R35 Development Project

[Munro]

That is the coolest mod list I have seen bar none. I have been modding my cars for years,

but this takes the cake. Awesome machine. Cant wait to see it flying. Fantastic photos.

Well done guys. SlipR35...... you are one sick unit. Lets go up in the hills soon.

[sh@un]

Ultimate Metal Silver is def the best colour for R35's. Looks like a real head-kicker of a car with those mods, and all the carbon and the black Volks.

Shame it's illegal for street use with that Sparco wheel (also featuring the current lame flat-bottom trend).

[TheTunersGroup]

It has a very nice steering wheel too with remote mounted shift paddles that looks like this -

It is my current favourite this car

Hi Martin,

We spent quite a bit of time figuring out the right combo of parts to make the paddleshifter and quick release combo all work together on this R35.

The big issue on an R35 with a quick release is ensuring the right combination of parts so that the steering wheel does not sit too close to the driver, and so that the wiring for the paddle shifter is all concealed.

This car runs an MCR Paddle Shifter (which is actually manufactured by Works Bell), with one of our black Works Bell Rapfix II Quick Releases.

Behind the Paddle Shifter sits a black Works Bell Rapfix II Quick Release, fitted with the Works Bell 4 Terminal Insulator Conversion Kit (The standard Rapfix II has 2 electrical contacts).

The 4 Terminal Insulator Conversion Kit allows the paddle shifter to be connected through the quick release, with no messy external wiring, and allows the paddle shifter and steering wheel to be simply removed as one assembly. Note the 4 electrical contacts on the base of the Rapfix II quick release in the photo above.

The yellow flipper is a Works Bell Flipper For Rapfix II Quick Release but the yellow version for JAF & N1 racing regulations. Many classes of racing require that the release mechanism for the quick release is bright yellow, which is why the yellow version was used on this car.

Also note that the car has a special Works Bell short boss for the R35 which compensates for the length of the quick release and helps ensure that the steering wheel does not sit too close to the driver.

Here is a photo of the standard length boss that comes with the MCR Paddle Shifter ...

By contrast, note the short length of the Works Bell short boss for the R35 below, which allows for the length of the quick release ...

The Works Bell short boss for the R35 is just 40mm deep from the steering column.

If we were looking at a setup like this again, rather than the MCR Paddle Shifter we'd likely go with a Works Bell Paddle Shifter NEO Universal (pictured above), which is a racing product that is just 20mm deep. That would allow for the most compact setup. In this cars case the owner of the car already had an MCR Paddle Shifter, which is why the MCR Paddle Shifter was used on this car instead of the Paddle Shifter NEO Universal.

In terms of why the MCR Paddle Shifter looks similar to the Works Bell Paddle Shifter NEO Universal, as it says in this thread about the universal version of the Works Bell Paddleshifter ...

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Wo...er-t240837.html ...

WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE THE MATCHLESS CROWD RACING NISSAN R35 GT-R PADDLE SHIFTER ?

Simple - because the paddleshifter mechanism for the Matchless Crowd Racing (MCR) Skyline Paddleshifter is made by Works Bell.

We asked Works Bell about this and they replied ...

"We developed the Paddle Shifter Neo for Nissan R35 GT-R with MCR (Matchless Crowd Racing).

You can tell this to the customers in Australia because MCR wrote our company name Works Bell as the maker for their Paddle Shifter in the instruction book ...

MCR wanted to develop Paddle Shifter for GT-R with us because we had developed Paddle Shifters for many kinds of cars before."

Like the other modifications on this car, there has been a lot of attention to detail put into the steering setup

To share what we have learned from this car with the SAU community about the required parts to make the quick release / paddle shifter combo all work on the R35, we have an article about the steering setup in this car on our website at ...

http://www.tunersgroup.com/Cars/gtr1.html

It took quite a bit of time to figure out the right combo of parts to make it all work, so we're more than happy to share that info with the SAU community.

- The Tuners Group

[TheTunersGroup]

Shame it's illegal for street use with that Sparco wheel (also featuring the current lame flat-bottom trend).

The car has been built for track work and tarmac rallies.

All the steering modifications are bolt on modifications, so if the owner ever wanted to turn it back into a road car the steering modifications can all be unbolted and reverted to stock.

In terms of the flat bottomed steering wheel, the reason many people use them is not for a trend or cosmetic reason, but because the flat bottom wheel provides more clearance between your legs and the steering wheel, which can be an issue for taller drivers. That's why so many competition cars run D shaped steering wheels, particularly in JGTC, V8 Supercars and the like.

