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Let's start from the very beginning......

2002 BNR34 VSpec II NUR purchased from Zele International in Japan through Powerplay Imports. It was delivered over two years ago. The car was in 5A condition; unmodified except for alarm system; and with less than 8000kms mileage.

Original photos taken at the Zele dealership:

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I decided to pay a premium for the NUR due to its exclusivity (bragging rights); collectable potential and car value retention. At that time, there were only 2-3 known examples of NURs in Australia. My original intention was to keep it stock and original NUR spec; as you will see that idea of keeping it stock was very short lived....

In hindsight, I should have saved the extra dough and bought a VSpec II locally instead. The whole importation process proved to be way too drawn out and involved lots of little hidden costs.

  • Like 2

Frankly the R34 GTR in stock trim is disappointing, even in NUR spec with N1 turbos. The boost is far too conservative to bring the best out of the RB engine.

The ride height is too high and gives the car an awkward stance. The wheels are too inset and tyres are too skinny to fill those lovely wide arches.

Plans were soon set in motion to improve on these shortcomings:

Performance:

Racepace Stage ONE modifications were chosen, consisting of:

Apexi Power FC tuned by the maestro - Ben

Racepace adjustable Cam gears

Racepace spec Exedy heavy duty clutch

Racepace custom 3.5" exhaust and front pipe

HKS strengthened actuators

K&N high flow panel filter in stock air box

This combo yielded just over 315rwKw safely with stock engine internals; injectors; cams and fuel pump.

Just a note of interest - I found choosing the 'right' exhaust the most difficult, simply because there are so many choices available. I seriously considered two other JDM options before settling down for the Racepace one, they were:

Mines Silence Vx Pro Titan II

Nismo Weldina NE-1 - twin front pipe with twin high flow catalytic converters and NE-1 logo laser etched on the gorgeous 115mm single SS outlet. You see how lovingly I am describing this exhaust - I liked it so much that I actually BOUGHT one as well from Yahoo Japan since they were of of production.

I can feel you guys are giving me the 'don't BS me' kind of look, well check out the pics:

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HOWEVER, I never ended up fitting the exhaust, because Ben said very bluntly that I would instantly lose at least 30rwKw. Why was he so certain? Because he has played around with all the major JDM exhaust. So, I sold it to a US buyer on this forum and never recovered the original purchase price. The lesson learnt - never buy anything unless Ben is consulted!

Suspension:

Street orientated Nismo S Tune coilovers;

Spring rate: Fr 6.7/ Rr 6.0

Lower stance: Fr -30/ Rr -20

You can just catch a glimpse of the front external oil reservoir

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Wheels & Tyres:

Rays CE28N 19"X10.5" +22 in gunmetal grey

Hankook Ventus K107 275/30R19

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How she looked:

Front suspension is raised due to uneven ground

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Racepace exhaust looks stock from the rear and sounds quiet, therefore no hassles from the traffic coppers. Yet its very high flow!

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Racepace sticker on the rear windscreen gives an extra 5rwKw

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Stay tuned as the evolution continues......

Picture of Racepace stage one exhaust as requested. This may look like any garden variety aftermarket exhaust, but there are lots of hidden sneaky tricks to make the turbos spool hard and fast.

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This exhaust gives superb high flow without the drone or high decibel common with the JDM varieties. The noise is cool at first, but after a while it gets annoying or until you get defected! Believe me, I have been there and done that with previous rides.

JDM exhausts are undoubtedly well fabricated and aesthetically superior in term of tip design, bore size and fancy burnt titanium finishes, but the rule of thumb is that a high flowing JDM exhaust is invariably noisy and a quiet JDM exhaust is invariably restrictive. That is the reason why Racepace decided to carry out their own R&D and designed their stage one exhaust to address this issue of flow vs noise emission.

  • Like 1

The NUR is without a doubt the finest Skyline I've ever driven. It was at about the same stage as yours at 'stage 1' wielding a bit over 300awkws. I understand why you're doing more though, cause even at that power it felt like the engine had so much more to give... Then I got called a pussy cause apparently 100% throttle throw wasn't pushing it enough :)

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