I am completely new to cars. Sup!

[CarNoob]

Hi everyone. I’m 20 and from NZ Auckland. I recently purchased a Skyline R33 gts just a week ago and I know f**k all about cars. This is my first manual transmission so some driving tips would be helpful as well. I Would like to get into cars as my passion has grown quite rapidly with the new purchase of my skyline. This car is completely stock with the rb20e (I think it is) and Has only been modded with aftermarket wheels. I would like to gain a substantial amount of knowledge starting from the basics of learning each part of a car both internally and externally and if you live in Auckland NZ and wanna help me build this thing and work on this project together or even show me how to drive this thing properly, just message me! Any starting points to start learning about cars? That would be great.

Cheers 

 

 

 

Edited March 11, 2020 by CarNoob

[KiwiRS4T]

OK you need to meet up with some other Skyliners. I don't know if they are still having regular meets but a good place to start is at Joes Mechanical Services. Joe knows most everything there is to know about RBs and most Nissans for that matter and you are likely to run into other owners at his workshop.

You'll find details on his website

https://joesmechanical.co.nz/

[CarNoob]

5 minutes ago, KiwiRS4T said:

OK you need to meet up with some other Skyliners. I don't know if they are still having regular meets but a good place to start is at Joes Mechanical Services. Joe knows most everything there is to know about RBs and most Nissans for that matter and you are likely to run into other owners at his workshop.

You'll find details on his website

https://joesmechanical.co.nz/

Thanks for that bro! Not to far aswell 

[samw/skyline]

Welcome man and sweet ride!

Fairly new to the skyline scene myself and learning, but learned to drive in a manual car. There's a lot that can be said about driving manual, but everyone i know does it different. However, there are a few universal truths. Don't ride the clutch! Find where yours catches and build that muscle memory! Don't sit in too low of a gear and give your car too much gas! etc, etc, etc.

Pretty much always start in 1st (duh),. Personally i cheat and use 2nd on slight downhills or if I have small momentum, but 1st is usually best. When on a hill, especially a steep one, some people use their e-brake to hold their car while they get it in gear, and then release it as the clutch catches, This way you don't roll into the person behind you. My dad taught me to just keep my foot on the brake and once i know I'm about to go I let the clutch out till it starts to catch and then release the brake and add gas, then proceed as usual. Has the same effect. You can practice this on small hills. Just hold your brake and clutch in, then slowly let out clutch till you feel it catch (revs drop also). When you let off the brake your car shouldn't roll back if you've done it right or maybe even creep forward. But don't stay on clutch for too long or you'll cause unnecessary wear. 

Have confidence too, don't be afraid to use your gas pedal and let the clutch out quickly *if you know the catch point*. Too little gas will stall a car more often than too much gas. And ALWAYS be ready to mash your clutch pedal to the ground if you feel a stall coming, wrong gear shift, sudden stop, etc. this will spare you having to turn your car over again in traffic and maybe even save your engine, your trans, or your life. Watch videos on youtube also, get some visuals, and practice in empty lots. Watch Engineering Explained's video on youtube of 5 Things not to do in a manual car and in a turbo car! 

Hope I gave some usefull info! Welcome to the club!

Sam

 

[samw/skyline]

Also, read the newbie thread started right before yours. Will give you a good idea of how this thread can be sometimes, but don't be discouraged! Cheers!

[CarNoob]

19 minutes ago, samw/skyline said:

Welcome man and sweet ride!

Fairly new to the skyline scene myself and learning, but learned to drive in a manual car. There's a lot that can be said about driving manual, but everyone i know does it different. However, there are a few universal truths. Don't ride the clutch! Find where yours catches and build that muscle memory! Don't sit in too low of a gear and give your car too much gas! etc, etc, etc.

Pretty much always start in 1st (duh),. Personally i cheat and use 2nd on slight downhills or if I have small momentum, but 1st is usually best. When on a hill, especially a steep one, some people use their e-brake to hold their car while they get it in gear, and then release it as the clutch catches, This way you don't roll into the person behind you. My dad taught me to just keep my foot on the brake and once i know I'm about to go I let the clutch out till it starts to catch and then release the brake and add gas, then proceed as usual. Has the same effect. You can practice this on small hills. Just hold your brake and clutch in, then slowly let out clutch till you feel it catch (revs drop also). When you let off the brake your car shouldn't roll back if you've done it right or maybe even creep forward. But don't stay on clutch for too long or you'll cause unnecessary wear. 

Have confidence too, don't be afraid to use your gas pedal and let the clutch out quickly *if you know the catch point*. Too little gas will stall a car more often than too much gas. And ALWAYS be ready to mash your clutch pedal to the ground if you feel a stall coming, wrong gear shift, sudden stop, etc. this will spare you having to turn your car over again in traffic and maybe even save your engine, your trans, or your life. Watch videos on youtube also, get some visuals, and practice in empty lots. Watch Engineering Explained's video on youtube of 5 Things not to do in a manual car and in a turbo car! 

Hope I gave some usefull info! Welcome to the club!

