to rb25 or not to rb25

[Bandit]

hey folks..was thinkin about what someone said in the forums that an RB25det conversion for a 32 Gtst is a great improvement on the car performancewise. It will be more reliabe too since its a later model engine. Also another factor is that I read these forum quite a fair bit and I have read that the RB20's lack torque, will get smoked by 33's, 180's, s14/15, wrx, with similar mods, ect.

Then again, I have also read that an R33 turbo replacement for the rb20 one would be an improvement as well and much cheaper too.

I am really close to going to either J-spec or Prestige to find me an 89 32 model under the 15 year rule due to your helpful advice to not going to a dealership to pay almost 18k for one in crappy condition. So my questions are..

1. I have called autofair here in melb and they are askin for 5k for the rb20 to rb25swap including installation. Are there any other tuning shops in melb where they also supply/trade in rb's and do the installation? and how much would this also cost inc labour.

2. should I just abandon the conversion and just do the r33 turbo swap? if so how much would this cost and would this increase noticeable torque/power?

3. as a cheaper alternative, should I just find me a 32 GTS and have the conversion done? and is the gts gearbox/clutch strong enough for the 25t?

4. Does r32 gts come in M- spec or the m-spec are only for gtst's ?

5. im 28 this year at rating 2. how is insurace going to be with full comp with the conversion? currently paying 1k a year for the corolla.

I know you folks are saying why not get a 33? I wouldnt mind one but I just love the style and poise of the 32's, and with the 25t it would be a great cruiser, with good overall accleration/torque, and a stock looking unstressed engine to boot .

Yeah Yeah I bet u guys are saying why dont u get the car first before you think about these things...well the skyline bug has hit me :headspin:.

thanks guys..any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[paulr33]

1. no idea, you'd probably only want to consider this if you have a spare rb25 sitting around. im sure you could mod the rb20 quite easily to get some more power. ive seen the smaller 2.0 litre det's blow away 33's rb25det's, particulary the sr20det. much more lighter vs 33. i've seen a silvia with an rb20det and it was quite laggy with an engine swap done on it. not sure what mods it had, could have just been a stock rb20det so probably not a good comparision. the guy who had the silvia drove my 33 and was amazed how fast it spooled up vs his rb20det silvia

2. search on the forums here, there are considerable gains from swapping the 33 turbo, not sure how much though

3. converting a gts to a gtst is probably the hard and expensive way of doing it, check out some threads in the N/A forums regarding conversion of N/A to T you need to consider engine compression, injectors, ecu, does the turbo direct bolt on, ecu upgrade, brake upgrade, intercooler addon, and other various bits need for a proper turbo conversion

4. not sure, pretty sure m-spec is gtst

5. insurance for N/A skyline vs Turbo skyline is jack all, there was a recent post in the N/A forum regarding insurance for N/A vs Turbo, the difference was around $300 for the most common models. The main insurance component is cos its an import, the turbo factor only increases it a little

if you want a turbo car but the turbo model, its much easier, cheaper and better for you. also the resale value of a stock turbo model is more than a non turbo converted to turbo

[HKSgtst]

convert to SR20det, like what meggala did. :headspin:

[inark]

5k JUST to swap the engine? plus dont think because an RB25DET is newer it is more reliable... it depends on how that engine has been treated... i bet my RB20DET is probably healthier than a lot of RB25s and vice versa.

seeing as ur buying an 89 model why dont u just buy one thats already modified... theres a few floating around with big turbos on em and FMICs that will kill a high % of cars on the rd including r33s.

u could go one better and go for the neo6 rb25det with low ks but ur looking at about 4k+ for the engine alone unless u can get someone to ship it in for u cheap.

my advise would be to import an 89 (if u had to..) thats already got the gear.

[inark]

another option is to buy one with minor mods like clutch... maybe an fmic and pod and then just hiflow the std turbo, do the injectors, afm and fuel pump and u should be more than happy

[HKSgtst]

why dont you just get a 1989 R32 GTR for less that 25k ?

[inark]

how much in total u looking to spend?

25k? i should be able to get a stock 93 model for 25k

[HKSgtst]

serious ? then how much are 89s ? i usually dont bother simply coz its too damn old

[inark]

14k to 20 depending on the mods and condition.

im the same now i dont really want an 89 model

[predator]

yeah it works out to be about about $21k for a pristine 93 or so GTR as opposed to ~$17k for a 1989. When I worked that out I don't see why all these people running around like their heads cut off to get a 1989, its not like you'll never be able to bring in a 32GTR after the rule change...

[inark]

exactly like me.... which is why i got put off by the 89 fad

[predator]

same with the 32 GTS-T.. don't be sucked into buying an 1989 just for the sake of it unless u can find one underpriced and with stacks of mods.

