Motortrend's Cars - Gojira

[Doog]

The E36 looks great, the Skyline looks even better, but the E39 M5 is still the best

 

[motortrend]

Car is finally home!

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Wow a Mines R32. You officially have the most Gran Turismo car possible.

 

[motortrend]

Wow a Mines R32. You officially have the most Gran Turismo car possible.

Yeah between the E39 M5 from NFS: High Stakes and the Skyline from the early GT games I'm living most of my childhood fantasies. If only Lamborghini Diablos weren't so damn expensive...

Here's a picture from best motoring back in 2003 compared to now. The car used in BM had a couple of extra things like the mine's mirrors and a Momo steering wheel

Here's the video:

 

[Danoff]

How's the RHD? I note that (at least some of) your other cars are LHD.

 

[motortrend]

How's the RHD? I note that (at least some of) your other cars are LHD.

First time driving RHD actually. Basically, I thought the shifting would be harder and staying in my lane would be easier. I consider myself to have good spatial awareness and on LHD cars I can get really close to something on either side, but not here. When I drive RHD I'm insanely good at the right side since now I'm closer and that was the "hard" side before, but comically bad at the left side. I find myself pulling up way too far away from curbs or wandering into the other lane slightly. The hardest part was reversing when I first got it since I'm used to looking over my right shoulder. As for visibility it's not bad at all and it's actually beneficial in certain cases. With regards to controls they were super easy. I'm shifting as fast as I do in any other car and I have no problem with the indicator stalk being on the opposite side since all the other controls are mounted on the dash.

 

[motortrend]

Last year there was not much done apart from getting the Skyline

The E36 is still broken but should be sorted by next month, the Land Cruiser is still doing daily duties as great as ever, and I'm trying to incorporate the M5 more into the daily routine since I don't use it as much as I'd like to. It should be getting a couple of cool things this year.

The Skyline has gotten most of my attention past year and is nearly where I want it.

First thing I did was get the engine nice and tidy, ready to work on. As you can see, I also got an aluminum radiator, along with a new fan clutch and an LS1 alternator since these cars are known to have voltage issues.
Untitled by josegt5, on Flickr

Then I went on to do the rest of the updates/upgrades, some of which are visible in that picture.
-Nismo 600cc injectors
-Nismo 276LPH Fuel Pump
-Nismo Fuel Pressure Regulator
-HKS MAF delete pipes
-Mine's front pipe
-Splitfire coil pack with Wiring Specialties harness
-Haltech Elite 2000 with multifunction gauge
-Nismo Super Twin Coppermix clutch + flywheel.

Got it dyno tuned at ~1.3 bar and it made 386whp on a mustang dyno, which translates to ~500 at the crank. (It moves)

Then I went on to the interior. Got a Mine's alcantara steering wheel with an old school horn button. changed out the A/C vents for new ones. Still have to install the new door handles (old ones are dull and white-ish) and change the radio for a more discrete and newer one that has no BT connectivity issues like the current one has.
Untitled by josegt5, on Flickr

So, this year it's all about the exterior. I've been inspecting the car carefully every time I wash it and every time I find bad clear coat or a small bubble that might be rust I write it down and by now I think I've found all the problem areas. Some time in the next month or two I'm taking it to a body shop to get an estimate to fix all the problem areas. Finally, I snagged up a set of TE37SLs and I'm planning to get them repainted in a lighter coat of silver, like Mercury Silver or Titanium Silver

Untitled by josegt5, on Flickr


Here's how the car sounds (and moves) now

 

[Fastcarguy]

I just want to say Im happy the Skyline is getting driven like that. Too many are being snatched by collectors just to sit in a garage and appreciate value. I smile every time I see one of those monsters actually driven the way they were intended to.

 

[motortrend]

I just want to say Im happy the Skyline is getting driven like that. Too many are being snatched by collectors just to sit in a garage and appreciate value. I smile every time I see one of those monsters actually driven the way they were intended to.

Yeah it's really is sad and ironic that cars that got popular because of how they drive end up sitting in a climate controlled garage, with their original parts slowly deteriorating. These need to be driven in order to be in tip-top shape, and if you never drive them, you don't really know if there's someting wrong with the car.

Honestly, to me this is too valuable to thrash on the track, get filled with rock chips and have tons of accelerated wear, but it definitely gets to stretch its legs from time to time on empty roads. Like that famous 993 poster, it kills bugs fast.
Untitled by josegt5, on Flickr