Despite the engine being so legendary, it was really the advanced technology of the platform that made it the Skyline what it was/is. I actually think it's the perfect evolution of the concept- ATTESA-AWD was a complex, heavy new system at the absolute forefront of roadgoing performance AWD, and as of today, electric cars are complex, heavy new systems at the absolute forefront of raw power/performance.
Maybe for the younger folks. The 32 would've never gotten the name godzilla if it wasn't for winning a lot of the races in Australia. Also, it won all the races in Japan. So yeah, I'd say winning races definitely has a lot to do with its popularity. Btw, the gto is a beast and I do want that car one day.
> I honestly have a hard time believing a meaningful fraction of North American R32 fans care about the Calsonic Skyline
As one of the few that do, I can say the unfortunate answer is most don't. [This was my GT-R I imported](https://i.redd.it/hcjodvnn0sl41.jpg), it was actually done up like that by the Japanese owner but the Calsonic theme is why I jumped on it at auction. I had to constantly field questions from people as to why the color scheme was the way it was. A solid 3/4 of US R32/33 GT-R owners are in it for the clout, and probably R34s will be the same way. So many have a giant single turbo and a dyno sheet for 600hp just to drive to the local Cars and Coffee.
North American fans care about the R32 because it had already been hyped up by the rest of the world (because of its racing exploits first, and it's tuneability second)
Re the GTO: there were shops like Pitroad M making 500-600hp in period.
>I honestly have a hard time believing a meaningful fraction of North American R32 fans care about the Calsonic Skyline.
Literally had an R32 GTR with Calsonic livery drive by my apartment this week.
The 3000GT made the critical error of not being heavily featured in some of the key media products of the late 90s-early 2000s.
If the 3000GT was a hero car in NFS instead of the GT-R, I guarantee it would be worth at least twice as much today, if not more.
There’s a minty red one that someone dailies in my town and I’m not even a JDM guy but I almost crash my car every time I see it. 3000 GT looks so cool.
>You could say the same thing about the Mitsubishi 3000GT and yet nobody cares about that car (relatively).
Because the R32 had a similar design philosophy but was lighter, faster, slightly less complex, and slightly more reliable. It did everything the Mitsu did but just a little better.
Unlike the NSX or the RX-7 which had their own unique designs, the 3000 just fell into the category of "not quite a GTR".
You can't compare the 3000GT to the R32, though. They were built for two completely different use cases. The 3000GT is a grand tourer. The R32 is a sports car/sports coupe. This EV conversion actually makes more sense for the type of car that was originally designed to consume miles; like the 3000GT (no thank you, though).
Who said I was making claims about how the car was marketed? I recommend reading what I said. Even relative to other Nissans of the time like the Cefiro or Z31 the R32 interior is rather mediocre. God forbid you actually compare it against something like a President or Leopard or Cima.
Perhaps we are looking at this from a different angle, but an EV conversion seems awful for a vehicle meant to consume miles given the recharge times and effects of weight hurting range values. Though they drive very smooth so if that is the angle you are referring to then I can understand that.
honestly the R32 would be irrelevant if it wasnt successful in racing AND if it wasnt for the fast and furious movies as well as need for speed underground that injected the JDM and tuning scene into millions of young peoples minds.
Not OP but I think hype for the R34 as a result of those movies helped the R32 become more valued. It helps that the R32 and R34 look pretty similar in shape including profile and front/rear.
*Electric cars are complex heavy systems at the forefront of raw torque.* FTFY
That’s what they are best at because the the driver board can change magnetic flux which changes torque output based on load and speed.
> Electric cars are complex heavy systems at the forefront of raw torque ~~FTFY~~
...and they also spin to extremely high RPMs which results in very high power.
Totally agree. The engine and drivetrain is 50% of the charm in a GTR. It would have been an unremarkable car if it had a basic 4 cylinder fwd configuration. Also the RB26 is a reliable engine.
There are other classics that would be better suited for electric conversion. Something like a Delorean would be perfect. Even something like a early 80s 911 Carrera . The air cooled engine is neat but can be expensive to maintain and under powered. The body and chassis is much more important than the engine in that application. *queue the Porsche purists*
Everyone always bitched about how the Rotary burns oil, but thanks to modern emissions standards, most modern engines burn oil anyway.
Rotary was ahead of it's time.
Like how the Evo X front got copied by 99% of car companies
>Also the RB26 is a reliable engine.
I honestly don't know where they got this reputation. Owned one for a long time and they are made of glass and just want to cost you money. I absolutely love them but they just flat out aren't reliable.
Having interacted with an older 911. The handling is part of the experience sure, but the way the engine and transmission act completes the car in my opinion. It wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable driving an electrified one in my opinion. I feel this way about cars that many wouldn't consider nearly as special as a 911 though.
For some people, myself included, the main draw for many cars is the motor that came with it. The body, suspensions and chassis itself is just a medium to carry said motor. Now yes a good chassis/dynamics help complete the package but the sound, feel and torque curve are what I find most interesting.
I owned a 85 Carrera for a couple years. It was a great drivers car. I drove it but kept it for more “special nice days out” type drives. I didn’t daily it. Maybe I should have but it was an old Porsche and didn’t trust it’s reliability. I always had a fear of something going wrong and needing to rebuilt the engine or transmission. I wouldn’t convert a running / driving 911 but if it’s engine was toast and there was a EV conversion kit I might have considered it and daily drove it to work after. Of coarse price would come into play here.
Cue* the Porsche purists.
The '80s 911s are extremely reliable and rugged engines, whether SC or Carrera. They're not very expensive to maintain if you drive the car and use the right oil; they get spendy if you don't drive the car and use the wrong oil.
