Sneak Peak : 2008 Nissan Skyline GT-R

If you remember the “Fast and the Furious” movies you will remember the Skyline GT-R (a.k.a “Godzilla”). Since the Skyline GT-R became a popular car for street racing in Japan, it has led to countless appearances in video games, beginning with its debut in 1994 for the SNES game Zero 4 Champ R and most notably the Gran Turismo series, and in Need for Speed Underground as well as the occasional appearances in feature films, anime, and manga.

Recently, Nissan released it’s latest offering, the 2008 Nissan Skyline GT-R. Nissan has gone to great lengths in regards to the build process of each GT-R. Every 480-hp, VR38 twin-turbo V-6 engine is hand assembled in a clean, dust-free room by one of twenty highly skilled technicians at Nissan’s engine plant in Yokohama. The facility turns out twenty-seven GT-R engines per day, each taking three hours and twenty minutes to build. This production number will double once a second shift starts before the end of the year. Once completed, the engines are run through both a zero and full load dyno test before shipment to the Tochigi assembly plant for installation. At that plant, the GT-R rolls down the same line as the Infiniti G35 and G37 but, once finished, it is put through a unique, eight-lap shakedown by one of ten trained drivers on a test track situated next to the factory.

It’s the most exciting car Japan has ever produced. Sorry Supra, too bad NSX, but there’s nothing quite like the Skyline GT-R. A technological tour de force, the GT-R has always been the dream car of the PlayStation generation. Since 1989, modern GT-Rs have always featured a twin turbocharged engine and electronically controlled all-wheel drive and steering. The last generation Skyline GT-R, the R34, was the first production car ever to feature an onboard computer that gave real-time dynamic readouts on a full color screen. Not to mention that it was fast and nimble enough to run head-to-head with a Porsche 911 GT3.

Here is what we know: Previous GT-Rs have been based on Skyline sedans, but for the first time ever the GT-R will be a standalone model sharing no sheetmetal or even visual cues with the sedan. The GT-R Proto you see on these pages was designed by Hiroshi Hasegawa (who penned the Infiniti G35 sedan and coupe) under the direction of Shiro Nakamura, Nissan’s head of design, and it cuts a bold silhouette. Although it shares cues from the first GT-R prototype, which debuted in Tokyo in 2001, that version was deemed too smooth and not aggressive enough. Those criticisms, however, cannot be leveled at the Proto. With 20-inch wheels confirmed for production, riding on 255/40 tires in the front and 285/35 at the rear, this monster leaves large footprints. Blacked out A-pillars give the windshield a wraparound, helmet visor look. And then there are the kinky C-pillars… definitely not smooth.

Although the body will be all new, the GT-R will be based on a variation of the Front Midship (FM) platform that underpins the next generation Infiniti G35 Coupe. The logic behind this choice is clear: variations of the FM platform underpin a host of other Nissan/Infiniti products (everything from the 350Z to the FX45), and refining and repurposing existing technology instead creating from scratch is how CEO Ghosn garnered his nickname, “Le Cost Killer.”

Here’s some pics of the 2009 Skyline GT-R

Car Audio : Sound Tips For Dummys - Part Two

As promised..here’s part two of the Car Audio series..enjoy

Part Two: Seat / Car Panel Removal

If you are working on you car stereo or security system, you will most likely have to remove some panels, consoles, trim rings, etc. Factory panels are not always easy to remove. If you break a panel, you will regret not being careful. Dealers charge a fortune for parts.

Before you even think about pulling on a panel, make sure all the screws and other fasteners have been removed. If you can’t figure out how to take a panel out, get help. Borrow a manual for your car at the library, ask a car stereo shop in your area or ask a local car dealer.

If the car is out in the cold, panels tend to get hard and brittle, and may break easily, particularly in old cars. Try heating the panel(s) up before you remove them with a hair dryer or heat gun.

Most panels are mainly held in place by screws, snaps, other panels that overlap them, and any combination of the three:

Radio Trim Rings

To make cars cosmetically appealing, manufacturers hide screws behind “dummy plates” and electronic controls. In many cars you have to pull out clocks, hazard light switches, defroster controls, etc., to get to the screws that hold the panel. If you need to remove a switch or instrument in a panel, don’t just insert a flat screwdriver on the side and pry. This will bend and scratch the panel. Try pulling the desired part with a hook. If you have no other option than to pry, place a cloth on the screwdriver to prevents scratches.

Many radio trim rings use snaps, either by themselves, or in combination with screws. Double check to make sure you did not miss any screws. Pull evenly on the panel, either using a panel removal tool, or a hook. If the piece is too tight, there might be a screw somewhere you might have left out. In many cases, such as most Hondas, you don’t even need to take the trim ring out at all to get to the radio, just remove a couple screws that hold the radio from behind.

