2000 Nissan Skyline R34 GTR V-Spec from UK and Ireland - Comments

4th Nov 2002, 11:01

"If you can live with it driving for you, go for it!"

What things have gone wrong with the car?

No faults or breakdowns.

General comments?

Blindingly fast and capable car. Will string a sequence of corners together faster than your brain can process them. It looks superb, it sounds superb, it turns heads, it's comfy, it's faultlessly reliable, and the fuel and insurance bills will have you reaching for the whisky bottle! That, in a nutshell, is Skyline ownership.

I'm glad I owned it, and it's something everyone should drive once, but I must confess I got a bit bored with it. Once the novelty of being able to out-corner almost anything on the road wears off - and admittedly this takes a while - it dawns on you that the Skyline, wonderful as it is, is a just a bit too uninvolving.

As a driver, you just steer it, and tell it how fast to go. It does the rest for you - brilliantly, but for you none the less. I felt a bit surplus to requirements when driving it. I will try to describe a fast corner in a Skyline. Don't brake, switch off your brain, and sling it in. It'll probably just go round. Either that, or you might get a bit of oversteer, but this will correct itself before your brain has even processed what's happening. Even if you're really silly with it, such as bunging it in at ridiculous speeds and jumping on brakes to unsettle it, you might get a lairy four wheel drift for a second or two before you feel the electronics tweaking the diffs, moving power around and dabbing individual brakes to sort out your stupidity. It really is an astonishing bit of kit!

If you think you can live with this, the 18-20mpg average fuel consumption, and insurance quotes with more digits than the number you call to obtain them, get one! Whether you will start to miss being a factor in whether you make it round a corner or not is a personal thing. I did, but you may not. That said, I think I went too far the other way when I sold it and bought a TVR Cerbera 4.5! I swear I lose 10lbs every time I drive it!


27th Jul 2003, 17:04

I drove one myself. It has to be the most amazing car I've ever driven, but after about an hour, I was bored. You can't drive this car - It drives you! Try a Toyota Supra Twin turbo - much more DANGEROUS.


17th Feb 2004, 04:59

I disagree with the last comment. I owned one for 2 years and was never bored of it. When it came time to sell it, I was force to rethink every time I look at it, and thought hard again each time I drove it.

In short, when I did sell the car, it was a very sad departure and was almost brought to tears when I saw the 4 round tail lights, unmistakable of the R34 GTR, zip down the road and disappeared around the corner. If I had a chance to buy it again, I would in a sec. I may have made a mistake selling it, but it all comes down to family priorities I'm afraid.

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