They're not underpowered, not really. 180hp for US models through '83, 207hp for US models through '86, then 217hp. The '80-83 cars were about 2750lbs, the '84 and later cars were about 2760.
Car and Driver tested a 1984 at 5.3 seconds zero to sixty.
I don't know what people use as references for speed, but they're not slow.
Or maybe they are, and people just expect rocket ships nowadays. I don't care, you can have tons of fun in an '80s 911 unless you live in Shitsberg, Flatstate.
> Car and Driver tested a 1984 at 5.3 seconds zero to sixty.
> Those cars aren’t that quick from a roll.
Compared to what? 1984 Honda Accord runs 11.4 seconds 0-60mph.
Nothing from forty years ago is quick from a roll.
Dude I replied to says those 80s 911s aren’t underpowered. I’d say they are if they get walked by your granpa’s sedan.
> Compared to what?
Well, the 911 turbo is peppy even by today’s standards, for example.
Ev converting older cars in general will be for people who don't care about engines. They just want to specifically be seen in the thing.
Taking a unique classic car and making it drive like every other ev in the world is not to make it a "drivers" car. It'll be abandoned once the novelty wears off and now there's one less unmolested "x" in the world. Which is fine people can do whatever they want. It just sucks to see.
I disagree. It’s a great idea for people who drive regularly. If you’ve ever tried to source obscure parts for vintage cars, you know it’s a massive pain in the ass. Sometimes that part just no longer exists. It will have to be custom fabricated or some kind of alternative used. I really think 3-D printing will play a major part in solving problems like this, but I absolutely see both sides of the argument. End of the day, if converting to an EV power train keeps a butt in the seat and the wheels on the road, I don’t see the problem. Better than some “investor” buying it and locking it away to never be driven again.
> If you’ve ever tried to source obscure parts for vintage cars, you know it’s a massive pain in the ass.
The engine usually is supported far, far, far longer. I don't drive a vintage car, but it's 25 years old. It's shit like trim pieces, rubber gaskets, switches... the small bits and bobs of a car that get hard to acquire long before availability for normal wear items of the powertrain start to become difficult to acquire. Usually there is a pretty solid supply of components for the engine for quite a long period of time.
But yes, I mean if we string it out, eventually sure the components for an engine will entirely go out of production and there will be no other choice than to 3d print at huge expense or just EV swap (also at huge expense). So I guess it is the endgame, combustion engines won't last forever, no surprise. The special ones will be kept afloat (the $20m Ferrari whatever v12), but unless it's truly special, it won't be.
>Better than some “investor” buying it and locking it away to never be driven again.
As Clarkson said, I think there should be some examples just put on a plinth. LOOK AT THAT. But all the rest should be driven.
Parts availability largely depends on the manufacturer.
I have zero problem getting anything for my 80s and 90s BMWs straight from the dealer parts counter. But then I had an '04 SRT-10 that Dodge constantly told me I couldn't get parts for. And simple stuff too, like a sway bar bushing.
GMC commercial trucks even from the mid 2000s are the same way, you can't get fuck all for them.
The only parts you can get were things that were shared with the pickup trucks/vans.
Not everyone needs to preserve history. If half of all classic car owners swapped their cars to EV or to other modern drivetrains, then you're left with hundreds of thousands of people making sure history hasn't been gutted.
Agreed. Honestly (and will probably get flack for this), converting an old classic into an EV to me is the same as taking an old classic and dropping a modern powerful engine into it (the classic LS swap to an old JDM ride, or a modern corvette motor in a classic corvette). You are keeping the aesthetic but adding modern reliability so it can be maintained and enjoyed for more generations.
>That is still a car which was designed to house a combustion engine
This is a weird caveat to me, considering there are multiple EVs that use an existing ICE platform with little modification.
An e-Golf, a Focus Electric, or a 500e are basically just EV conversions done at the factory.
This R32 would be an EV conversion done....well, also at the factory.
> Which is a weird and vain way to appreciate cars, in my opinion.
People build replica Cobras and drive them every day.
I've seen a video of a Ferrari 430 LS swap.
Just look at the # of 40 series LandCruisers with new engines, big lifts and all manner of changes.
I don't think it's right to decide how other people enjoy their vehicles.
But ultimately I think it comes down to if you want an old car to be running in stock form, driven rarely (or at all) or it to be EV swapped / LS swapped and used on the reg.
Well, this thing called the government is not giving me and many others not much choice.
Instead having peanut butter and jelly co existing, we are just getting rid of jelly, expecting peanut butter to carry(it won't)
EV conversions get around the emissions issue, which is a hard constraint for any vehicles you want to import into the US and especially operate in California.
What are you talking about? You can import just about any ICE vehicle over 25 years old but you can't import a new Renault Zoe. EV conversions change nothing about it
Part of me does not like calling this preservation, but I guess if it keeps one from getting destroyed by a drift kid then I guess so.
I just wish automakers could legally sell new "heritage" cars. Crash ratings are really no concern to anyone who is interested in this type of car imo.
> Crash ratings are really no concern to anyone who is interested in this type of car imo.
Part of that is saving people from themselves right... How many people say "yeah I don't care about safety rating give me cheaper w 1 air bag".
I am not opposed to consistent regulations for new vehicles.
For the general public absolutely. But it is quite confusing I am consciously able to buy and straddle 200hp on two wheels yet somehow don't have the ability to make decisions wrt safety when it has 4 wheels. General public likely wouldn't be buying heritage vehicles anyway
> I am consciously able to buy and straddle 200hp on two wheels yet somehow don't have the ability to make decisions wrt safety when it has 4 wheels.
you know that's an interesting angle i had not thought of.
