Chris Wilson

Actually there's surprisingly little, as it's the outer "skin" of a solid bar, in torsion, that does most of the torsional resistance. I have the maths for it somewhere.

On my R33GTS-t the master cylinder had what I believe to be a rear brake pressure limiting valve on the side of it. I converted to twin master cylinders, so never explored exactly what was inside this gizmo, but I suspect a spring and plunger to shut off the rear circuit above a specifice line pressure. If this is seized open it MAY allow enough rear bias to lock up the back tyres, especially if they are poor. As standard all production cars have heavy bias to the FRONT brakes, to stop rear lock up. I suspect it may be rear alignment issue though, I doubt even without the bias valve working the setup would be designed to give so much rear bias, it'll be pretty much failsafe.

Thanks everyone, is there any documented info showing how the stock ecu alters the solenoid state? Based on just RPM, or load based too? On RPM and throttle position, or including AFM feedback, as well? Cheers.

Worth keeping on a car with mild hydraulic cams and GT3040R turbo on a Power FC, soon to be M800? How does it work as stock, just 2 timing positions, or is it pulsed to give a smooth transition? Why does the solenoid change state as soon as the throttle is tickled just off idle position? Does it change again after that, or is this thing purely an emissions device? Thanks!

I am contempating a Borg Warner T5 with dog box internals as a replacement gearbox in my track R33 GTS-t. I have bought an auto bellhousing and am about to borrow a `box to check input shaft lengths, spline sizes, clearances et cetera. I am hoping I can use a simple billet sandwich plate adaptor. has anyone done anything similar? My reason is cost and ratio availability here in the UK. It's also a box that can if future be used in other RWD projects.

TCW76LS Compressor 82mm major, 56mm inducer, 48 Trim Turbine A/R P22 turbine = A/R 0.87

I have an Apexi RX6 single turbo , remote wastegate on my RB25 engine, mild hydraulic cams, 550 injectors, fuel pump, Power FC and bigger AFM. The manifold is cracking (cast iron, too.... ). I have a new HKS single turbo cast iron T3 manifold, and have been offered a GT3040R with .70 A/R and remote wastegate. Will this have similar performance characteristics? Cheers.

Great pics, thanks for sharing! A few observations: Whilst someone posts on the build quality, it may have been awesome back then, but now we have the mega spending of teams like the DTM and WRC cars, ducts are vac moulded in carbon, roll cages are far more complex and efficient, brackets are milled and anodised, the whole shebang is costlier and "prettier". How times, expectancy, and spending have changed! What is the ecu (HUGE....) that they ran? Any detailed pics of engine water cooling mods? Here in the UK some of the best known RB26 tuners take steam pipes from the water gallery pipe that runs parallel with the intake plenum, back to a swirl pot, to take any steam pockets from the head. Hard to see if that's the case in these photos? Whats the header tank in the RH bulkhead corner of the engine bay? The low pressure side of the fuel system, in the boot, looks heavy and complex, is this because everything has a back up in case of failure? Did all the Group A cars run custom suspension links, hubs and uprights? If not, how was rear bump steer, which from my mesurements on a stock R33GTr and GTS-t, dialled out? It appears a lot of toe in on rear roll is engineered into the stock rear suspension, and is proving undesirable to me. Finally, roughly how many proper Group A and JGTC Skylines were built, and although I see quite a few R32's in photos, of course, and some R34's, it seems that the R33 was never represented in such numbers? Do many come up for sale in Oz? Thanks again for posting all this. More very welcome!

Got it now, many thanks

Thanks, but I can't get the link to work, would love to see it, can I grab it from anyone else please? Cheers.

Specifically suspension, subframe, brake and other drivetrain photos and info from the likes of the Gibson Motorsport R32 race cars. Engine mods (and cheats...?) info. Anything from the golden era of Skylines in national and international circuit racing. Thanks.

Specifically suspension, subframe, brake and other drivetrain photos and info from the likes of the Gibson Motorsport R32 race cars. Engine mods (and cheats...?) info. Anything from the golden era of Skylines in national and international circuit racing. Thanks.

Oh how I love people on track days saying I should "buy some coilovers, that cars way too high" then make them eat my dust... The suspension kinematics (the way the arm angles work in conjunction with C of G height, roll centre heights and lateral movement, camber change, et cetera) all go to pot if the car is lowered too much. As SK says, it's way too low for effective work, it's just a show car like that! No offence.

If anyone does want to fit GTR uprights to the rear of a GTS-t the only two"gotchas" are the dust rings for the inner bearings of the uprght, that sit on the inner C/V joints, foul. they can be turned down in diameter, or just removed. Apart from that, the handbrake shoe top posts are slightly different, as are the handbrake backplates. It's dead easy to modthem, even easier to swap the GTS-t ones onto the GTR uprights. The bottom wishbone outer ball joint taper is different in the alloy GTR uprights, a taper adaptor sleeve is used on GTR's, which you need. Sounds complex, but it's all plain sailing! The cassette type rear hub bearings mean you don't even need a press, which is cool for someone used to doing Supra twin tubo rear hub bearings, which are a total PITA even with a 50 tonne floor press.

