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I personally think of R33's as low flying blimps... but that's just me and I don't have any technical or scientific reasons why, they are awesome cars... its only crime was that Nissan hired a team of designers to make a very generic design.

my 02 commo ute had koni adjustable front and rear and was 3 inches lower then stock. I had the suspensions guys tune the koni's as appropriate as possible. big wheels and tyres, 500hp. I thought it was the ducks nuts but still found myself hesitant through corners. then I drove my current stock r33 with slightly better rubber and cat back exhaust and thought it handled 50% better then the ute. a week later a owned the skyline and sold then ute. go figure.

Traction control my ass you Holden Bogans. You haven't experienced a corner until you've driven with HICAS ;)

to right. although hicas can have a downside to.... car starts to drift, you try correct it... it trys to correct it..... :lol:

Dunno about the R33, but my Nismo Coil Over equipped R32 GTS-T is DEFINITELY not a boat. Getting out of my dads VX Commodore (FEII suspension, supercharged V6, LSD) into my car makes the commodore feel like an ocean liner. No way in hell am i gonna try and slide that behemoth through a corner. Despite that, I can say the FEII suspension controls the body roll well, and it definitely grips tenaciously during corners. The traction control is horrible though, and you soon learn to start the car and disengage TC in one smooth motion. I wish I could turn HICAS off sometimes. Sorry guys, but not a fan...

My Dads commo isnt all bad, certainly more comfortable than the skyline. The skyline's suspension is very still and feels slightly underdamped over rough roads. But the shear size of the Commodore means I could never own one myself.

Come to think of it, the skyline is a little bigger than I'd like as well... I'd prefer a Lotus Exige (800kgs, 190hp) haha! Now that car can never be called a boat... Except maybe by owners of Arial Atoms (500kgs, 300hp)... And they might be called boats by motorcylists...

So the skyline is not a boat, but it doesn't hold the honour as the most nimble car on the road either. I think it's the balance of power and handling that attracts most with the skyline. You can get a nimbler car, say an MX5, but you will never be as quick in a straight line as a skyline.

My mates R32 has GTR suspension and 17x9 rear and 17x8 front, it handles rediciously well through chicanes and yet is very drivable not being too stiff. I wouldn't dream of wanting to go in a commo through a tight local government chicane at 120Kph, especially if it wasnt at HSV. R32's def arn't boats in my opinion. An R33 GTS auto is getting close to being called a boat though. R34's i wouldnt consider boats they'l outhandle a commodore.. Anyways concluding comodores are the boats, generally, and skylines arn't, generally..

PS:

If they think they are better, the best way to shove it in thier face is to go to a track day and give them a flogging, and say whoever loses pays both the fees. simple - just win

Cheers,

Rhys

:O

Edited by WhatBrake
to right. although hicas can have a downside to.... car starts to drift, you try correct it... it trys to correct it..... :lol:

True :) but it's still fun to have one arm hanging out the window while you're doing it. :)

I've got a R33 GTS-T with standard suspension (bar lowered springs), and yep i'd say it's a bit boat... feels big and heavy, and sways around pretty badly... if I purchased some sway bars, it would be much better.

Either way, I love the car. If a commodore drove like this and cost as little, i'd be driving a commodore :) Thats why the commodore comments don't bother me. If my car feels big and heavy, I hate to imagine what a commodore is like to drive :)

I suspect a track day will make me realise how good / bad the car handles anyway - very hard to get a true indication of it on the street :)

Edited by TommO
my 02 commo ute had koni adjustable front and rear and was 3 inches lower then stock. I had the suspensions guys tune the koni's as appropriate as possible. big wheels and tyres, 500hp. I thought it was the ducks nuts but still found myself hesitant through corners. then I drove my current stock r33 with slightly better rubber and cat back exhaust and thought it handled 50% better then the ute. a week later a owned the skyline and sold then ute. go figure.

yeh but the ute has leaf springs in the rear, and heaps of weight in the front (v8, and light rear). all things being equal the ute is always going to be at a disadvantage

The skyline is a performance car that was designed to handel well (a drivers car) from its initial design. Holdens and Fords were designed as family commuters, (soft and cumfortable and built to the lowest price)then modified slightly (where possible) to handel for a (performance) option.

Driving a Ford is a lot like stearing a boat, turn the wheel and wait a while for it to respond. (based on my experiences in our XF and BA) whilst the holdens are a lot tighter more like a skyline (feedback through the wheel) but both have way too much body roll and dont respond as well through the full range of suspension tavel.

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