I'm probably in the minority but I would be ok with converting my S2000 to EV if I could keep the same weight and weight balance. I'd also add a speaker to synthesize the exhaust note.
I wouldn't worry, with motor manufacturers getting behind the carbon capture fuel technology, fuel cars Likely stay as premium sports cars
EV will morph where it was always going to be, econobox , vans ,trucks and utility vehicles.
Some classics make sense to do EV conversions. Think big, slow, comfortable luxury cars, especially with an underpowered engine. EV conversion makes them quieter, smoother, and possibly quicker. It’s arguably an improvement.
By comparison, converting a high performance car like this where the engine was the heart and soul of the car, and it is good for preserving the appearance, but it will likely have to make performance compromises that it originally didn’t.
>likely have to make performance compromises that it originally didn't.
You've got the backwards. *Performance wise* an EV drivetrain is going to smash any RB, regardless of what's done to it, or what's spent on it, and it'll be more flexible and useable too.
It's only really the sound and the sensation that lets it down.
Yes and no. The loss of that engine sound will definitely be a detriment to the whole experience, but that instant 100% torque at 1 rpm will crush any turbo setup out there. It's a love/hate relationship with electrifying. Lots of upsides paired with lots of downsides.
>but that instant 100% torque at 1 rpm will crush any turbo setup out there.
In performance maybe, but the build up and punch is half the appeal of old-school turbo cars as far as I'm concerned
I daily drive a Civic Type R and honest to god it is the most satisfying car I've ever driven of the 30+ cars I've owned. I'm 5 years into ownership and have realized this is the first car I've ever owned that I cannot get rid of. I've owned supercharged miatas, turbo 370Zs, all motor Integras, you name it. The CTR... Omg...
I have to disagree. I'm personally a fan of modern turbo setups that feel much more like naturally aspirated engines where the power comes on early and carries more consistently across the powerband, as opposed to nothing, nothing, nothing, than at 4000rpm providing insane power. Like the old Porsches called widow makers when that power turned on... That shit actually sucks!
Yeah but that's exactly the point, it's old school, and to some less "efficient" is better.
If you really want old school turbo lag in a modern car you go STi but those aren't even sold new. You gotta buy one used with the profit driven markup
I love how we have literally zero information on this project but everyone is already criticizing
And it's most definitely going to be a one time prototype, probably to show some new tech they developped, like Toyota with the hydrogen and EV AE86s
Wonder will they mate the motor directly to the manual trans thats the cheapest way to do an EV conversion provided your trans can withstand the torque
Yeah I have no idea but it would be pretty cool, or a specific manual trans built for EV engines (like the EV 86 again), honestly a pretty interesting project
I'm not sure that's an apt comparison.
After all, legislation isn't being drafted and implemented that would ban mechanical watches outright in the next few decades.
Chances are it's for publicity. How many people are gonna care about them doing this on something like a '84 Maxima (unless they go the N Vision 74 route)?
EV conversions for classics really only work for cars where the engine was either a detriment or not an essential component of the experience. Like 50s Rolls Royces and other old luxury marques.
As a 32 owner, I don't have a problem with this. Would be nice to see what they can do to the 32 ev tech and drivability wise. I don't understand all the hate that this is getting. Are they jdm fanboys or wannabe purists? Nissan is bringing back a legend and I'm all for it, even if it's just a one off.
It’s definitely a viable option to keep these cars on the road for a long time in the future, Toyota made an AE86 ev and it was well received by the community so I don’t see this as any different. Some people have a narrow vision of how things should be, they’re the ones to ignore.
I don’t think I will ever understand people who turn classic cars into electrics. It entirely defeats the point of owning a classic and the point of having an electric car, all at the same time.
Old cars weren’t designed with low drag coefficients in mind, and the range of an electric car is massively reduced due to air resistance, unlike ICE cars while affected don’t suffer the massive drop in range due to the energy density of the fuel. Noise is going to be a massive issue, instead of listening to induction sounds and exhaust noise all you will hear is the the wind whistling through every panel gap, the creaking of suspension every time you go over a bump and the constant drone of tires on tarmac. Why would you make a great electric car worse at what’s it’s supposed to do.
The whole point of owning a classic car is so you can to gain insight of/ relive the experience of what it was like to drive one of these cars. If it’s just about looks why electrify, you’re obviously not trying to save money and please if you really think spending all this money on electrifying a 25 year old car is going to save the planet, DM me, because Iv got a bridge to sell you.
I've owned 24 cars ( i think ) so far and i'm on my 1st ev that i've owned for 3 years.. yes, zero maintenance. And who wouldn't like better acceleration?
oh don't get me wrong VW sucks ass and is very unreliable, i got it because it's so cheap it's virtually free. Those other 23 cars were combustion and i've had plenty of issues with them.
Tires are consumables not maintenance. And breaks on EVs last.. nearly forever. Because of the regen, you can drive on one set of brake pads/discs for over 250,000 miles ( actual examples of this )
Tires yes but brakes no, EVs have standard brake pads but virtually never use them. They use regenerative braking from the electric motors to recharge the battery and stop the vehicle.
The insane amount of torque would have me burning out every time if I wasn’t careful. I got use to how to drive it but every single time I let someone else drive it they immediately burned out when they first accelerated.
First "maintenance" on my EV was the in cabin air filter @ 16K miles. Not really a maintenance item, but that's what was listed as the first service in the car's manual. But since there are no belts, hoses, transmission, oil, water pumps, alternators, etc... There's pretty much nothing that needs maintenance. The average ICE has over 2,000 moving parts and my EV has 22.
yeah, if you want an EV just go fucking buy a tesla instead. nobody owns a GTR because they want a future proof car. you own a GTR because of what it already is.
