Skyline R33 GTS25T

After owning the R32 for nearly four years, I wanted a bit of a change. I looked at a couple of different options from the Skyline range. I decided I wanted a R33 GTS25T for a couple of reasons:

• They look quite good
• They go quite good
• And I was familiar with their mechanicals and systems by now

My R33 GTS25T is a dark blue four door sedan. When I bought it, it was very stock - 35,000km, very original. No spoilers, no wings. But it does have a factory LSD.

After a month or two of driving, I came to the conclusion that the car felt very flat. I booked into WAR Motorsport in Hamilton for a sorting session. Rob very quickly diagnosed a fault with the factory ECU that was limiting boost to only 5 psi. A Turbosmart bleed valve was installed in place of the factory boost solenoid. The car was transformed.

The next problem showed itself during a Skylines Downunder Dyno day. The dyno run was very dissapointing and showed a very flat power curve. 108kw.

I then had the car fitted with a full 3 inch exhaust from the turbo back by Al's Mufflers. They did a great job, and resulted in the car feeling a heap better, and sounding great. A second run on the dyno exibited a totally different shape this time, though the peak power was much better: 124kw.

Another visit to WAR Motorsport was booked. The guys ran the car on the dyno a couple of times, and admired my ski-slope torque curve. The spark plugs were checked and found to be gapped at 1.1mm. A new set of plugs were installed gapped at 0.9mm. The car responded well, picking up some useful power. The guys then decided to advance the base timing a little. From the factory the timing is set at about 15 degrees. The base timing was advanced to 20 degrees, which the car also liked and made a little more power. You can see on the dyno chart below, the ECU still relearning the advanced base timing.

I'm quite happy with the car now in it's current state.