Consoles

Relatively easy to remove. Ninety-nine percent are held in place by bolts and/or screws. First, take all the stuff out of pockets, boxes, compartments, ashtrays, etc. Remove all visible screws. If the console does not pull out, search for hidden screws. Many cars (especially European) use a piece of carpet to cover up screws. Cars such as Mercedes Benz have screws hidden under the ashtray. The parking brake is a common obstacle. In some cars you might have to slide the front seats all the way back and recline them to get the console out.

Dashes

Some people remove the whole dash to hide alarm components, and access electronic devices in the car. These people are experienced. Removing a whole dash takes many hours and patience. If you are not careful when reinstalling the dash, wires might get pinched and you might smoke something. Remember that the electronics around the dash control the main functions in your car, so you can’t never be too careful here. Most cars have a clip that has to be pulled out in order to remove the speedometer cable from the instrument panel. Before you take anything apart, unhook the car’s battery (this is good practice when you are working on your car in general). Find hidden screws and bolts by “peeling” off panels. Unhook electronic components and harnesses as you go along. Mark things if necessary for reassembly.

Seats

Most front seats are held by bolts and nuts. Some cars have extra brackets or seatbelt anchors that must also be removed. Many newer models have pieces of plastic or carpet over nuts and/or bolts holding the seats for cosmetic reasons. These pieces can be easily removed using a panel removal tool, or taking screws out (if they have any). Before you pull the seat out, be careful to unhook any wires plugged up to the seat, and take extreme care not to scratch anything while you take the seats out of the car. To make life a bit easier when remounting the seat, first slide the seat all the way up, remove the bolts on the back. Slide the seat all the way back, make sure the seat is locked in position, and then remove the remaining bolts at the front.

Rear seats are fastened in many different ways. On most cars, the base part of the seat is held in place by a metal snap going into a hole. To remove, pull on the front of the seat. Some cars have a metal or plastic tab that has to be pulled, pushed, or moved to the side, while pulling on the front of the seat. Other cars, mainly German, use bolts or screws in the front to hold the base of the seat. Many American car seats (GM) have a hook that fits into a metal brace. To remove the bottom part of the seat push hard towards the back and then up. Most Hondas use a bolt (10MM) on the back part of the seat between the bottom part of the seat and the back support (towards the middle) that has to be removed. Then the seat can be pulled up from the back. Before you pull on a seat, try to analyze what is holding it. Most seats do not need a lot of force to be removed, they all have a trick.

The back support on the rear seat is a bit more standard in the way it is fastened. At the top, there are 2, 3 or 4 pieces of metal that go into a hole. There are 2 or more bolts that hold the backrest at the bottom. Once you have removed the bottom part of the seat, take the screws or bolts out, and slide the back rest up and out. On a few cars you have to remove the rear deck and other side panels out first. If you can’t figure it out, remove the panels in the other side of the backrest (trunk) and examine carefully how the seat is fastened.

Door Panels

A bit harder to remove than the rest of the panels in a car because they house window cranks, buttons, mirror controls, speakers, etc. Some cars even have seatbelts built in the doors. The first step is to remove all the screws on plain sight. Look for screws hidden behind speaker grilles, power window/lock/mirror controls, ashtrays, interior light covers, dummy plates, etc. Windows all the way down help a lot during removal and reinstallation.

If your car has manual windows, use a crank clip removal tool to get the clip out. Pull the crank out. Since clips holding the cranks are small and thin, they tend to fly away and get lost. Some cars (mostly VW) hold the crank in position with a bolt, hidden behind a plastic cover. Other cars (i.e. old AMC and Cherokees) use a crank that snaps in place. Once you have removed all the obstacles (in some cars such as Isuzu this even requires removing the speakers), try to see how the panel is ultimately held in place. There are two basic systems:

- Snaps (most cars, especially imports), which are best taken care of with a panel removal tool. Sometimes snaps break from the panel and stay on the car. Remove them from the door with a panel removal tool, and reattach the snaps to the door panel before reinstallation. Once you get everything loose, most panels need to be pulled out at the bottom and then up.

- Hooks (some Fords, i.e. Thunderbird and GM, i.e. Camaro), in which the panel has to be pulled up first and then out.

Rear Decks

Rear decks are not fun to take out. Most involve removing the back seat and backrest, side panels, seatbelts, speakers, etc.
The best way to remove a rear deck is to follow these guidelines: Remove snaps using a panel removal tool. Remove third brake light casing, if necessary. Remove other obstructions such as speaker grilles, speakers, seats, panels, seatbelts, etc.