I'm honestly on the fence about whether it is actually future proofing a 20-30 year old car by making it an EV.
The chassis is not meant to carry the additional weight and the design of the car and safety features are compromised.
At best it is a nice stunt to please a small niche of people who don't realize that the car will either be too heavy or have no range to be useful/practical for anything other than shooting some promotional material.
So to me its a waste of an R32, since this could of been done to a Skyline not wearing a R badge, or the R35.
it's about keeping the car alive for longer. There's loads of videos with Enzos and F40s or other super expensive cars that never get launched as they're scared not to brake them. These older cars are fragile, the engine is not the only thing that's part of a car's character
I just wish they’d actually make and sell these to the public, make a modern version of something like the old skyline, modern infotainment, modern safety features, while keeping the exterior as faithful as possible, and sell them… I guess it’s just not that easy
Whatever happened to that hydrogen combustion engine they were experimenting with in the GR Corolla? And I’m pretty sure Toyota also did a hydro-swap with an AE85 rather recently 👀
Ngl a hydrocombustion-powered R32 would be insane, plus you wouldn’t lose stuff like power bands and the ✨ noises ✨
Uh oh, I hope the driver was okay; and yeah, there are definitely a bunch of things the R&D people have to work out as they go about testing this engine
I don't think anyone was injured, thankfully. Or if they were it was only minor. The fire happened during static testing... there may not have even been a driver inside.
Toyota's CEO was actually supposed to race the car using his 'Morizo' alter ego. Had to cancel that.
Nissan can fuck right off with this fuckerey. On one hand they brought the heritage parts line back so you can keep your iconic gtr on the road, and here they are fucking them with soulless electric motors
Car also needs a 5 speed. On 1 hand it's cool because instead of building a new EV, wasting resources, they are retrofitting a car.
Otoh they gutting a perfectly good RB26 and it's going to more fun and raw then any EV platform. (0-60 gets boring after awhile)
I want Nissan to succeed but at the moment I'll never trust any of their cars. I have an XTrail and a G35x and the amount of repairs and issues I've had. I'm done with them, they give zero fucks about reliability.
With all the talks about the loss of sound and the tuning of this car, it’s hard to forget that there are fake exhausts for these reasons. Just tack a speaker on it. Teslas can fart at people. Just saying.
I think they want to get the same reaction when Toyota did it to the AE86 EV and hydrogen car.
When Toyota did WHAT?
https://japanesenostalgiccar.com/toyota-ae86-hydrogen-and-ev-conversions-will-let-enthusiasts-enjoy-older-cars-for-decades-to-come-says-ceo/
That's badass
That's pretty fucking cool
the hydrogen one is so fuckin cool
The hydrogen car was cool af, Nissan should do that here.
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Despite the engine being so legendary, it was really the advanced technology of the platform that made it the Skyline what it was/is. I actually think it's the perfect evolution of the concept- ATTESA-AWD was a complex, heavy new system at the absolute forefront of roadgoing performance AWD, and as of today, electric cars are complex, heavy new systems at the absolute forefront of raw power/performance.
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Maybe for the younger folks. The 32 would've never gotten the name godzilla if it wasn't for winning a lot of the races in Australia. Also, it won all the races in Japan. So yeah, I'd say winning races definitely has a lot to do with its popularity. Btw, the gto is a beast and I do want that car one day.
It was also responsible for creating a new class because it was dominating in the circuit in Australia.
God i miss Australian Touring car racing
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> I honestly have a hard time believing a meaningful fraction of North American R32 fans care about the Calsonic Skyline As one of the few that do, I can say the unfortunate answer is most don't. [This was my GT-R I imported](https://i.redd.it/hcjodvnn0sl41.jpg), it was actually done up like that by the Japanese owner but the Calsonic theme is why I jumped on it at auction. I had to constantly field questions from people as to why the color scheme was the way it was. A solid 3/4 of US R32/33 GT-R owners are in it for the clout, and probably R34s will be the same way. So many have a giant single turbo and a dyno sheet for 600hp just to drive to the local Cars and Coffee.
That is a beauty.
North American fans care about the R32 because it had already been hyped up by the rest of the world (because of its racing exploits first, and it's tuneability second) Re the GTO: there were shops like Pitroad M making 500-600hp in period.
>I honestly have a hard time believing a meaningful fraction of North American R32 fans care about the Calsonic Skyline. Literally had an R32 GTR with Calsonic livery drive by my apartment this week.
The 3000GT made the critical error of not being heavily featured in some of the key media products of the late 90s-early 2000s. If the 3000GT was a hero car in NFS instead of the GT-R, I guarantee it would be worth at least twice as much today, if not more.
There’s a minty red one that someone dailies in my town and I’m not even a JDM guy but I almost crash my car every time I see it. 3000 GT looks so cool.
>You could say the same thing about the Mitsubishi 3000GT and yet nobody cares about that car (relatively). Because the R32 had a similar design philosophy but was lighter, faster, slightly less complex, and slightly more reliable. It did everything the Mitsu did but just a little better. Unlike the NSX or the RX-7 which had their own unique designs, the 3000 just fell into the category of "not quite a GTR".
You can't compare the 3000GT to the R32, though. They were built for two completely different use cases. The 3000GT is a grand tourer. The R32 is a sports car/sports coupe. This EV conversion actually makes more sense for the type of car that was originally designed to consume miles; like the 3000GT (no thank you, though).
