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| Quick Facts: 1995 Nissan Skyline GTR V-Spec |
| Owner |
Mark Levinsen |
Location |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
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Owning the Skyline GTR has always been his dream. For 10 years Mark Levinsen has craved for one. Finally in the year 2000, he bought one. A Skyline R33 GTR V-Spec 1995 model.
When first purchased, the car had done 15000 km. Although five years old, the car had only been used for two and a half years. It came with NISMO three piece magnesium 18 inch wheels and meters; JUN 450 bhp ECU; OS Giken twin plate clutch; Greddy boost controller; Trust downpipes, oil cooler and exhaust system; a full blown Rockford Fosgate Symmetry audio system and other bits and pieces of modified parts. Mark drove it for the first time on the high boost setting and it was fast, very fast, however Mark felt something was amiss.
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Mark then took the car to his local HKS guy to run a full diagnostic. The result showed that the car was turning 385 hp (on a Dynojet dyno) with about 347.2 lbs of torque at 16.24 psi of boost. The air fuel ratio was however lean at high rpm and this caused the engine to sound a bit strained at high revs. The high boost at 16.24 psi bar was also not recommended for the stock ceramic turbos, which could easily shatter with boost of more than 14.5 psi. This had to be corrected.
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This was the point where Mark embarked on his modification journey. The JUN ECU could not be unlocked for remaping. An original R33 ECU was ordered and installed together with the HKS F Con V piggy riding the same time. At the same time, Mark changed the air intake to an HKS Super Flow air intake system. The exhaust system, which was way too loud, was replaced with an HKS Super Dragger system with an HKS High Flow cat. The stock intercooler was also replaced with an HKS GT Intercooler. HKS iridium spark plugs were also used.
After these modifications, the car was retuned. High boost was set at 14.79 psi and remaping was done. The result was 375 hp at 14.79 psi of boost with 318.3 lbs of torque at 4200 rpm on pumped 97octane fuel. The car was excellent. Although the Skyline lost a couple of horses in the process, the engine was working well judging from the smoothness of the engine and the immediate response Mark was getting. Now, the Skyline was reliable on the road and the track.
Mark was very happy with the way the car was set up after retuning was done. It wasn't very long before the Skyline had another problem. On its first track day , the GTR spun on the first lap at a fast corner! Dramatic, but fortunately the car and Mark escaped unscathed. That was the day he discovered that the handling needed improvements. The stock suspension was not doing justice to the 18- inch wheels and the Bridgestone SO2 265/35/18 tires. The car danced going into slow corners and would snap its tail into a power over steer coming out of them. The engine oil temperature also rose to about 248 degrees Fahrenheit after five laps. So back it went to the workshop where Mark fitted the Skyline with an HKS Hiper Damper suspension system and Eibach springs. The ride became firmer although not quite as comfortable as before. With that, the car handled much better on the track and since then he hasn't spun again on the track. To solve the engine oil temperature problem, Mark replaced the Trust oil cooler with an HKS oil cooler front mounted on the right hand. This improved the cooling ability and the oil temperature has not risen beyond 212 degrees Fahrenheit since. At this point in time, Mark also installed an HKS Twin Power ignition to ensure constant voltage of electricity inducing better spark from the plugs. This puts more immediacy in throttle response and smoothens out the high rev power delivery. Problems solved. Time to enjoy the car.
Mark always has big power in mind. He would say that he his greedy when it comes to power. Mark has always set the Ferrari Modena as the benchmark for power. With 375 hp, he had challenged a Modena on the track. Overtaking it on the front straight, Mark however could not shake it away from his tail. This greatly bothered him. Had the driver of the Modena been a better one, he would be trashed! This situation got Mark thinking. More power is needed for the track considering the bulk and weight of the GTR. Around the same time, a friend of his who also owns a GTR was installing an HKS TO4R single turbo in his car. Mark was greatly tempted, not to mention envious.
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He then began gathering opinions from various mechanics, including from auto forums on the net, on the various possibilities to achieve high power from the GTR. At last, Mark settled for a tuning menu provided by a workshop in Singapore called GarageR. They work closely with, among others, HKS and also Top Secret both of Japan. The government duties on high performance parts in Malaysia are also quite high and having his car sent to Singapore saved him at least 30% of the total cost! So, Mark drove the car to Singapore (about 250 miles away from Kuala Lumpur where he lives) and left the car there.
The idea was to achieve 600 hp at the engine without any reliability problems in a car that was going to be a daily driver. This was going to be achieved with the following parts:
| HKS 264 inlet and 272 exhaust cams |
HKS valve kits |
| HKS GT 2540 turbos |
HKS 87mm forged pistons |
| HKS extension kit |
HKS high flow oil pump |
| NISMO bearings |
NISMO high pressure fuel pump |
| Top Secret Competezione ROM |
Top Secret FRP bonnet cover |
| ARC racing radiator |
AP Racing six pot brake kit |
| SARD fuel pressure regulator |
Blitz Dual Solenoid Valve Controller |
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Various other smaller parts are too numerous to list. The work started in July and by late August the car was ready. Mark was lucky because Nagata San, chief of Top Secret happened to come to Singapore to tune a R34 GTR. He took the opportunity to share the cost with the owner of that R34 for him to tune his car. And tune the car he did. The cams set up was optimized for track usage as well as to provide reasonable comfort and response for everyday driving. The set up could, on paper, withstand revving up to 10000 rpm but was limited to 8500 rpm as the crank and rods were not changed. The crank was however fully balanced. The GT 2540 turbos were known for their laggy response and to counter that the head, inlet and outlet manifolds were ported and polished according to Top Secret stage two menu. An external wastegate was not used to minimize noise and HKS actuators, which could withstand 22 psi of boost were used instead. The stock dump valves were retained.
After the tuning, all the data was fed into the Top Secret program and the result was 614 hp at the engine at 22.5 psi of boost. The car was tested on the road at 3 am and promptly clocked 302 kph at 8200 rpm on pumped fuel. Mark took the car back on the 31st August 2001 and drove back to Kuala Lumpur and was very happy with the performance. The car would hit reasonable boost at 3100 rpm and after 4000 rpm not many cars could keep up with him let alone overtake it. Back home, Mark dynoed the Skyline and the result was 525 hp at all four wheels at 21 psi of boost. It makes Mark very happy and proud. It has been over three months now since he took the car and it has been absolutely trouble free. Now, where is the Modena....
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