- Can you feel that?
Your heart rate is increasing.
Your pupils are dilated.
The hairs on the back of your skinny little nerd neck
might be standing on end.
That's because you are looking at one
of the most sought after cars ever produced.
Without this car, this channel might not exist.
It came from Japan.
It's bad as *$%# and they call it Godzilla.
It's time to go bumper to bumper
on the fan favorite Nissan
the one, the only, legendary
R34 Skyline GT-R V-Spec.
Welcome to my new show.
It's 2019, we got new shows.
Up To Speed is still on Thursdays, but this show
is gonna be every Tuesday.
It's called Bumper2Bumper.
It's an in-depth look at the features and tech
inside of the coolest cars on the planet.
I'm gonna show you everything about your favorite cars.
Old, new, stock, modded, inside, outside.
Bumper to bumper.
Eskeetit!
If you're of a certain age group, i.e. my age group,
you grew up playing racing games on PlayStation,
watching the Fast and the Furious, and you were absolutely
obsessed with Initial D.
In all three of those franchises the Nissan GT-R
plays a pivotal role.
It was the best car in Gran Turismo 2.
Paul Walker drove one in 2 Fast 2 Furious.
And the God Foot was a menace on the mountain.
It was a huge deal.
But in the U.S. one factor is far and away the most
significant aspect of Skyline GT-R lore.
We never got it.
But wait.
If this car wasn't ever sold here,
then how is this one here?
Well if a car is 25 years or older, regardless of origin,
it can be imported into the U.S. and sold as a used car.
But James, this car is a '99 so it's only
20 years old, not 25.
So what the heck?
It's what you call show and display legal.
That means it can be driven on the road but no more
than 2,500 miles a year.
And technically, you're only supposed to drive it
to shows or to maintain it.
This thing has been living in a lab and pretty soon
it's gonna be the only California legal R34
in the entire state.
♪ California here we come ♪
The Skyline Gt-R wasn't the only Skyline.
There are four-door sedans, coupes, both naturally aspirated
and turbo-charged motors, but the top of the Skyline
heap was the all-wheel drive
twin turbo fast as *$%# GT-R
which brings us to this.
The R34 Skyline debuted in 1998 with a GT-R once again
being the ultimate model.
But this time, there is something even more ultimate.
This Skyline GT-R is GT-R V-Spec.
Right of the bat, you'll see the beautiful paint.
This color is called Midnight Purple II.
Very likely a nod to the infamous Midnight Club
Street Racing soon to get in Japan.
The previous GT-R, the R33, was the first Skyline
to wear the special violet paint.
But this one as like more color changey stuff in it
and it's really a trip to walk around the car.
At first it's like purple, but then as you pass,
it turns green.
And sometimes if the light is lower, it looks black
and even gold.
We did our best to light it, but there's really
no way that you guys can see how insane this paint looks.
There are only 282 Midnight Purple V-Specs ever built,
making this car extremely rare.
Legend has it that all Midnight Purple R34s sold out
in 10 days.
The GT-R styling is special as well.
Unlike the R32s fairly muted appearance,
the R34 lets you know right off the bat,
"Aye, I'm different"
"I'm the racing one!"
The headlights upfront are like a furrowed brow
making it look like super angry.
And the front grills look like the mouth of a frickin'
Bull Shark just swimming through the waves
looking for kooks to bite in half.
Oh are you on a paddle board?
(grunts) Not today!
The rear fenders bulge out like the laurels
of the buffest horse you've ever seen. #buffhorses
And to top it all off, is this adjustable dual-element wing.
You can have Thanksgiving on top of this thing.
It's *$%# sick, dude.
The fact that it's dual-element reduces drag and increases
potential down force.
This thing was designed to be driven at the limit.
The rear of the car also has another feature that
we're not used to seeing in the U.S., a fog lamp.
This right here is fog lamp which makes the car
easier to see from behind in dense fog.
It wasn't required for sale in Japan, but European laws
mandate that every car come with rear fog.
Which also means that Europe got this car.
You know who else got it?
New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore.
In Singapore, they don't even let you chew gum.
You know who didn't get it?
Us!
It's f*#$%# b*#$@%!
Now you can't talk about the R34 without mentioning
(boom) the brake lights.
They say simplicity is the ultimate in sophistication
and these lights definitely make a great case
for that being true.
You know for lot of people, these lights are the most
memorable part of the car 'cause it's the last thing
they see as it rips by them.
Faster than the speed of sound on the Shikoku highway.
(car engine roaring) (man shouting)
There's rubber deflectors right behind this wheel
that when air is sucked in through the front scoops,
it pushes it to the center of the brake rotor
and because of the action of the rotor, it sucks all the air
and cools the metal from the back.
This keeps the brakes cool and prevents fade during
long drives with a bunch of heavy braking.
The V-Spec also comes with stiffer suspension
to keep the car planted in the turn.
And all R34s have this neat little front splitter up front.
This limits air from going under the car and helps push
it over it, pushing the front off the car towards the road.
In the rear, the V-Spec specific carbon fiber diffuser
speeds up the air leaving the back of the car
creating a low-pressure zone under the rear instead
of behind it which puts more weight on the rear wheels
which increases grip.
GT-R rides on 18 inch wheels and is brought to us
stock by 324 millimeter Brembo four piston brakes
in the front and two piston brakes in the back.
Enough about the outside.
Let's check out the inside.
First things first.
I cannot believe that I am inside of an R34 GT-R.
Guess what freshman James?
You made it!
First thing you notice, this is a Japanese sports car
from the 90s so the interior is very very very sparse.
There's not a lot going on.
As far as creature comforts go, there's none.
But that's to what this car is for.
This car is for driving and driving fast!