Trunk Panels

Manufacturers do not take much time trying to hide screws and snaps on the trunk/hatch. That makes trunk panels fairly easy to remove. Most are held by snaps, screws, or a combination of both. Again, the procedure is to remove any visible screws and snaps. Search for hidden screws under dummy plates, access doors and light bulb covers. On some hatchbacks, speaker grilles, speakers, seatbelts, even the back seats need to be removed to clear the way for the panels to come out.

Kick Panels

Probably the easiest to remove, due to their small size. Most manufacturers use bolts and/or snaps. In some cases, such as old BMWs, the speaker grilles hold the kick panels. The most annoying obstruction is generally the hood latch popper.

Repairing broken panels

Even the pros break a panel or a snap every once in a while (professional installers are very good at repairing broken panels). If you cracked a panel, there might still be hope. A hot melt gun is a must have here.

Since most panels are made out of plastic, it is fairly easy to fix cracks and breaks. One of the best techniques is to cut a piece of metal from a paper clip, and dig it in the plastic for support. Here’s how to do it: First place the panel to be fixed upside down on a flat surface (over a cloth, so that it does not get scratched). Cut a piece of metal from a paper clip (about an inch long or so). Place the piece over the crack (again, on the back side of the panel) and hold it in place with a flat screwdriver or pliers (NEVER with your fingers). Use a soldering gun to heat the metal, applying a bit of pressure so that the clip melts its way in the plastic as it gets hot. It is better if you start on one side, and then work your way to the other side of the crack, don’t try do it all at once. Be very careful not to push the clip all the way through to the other side of the plastic, you don’t want anything showing on the front side of the panel. It is highly recommended that you practice a couple times on a piece of scrap plastic before you attempt the actual panel. When you are done with the soldering gun, clean the tip with a wire brush. The left over burnt plastic will not let it hold solder very good.

Another technique, which can be used in addition to the one previously mentioned or by itself, is to use a hot glue gun and pieces of either plastic or wood: Prepare the panel in the same way as before, but instead of placing a clip over it, spread some hot melt over the area, then place a small piece of wood or plastic, and add some more hot melt. Let cool down a couple minutes, and add glue on top as many times as needed. Make sure that the panel will fit in the car before you do this. Hot glue can also be used to attach broken snaps, and to build custom panels.If you do break a panel and can’t fix it, try a junkyard before you go to a dealer.

Legend of the Week: BMW E30 M3

This week the Legend of the Week comes from a very good friend of mine….Johann Grobler.

BMW E30 M3

Thank God for homologation requirements, had it not been for those we might never have had this little gem…

Following success in Formula 1, BMW decided to turn its attention back to touring car racing in the mid 80’s. Group A homologation rules stated that at least 5000 cars had to be built within 12 months for a car to be eligible. Instead of using the most obvious choice, the 325, BMW decided to develop a new model, they didn’t take long either, with the S14 basically being a lighter, higher revving, 4 cylinder version of the 2.5 6 cylinder, it was developed in only 2 weeks, and who said all good things take time…

The 2.3l DOHC 16v engine produced 145kw and 240nm in street form, with race versions making at least 225kw @ 8000rpm. Jean Alesi once said that it was the best handling and most enjoyable road car he’s ever driven. The nice thing about the homologation babies of the 80’s is that these cars were built with the track in mind, this resulted in the M3 weighing in at a measly 1200kg, it also came with a very sporty suspension from the factory, making it the perfect choice for any petrol head. Acceleration is brisk with 100km/h coming up in just 6.5 seconds

On the track the M3 was very successful, most notably winning the very popular DTM championship twice, and even scoring a win of the track at the 1987 WRC Rally of Corsica. It also enjoyed success at Nurburgring, scoring a 1,2 in the 24hr race.

Evolution versions were later introduced to allow minor modifications to the track cars, even a convertible version was released. The Evo versions brought more power to the party along with lighter bits and pieces, with the last incarnation making a whopping 177kw

Localy in South Africa, we were never blessed with the M3’s presence, but its little, although bigger engined brother, the 325is, still remains a legend and a feared opponent at underground race meetings, as well as a drifting favourite.

Car Audio : Sound Tips For Dummys

Okay guys, here we go…some tips on how to get the best out of your car audio equipment. I hope that most of you are like me and like lots of bass in my car which means high quality sound, i.e. no buzzing, interference, etc. At the moment I’ve got 4 x two-way speakers in my car, 2 mids and 2 6×9’s and two 10” sub woofers ( I still need to get myself a graphic equalizer and a decent amplifier). My sound is pretty impressive even though I might not have all the bells and whistles.

