Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR34 - Not What You'd Expect

The engine in Yamamoto-san's R34 feels smooth and refined at low rpm, pulling strongly from as low as 2,000 rpm all the time sounding refined and somewhat muffled. But needless to say all hell breaks loose when he steps on the throttle. Instantly the car takes on a totally different persona, the sound intensifying as the external wastegate begins to scream. From 5,000 rpm to 8,000 rpm the RB pulls unrelentingly, only the gearshifts momentarily pausing the acceleration. It's around 11 pm and we're travelling on a strip of brand-new, three-laned highway that will eventually connect Kyoto to the city of Osaka... it's also completely deserted. Yamamoto-san takes full advantage of this and uses the available space to his advantage, tackling wide-sweeping corners at around 260 km/h (+160mph) as we hang on for dear life. We get a full sample of the car's capabilities as Yamamoto-san takes 5th gear close to the limiter and the speedometer's needle goes well past 280 km/h (+170mph), at which point the highway ends and we head back to the shop on normal roads. Though mild as it may appear, this R34 is far from it.

It's not every day that you see modified versions of this "comfort-spec" of the Skyline, which is probably what makes it so unique. Every angle of the car has been subtly tuned with top quality products and turned into one of the most impressive street cars we have had the pleasure to feature. Yamamoto-san entrusted his car to the guys at Phoenix Power, a shop known in JDM tuning circles as one of the best around for high-power and high-speed applications.

Located in the outskirts of Kyoto in the Kansai region of Japan, Yokoyama-san of Phoenix Power, over the last decade, has created some pretty stunning machinery, usually participating in the old 0-300 km/h competitions and drag races. They have pushed the limits of tuning on a variety of engines but their specialty has forever been the mighty RB26. The main aim of this build was to obtain a good balance between power and drivability, also keeping the car smooth and refined for everyday driving. After taking a very intense ride in this M-spec we can assure you they have more than successfully achieved this goal, as this smooth-riding R34 is a kind of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, because once you get on the power the car seems to transform into a fire-breathing monster!

The most surprising thing has to be that the whole build was based around a stock engine, with only an HKS metal head gasket having been fitted as the only bottom-end modification, in order to take higher levels of boost. But bolt-ons were fair game. The first big one is a GReddy/Trust T78-29D, the smaller of the T78 range of top-mount single turbochargers. The reasoning behind this was rather simple; the smaller exhaust side of the 29D (over the 33D) would allow for an acceptable spool up with the stock 2.6L's capacity, not to mention better throttle response and stronger mid-range. The T78 is mounted on a Trust stainless steel exhaust manifold along with a Trust external wastegate, which has the job of controlling boost with the Blitz SBC-iD boost controller. A Trust front pipe and Mine's stainless steel exhaust combo does a great job of suppressing the louder frequencies up until around 4,000 rpm, but then rewarding every subsequent 1,000 rpm increment thereafter with a stunning 6-cylinder howl that mixes with the aggressive scream of the wastegate. This keeps the M-spec quiet and refined around town, but a totally different car when at full boost.

Phoenix Power is part of the "Record Holders 9" (RH9) club, the highest status a drag-oriented tuning shop can achieve in Japan. Member shops of RH9 have produced high quality products that use the RH9 name for years, and for Yamamoto-san's car, their own intercooler was chosen. The large core is perfect to accept the big volume of air the T78 flows at peak boost, efficiently cooling it before being sent towards intake. Phoenix Power also took care of fabricating the custom aluminum piping, which was polished to a mirror finish, just like the turbine and intake pipes. A High Octane Racing intake manifold was imported from Australia, an item designed to equalize airflow to each of the six cylinders for optimum A/F mixture. Not wishing to tune the car just for high-rpm power delivery meant that special thought needed to be given to the camshafts. The HKS V-Cam kit seemed to make the most sense, even if very pricey compared to your regular cam upgrade. Thanks to a variable duration on the intake (which can be varied by 30°), the engine can be made to deliver great low-rpm torque as well as high-end power, just what Yamamoto-san wanted from his car. After fine-tuning the A'PEXi Power FC on both the dyno and open road, Phoenix Power managed to pull a respectable 650hp at 7,600 rpm and a widespread of torque which peaks at 4,800 rpm with 65 kgm (470 lb-ft). To handle all of this twist the stock clutch was replaced with an ATS (Carbonetic) twin-plate carbon clutch, a very expensive item but one that guarantees both smooth operation and engagement.