Japanese Steel

The BNR32 is legendary as the car that cemented Nissan’s place in the record books, dominating both Group A racing internationally and locally in Bathurst against the V8 Supercars. Today’s feature car is one of the 43,934 R32 GT-Rs manufactured for sale worldwide. This piece has been long overdue, but I think it was worth the wait.

WPN26 is an appropriate number plate for this particular vehicle. In the build for over 2 years, this finely honed piece is now pumping out 527hp at all four wheels… But what’s even more impressive is how insanely clean it is, and the shopping list of exotic parts contained within.

Owner Gus has managed to largely undo the damage of 20 years of daily use, as well as increase the power output, reliability and attractiveness of the car. Doing all of these in the one package is orders of magnitude more difficult than just focusing on one aspect. Consider show cars, or sleepers, or track cars. It’s rare to find one vehicle that has everything sorted all-in-one.

But that’s exactly what has been achieved here. When I was writing this article and considering the parts, it dawned on me that every single part has been carefully chosen and considered. It makes you realise you’re looking at something quite special.

The outside is pretty close to standard, but that’s no bad thing when you’re talking about the R32, with its classic shape. Small improvements only involve mirrors supplied by Ganador and a few small carbon touches to highlight factory lines. The CF bonnet lip, Abflug carbon fibre front lip and N1 boot lip complete the subtle exterior changes.

19×10″ wheels fill the guards perfectly for a combination of form and function.

The engine has had quite a lot of work. The block has been decked, honed, bored, tunnelled and chemically cleaned. The crankshaft has been fully prepped with shot-peening for strength, and nitrided for surface hardness. Eagle conrods attach to forged CP pistons and rings, and ARP main studs hold the whole show together.

The top end of the engine houses 280 degree cams, Splitfire coils and HKS double valve springs. Valves have received a 3-angle grind. Stuff that’s more obvious up the top involves a polished Garrett T04Z turbo, strut brace and catch can, and colour coded intake manifold, rocker covers and strut brace ends. Looks-wise, I’d have to say this is one of the most attractively presented engine bays I’ve ever seen, with the right mix of polish and colour.

Auxiliaries include an N1 water pump, Tial BOV, 48mm Turbosmart wastegate and HKS intercooler with hard pipe kit. Lubrication is handled by a GReddy oil pump, and baffled sump.

The fuel system hasn’t been neglected, with the proven Bosch 044 pump pushing the jus through stainless fuel lines, into the motor via a billet fuel rail and Sard 870cc injectors.

Exhaust is 4″ fat all the way through a metal cat, culminating in a 5″ tip on the muffler.

Handling is taken care of by high end Bilstein coilovers and adjustable camber arms front and rear.

Interior is close to OEM, with just a few additions, such as the Turbosmart eBoost, HKS timer. A trio of Stewart Warner gauges monitor oil and water temps and pressures. The sound system is also in there with an Alpine headunit, 2 amps and Type-R speakers and sub, but to be honest, I’d rather listen to the sounds of anger coming from the engine bay.

A Mine’s OEM-look cluster finishes the fitout.

This is definitely one of the most impressive all-rounder cars we have featured over the years. Thanks are in order to Andrew Foy for his assistance, Gus for his patience on the shoot, and Sarah for her sunny demeanour. Always a pleasure guys.

Tags: australia, bnr32, brisbane, feature, feature car, featured, gt-r, gtr, gus, nissan, queensland, r32, skyline, toowoomba