Skyline GTS-t: A long way from home

Not many times back in 1989 did we ever think of cars such as the then New R32 Skyline hitting our North American shores. Back then if you sought performance American muscle was still king with High volume sales going to the Camaro and Mustang variety for the best bang for your buck, sports car experience. Japan was beginning to reach common ground with 1990 around the corner and start really competing in the sports coupe market, with the likes of a redesigned, 300 horse, Twin Turbo 300ZX, Mitsubishi 3000GT and in 93 Toyota’s Supra Twin Turbo. All these cars using sophisticated, smaller displacement, 24 Valve 6 Cylinder powerplants augmented with Turbochargers instead of the Larger, Cast Iron, 16 Valve American pushrod v8’s that dated back into the 1960s.

The need for speed is the same all over the world.

 It wasn’t until 2004, whereas in Canada importation laws allow for a Vehicle fifteen years or older to be imported for use on our roads, where we saw the first R32 Nissan Skyline here in our country. The car had long since been a history maker in Japan, competing and dominating the Japanese Touring car championship with the Legendary GTR model, winning 29 of 29 starts in first year competition. Much to the chagrin of motoring enthusiasts here in North America, Nissan kept it’s Godzilla holed up on home soil.

Aftermath:  tire smoke in classic RB form.

What also made the Skyline such a commodity was the wide variety of models available in the lineup. No matter who you were, there was surely an R32 to fit your budget and personality. Andrew K just so happens to own a 1990 Skyline GTS-t Type M, sporting the 2.0 Litre, Single Ceramic turbocharged version of Nissan’s famed RB series engines (RB20DET) which produced 212 horsepower and 194 pounds feet of torque in factory form.

Handling feedback is fantastic thanks to an independent front and rear suspension, featuring a Four wheel steering system called HICAS (Coined by Nissan as High Capacity Actively Controlled Suspension) which reduces understeer by allowing the rear wheels to assist in steering capacity, and helps the driver maintain control under moderate to extreme cornering.

Striking in Stillness: The Advans Setting the car off.

   Imported and purchased in Alberta, sporting 3 inch Exhaust and 17 inch Super Advan racing wheels from Japan, Andrew has driven the car across our country to Ontario, with the only maintenance required being a new fuel pump. He has since upgraded the car adding a larger front mount intercooler setup, Manual Boost Controller, and supporting modifications for fuel.
 

The car now enjoys frequent beach cruises on the shores of Lake Huron, a far departure from the busy streets of Tokyo, is home that far away for this car now? I'll let the smile on the owner's face do the talking.

NISSAN SKYLINE GTS-t SPECIFICATIONS (as per Wikipedia)
Production 1989-1994
N1-228 Assembly Tochigi, Tochigi, Japan
Body style 2-door coupe
Layout Front engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine : 2.0 L RB20DET I6
Transmission 5-speed manual
Wheelbase 2,615 mm (103.0 in)
Length 4,580 mm (180.3 in) (sedan)
Width 1,695 mm (66.7 in)
Height 1,340 mm (52.8 in) (sedan)
Curb weight 1,280 kg (2,821.9 lb) (type-m)