Okay, so lets get back to basics, I will be giving you sound tips in parts, because I have alot to say and there’s not enough space in one blog post to say it!!! So here’s part one…

Part one :Installing the Head Unit ( Sound System)

Fortunately, most units follow the same size standards (DIN). In many cars, once the factory radio is removed the aftermarket radio will fit in the hole. In many other cars, a kit is needed if the factory hole is too big, or not deep enough. In some cases the dash has to be cut. Any car stereo store should have kits required for installation.

Even though not necessary, it is recommended to use a wiring harness when installing an aftermarket radio. The harness is wired up to the radio, an plugs directly in the factory plug, making a good and easy connection. Since the factory plugs are not cut, the manufacturer’s warranty is not voided on the vehicle, and the factory radio can be reinstalled when it is time to sell the car.

Radio Mounting

Aftermarket radios can mainly be mounted in two ways:

ISO mounting is when the radio can be screwed to existing factory radio brackets, such as in most Japanese cars.

Ring mounting: Most aftermarket radios come with a metal ring that gets mounted to the factory radio hole or aftermarket kit via bendable tabs. In many cars, dash and trim rings have to be filed to enlarge the radio hole. Once the ring is installed, the radio slides in and is held by snaps. In most cases, special tools are required to remove the radio.

Using the Factory Head Unit

Adding amplifiers to factory head units or head units without RCA outputs can be easily achieved with a high-level to low level adapter. The adapter reduces the level of the signal coming from the head unit’s speaker outputs to lower levels that are acceptable for amplifier inputs. Some amplifiers have this adapter built in for convenience. The drawback of using speaker outputs is that the signal is not as clear as it would be coming straight from a set of RCA wires. If the factory unit has distortion on the output, the distortion will be passed along to the amplifier.

Replacing the Factory Head Unit

Many cars with high-end factory systems such as Volkswagen’s Atkiv Speakers, GM’s Delco-Bose, etc. have amplifiers that require an interface kit to match signal levels, or are best completely rewired. These kits are usually expensive. To bypass amplified speakers sometimes existing wiring can be used. In other cases wires have to be run to each speaker. Factory amplifiers such as in some Fords use a 5-volt turn on wire instead of the usual 12v. Even though factory amplifiers can be hooked up to aftermarket radios directly, they can be prone to noise. Consult a professional before tackling one of these projects.

Getting Better AM/FM Reception

Believe it or not, factory tuners are usually better than aftermarket units. The most important part of the tuner is definitely the antenna. If you have a bad or broken antenna, you tuner will not pick up the stations as it should. If the antenna has to be replaced or upgraded, make sure it is the same length as the original. The length of the antenna greatly affects reception. Lower frequencies (AM) are best caught with a long antenna, while higher frequencies (FM) need a shorter antenna. Car manufacturers compromise a bit, giving you a length that would work best while receiving both AM and FM frequencies. If you get a short antenna, such as the 1 foot rubber antennas, the FM reception will be poor and AM will be almost non-existent.

Troubleshooting: If you have poor reception, do this simple test: Try a couple FM stations and a couple AM stations. If you have no AM at all, but you get FM, then the problem is most likely the antenna. If your radio can’t get neither, then the problem is either a broken or disconnected cable or a bad tuner. Plug a test antenna to the radio to make sure the problem is not the radio itself.

Okay, so that’s how you install your sound system…stay tuned for Part two :Seat/Panel Removal

Street Style Motor Styling & Tuning Expo!

Guys, Just a heads up on the Street Style Motor Styling & Tuning Expo happening at the Good Hope Center on the 29th June 2008! There’s apparently going to be exhibitions featuring modified cars, luxury vehicles, vintage rides, modified super bikes, a sound off challenge and show n shine competitions.

Some of the attractions include:

Extreme Cars
Sound Off Competitions
Show & Shine
Lifestyle Exhibitors
Modified Bikes
Dyno Shootout’s
Exotic Dancers
Ms Hot Shorts Competition live on stage
Live Entertainment

Tons of superb giveaways aimed to Pimp Your Wardrobe from brands such as:
Emporio Armani
Versace
D&G
Hugo Boss
Channel
Diesel Puma
Prada
Ray-Ban
& Dior

DJ Lineup :

Live Acts
Break Dancers
Performers
Exotic & Erotic Dancers
Massive Stage & Productions

Details:

Date: Sunday 29th June 2008
Venue: Good Hope Centre
Doors Open/Close: 10:30am - 20:30
R40 at the Gates
R30 Pre-Sold @ All Computicket Outlets (0839158000)
info: 0832902469 | mark@soundscape.co.za | www.soundscape.co.za

Hope to see you there!!!!