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Sorry what? The R32 is not a luxury anything in the slightest. The Maxima and 300ZX had a far nicer interior than the R32.
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The GTR is no better for luxury than any other trim of the R32. That doesn’t really help your case.
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Who said I was making claims about how the car was marketed? I recommend reading what I said. Even relative to other Nissans of the time like the Cefiro or Z31 the R32 interior is rather mediocre. God forbid you actually compare it against something like a President or Leopard or Cima.
Perhaps we are looking at this from a different angle, but an EV conversion seems awful for a vehicle meant to consume miles given the recharge times and effects of weight hurting range values. Though they drive very smooth so if that is the angle you are referring to then I can understand that.
honestly the R32 would be irrelevant if it wasnt successful in racing AND if it wasnt for the fast and furious movies as well as need for speed underground that injected the JDM and tuning scene into millions of young peoples minds.
The R32 wasn’t seen in any fast and the furious movies. It’s also not in any NFS underground games. You sure you aren’t thinking about the R34?
Not OP but I think hype for the R34 as a result of those movies helped the R32 become more valued. It helps that the R32 and R34 look pretty similar in shape including profile and front/rear.
They might be thinking of that yellow R33
The R32 wasn't in NFS or Fast and Furious
Yeah… and also the most legendary motor ever.
*Electric cars are complex heavy systems at the forefront of raw torque.* FTFY That’s what they are best at because the the driver board can change magnetic flux which changes torque output based on load and speed.
Have I got news for you about the calculation of power
But they're different units, so they have nothing to do with each other! ^/s
Who are you, James Watt??
Wow looks like someone just got into physics 101.
Wait until he gets to chapter 2 of the textbook!
> Electric cars are complex heavy systems at the forefront of raw torque ~~FTFY~~ ...and they also spin to extremely high RPMs which results in very high power.
Totally agree. The engine and drivetrain is 50% of the charm in a GTR. It would have been an unremarkable car if it had a basic 4 cylinder fwd configuration. Also the RB26 is a reliable engine. There are other classics that would be better suited for electric conversion. Something like a Delorean would be perfect. Even something like a early 80s 911 Carrera . The air cooled engine is neat but can be expensive to maintain and under powered. The body and chassis is much more important than the engine in that application. *queue the Porsche purists*
If Mazda owners can be purists about #keepitrotary then I see no issues with Porsche owners wanting something similar.
The rotary purists are just jealous of the reliability with ANY other engine. Some of em yiy can even slim down the weight too so that logic falls…
Everyone always bitched about how the Rotary burns oil, but thanks to modern emissions standards, most modern engines burn oil anyway. Rotary was ahead of it's time. Like how the Evo X front got copied by 99% of car companies
>Also the RB26 is a reliable engine. I honestly don't know where they got this reputation. Owned one for a long time and they are made of glass and just want to cost you money. I absolutely love them but they just flat out aren't reliable.
The lasting legacy of model-specific car forums. May they rest in peace.
Having interacted with an older 911. The handling is part of the experience sure, but the way the engine and transmission act completes the car in my opinion. It wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable driving an electrified one in my opinion. I feel this way about cars that many wouldn't consider nearly as special as a 911 though. For some people, myself included, the main draw for many cars is the motor that came with it. The body, suspensions and chassis itself is just a medium to carry said motor. Now yes a good chassis/dynamics help complete the package but the sound, feel and torque curve are what I find most interesting.
I owned a 85 Carrera for a couple years. It was a great drivers car. I drove it but kept it for more “special nice days out” type drives. I didn’t daily it. Maybe I should have but it was an old Porsche and didn’t trust it’s reliability. I always had a fear of something going wrong and needing to rebuilt the engine or transmission. I wouldn’t convert a running / driving 911 but if it’s engine was toast and there was a EV conversion kit I might have considered it and daily drove it to work after. Of coarse price would come into play here.
Cue* the Porsche purists. The '80s 911s are extremely reliable and rugged engines, whether SC or Carrera. They're not very expensive to maintain if you drive the car and use the right oil; they get spendy if you don't drive the car and use the wrong oil. They're not underpowered, not really. 180hp for US models through '83, 207hp for US models through '86, then 217hp. The '80-83 cars were about 2750lbs, the '84 and later cars were about 2760. Car and Driver tested a 1984 at 5.3 seconds zero to sixty.
That zero-60 is aided by a monster launch though. Those cars aren’t that quick from a roll.
I don't know what people use as references for speed, but they're not slow. Or maybe they are, and people just expect rocket ships nowadays. I don't care, you can have tons of fun in an '80s 911 unless you live in Shitsberg, Flatstate.
My benchmark for relatively fast is a V6 Camry. If your sportscar gets walked by a V6 Camry on the freeway, it’s not fast. My WRX is not fast.
I can honestly say that I’ve not raced on the freeway for 20 years, so I don’t even have that as a frame of reference.
> Car and Driver tested a 1984 at 5.3 seconds zero to sixty. > Those cars aren’t that quick from a roll. Compared to what? 1984 Honda Accord runs 11.4 seconds 0-60mph. Nothing from forty years ago is quick from a roll.
Dude I replied to says those 80s 911s aren’t underpowered. I’d say they are if they get walked by your granpa’s sedan. > Compared to what? Well, the 911 turbo is peppy even by today’s standards, for example.
Ev converting older cars in general will be for people who don't care about engines. They just want to specifically be seen in the thing. Taking a unique classic car and making it drive like every other ev in the world is not to make it a "drivers" car. It'll be abandoned once the novelty wears off and now there's one less unmolested "x" in the world. Which is fine people can do whatever they want. It just sucks to see.