It's interesting that GTR rear subframe into GTS-t has come up. here's my take on the differences. The R33 GTR has the same length rear suspension arms, top and bottom, and the same HICAS dimensions. BUT the rear driveshafts are longer and the C/V joints bigger, as are the outer C/V stub (splined) shafts, which use bigger ID rear hub bearings. So whilst, using the original driveshafts and hub bearings, you can fit GTR alloy uprights, for weight saving and the ability to use the wider range of off the shelf GTR rear dampers (with the fork type lower mounting), you can't use the stronger GTR rear driveshafts, due to their extra length. The extra width on the rear track of a GTR R33 comes from a wider subframe suspension arm pick up point set up. This is where the wider rear track comes from. Fitting a GTR rear subframe would, I assume, be possible, but I haven't PHYSICALLY tried it, however it would put the wheels outside the stock GTS-t rear body work, demanding, at the very least, extensive rear wheel arch cutting and shutting. I am quite keen to buy an R33 GTR shell to convert to RWD, to get the wider track, and what I suspect is thicker and stiffer materials in some parts of the shell. My GTS-t is now up against the limits of the (VERY) flexible stock shell, and suspension adjustments are not reacting as well as they should due to lack of bodyshell rigidity. I am investigating a decent weld in cage, but given the cost of a good cage and all the shell prep I can't help wondering if the GTR shell is a better one to spend the money on. The car is just for track day fun and need not comply with any race regs, so I can do whatever takes my fancy, with only time and the ever present monetary constraints stopping my ideas

The rear uprights are the castings the hubs run in, that have bushes in and connect to the rear suspension arms. The GTS-t ones are cast iron, the GTR ones are alloy, and have different lower shock mounts cast in to suit GTS-t or GTR rear shocks. I think the HKS ones are total junk, and here in the UK I seel loads that leak, give wildly different readouts on a shock dyno, and are not rebuildable. I believe HKS outsourced most of them, and used lots of different suppliers. I have Eibach triple adjustables on mine, but they are a race damper, and no longer made. I think you should assess if you REALLY need adjustable ride height, and if not, buy Bilsteins, or even buy Bilsteins and have them converted to adjustable platforms and 2.5 inch ID springs. My car is now far removed from stock, so comparisons are pretty meaningless. I believe Sydney Kid is / was doing a group buy on Bilsteins?

Fronts will bolt straight in, the rears have different length and bottom mount type. You CAN fit GTR rears IF you change from the cast iron GTS-t rear uprights to the alloy GTR ones, and change the bearings in them to the GTS-t type. I have done this on mine.

I have bought a Tial 44mm wastegate kit for my single turbo RB25 engine which should make 500 flywheel horsepower 370 Kw). I have an all steel RB26 in build, which I want to put something like a GT4088R on, and hope to make a maximum of 700 BHP (520 Kw) on race fuel. Is this same wastegate big enough, or do I need their 46 mm one? Thanks.

Fabulously detailed reply snipped a bit. Thanks for such a helpful response, your turbo knowledge astounds me, do you work for Garrett or something? I want to avoid HKS hybrids for the simple reason I want to be able to have the turbo made and rebuilt locally, here in the UK, and to know repairs and mods don't mean a long wait or shipping from Japan. As such I am limited to off the shelf Garrett housings and listings. I'd like the spool to become noticeable from about 4500 RPM max. Full boost by 6250 or so, with a rev limit of 8800 max. I don't mind playing with housings so long as they are straight swap, I don't really want to be fabbing new downpipes and stuff to run a different turbine housing. Manifold will initially be a new HKS cast iron, split TO4, remote wastegate one. If that cracks, or I feel it's a limitaion to performance, I'll go tubular, but as I have this, plus a used spare, I'll try it initially. As an aside I have come upon a new GT3040R for my 2.5 DETT engine, which shares the same shell as the RB26 engine will, again to go on an HKS cast manifold, this one the RB25, TO3 bolt patterns type. This engine has mild Apexi hydraulic cams (not sure of spec, they were in the engine when i imported the car). Bottom end is stock, save for rod bolts and a 1.8mm head gasket, ECU is Power FC, RX-7 FD 550cc injectors, bigger fuel pump, bigger AFM on stock intake system. Currently running an Apexi RX-6 IHI turbo. Compressor has 82 mm major, 48 mm inducer, A/R is 0.98 Would you care to suggest how the GT3040R family will compare? The Apexi manifold has cracked, so a manifold change really needs a turbo change, because of the unusual IHI flange pattern, hence the Garrett 3040... Cheers, I have been searching on your posts, a mine of info, but a lot of it is a bit over my head Thanks again.

Considering a GT4088R single on my 2.6 engine with Tomei 280 degree cams and mild head job, all steel / forged internals and 8.5 to 1 CR, on Motec management, stock type GTR intake and plenum. Would one of this family be a good choice? A/R size recommendations? Car is R33 GTS-t for track day use only, with some weight reduction carried out. Thanks

Thanks for that, much appreciated.

Thanks for the speedy reply! Are they available in both 1.5 and 2 way? Any idea if the ramp angles are available in alternative configurations for 1.5 way? Cheers.

I have done a search and found some posts by SK, but I am unsure if the ride heights he speaks of are recommended minimum or stock, so does anyone have bog stock ride heights for an R33 GTS-t, measuring from wheel centreline to top of wheelarch, or other stated reference points? Thanks.

How much preload variation can you get on this? Does it use the stock inner C/V joints / stub axles? Can you get alternative ramp angles for it? Was thinking of getting one of those! Cheers

I have taken pics of GTS-t rods next to GTR rods, they are at: ftp://ftp.chriswilson.tv/rods My ADSL connection has been playing up, you may have to persevere. The GTR ones have a much heftier beam section