Sam

 

Thanks Sam for the awesome advice. I was really confident with my clutch until yesterday where I stalled at a set of lights. Now confidence just gone out the door ? guess we have our days haha

[samw/skyline]

Lol it'll happen man. Even after years of driving it'll still happen once in a blue moon, not matter who you are haha

 

[GTSBoy]

Welcome.

i will modify Sam's advice a little. Your R33 has the smallest and least torquey engine possible to get in an R33. It will be naturally very easy to stall, so don't be afraid to use a few more revs and slip the clutch just a bit more than might be ideal as you start from rest. You'll eventually get a better feel for it and what you can get away with. But in the meantime, more (revs) is less (stalling).

[CarNoob]

5 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

Welcome.

i will modify Sam's advice a little. Your R33 has the smallest and least torquey engine possible to get in an R33. It will be naturally very easy to stall, so don't be afraid to use a few more revs and slip the clutch just a bit more than might be ideal as you start from rest. You'll eventually get a better feel for it and what you can get away with. But in the meantime, more (revs) is less (stalling).

Thanks a lot for the advice man. Will put into practice !

[MoMnDadGTR]

hey mate welcome to the site! read lots to understand your car and enjoy!  im sure you will have the shifting and take offs figured out real quick. car looks clean hope its good to you! maybe throw a bigger rb in there one day!

[PranK]

Welcome! 

Hopefully you'll be wanting to change your name soon

 

[MoMnDadGTR]

compression test for the engine would be a good start, change the fluids, get a mechanic to check your suspension for warn out parts.  make sure your oil temp and coolant temps are up before ripping it hard. check your oil often and check your coolant from time to time. listen for wierd sounds that aren't usually there when starting and drving the car. make sure you got a good battery as well.  few things that will keep your car running well and help you find issues you didn't know were there! start collecting some tools haha

[CarNoob]

On 3/18/2020 at 1:21 AM, MoMnDadGTR said:

compression test for the engine would be a good start, change the fluids, get a mechanic to check your suspension for warn out parts.  make sure your oil temp and coolant temps are up before ripping it hard. check your oil often and check your coolant from time to time. listen for wierd sounds that aren't usually there when starting and drving the car. make sure you got a good battery as well.  few things that will keep your car running well and help you find issues you didn't know were there! start collecting some tools haha

Late reply but bro thanks for that man. This the exact advice I was looking. I’m gonna do a 20det engine swap As I will only be taking this to 300-400hp so hopefully I can get him to check everything while engine switching 

Edited March 24, 2020 by CarNoob

[GTSBoy]

Don't waste your time putting an RB20DET into it. For very nearly the same up front cost, and exactly the same work, you would be better off putting a 25 into it. 1000x more driveable than the torqueless RB20 (as a street car).

[MoMnDadGTR]

1 hour ago, GTSBoy said:

Don't waste your time putting an RB20DET into it. For very nearly the same up front cost, and exactly the same work, you would be better off putting a 25 into it. 1000x more driveable than the torqueless RB20 (as a street car).

yup once again some good advice from a good mate. definitely hold off on a rb20. id put a 2j in that so fast it would make peoples head spin lol. just kidding through a 25 in it forsure on a serious note. much better engine all around easy to achieve your power goals.

[CarNoob]

@GTSBoy@MoMnDadGTR thanks for the info guys currently looking at buying either vanilla 25 or NEO

[MoMnDadGTR]

yeah and for what its worth id set it up with a front facing manifold(looks way better and a hell of a lot cleaner to work on...some guys around here have neo's in there gts r32's with front facing manifolds on gt30's or gt35's. really nice setups they keep up with my gtr all day. you got a nice car mate keep it that way with a real clean 25 build. maybe while the engine is out you could do a little bit of internal work, (head gasket and studs would be a good start if your trying to achieve a safe 400whp.) get all your ducks in order before you start the build. make sure you know exactly the direction you want you car to go so you don't have to do your build twice! I would definitely shoot for higher 300 or 400whp. you will get used to your power and always want more lol....so start with a descent punch.  ive had great luck with the haltec ecu for tuning, but I'm assuming you have a reputable tuner in your area so usually pick the tuning he is most comfortable with in giving a safe fast tune.

[CarNoob]

@MoMnDadGTR Awesome advice man. Cheers!

[MoMnDadGTR]

look into ignition systems as well...I know a lot of guys are using r35 coilpack conversion, it elimantes the ignitor nice little update. this is for rb26 I think should be the same for a 25 tho. fueling should be simple for 400hp maybe just a in tank update/set of injectors.  other than that mate keep it simple get a nice top mount 6 boost manifold if its in the budget. make sure all your custom intercooler piping is sealed proper rest shouldn't be to bad. will be a fricken beast mate!

[GTSBoy]

1 hour ago, MoMnDadGTR said:

it elimantes the ignitor nice little update. this is for rb26 I think should be the same for a 25 tho

All 25s from S2 onwards have coils with inbuilt igniters. So the benfit is not from that. It is just from being a much stronger spark (the R35 conversion, that is).