Non-turbo R32's, Any Good As A First Car?

[Rallye]

Hey guys,

I've lately taken a interest in Non turbo R32's. I was originally planning on getting a AE111 as a first car but my price limit is $10 000 and thats really pushing it for that type of car.

I just wanted to know if they are any good as a first cars? Usual things like: Reliability, Insurance, Fuel etc

I searched here on SAU and found a thread saying that they are known as GTS's, though I typed that in the keyword section of Carsales and only GTS-T's came up.

Also in the same thread someone said they are weaker than R33 and R34 NT's beacause it has a 2.0L so it needs high revs to keep it going.

Any owners out there please come forward with past good/bad experiences.

Cheers,

Edited March 5, 2010 by Rallye

[mad082]

yes the r32 only has the rb20 which is a 2.0L whereas the later models get the 2.5L (although there were still some 2.0L versions). to be honest if you are just looking at getting a cheap first car, get a n15 SSS pulsar. it has the SR20 in it and the car is much newer than the r32 (by as much as about 10 years). insurance will be much cheaper as they were sold here by nissan, and parts are also much easier to get.

performance wise it would probably out perform the r32 gts (that is the base model, the gts-t is the turbo version) because even though it puts out fractionally less power and torque (although peak torque is 800rpm lower in the rev range), because the car is much lighter it will still perform well. i have one and it will happily tow my 3.6m boat on the highway and i can even overtake cars easily while towing. in fact one day i was able to pass a landcruising towing a 4.5m boat up a hill in overtaking lanes when he started slowing down due to the steepness of the hill. since you were looking at an ae111 you obviously aren't too fussed about whether the car is fwd or rwd which opens up your options much more.

you will find a tidy SSS pulsar for under $10,000 and there are plenty out there with reasonably low kms.

[timr32gts]

hey i own a r32 gts with rb20de its my first car its fairly good on fuel 410 kms on 3/4 a tank highway kms dunno how much out off full tank fueled up b4 but maybe gettin close 2 500 ... ive only had 1 issue were my fuel pump stopped workin but my car has 218,000kms on it but besides that its been real realiable even tho its a 2 litre engine it has alot more go then you would think it would have around 1000-3000 revs its bit slow but after that it good, i picked it up for 6,300 but so far well worth it..

[-Jimmy-]

I can vouch for NA R32 being a great first car. They are very easy to learn to drive. Mine has the RB25DE.

In regards to insurance, I guess it depends on who you decide to go with, in comparison to other cars its not that much different. My brother's R31 Australian delivered Skyline cost the same as my imported R32.

Reliability wise mechanically, I've replaced the AFM which was no biggie, and I think the coil packs have just started to die now. If you service it regularly and take care of it, it will be fine.

Fuel, well the last tank I got lasted me 450ish until the fuel light came on.

Cops - don't act like a dick and you won't get pulled over, I haven't in the 3.5years I've owned mine.

[Rallye]

@mad082, If I were to buy a Pulsar SSS I would rather buy a AE111 as a alternative FWD. On that note, I would prefer a RWD over FWD though its my first car so it not a big factor. If GTS's are overpriced due to P Plater demand I wouldnt bother for a Non-turbo R32 then. I will keep an eye on the market on how they go (price wise) and will decide from there. Thanks for your info on the performance, its a big help for me.

@timr32gts, Far out, if you bought for $6300 that a hella cheap price. AE111's go above $10 000 which isnt really worth it for medium power and FWD. If its gone past 200 000km's then yeah I'm happy with those figures. Fuel wise I reckon that alright for a car of this sort. I saw that photo of your car on the truck, looks tidy. Even though it couldnt start haha.

