By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Kerryann has done an amazing job on her R32 GT-R–not only is this ride unbelievably rare, but it’s a fully legitimate little track brawler as well. She’ll be running it in Redline Time Attack for the 2011 season, but before that there’s one little stop to make–at the SEMA show! The R32 will be displayed there as one of the Seibon feature cars, and Kerryann will be there too, representing at the Enkei booth. Congratulations Kerryann, we’ll see you in Vegas!

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I’m not sure what’s in the water in that other hemisphere. But it seems that the New Zealanders and Australians are responsible for some of the fastest Skylines in the world. This R32 belongs to Glen Suckling from New Zealand. It is capable of an 8.02 second runs thanks to its 2.7 litre 1300bhp engine. Judging by this picture, it really jumps off the line but I wouldn’t expect any less with 1300BHP on tap. You can’t just turn up at a drag strip and think you can pull off an 8 second run. It is always a combination of things that allows you to break records. It all starts with a chassis that has been stripped of all its unnecessary metal, while panels like the hood and trunk are replaced with lighter-material items. See more pics and continue reading at Speedhunters.

-by Jeroen Willemsen

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Here is one nice ride I spotted last month when covering the D1-GP final in Fuji Speedway. This extremely low BNR32 belongs to Ryusuke Kawasaki, the editor of Drift Tengoku (Drift Heaven) Magazine, the only publication you will ever need to read if you are into sliding around in cars! Doriten (the nick name of the mag) first came out back in 1996. It was bundled along with an issue of Option, and it kind of stayed like that until 1999 when it was finally launched as a proper separate publication. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Sometimes it’s really hard to believe that the high tech R32 Skyline GT-R is now over 20 years old. The R32 is just one of several iconic Japanese cars that recently have crossed the 20-year mark. Others include the S13 Silvia and the NA chassis Mazda Roadster. Surely these cars will be the “nostalgics” of generations to come. The car in the photo is the Auto Gallery Yokohama R32, seen at Tsukuba Circuit last year.

By Mike Garrett

By Antonio Alvendia

Antonio Alvendia

Thinking back on this summer’s epic All Star Bash weekend, I’ve begun to come to the conclusion that it just might have been the best American grassroots drifting event that I’ve ever been to in my whole life. Now THAT is a pretty strong statement – especially when you’ve been to as many grassroots drifting events in different states as I have. Of course, one of the things that naturally attracts me to the All Star Bash is the presence of some pretty awesome cars, most of which are S13s and S14s.

However, there was a certain non S-chassis that caught my attention – it was a white R32 Nissan Skyline with license plates from Washington state. It wasn’t until the end of the last day of All Star Bash that I met the owner of this car – Jon Jaffe from Washington’s own Team Instant Party. When we spoke at Willow Springs, it was hot, so I just gave him props on his car and a couple stickers, and went on my way.

Fast forward about a month – on my way back from the Formula D Seattle trip, BN Sports Raymond and I found ourselves chillin out in Bothell, Washington with Instant Party driver Roland Gallagher and his dad. On the day I was supposed to return to Los Angeles, I asked Raymond if we could stop by Roland’s house on the way to the airport so I could check out his car really quick and say what’s up. Shortly after we arrived at Roland’s house, Jon took a break from his workday to come over and say hello. Perfect timing. I wanted to get a closer look at his Skyline anyway! Continue reading and view more photos at MotorMavens!

By Steve Neill

Steve Neill

This is a drift I pulled back in Mid-September in my R32 GT-R. Not bad huh?! Took like 30 tries to get it RIGHT.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Kyle from VWVortex got bored with all the snow last week, so he bought a couple saucers and some rope and took his R32 out to an icy parking lot. But what’s up with the Eclipse with underglow at 1:40?

Well, let me just preface this blog by saying most VW owners are not going to be happy with what I have to say, that being, this car was a let down. I went to the VW dealer yesterday looking to drive a GTI as a possible replacement for my recently departed BMW M5. However, when I got there, there were no GTIs to be had. But they did have a shiny new R32.

Now we’re talking! I had heard about this car, that it was a super GTI with all wheel drive, performance and most of all the DSC gear box. I gave the sales guy my license and jumped behind the wheel with my buddy John in tow. My first impression was not good. At $35k the R32 is no budget mobile, but then it was never advertised as one. Problem was, it felt like one. The center console was cheesy plastic and while the rest of the interior was nice, it wasn’t $35k nice. In fact a $20k Honda Accord felt as though it was made with better quality materials.

Anyway, we got it on the road and the first thing I noticed was the exhaust note, which I must say was delightful–a nice little whirring note that gets deeper the harder you accelerate. The VW engineers got this part right. Acceleration was ok–no real torque to speak of, but it does get off the line ok thanks to its AWD system. But it just does not feel fast. I wasn’t overly thrilled with the DSC transmission either. Now don’t get me wrong, the tranny is FANTASTIC–almost too good. Problem is that this is a performance car, which means I want to feel the shifts. The DSC is SO smooth that I was looking down at the tach to see if the transmission actually shifted when I hit the paddle.

Handling is top notch as well, it cornered great and is very nimble for a 3500+ pound car. That, combined with great brakes, make it a very surefooted ride. It’s just that the price that keeps killing me. If this car was say $25k or $30k then maybe. It’s just that the car doesn’t have the performance to back up the asking price. Sorry VW, but keep trying.

Our buddy Rich Truesdell is getting to be quite the spy photographer. Check out this 2010 VW GTI 5-door hatchback he caught yesterday afternoon in Death Valley. More pics and details over at Automotive Traveler.

I guess it’s no surprise that lighter and faster won in our latest Showroom Showdown. And it seems like most enthusiasts will still pick two doors over four, despite various marketing efforts to make people think that four doors are cool. Stay tuned for next week’s match-up, and as always, if you have any suggestions for what cars we should pit against each other, post them in the comments below.