I disagree. It’s a great idea for people who drive regularly. If you’ve ever tried to source obscure parts for vintage cars, you know it’s a massive pain in the ass. Sometimes that part just no longer exists. It will have to be custom fabricated or some kind of alternative used. I really think 3-D printing will play a major part in solving problems like this, but I absolutely see both sides of the argument. End of the day, if converting to an EV power train keeps a butt in the seat and the wheels on the road, I don’t see the problem. Better than some “investor” buying it and locking it away to never be driven again.
> If you’ve ever tried to source obscure parts for vintage cars, you know it’s a massive pain in the ass. The engine usually is supported far, far, far longer. I don't drive a vintage car, but it's 25 years old. It's shit like trim pieces, rubber gaskets, switches... the small bits and bobs of a car that get hard to acquire long before availability for normal wear items of the powertrain start to become difficult to acquire. Usually there is a pretty solid supply of components for the engine for quite a long period of time. But yes, I mean if we string it out, eventually sure the components for an engine will entirely go out of production and there will be no other choice than to 3d print at huge expense or just EV swap (also at huge expense). So I guess it is the endgame, combustion engines won't last forever, no surprise. The special ones will be kept afloat (the $20m Ferrari whatever v12), but unless it's truly special, it won't be. >Better than some “investor” buying it and locking it away to never be driven again. As Clarkson said, I think there should be some examples just put on a plinth. LOOK AT THAT. But all the rest should be driven.
Parts availability largely depends on the manufacturer. I have zero problem getting anything for my 80s and 90s BMWs straight from the dealer parts counter. But then I had an '04 SRT-10 that Dodge constantly told me I couldn't get parts for. And simple stuff too, like a sway bar bushing.
GMC commercial trucks even from the mid 2000s are the same way, you can't get fuck all for them. The only parts you can get were things that were shared with the pickup trucks/vans.
At that point I think a 2nd car would be better than gutting history
Not everyone needs to preserve history. If half of all classic car owners swapped their cars to EV or to other modern drivetrains, then you're left with hundreds of thousands of people making sure history hasn't been gutted.
Agreed. Honestly (and will probably get flack for this), converting an old classic into an EV to me is the same as taking an old classic and dropping a modern powerful engine into it (the classic LS swap to an old JDM ride, or a modern corvette motor in a classic corvette). You are keeping the aesthetic but adding modern reliability so it can be maintained and enjoyed for more generations.
Nothing says preserving history like an LS3 powered Chevelle on 20" rims with Apple CarPlay and a digital dash.
or when all the engines and spare parts go away one day, you have the option to EV the car
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Why do people V8 swap RX-7s? You could argue removing the rotary nullifies the entire point of the car, yet it is a popular conversion.
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>That is still a car which was designed to house a combustion engine This is a weird caveat to me, considering there are multiple EVs that use an existing ICE platform with little modification. An e-Golf, a Focus Electric, or a 500e are basically just EV conversions done at the factory. This R32 would be an EV conversion done....well, also at the factory.
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> Which is a weird and vain way to appreciate cars, in my opinion. People build replica Cobras and drive them every day. I've seen a video of a Ferrari 430 LS swap. Just look at the # of 40 series LandCruisers with new engines, big lifts and all manner of changes. I don't think it's right to decide how other people enjoy their vehicles. But ultimately I think it comes down to if you want an old car to be running in stock form, driven rarely (or at all) or it to be EV swapped / LS swapped and used on the reg.
Ok you can't lump in EV with LS
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A modded RB26 is purer than a EV swap. Especially when the race cars used modded RBs. Too some cars are more than just a sum of its parts
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Well, this thing called the government is not giving me and many others not much choice. Instead having peanut butter and jelly co existing, we are just getting rid of jelly, expecting peanut butter to carry(it won't)
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Oh joy I love having my already limited choices get even more limited!
EV conversions get around the emissions issue, which is a hard constraint for any vehicles you want to import into the US and especially operate in California.
What are you talking about? You can import just about any ICE vehicle over 25 years old but you can't import a new Renault Zoe. EV conversions change nothing about it
I’m not actually sure you can get around CA direct import regulations by EV swapping it.
Part of me does not like calling this preservation, but I guess if it keeps one from getting destroyed by a drift kid then I guess so. I just wish automakers could legally sell new "heritage" cars. Crash ratings are really no concern to anyone who is interested in this type of car imo.
I mean at least the drift kid was out enjoying it, then letting it just build value in some garage
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Yup, everyone gotta turn everything into a fucking business opportunity
I would rather a drift kid molest it than have it gutted being turned into an EV or sitting never driven in some boomers garage as an investment
> Crash ratings are really no concern to anyone who is interested in this type of car imo. Part of that is saving people from themselves right... How many people say "yeah I don't care about safety rating give me cheaper w 1 air bag". I am not opposed to consistent regulations for new vehicles.
For the general public absolutely. But it is quite confusing I am consciously able to buy and straddle 200hp on two wheels yet somehow don't have the ability to make decisions wrt safety when it has 4 wheels. General public likely wouldn't be buying heritage vehicles anyway
> I am consciously able to buy and straddle 200hp on two wheels yet somehow don't have the ability to make decisions wrt safety when it has 4 wheels. you know that's an interesting angle i had not thought of.
At that point it's just a body without the heart. Just not the same thing.
I'm probably in the minority but I would be ok with converting my S2000 to EV if I could keep the same weight and weight balance. I'd also add a speaker to synthesize the exhaust note.
Replacing the heart and soul of a classic car with a battery and motor is nowhere near "preservation" of classic cars.
