Skyline R33 or Supra TT?

[Alex C]

A few people have pm’d me asking about my thoughts on these cars having now owned both. I felt I needed a bit of time to get used to the Skyline first but now feel ready to masticate a bit…its long so settle in or just leave now!

 

For background I owned a 1995 TT Auto UK spec tuned by Thor to BPU+ (HKS FMIC, APEXi SAFCii, Blitz SBC-id @ 1.3bar) making ~380bhp on Thors Hub Dyno, a claimed 420bhp at the flywheel*

I now have a 1996 R33GTR (Non V-Spec) running 478bhp at the hubs on Abbey motorsport hub Dyno, a claimed minimum 518Bhp flywheel*

* See below on Power

 

Looks

Well judge for your self:

 

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=198133

 

For me the Supra is still the prettier car, its raw lines are still echoed in many of the current coupes on the road like the XK jags, Astons etc although admittedly these do show the signs of a few more decades of refinement and more classic tastes. Obviously once plastered with kits and wings as mine was, some of the natural beauty is lost in favour of a more aggressive look, but its still a great looking machine in any guise.

The Skyline is not pretty, in fact its probably pretty ugly, but for me that is part of the appeal. I grew up drooling over the R33 and love its muscular arches which instantly elevate it above the regular R33 GTS’s etc. I’ve had more vocal attention from yoofs and Barry’s in the GTR already than I ever got in the Sup…not sure how that makes me feel but for sure the Skyline is still known / recognised by more people.

 

Build Quality

This one isn’t even close. The Supra feels like a car worth twice as much – no rattles, no squeaks, solid feeling doors, thicker glass, better materials. In every area you can see where the Nissan engineers have had to compromise (or just ran out of budget) to make up for the weight of the ATTESSA and HICAS. On the other hand, this does emphasise the GT feel of the Sup and the more raw feel of the Skyline. I kinda like that at the moment but time will tell if it becomes wearing on longer journeys etc.

 

Power

My premise for selling the Supra was twofold – one was for more interaction with a car and the other was that the Skyline promised another 100bhp in an already up-rated N1 block with treated & forged internals. I’ll get to the feel of the cars in the handling section below. Power wise, my thoughts are still clouded. In part this is because I never really knew what the figures for the Supra should be interpreted as – a hub dyno should be an accurate ‘at the wheels’ figure but I’ve also read on here that Thor’s figures are consistently pretty close to the flywheel figures calculated from some rolling roads like SRR. Whatever the actual number, the car was very quick and was on a par with the new V8 M3 down Marham’s runway up to about 160mph.

 

I was hoping the skyline would feel like it was in a different league but at the moment it doesn’t. 1st to 3rd for sure are gone in a flash, but that’s not quite 100mph and from then on I’m not convinced that the Supra would not have performed its top of 3rd gear magic high rev charge to 130mph and reeled in the advantage if there was one. I think a 500Bhp + 500Ibs/ft skyline should be noticeably quicker and so far (despite running 1.6bar) it doesn’t seem to be. I’ll be undertaking a few tests to see what the real deal is however as aerodynamics might be playing a part also.

 

Sound

For me, not much comes close to a tuned RB26 at high rpm so +1 for the Skyline here (but still think Supra’s sound awesome too!)

 

Handling & feedback

Here’s where I hoped the decision would pay off and now I have a feel for the R33, thankfully its starting to. I must point out both cars are on 19” alloys which are an inch too large for both cars in my view – changing to 18” soon.

 

The steering on the supra has always been a little bugbear of mine..although it weights up at speed I always felt it was lacking in feel and feedback. This made it a nice smooth drive (the GT aspect again) but was a bit frustrating on the back roads. The Skyline is much better here, great feelsome signals coming back through the factory fit Momo. The Nissan also feels more alive in general, eager to turn in and has a phenomenal party piece of exiting roundabouts and tight bend under full power with a bit of rear slip but good traction at the front thanks to the active diff.

 

My Supra still had the UK suspension which was a great ride/handling compromise but was certainly softer than the R33 with its AST coilovers. A J-spec supra might be different with the Bilsteins but I’ve never driven one in anger. The Skyline can simply put more power down more of the time and for that, along with its riffle-bolt gear shift and awesome (Stoptech) brakes, it would be out of sight on most average B roads within a couple of miles.

 

Summary

For me, the difficult decision to part with the Supra is starting to pay off…once I get a few cosmetic things done I will be a happy man with my new car. What I hope I have proven is that the Supra (in Auto form particularly) is a wonderful GT machine with great looks and build quality and in many ways is the better all-round package. The Skyline is a rawer, aggressive looking beast of a car (when tuned) and although it may need even more power to match the high speed legs of a Supra, for such a large (and practical!) car it really has no right to be so wieldy and responsive.

