1988 Nissan Skyline GXE review from Australia and New Zealand

The odometer stopped working on the way home from the car yard.

The fuel gauge has a mind of its own and will, on occasion, drop to empty. I give it a tap and it will slowly go back up.

The front disc rotors were in poor condition, but upon replacing them with good quality replacements and decent pads, all the squeaks and rattles disappeared.

I bought this car after looking around for something to drive as I was changing jobs and needed transportation.

It was exactly what I wanted and I am so impressed by how well a 19 year old car goes, both straight line and around corners.

It only has 148,000 Kilometres on it, which is pretty low for a car of its age. That is if the odometer hasn't stopped before.

The RB30 engine is smooth and delivers good power all the way to red line. After a good look at the restricted air filter box, I decided to improve the intake by adding a pod filter. I also added a cold air intake pipe that scoops air from beside the number plate in front of the radiator on the passenger side and directs it directly into the front of the filter behind the headlight.

This made a noticeable difference in acceleration and mid range power, but also improved the starting and idle quality. Also, sounds better too. Quite a howl up around 4000RPM.

I then added a 2 1/2 inch sports exhaust from the cat back with a straight through muffler and small resonator. Quick tip, use a VL Commodore cat converter as it has a 2 1/2 inch outlet rather than the 2 1/4 inch Skyline version. I was advised from a well known exhaust shop that the original log style exhaust manifold is pretty good and not worth replacing as the difference between it and tuned length extractors wouldn't be noticeable in anything other than a full blown race engine.

Also, getting the exhaust manifold off without breaking studs is neally impossible. Pain in the bum to drill out and helicoil.

The car really moves now. With a nice rumble at idle that develops into a throaty howl when you give it some stick. It will smoke the bags from standstill on any surface, and is quite tail happy if on the throttle round corners.

A great car, any model would be good to have. The series 3 have an electronic auto transmission which is apparently very expensive to rebuild or replace. I am thinking about converting mine to a manual for a bit more fun, but might wait until the motor gives up and shout myself a RB25DET turbo in the process.