2002 marked the end of a beautiful Skylined era. It was the final production year of the famed GT-R (not to be confused with the R35 you know of today), and with it, the most successful engine Nissan had ever designed.To commemorate 13 years of production, which began back in 1989 with the BNR32, a final limited-edition of the BNR34 was created: the Nür, sold in both V-spec II and M-spec versions. Only 1000 of these cars were made, specifically to pay homage to the race tracks that had helped shape them into the most capable Japanese sports cars of the nineties. The Skyline GT-R and RB26 fueled the Japanese tuning industry through those golden years, and will continue to remain a reference point for the best the JDM world has ever produced. It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 10 years since the R34 went out of production, but equally incredible this second generation of GT-Rs (1989~2002) continues to captivate the minds of enthusiasts. Even Nissan, through NISMO, recognizes the importance of these cars, having launched a program at the beginning of this year to begin developing new and exciting modern tuning parts for the RB26 and the GT-R.

There are no purists in the GT-R world. Nissan created it as a ready-to-modify package that had a high potential for performance, that is, so long as you have the money to play with. We recently discovered at the Osaka-based tuning faction, Auto Select, there are indeed people who are ready to play, and they like to get dirty with a car like the R34 V-specII Nür. Combining the kind of “in-your-face” tuning that the Kansai area of Japan is so well known for, the owner of this car inspired himself from Auto Select’s own demo car, the Yellow Shark. As the Sawa brothers of Auto Select tell us, “This car has become an example that we like to use to show potential customers what we can build for legal street use.” We’re almost floored just looking at which cars in Japan are considered street legal; this one’s built with a collection of high-end, performance-driven parts that would be anything but legal in our neck of the woods.

This particular R34 is dressed up in high-end NISMO fashion, like the Z-tune front fenders, side and rear skirts. The front bumper is a carbon-fiber replica of the NISMO Version 1 bumper, mated to an Auto Select front carbon lip spoiler, which is very Mr. Plow-looking. More carbon comes in the way of an extremely lightweight Sun Line Racing carbon hood, which is styled to look much like the Z-tune piece. Nismo GT LED taillights are also a must-have for any R34, which pay homage to a successful stint the car had in Super GT racing. A white-on-white theme is pulled off splendidly with a set of 18x10.5" Volk Racing TE37s, wrapped in beefy 295/30 R18 Hankook Ventus TDs.

Suspension tuning is another area that Auto Select loves to get right. Here, they tuned a set of their own dampers for optimized performance. ARC stabilizing bars help keep the R34 flat through the corners while the massive billet Auto Select strut tower bar makes sure there is no chassis flex. The stock 4-pot fronts have been replaced with 8-pot Brembos, the same calipers used on a Ferrari Enzo. Repeated track use has turned their gold color into a slightly overheated orange hue, but the large 380mm Rdd discs are very much still in once piece. Stopping the rear end are 355mm Rdd discs mated to the now repositioned stock 2-pot rear Brembo calipers.

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Auto Select loves building their cars with parts that are proven to make power. They placed their trust in a Trust T88-33D turbo (Get it? “Trust” Trust? Ah, forget it.), that may not be the fastest spooling or most responsive, but is consistently hassle-free. The extra 200cc of displacement from the HKS Step 2 2.8L stroker kit helped increased torque greatly, and the HKS V-Cam Pro does its function of shaping those performance curves for a broader and more linear spread of power. Even so, when the turbo spools and hits full boost at the preset 1.6-bar, the R34 shoots down the street with savage acceleration. Quenching the RB’s thirst for Hi-Oku are an army of 1000 cc/min SARD injectors, which are in turn, kept at full capacity by an externally mounted Bosch fuel pump. Sawa-san spent many nights on the Osaka wangan fine-tuning the HKS F-Con V Pro, but managed to squeeze out 800 horses and 615 lb/ft of torque on a proper dyno. Engine cooling is handled by an ARC side-flow radiator and air-separator tank, one of the best setups for the RB26. The stock Getrag 6-speed transmission seems to be handling all of the abuse the engine throws at it, but to make sure slippage doesn’t become an issue, an Exedy triple-plate carbon clutch is being used.

The owner, a faceless person without so much as even a name for us to address them by, didn’t want to miss out on any opportunities to hit the track as often as possible, so the interior had to be prepped for such extremities. The driver seat was replaced with an Auto Select carbon Kevlar bucket; the steering wheel, also replaced for a racier-feeling Auto Select. GReddy gauges are placed here and there; a NISMO sport meter has replaced the stock 300 km/h Nür, but not even the 320km/h reading is enough, so a digital A’PEXi speed meter had to be used as well. Other electronics include a HKS EVC boost controller and a Field E-TS controller to help adjust torque split from the Attesa system.

The RB26DETT-powered GT-R has captivated the minds of performance-hungry enthusiasts since 1989, and we don’t see the infatuation dying down at any time in the near future, if ever. The R35 is impressive, but it just doesn’t hold a candle that’s nearly as special to it.

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Tuning Menu

2002 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-specII Nür (BNR34)

OwnerAuto Select Customer

HometownOsaka, Japan

Power800hp/615lb-ft at 1.6-bar boost

EngineN1 Nür engine block; Trust extended baffle, stainless exhaust manifold, Type-C external wastegate, T88-33D turbo, intercooler and oil cooler with oil filter relocation kit; HKS Step 2 2.8L kit (forged pistons, H-section conrods, balanced crank), HKS 1.2 mm metal head gasket, V-Cam Pro (intake), 272° camshaft (exhaust), valve springs, oil pump, hard pipe kit, SPF foam filter and Twin Power Type-DLI II; Auto Select ported and polished head, 90mm front pipe, full titanium exhaust system, aluminum intake pipe, carbon radiator shroud, oil catch tank and collector tank; Bosch external fuel pump; SARD FPR and 1000cc injectors; GReddy billet fuel rail; ARC side-flow radiator with air separator tank

DrivetrainExedy triple-plate carbon clutch and lightweight flywheel; ARC transmission cooler

Engine ManagementHKS F-Con V Pro ECU, EVC boost controller and fuel-mixture controller

Footwork & ChassisAuto Select adjustable suspension kit with 20 kg/mm springs front & 22 kg/mm rear, billet front strut tower bar; front/rear Ikeya formula pillow-ball adjustable arms; ARC anti-sway bars

BrakesBrembo 8-pot front calipers with 380mm Rdd 2-piece slotted discs, Brembo 2-pot stock calipers with larger offset kit and 355mm Rdd 2-piece slotted discs

Wheels & TiresVolk Racing TE37 10.5Jx18", Hankook Ventus TD 295/30 R18

ExteriorAuto Select “Nismo Version 1-style” front bumper, Auto Select carbon-fiber front lip spoiler, diffuser and carbon Kevlar wing stays/spoiler end caps/rear wing flap; Sun Line Racing carbon-fiber hood; NISMO Z-tune front fenders, front & side clear repeaters, side skirts, rear skirts, rear fender finishers and rear GT LED lights

InteriorAuto Select carbon-Kevlar bucket driver seat, steering wheel and removable hub; NISMO 320 km/h combination meter; A’PEXi ASM speed meter; GReddy gauges; Field E-TS controller

www autoselect.co.jp;greddy.com;hksusa.com;mackinindustries.com (ARC/Volk Racing)