 

Both brilliant cars and an owner of either should have lots of mutual respect rather than any biased judgements without real hands-on experience. I am just lucky to have owned two of my obtainable dream cars I’ve wanted since the late 90’s.

 

Hope I didn't bore anyone to death:D

Edited October 14, 2009 by Alex C (see edit history)

[Jamesy]

Nice summary dude.

 

I owned an r33 before this tt.

 

I loved the raw feel and looks of the skyline, like a gokart on steroids.

 

However for me the supra wins every time in looks, performance, luxury, interior .... Except the noise - altho my supra has a nice tone with the rsr, my skyline plus screamer pipe was fecking mental !!!

[wile e coyote]

Good honest right up

[SUPRALOOPY]

I have had both too. I thought the skyline was great to drive and felt responsive and quick, the supra was just all out better looking and smoother to drive with a better delivery of power. I only got rid of the skyline due to every time I got out of it and looked back, it never did anything for me, but with the supra I always smiled and thought thats mine that is and it looks the bollx.

[1JZGTE]

An ace writeup, Alex, many thanks for doing so.

 

What surprises me is how the Skyline, with a 100bhp advantage over your Supra, doesn't feel that much faster!

 

Interesting stuff.

 

[nige]

Exellent write up:thumbs: I have been out for a few spirited drives with a few Skylines in the past some running high BHP and to be honest they are about on par with my Supra which is a J-Spec BPU RZ-S which is a few kilos lighter than the UK Spec, but I'am sure the Supra would be a nicer car to be sitting in.

[SupraAyf]

I enjoyed reading that Alex.

[mkirby]

ive owned both and i fully agree that the supra is much better put together and higher up the torque of the 3 ltr engine really tells.

 

the main reason i sold my r33 was it was running 400bhp ish but felt very big and lazy and i dont doubt it was fast but it just didnt feel fast so picked up an r32 with 600 bhp and that was a different kettle of fish

[Guigsy]

ive never driven a 33. but whenever ive been in one. or having a good look arround the cabin. my thaughts are always "how can you sit in this" the interior is just boring and dull. difficult to tell if your sitting in a skyline or a primera. The supra on the other hand is sublime. everything is right where you expect it to be and where you would want it.

And as supraloopy says. even after 3 or so years of ownership. i still look back and smile when i park it up. I do it every time i park up. The skyline to be is jsut a bit like a m3. sure its fast... but at the end of the day it looks like a rep mobile with a few subtle twists. it just doesnt do it for me.

 

and the noise issue. i dont realy see the appeal of high revs on the skyline. it just sounds like any other highly revved engine to me. But then i prefer a v8 with a big burble, spluttering away to a rotary fizzing arround

 

A supe with a blitz nur spec is one of the nicest car sounds out there if you ask me.

Edited October 14, 2009 by Guigsy (see edit history)

[mkirby]

its funny isnt it as i hate the supra interior, to me the dash is just one huge slab of plastic but i agree the skyline interior is nothing special for such an expensive car, glad they have adressed this in the new gtr which seems to have the build quality as well

 

Mike

[Tom]

Nice, you have same reasons as me about the steering, even though it had been my dream car for years when I first drove one I was close to not buying one all down to the steering, I've never liked the feedback, then I bought a mk3 supra and the steering feel is spot on

Edited October 15, 2009 by Tom (see edit history)

[matt k]

A few people have pm’d me asking about my thoughts on these cars having now owned both. I felt I needed a bit of time to get used to the Skyline first but now feel ready to masticate a bit…its long so settle in or just leave now!

 

For background I owned a 1995 TT Auto UK spec tuned by Thor to BPU+ (HKS FMIC, APEXi SAFCii, Blitz SBC-id @ 1.3bar) making ~380bhp on Thors Hub Dyno, a claimed 420bhp at the flywheel*

I now have a 1996 R33GTR (Non V-Spec) running 478bhp at the hubs on Abbey motorsport hub Dyno, a claimed minimum 518Bhp flywheel*

* See below on Power

 

Looks

Well judge for your self:

 

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=198133

 

For me the Supra is still the prettier car, its raw lines are still echoed in many of the current coupes on the road like the XK jags, Astons etc although admittedly these do show the signs of a few more decades of refinement and more classic tastes. Obviously once plastered with kits and wings as mine was, some of the natural beauty is lost in favour of a more aggressive look, but its still a great looking machine in any guise.