@-Jimmy-, Insurance is the only down side but I reckon I can work around it some how. Fuel sounds about the same as timr32gts. Just a question, how much did you get yours for? (If you dont mind me asking, thanks)

Edited March 6, 2010 by Rallye

[timr32gts]

haha yeh that sucked cant help a fuel pump fking up wasnt too bad i got it back 2 days latter all fixed but yeh fuel wise i think its reall good you could get one for like 6 grand that has like 130-150,000kms easy just have a look for carsales for a bit i only bought mine a bit over a month ago so i dont think prices would of changed 2 much

[-Jimmy-]

I paid $9,000 for it, which for some people might sound a little steep but that was 3.5 years ago and it was well worth it in the end. I love my car.

Interior was mint (still is), it had an RB20E from factory so an RB25DE and manual conversion was put in by the previous owner, it had Cusco strut brace, 5 stud conversion, LSD and I could see a lot more potential in the car.

Nice buy on yours Tim

Edited March 6, 2010 by -Jimmy-

[KezR33]

Buy an R33 GTS.

I picked up my manual coupe for 7.5k about 2 years ago. I'm sure it'd be cheaper now. Never had a single problem with it.

[Rallye]

Buy an R33 GTS.

I picked up my manual coupe for 7.5k about 2 years ago. I'm sure it'd be cheaper now. Never had a single problem with it.

Yeah thats the thing, I don't like R33 Skylines.

If it doesnt happen with a R32 I'll likely to just buy a AE111.

[timr32gts]

thanks jimmy yeah my interior is clean as it gets besides the steering wheel its pretty worn im thinking of gettin the leather redone on it the back seats are like no one has even sat on them and the front seats have always had seat covers on because they are just as clean also come with a sound system pioneer head unit 4x 6x9 speakers and a 12 inch kicker sub in the boot with a kicker amp

[Rallye]

Hey Tim you don't mind if you could post some pics of your car? I would like to see the interior and exterior.

Cheers

[KezR33]

Yeah thats the thing, I don't like R33 Skylines.

If it doesnt happen with a R32 I'll likely to just buy a AE111.

Why not? I'll admit they're not the best looking of the three generations, but they're not ugly.

Just get one, they're an awesome car and you'll learn to love it

[Rallye]

Why not? I'll admit they're not the best looking of the three generations, but they're not ugly.

Just get one, they're an awesome car and you'll learn to love it

R33's just dont get to me.

Skylines in general don't, but in the R32 I see light in the end of the tunnel

Heres the only non-turbo R32 two-door on for sale in Australia. It aint a bargain either.

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/privat...&__Qpb=true

Edited March 7, 2010 by Rallye

[Super Drager]

Wow, $8k for an 18 year old NA coupe with 210,000k's.......now i remember why i didn't bother getting an NA skyline, better off buying a turbo and dropping an rb20de in.

[KezR33]

NA R32's are very rare, hence the hefty price tag.

You could buy a GTST and dump and NA engine in it (preferably an RB25!) but it would still be recorded as a GTST and therefore cop bait.

At least its that way in Victoria.

[Mooney]

hey man, i own a r32 gts25, which is a rare model r32 with rb25de, goes alright, bit doey in low revs. but if i were you and keen on a na r32, id be chasing a gts25, wouldnt bother with rb20de's.

[Super Drager]

NA R32's are very rare, hence the hefty price tag.

You could buy a GTST and dump and NA engine in it (preferably an RB25!) but it would still be recorded as a GTST and therefore cop bait.

At least its that way in Victoria.

In NSW its pretty much, no turbo = A-Okay. Doesn't matter if it was removed or DE swapped because the law states you can't drive the car based on Aspiration, not what its registered as.

[mad082]

R33's just dont get to me.

Skylines in general don't, but in the R32 I see light in the end of the tunnel

see for me it's the other way round. the 432 doesn't do much for me. the exterior is so so (looks much better with a gtr front bar and grill on it), but the interior doesn't do anything for me. especially the dash surround. just reminds me too much of a vn commodore.

[-Jimmy-]

Each to their own I guess I love the simplistic and raw feel about the R32.

This is my R32s Interior.

[timr32gts]

dam that looks nice i like the blue lights in the dash and the pics are really good