- The Tuners Group

[Martin Donnon]

Thanks for the heads up Tuners Group, however I can tell you we spent many, many hours with the actual parts in our hands, clever experienced people on board, and the wiring, and plenty of our mods making it all come together, because one thing it is not is straight fit. There is some work to be done in that department yet......

[TheTunersGroup]

Hi Martin,

I didn't realise it was you guys who were doing the paddle shifter and quick release fitting - we were expecting a phone call during the install about the wiring connections but didn't hear from you.

I'll stress here that particularly on custom installs like this, the parts are not a "plug and play" kit and are not sold as such. In this case, the paddle shifter was an MCR model, combined with a customised Works Bell quick release, with custom wiring required from the quick release to connect the paddle shifter wiring to the cars electrical system - so like any custom install there is always time required to do a custom install.

We might have been able to save you some of that install time - we have had customers install the Works Bell Paddle Shifters in custom applications on everything from an off road Dakar style rally car to M3 CSL's headed for the Old Nurburgring to a sequential transmission WRX and even a Honda Fit.

Here are a couple of photos of custom installs ...

The photo above shows some custom dust seals that were made to keep dust out of the paddle shifter in the Dakar style Revo which does not have a windscreen ...

http://www.tunersgroup.com/Cars/Revo.html

There is a photo gallery of other custom installs here ... http://www.tunersgroup.com/lightboxes/padd...fter/index.html

I'll give you a call about the wiring connections tomorrow. This is the first R35 to have this custom setup fitted. Great to see you got it installed and working well.

You guys clearly know your stuff - the install looks truly great and is very clean - hats off to you guys on doing a such a great job !

I definitely wasn't trying to take credit for the time you guys spent in custom installation - we simply spent a lot of time on this setup too

- The Tuners Group

[Martin Donnon]

Thanks TunersGroup. I am not sure of your relationship with the car owner, but we had a couple of different hubs and adapters sent to us over a couple of weeks to get this to work plus maybe 20 hours input. I met the owners of Works Bell at PRI in Orlando (USA) in 2008, they actually shared a stall with us directly opposite (International Alley) stall 412, so we had a good grounding et. al. However like you say this probably isnt the best thread to jump in overall, its a whole car build, not just a steering boss thingy - which works fine now

[Luke_ENR34]

So is this car coming out Monday for the time Attack?

[Munro]

I dont think he was ready in time to book a spot. I am sure he is very keen to get out there soon though.

I cant wait to hear it down pit straight.

[Luke_ENR34]

I'm sure Martin wouldn't mind giving up a spot lol.

Awesome car btw and can't wait to see it.

[Munro]

Martin & Keir are taking out their R35, EVOX, & the 9 second R32 GTR with Steve Glenney at the wheel!

Hopefully SlipR35 will drive his GTR out there as well so we can check it out.

[SlipR35]

No can do Munro, forgot it was a public holiday and organised ages ago to have meetings all day with some guys flying in from NZ. Not happy.

[Munro]

Oh well, there will be heaps of track days this summer.

[SlipR35]

Installed the new seats this afternoon and immediately shed 60+kgs from the car (each seat weighs 2.5kgs and is full carbon fibre compared with 30+kgs for the stock items). They are extremely comfortable and provide more bolster than the stock seats. I have them installed at the lowest setting which has given me nearly 2 inches more headroom over stock. I can now comfortably wear my helmet without contacting the roof.

To be installed this month by the guys at Willall:

Craftsquare carbon mirrors

Penske / Stillen suspension

AP Racing / Stillen Carbon Ceramic Matrix brakes with active cooling kit

I'll post up some more pics when these items are installed.

Cheers

Slip

[DRIFTER]

congrats, they look awesome!

[Martin Donnon]

Looks the goods slip!

[handbrake]

Technocraft, nice work slip.

I have been a fan of these seats since first seeing them in the Steve's Lambo

Being that light and yet still comfortable, fantastic.

they look awesome too, I bet even better in the flesh!

[LSX-438]

those seats look awesome. well done.

[SlipR35]

Another pic from the side which gives a better idea of the bolster that the seat provides.

Cheers

Slip

[SRS13]

OMG those seats look fantastic. The entire car looks fantastic.

A brilliant car regardless of what it is used for or how much it costs. If we could, we would too..