I wouldn't worry, with motor manufacturers getting behind the carbon capture fuel technology, fuel cars Likely stay as premium sports cars EV will morph where it was always going to be, econobox , vans ,trucks and utility vehicles.
Some classics make sense to do EV conversions. Think big, slow, comfortable luxury cars, especially with an underpowered engine. EV conversion makes them quieter, smoother, and possibly quicker. It’s arguably an improvement. By comparison, converting a high performance car like this where the engine was the heart and soul of the car, and it is good for preserving the appearance, but it will likely have to make performance compromises that it originally didn’t.
>likely have to make performance compromises that it originally didn't. You've got the backwards. *Performance wise* an EV drivetrain is going to smash any RB, regardless of what's done to it, or what's spent on it, and it'll be more flexible and useable too. It's only really the sound and the sensation that lets it down.
Yes and no. The loss of that engine sound will definitely be a detriment to the whole experience, but that instant 100% torque at 1 rpm will crush any turbo setup out there. It's a love/hate relationship with electrifying. Lots of upsides paired with lots of downsides.
>but that instant 100% torque at 1 rpm will crush any turbo setup out there. In performance maybe, but the build up and punch is half the appeal of old-school turbo cars as far as I'm concerned
I daily drive a Civic Type R and honest to god it is the most satisfying car I've ever driven of the 30+ cars I've owned. I'm 5 years into ownership and have realized this is the first car I've ever owned that I cannot get rid of. I've owned supercharged miatas, turbo 370Zs, all motor Integras, you name it. The CTR... Omg...
I have to disagree. I'm personally a fan of modern turbo setups that feel much more like naturally aspirated engines where the power comes on early and carries more consistently across the powerband, as opposed to nothing, nothing, nothing, than at 4000rpm providing insane power. Like the old Porsches called widow makers when that power turned on... That shit actually sucks!
Yeah but that's exactly the point, it's old school, and to some less "efficient" is better. If you really want old school turbo lag in a modern car you go STi but those aren't even sold new. You gotta buy one used with the profit driven markup
Nobody is buying an R32 to win a drag race lol
I love how we have literally zero information on this project but everyone is already criticizing And it's most definitely going to be a one time prototype, probably to show some new tech they developped, like Toyota with the hydrogen and EV AE86s
That’s what the car community does best 😎
nobody hates cars more than the car community lmao
Damn car manufacturers! You ruined cars!
Wonder will they mate the motor directly to the manual trans thats the cheapest way to do an EV conversion provided your trans can withstand the torque
Yeah I have no idea but it would be pretty cool, or a specific manual trans built for EV engines (like the EV 86 again), honestly a pretty interesting project
"If it doesn't have a carburetor and crank windows, it's not a real car!"
"Remember when we made things you liked?"
I member
Lmao this is exactly how I feel about the Acura commercials. *integra type r* *NSX* ... *ev thing that looks like everything else*
That's like a mechanical watch maker offering to rework their most collectible model to a digital watch. Seems really... questionable.
Yes I'm just dying for a quartz powered Explorer II.
I'm not sure that's an apt comparison. After all, legislation isn't being drafted and implemented that would ban mechanical watches outright in the next few decades.
Yeah nobody buys an r32 for the engine, it’s not iconic or anything…
Chances are it's for publicity. How many people are gonna care about them doing this on something like a '84 Maxima (unless they go the N Vision 74 route)?
EV conversions for classics really only work for cars where the engine was either a detriment or not an essential component of the experience. Like 50s Rolls Royces and other old luxury marques.
And RX7s
why am i not surprised Nissan is teasing their EV with a picture of a car with a tailpipe
But why?
The most iconic thing about Godzilla was the engine.
I guess if engine exploded or something might as well.. be a bit shame if it was done to perfectly functional one
Stop. No one buys a classic car expecting modern performance. The engine is the character
Would be nice to have a spare drivetrain to swap in during rebuilds I guess, won’t be cheap though.
As a 32 owner, I don't have a problem with this. Would be nice to see what they can do to the 32 ev tech and drivability wise. I don't understand all the hate that this is getting. Are they jdm fanboys or wannabe purists? Nissan is bringing back a legend and I'm all for it, even if it's just a one off.
It’s definitely a viable option to keep these cars on the road for a long time in the future, Toyota made an AE86 ev and it was well received by the community so I don’t see this as any different. Some people have a narrow vision of how things should be, they’re the ones to ignore.
I agree. Not sure how much longer ice will be legal but the longer I get to keep my 32 on the road, the better. Now to tackle all the rust.
I don’t think I will ever understand people who turn classic cars into electrics. It entirely defeats the point of owning a classic and the point of having an electric car, all at the same time. Old cars weren’t designed with low drag coefficients in mind, and the range of an electric car is massively reduced due to air resistance, unlike ICE cars while affected don’t suffer the massive drop in range due to the energy density of the fuel. Noise is going to be a massive issue, instead of listening to induction sounds and exhaust noise all you will hear is the the wind whistling through every panel gap, the creaking of suspension every time you go over a bump and the constant drone of tires on tarmac. Why would you make a great electric car worse at what’s it’s supposed to do. The whole point of owning a classic car is so you can to gain insight of/ relive the experience of what it was like to drive one of these cars. If it’s just about looks why electrify, you’re obviously not trying to save money and please if you really think spending all this money on electrifying a 25 year old car is going to save the planet, DM me, because Iv got a bridge to sell you.
Also it's a nice little flex when your classic still outruns the modern faster car, whether by car or driver skill.
Honestly pointless. The RB26 is what makes a GTR special, take that away and you're left with a better than average chassis.
