Skyline / Stagea / Rb25 / Rb26 Reliability

[pixel8r]

Hi guys!

I'm a regular on the Stagea section of the forums as thats what I drive, but I wanted to ask a question to all the skyline owners out there.

I'm continually getting told by 2 of my brothers who are Ford fanatics that the Aussie cars, ie Ford falcons are more reliable than the japanese imports because #1 they have a good motor (me starts laughing) and #2 there are loads of fords (and holdens) out there with 300,000 or even 400,000 km's on the clock and still going.

They tell me that skylines/stageas etc just wont last that long. I very much doubt they are right but I thought I'd pose the question and just ask who out there has a skyline or stagea or any RB25 or RB26 powered car that has done more than 300,000 kms?

To me the RB engines and other nissan turbo engines are among the best in the world in their class.

I just thought I'd find out for myself the answer to how long the RB engines will last if treated fairly nicely.

The whole aussie cars vs jap cars thing is a bit like apples and oranges because most import car owners tend to modify their cars a bit, but even so, lets see how reliable they are.

[CruiseLiner]

Hi guys!

I'm a regular on the Stagea section of the forums as thats what I drive, but I wanted to ask a question to all the skyline owners out there.

I'm continually getting told by 2 of my brothers who are Ford fanatics that the Aussie cars, ie Ford falcons are more reliable than the japanese imports because #1 they have a good motor (me starts laughing) and #2 there are loads of fords (and holdens) out there with 300,000 or even 400,000 km's on the clock and still going.

They tell me that skylines/stageas etc just wont last that long. I very much doubt they are right but I thought I'd pose the question and just ask who out there has a skyline or stagea or any RB25 or RB26 powered car that has done more than 300,000 kms?

To me the RB engines and other nissan turbo engines are among the best in the world in their class.

I just thought I'd find out for myself the answer to how long the RB engines will last if treated fairly nicely.

The whole aussie cars vs jap cars thing is a bit like apples and oranges because most import car owners tend to modify their cars a bit, but even so, lets see how reliable they are.

plenty of vl commodores (rb30e and rb30et) engines have done over 500 000km, if not more. i think some skylines have done that much but 99% have wound back speedos to the magical 70 000km mark. i know one gtr in perth that has 270 000km on it and still going well. the small capacity engines need to rev alot more to get around and that wears out bearings and rings alot quicker than a 4L ford or 3.8L holden engine. most rb engines would have had a fairly hard life compared with the aussie company cars which are only autos mainly.

thats my useless 2c worth

[Kinks]

An engine with high specific power won't last as long as a lazy old 4L donk making half the power it rightfully should.

It's a simple case of the candle that burns twice as bright lasts half as long. There are very few well maintained skylines running STOCK power levels. Most people boost them and they wear out faster, simple as that.

[R31Nismoid]

^^ agreed.

No reason a stock motor cant last. Its when you go playing with things that sh|t can go sour

[predator]

I would say most cars out there that read a magical >100,000km have done well over 200,000km anyhow, the owners just don't know it.

[wrxhoon]

I have seen a stockish R33 GTR with 300,000 km on the clock ( who knows if thats genuine). She is still going strong.

Don't expect a 2.6 lt pushing 600-700 hp to last, it wasn't designed for that much power .

I have seen a stock WRX with 450,000 km on the clock, still going strong .

[someonestolecc]

My stock r31 with a rb30e and a probable 200-300k km on the clock still would probably have only marginally less power than a newish 4L pos commo/ford engines.

I mean really..

[hobbsy]

my 98 ford falcon work car has 310,000 kms on the clock, and has never needed any major engine service. you wouldn't get that out of most skylines, even stock, but hell.. its a falcon.. skylines much hotter

[Trooper]

I had an old magna before my line I gave it away at 572,xxx kms because the battery was dead and i didnt want to have to fork out for a new battery so i bought my line instead

[gzzmos]

one of the sdu members over here has a RB20det just done 300,000km

Edited July 31, 2006 by gzzmos

[pixel8r]

Ok so my bro's probably do have a point there.

Just wanted to put the question out there and see what people had to say.

Its not going to make me buy a Ford in any case as there is more to a car than making it safely past 400,000 kms.

Of the cars I've driven, the Nissan imports give a superior ride and driving experience than the equivalent aussie cars, but thats just my personal opinion.

At the risk of sounding arrogant, I'd rather drive my Stagea for 200,000 km's than drive a Ford Falcon Futura wagon for 500,000 kms lol.

I dont plan to do too many mods to the stag, so I do expect it to last a long time, hopefully above 300,000 kms. And I'll tell my bro's when it goes past 400,000 i'll take a photo and send it to them.

[blur]

my gt-r has had 2 sets of turbos on it original engine( i bought it with dead turbos) the avcr was on 1.3 bar wheni got it. the car had done 130k at the time. ive traveled another 20kays, still going strong, still compression tests at 165 with 3 psi variation max,i really believe it will do 200kays with 270kw at the wheels!! i hope i havent jinked myself though.

[JDM33R]

Mates got a Volvo that has 636,000kms on it. If a volvo engine can last that long than surely a RB motor can do over 300,000kms

[boostn0199]

If the rb was left with relatively low mods and used as a daily theres no reason why it will break for a very long time, probably longer than the fords and holdens. All you have to look at is rb30 bottom ends over 20 year old motors with 3-400,000 on them and people still just slap them into there hybrid rb builds and pump out 300-350kw still reliably.

Even rb25 from r33's are now 15-20 years old and still go strong running 300kw plus. Theres no chance youll get a ford or holden engine thats 20years old with some km's on it that will take double its power.

[scotty nm35]

Holy crap, how do you find such old threads, aren't they covered in dust under countless old newspapers?

On topic, there is no reason a stock RB or any engine for that matter, wont last half a million K's if the owner actually maintains it.