah right.. ask topher he used to dust off r33 gtst's in his n/a zed, r32's are even worse than 33's! 150rwkw for an rb20 is not standard with a little boost.. thats with pretty much all the usual bolt on's and peak boost the stock ceramics can hold, jedi's n/a makes 155rwkw. your average r32 has a cat back pod filter maybe a couple psi and a fmic.. 135rwkw maybe.. and lower diff ratio than an n/a zed.. i see r33's dragging all the time with just basic cat back/pod filter mods and they are so slow to wind out 1st and 2nd.. easily n/a territory. i think it was k-zed that got something crazy like 650km from his tank.. or more.. on average mine gets around 350-450km with boosting often.. im sure i could squeeze 600 from it with fwy cruising. short friends should be ok for short trips.. but really if you care about having comfortable passengers you need to be looking at passenger car's, not sports car's.. if your friends can bare being couped up it's fine.
I havent read any of the other posts in here. But, I have driven a stock TT Z32 and a stock Turbo R33 Gts-t, The gtst was alot quicker. I have also driven mildly modified of each, and the r33 still comes out quicker, both were auto.