What a waste of an R32
Perfect acceleration, zero maintenance, running costs near zero, future proofing and it's a waste? lol
Nobody buys a 30 year old Nissan for "perfect acceleration" Also hilarious that you think it'll be "zero maintenance"
I've owned 24 cars ( i think ) so far and i'm on my 1st ev that i've owned for 3 years.. yes, zero maintenance. And who wouldn't like better acceleration?
3 years? That's still in warranty in Europe.
oh don't get me wrong VW sucks ass and is very unreliable, i got it because it's so cheap it's virtually free. Those other 23 cars were combustion and i've had plenty of issues with them.
Zero maintenance? What about brakes and tires that wear out even faster because of the extra weight and torque?
Not op, but brakes actually last longer with modern ev’s with regenerative braking.
Good point, I forgot about regen.
Tires are consumables not maintenance. And breaks on EVs last.. nearly forever. Because of the regen, you can drive on one set of brake pads/discs for over 250,000 miles ( actual examples of this )
Tires yes but brakes no, EVs have standard brake pads but virtually never use them. They use regenerative braking from the electric motors to recharge the battery and stop the vehicle. The insane amount of torque would have me burning out every time if I wasn’t careful. I got use to how to drive it but every single time I let someone else drive it they immediately burned out when they first accelerated.
First "maintenance" on my EV was the in cabin air filter @ 16K miles. Not really a maintenance item, but that's what was listed as the first service in the car's manual. But since there are no belts, hoses, transmission, oil, water pumps, alternators, etc... There's pretty much nothing that needs maintenance. The average ICE has over 2,000 moving parts and my EV has 22.
It loses its character without the engine. Not everything is about perfection.
Not everything is about internal combustion, either.
The engine isn’t what defines the skyline
Literally is
yeah, if you want an EV just go fucking buy a tesla instead. nobody owns a GTR because they want a future proof car. you own a GTR because of what it already is.
I'm honestly on the fence about whether it is actually future proofing a 20-30 year old car by making it an EV. The chassis is not meant to carry the additional weight and the design of the car and safety features are compromised. At best it is a nice stunt to please a small niche of people who don't realize that the car will either be too heavy or have no range to be useful/practical for anything other than shooting some promotional material. So to me its a waste of an R32, since this could of been done to a Skyline not wearing a R badge, or the R35.
Yeah...so the car is without its soul.
Well it’s a machine so
The soul is still there don't worry. You can also keep the manual transmission but it doesn't really do anything
No character…no sound
What's the difference between having this drive train in an R32 or in a Tesla Plaid? The character of a car revolves around it's drivetrain.
it's about keeping the car alive for longer. There's loads of videos with Enzos and F40s or other super expensive cars that never get launched as they're scared not to brake them. These older cars are fragile, the engine is not the only thing that's part of a car's character
No sound = No character especially on these cars
Fuck outta here
Convert the GXi/GTE leave the GT-R alone
I just wish they’d actually make and sell these to the public, make a modern version of something like the old skyline, modern infotainment, modern safety features, while keeping the exterior as faithful as possible, and sell them… I guess it’s just not that easy
Is this a one off project? Cause I don't know, I don't see many owners actually willing to electrify their Skylines.
Whatever happened to that hydrogen combustion engine they were experimenting with in the GR Corolla? And I’m pretty sure Toyota also did a hydro-swap with an AE85 rather recently 👀 Ngl a hydrocombustion-powered R32 would be insane, plus you wouldn’t lose stuff like power bands and the ✨ noises ✨
That engine caught fire during testing for a race recently. Hydrogen leak due to a flaw in the piping design. They're working to sort the kinks out.
Uh oh, I hope the driver was okay; and yeah, there are definitely a bunch of things the R&D people have to work out as they go about testing this engine
I don't think anyone was injured, thankfully. Or if they were it was only minor. The fire happened during static testing... there may not have even been a driver inside. Toyota's CEO was actually supposed to race the car using his 'Morizo' alter ego. Had to cancel that.
great...another EV...
Nissan can fuck right off with this fuckerey. On one hand they brought the heritage parts line back so you can keep your iconic gtr on the road, and here they are fucking them with soulless electric motors
Noooooo that’s ok, I’ll stick with the RB.
Hot.
Boo. Need car go vroom.
Car also needs a 5 speed. On 1 hand it's cool because instead of building a new EV, wasting resources, they are retrofitting a car. Otoh they gutting a perfectly good RB26 and it's going to more fun and raw then any EV platform. (0-60 gets boring after awhile)
Imagine if they introduced a program where you could pay for them to retrofit your R32 with a full factory refresh
Ooh I bet they'll even offer discontinued parts too, just in case you need em
No ICE, no thank you
Who the fuck wants this? The EV washing of classics needs to stop.
Sacre Bleu
4wd maxima EV? I sleep
GTR without that beautiful RB sound? No thanks
They couldn't butcher any other AWD car?
please no, this is pure sacrilege
this is why hell exists
Lame
It'll look like a duck but won't quack like one. So it isn't a duck...
I want Nissan to succeed but at the moment I'll never trust any of their cars. I have an XTrail and a G35x and the amount of repairs and issues I've had. I'm done with them, they give zero fucks about reliability.
Its a no from me dawg.
Please no. I’d rather a car be locked away than have no sound, especially something like a Skyline.
With all the talks about the loss of sound and the tuning of this car, it’s hard to forget that there are fake exhausts for these reasons. Just tack a speaker on it. Teslas can fart at people. Just saying.
The day for the skyline to return in all its glory has came
As if I needed another reason to want an R32.
Sexi
Who cares?
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