The Skyline is not pretty, in fact its probably pretty ugly, but for me that is part of the appeal. I grew up drooling over the R33 and love its muscular arches which instantly elevate it above the regular R33 GTS’s etc. I’ve had more vocal attention from yoofs and Barry’s in the GTR already than I ever got in the Sup…not sure how that makes me feel but for sure the Skyline is still known / recognised by more people.

 

Build Quality

This one isn’t even close. The Supra feels like a car worth twice as much – no rattles, no squeaks, solid feeling doors, thicker glass, better materials. In every area you can see where the Nissan engineers have had to compromise (or just ran out of budget) to make up for the weight of the ATTESSA and HICAS. On the other hand, this does emphasise the GT feel of the Sup and the more raw feel of the Skyline. I kinda like that at the moment but time will tell if it becomes wearing on longer journeys etc.

 

Power

My premise for selling the Supra was twofold – one was for more interaction with a car and the other was that the Skyline promised another 100bhp in an already up-rated N1 block with treated & forged internals. I’ll get to the feel of the cars in the handling section below. Power wise, my thoughts are still clouded. In part this is because I never really knew what the figures for the Supra should be interpreted as – a hub dyno should be an accurate ‘at the wheels’ figure but I’ve also read on here that Thor’s figures are consistently pretty close to the flywheel figures calculated from some rolling roads like SRR. Whatever the actual number, the car was very quick and was on a par with the new V8 M3 down Marham’s runway up to about 160mph.

 

I was hoping the skyline would feel like it was in a different league but at the moment it doesn’t. 1st to 3rd for sure are gone in a flash, but that’s not quite 100mph and from then on I’m not convinced that the Supra would not have performed its top of 3rd gear magic high rev charge to 130mph and reeled in the advantage if there was one. I think a 500Bhp + 500Ibs/ft skyline should be noticeably quicker and so far (despite running 1.6bar) it doesn’t seem to be. I’ll be undertaking a few tests to see what the real deal is however as aerodynamics might be playing a part also.

 

Sound

For me, not much comes close to a tuned RB26 at high rpm so +1 for the Skyline here (but still think Supra’s sound awesome too!)

 

Handling & feedback

Here’s where I hoped the decision would pay off and now I have a feel for the R33, thankfully its starting to. I must point out both cars are on 19” alloys which are an inch too large for both cars in my view – changing to 18” soon.

 

The steering on the supra has always been a little bugbear of mine..although it weights up at speed I always felt it was lacking in feel and feedback. This made it a nice smooth drive (the GT aspect again) but was a bit frustrating on the back roads. The Skyline is much better here, great feelsome signals coming back through the factory fit Momo. The Nissan also feels more alive in general, eager to turn in and has a phenomenal party piece of exiting roundabouts and tight bend under full power with a bit of rear slip but good traction at the front thanks to the active diff.

 

My Supra still had the UK suspension which was a great ride/handling compromise but was certainly softer than the R33 with its AST coilovers. A J-spec supra might be different with the Bilsteins but I’ve never driven one in anger. The Skyline can simply put more power down more of the time and for that, along with its riffle-bolt gear shift and awesome (Stoptech) brakes, it would be out of sight on most average B roads within a couple of miles.

 

Summary

For me, the difficult decision to part with the Supra is starting to pay off…once I get a few cosmetic things done I will be a happy man with my new car. What I hope I have proven is that the Supra (in Auto form particularly) is a wonderful GT machine with great looks and build quality and in many ways is the better all-round package. The Skyline is a rawer, aggressive looking beast of a car (when tuned) and although it may need even more power to match the high speed legs of a Supra, for such a large (and practical!) car it really has no right to be so wieldy and responsive.

 

Both brilliant cars and an owner of either should have lots of mutual respect rather than any biased judgements without real hands-on experience. I am just lucky to have owned two of my obtainable dream cars I’ve wanted since the late 90’s.

 

Hope I didn't bore anyone to death:D

 

Nice write up.

[gordy07]

Good write up:)

[Lee_e]

great and very honest write up dude

 

as for the power thing, iv had a few "spirited" drives with some skyline owners claiming 400+ bhp and mine having 360bhp. they couldnt get away from me

 

The Supra is just an Awesome car !!

[Thorin]

Nice write up

[ellis]

Nicely written. You forgot to add that the Supra can also fly - something both IanIan and I found out over the Welsh hills this weekend!!

[Mcgoo]

Good info there, cheers Alex.

[supra-mike1984]

I found this a very interesting read. I have been considering buying something Japanese and Turbocharged again, and funnily enough these are the two I am arguing it out between. . . .

[Dan_Turism0]

I'm in this predicament at the moment but am going to going for the R33 GTR i'm afraid main reason is rear leg room is a little better and with the mrs having a little one it's the safest option to avoid a ear bashing