I been thinking about this also, for my "undecided" future plans which change every 5 mins like everybody else

My rec. is to get an AUTO gts-t... stock as you can find it. Seeing as nobody is after them the demand will be really low.. Just using yahoo as a rough guide, I think you could get a really nice one for around 200,000 yen. The auto's often seem to (well at least look) to be in better condition. If you find a 92 or something year, get it, bring it in under SEVS - the increased costs of compliance will be offset by the newer year, hopefully better condition, and less demand (coz people are stupid and want a 1989 just "cause" geoff says). If its an 1989, maybe something silly like $7k on the road.. maybe SEVS version $10k. Anyhow, then drive it for a bit, see whether u like it or not as is.. THEN.. pick up RB25DET w/ manual box and engine for around $4500 and get it installed.. sell ur old RB20DET for $1200 (plenty of ppl want em). Either way you'll looking at around $14k for a nice R32 with full RB25DET conversion with all the benefits the RB25 has.. and rip lots of people..

I wouldn't worry about condition like people are saying - an RB25 or an RB20 can be equally hacked after that time...but they're pretty strong, how many people do you read on here have a completely blown RB20DET without being stupid? (not many!)

That conversion price looks great and is another option, almost too good! Wanna look into any hidden extras, and the 32 gearbox won't hold up as long as the 33 if they're just keeping that in

[funkymonkey]

i was looking into getting an RB25DET conversion on my car...

other than the engine u also need, all wiring harnesses from both R33 and R32, plus a custom ECU, most preferably a Power FC if you are gettin an RB25 conversion, and other bits n pieces you need to get it to work together. (and no even tho an RB25DE was fitted to a R32 it had a completely different ECU, engine compression etc.) R33 ECU's are not that easily programmable as R32 ones.

All in all, if you're gettin it done all up for 5k that's a bargain, but if you wanna make sure that the car is healthy has great response then u'd be lookin at 4 to 5k just on parts alone.

[R34GTT-R]

why not just try and find one of the last made 32's that come out with rb25 in them?

[Bandit]

yeah I have been curious at the condition of these 1989 models my self, and also wonder if anyone here has purchased one from risbey or craig. Just ike predator - I also have one of those undecided future plans which change every 5 mins :headspin: , even to the point where I was thinking of getting a sprinter and just spend some $$ on that to make it look & go like a jap spec levin.

Paul33: When I was talking about the GTS conversion, what I meant the process of taking out the GTS engine and drop the 25t/other goods in there from a front cut out of a 33.

Inark: I was seriously looking at buying your car at one point ( i think it was you selling )...the black clean looking one you had for sale but didnt have the $$ back then..( and still dont have the $$ right now but close )

funk: yeah thats what I was quoted .. around 5k on the road. This includes them keeping the rb20/ecu, however this price doesnt include the gearbox.

R34Gttr: Sure I could try that..but I doubt there would be any available fer sale..

I also gave craig an email a week ago about 89 models, and he replied that just for a hypothetical budget of 11k and recommended some really nice grade 3.5 1989 model and still have change left over from that as an example of the prices.

one of his quotes were....and Craig if you see this i hope you dont mind me quoting ya

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"There should never be any reliability issues with a skyline as long as you get a

good car to start with, luckily that is exactly what we are good at. If you get something that has been well looked after in Japan then continue to have it serviced properly, then there should be no problems. "

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One reasone why I considered jspec, is that from what I have heard from the people in this forum he is true to his word and trustworthy as a lot of you guys claim, and he also is based here in Melb. So if he is true to the above quote then I guess he is a viable option. what ya guys think?

I really appreciate all your input on this guys

Ok. Im going back to Grand Toursimo 3 and get all my R32's some rims

thanks again for the replies.

[funkymonkey]

R34 GTTR do you read b4 u post? I just mentioned in the post above that the RB25DE (notice no T in the engine) is completely different to the R33 engines, and it has a different ECU, different compression, different harnesses, and most importantly is n/a (and its a bitch to convert to turbo).

Me n Danny (autotrust) on the forums are good amtes of the guys at J-Spec, and we're both getting parts for our cars thru em as we speak.

I guess 5k is OK if they keep your engine etc (they'll probably fit it to a 180sx).

Right now me n the guys at J-spec are tryin to figger out a cheap easy way to get an RB25DET of a highly worked RB20DET into my car atm. I'll let you know what we decide on and how much it ends up costin.

[funkymonkey]

if you wanna spend 2k more you can have my GTS One thing about 89 models is that it lacks a few options that the post 91 models had (like an LSD, better trim, climate control, sports suspension, and they used a different EEPROM chip in the ECU ... which is a must if you wanna remap your stock ECU). They were available to 89 GTRs but not to other models.

[R34GTT-R]

So the last of the 32's didnt come out with rb25det?

[funkymonkey]

nope, they came with RB25DE's and they weren't supposedly as good as the R33 GTS engines.

[meggala]

I have done the sr to r32 conversion and have seriously considered the rb 25 into r32 conversion cost for the rb 25 in to r32 with and rb 25 gear box (much stronger) ould be around 5-6k buying a gts and converting is also a good way of going if the inital purchase price is quite a bit cheaper than the gtst.

I could have an r32 rolling shell in a month or 2 as I'm putting the sr 20 into my cefiro.

let me know if your interested. that would be a good base to use for an engine conversion plus its already here and has reg etc. plus the price wont be stupid

cherrs

meggala