(car engine roars)
It's go harness cutouts in the freakin' seats,
for God's sake.
These bolsters are huge too, so you'll rip around
the Toge, embarrassing Takumi without sliding
around or making your legs all tired.
The cluster is very driver-focused and super simple.
And one thing that I find super interesting about
the cluster is the speedo only goes up
to 180 kilometers an hour.
Now that is about 110 miles per hour.
I know that because I'm a math boy.
Needless to say, it goes much faster than that.
So a popular upgrade is like a Nismo cluster which goes
up to 320 which is about 200 miles an hour
which makes a lot more sense for a car called Godzilla.
The R34 also got a six speed transmission as opposed
to the five speed in the R32 and the R33.
And just like running through the gears with this
thing parked, it's amazing.
This is me starting the car.
(car starts)
(giggles)
(chill music)
The center console is super minimal.
It's a Japanese car from the 90s.
It's got climate control.
One feature that's very foreign to me because I'm
an American is this headlight height controller
which lets you adjust the angle of the headlights
depending on the conditions.
If we had headlight adjuster controllers, I think
America would collapse in about 17 days because everyone's
a stupid (beep) and already, we got bro dozers shining
blue lights into your eyes.
(eerie music) (screaming)
(chuckles)
We just can't handle it.
Right above the super simple center console
is the jewel of the R34's interior.
The multi-function display or MFD.
A feature that was light years ahead of its time in 1990
just like The Matrix.
And frankly, one of the most underrated parts of the R34.
The MFD is this LCD screen with a digital read out
of critical engine functions like boost pressure,
gas pedal position, fuel injector duty cycle (chuckles)
oil temp, water temp, exhaust temp, intake/intercooler temp.
These are all super useful at the track and super fun
when you're just driving around town.
It also as a shift-like function that flashes red
to tell you, "Aye, shift!"
Now this next thing is probably the coolest thing
I have ever seen in any car, especially one from the 90s.
It's a TV button.
It says TV on it and if you have this special Nissan
radio, you could watch TV in your freakin' dash!
Stuff like the MFD are super common placed in cars today
but remember, the R34 is 20 years old!
Next year it can drink!
We're throwing it a party!
We're taking it to New Orleans!
(cheering)
And at the time of the GT-R's release, the MFD was seen
as revolutionary fusion of digital and analog technology
and just a glimmer of what the future had to offer.
(deep bass music)
Oddly enough, the most V-Spec stuff about the V-Spec
is underneath the car.
One of those things is the Atessa ET-S Pro all
wheel drive system.
That means that not only can the car selectively
send torque from the front or rear wheels depending
on driving conditions, but the V-Spec also has an active
limited slip differential meaning it can control
how much the rear diff locks up depending on the power
being sent to it.
So, if it's open, it's real easy to turn.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh. (car engine roaring)
If it's locked, then you get skids.
Err err errr err. (car tires screeching)
the more power being sent to the rear,
the more locked up it is.
This makes the V-Spec extremely capable on sketchy
mountain roads like Mount Akina which are often
covered in water and dirt.
This thing was made 20 years ago, dude.
Another really exciting thing under the car
is a system called Super HICAS which helps the GT-R
get around turns.
Essentially, the system uses electronic actuators
to turn the rear wheels one degree in either direction
helping turn the car at low speeds, the rear wheels turn
in the opposite direction of the front ones,
which rotates the car faster.
But at high speeds, the rear wheels turn in the same
direction as the front which keeps the car stable
during fast lane changes.
Now a lot of modern sports cars do have active
rear steering, but these early systems were
a little bit unpredictable.
I had it on an S13 and I (fart noise) took it out.
So much has gone into this car.
Fender flares, big brakes, air ducts, splitters,
spoilers, computer screens, and TVs in the dashboard.
None of that stuff means anything.
In fact, it would be kinda lame if this car wasn't
fast as (fart noise) and this car is fast as (fart noise).
(deep bass music)
(laughing)
Now the R32, R33, and R34 GT-Rs are all powered
by the legendary RB26DETT in-line six engine.
In Catholic school terms, the looks and all wheel drive
are the father and the son which makes the RB26
the holy spirit.
Without a doubt, the engine is the soul of the R34.
This six cylinder mil uses two parallel turbos.
Meaning, each turbo is powered by three cylinders
and they work independently of each other.
The Twin Garret T28 turbos have a ball bearing
and a lighter ceramic exhaust wheel inside
which allows them to spool up super fast.
The result is one bar or 15 pounds of boost.
The RB also gets major street cred with it's
individual throttle bodies which is unique
to the RB engine family.
The RB26 has a cast engine block making it
super strong straight from the factory.
This made it a tuner's dream.
And it's not uncommon to see GT-Rs making 600, 800,
or even 1,000 horsepower with a tune and upgraded internals.
(car engine roaring)
The Skyline GT-R is a living legend.
The R34 literally, no hyperbole, birthed an entire
generation of automotive enthusiasts.
This is one of the first cars that I thought was cool
and a lot of you probably think the same.
It's really important.
(explosion)
Thanks for watching our new show Bumper2Bumper.
Every Tuesday.
I'm gonna have another car.
And I'm gonna take you through it
and tell ya everything about it.
You like JDM legends?
Watch this episode of our other new show Prestado.
It's in Spanish but it's for everybody.
You wanna learn more about the history of the GT-R?
Check out this episode of Up To Speed.
Follow me on Instagram @jamespumphrey.
Follow Donut @donutmedia.
Smash that like button.
Dude, let's get this new show trending guys.
Let's make this (voice reverberating) bigger
than Up To Speed, alright?
It's 2019.
I'm a grown man.
I have a girlfriend now and I wanna buy a house.
I love you.