Nissan Almost Imported the Skyline GT-R to the US in the ’90s

Nissan “seriously considered” deciding for the V-6, inevitably the development group chose to keep the straight-six in order to prevent the growth time needed to adjust the new engine to the GT-R’s advanced all-wheel drive system.

The next-generation R34 was additionally very close to having a V-6 instead of its now-legendary RB26DETT straight-six engine, according to Shozo. The group went as far as developing a prototype with a V-6 engine under the hood.

The meetings go better into depth on the GT-R advancement and history, consisting of tales from the days prior to the R32, and just how designers utilized the concept of steeds– yes, steeds– to develop Godzilla’s all-wheel drive system. It’s worth a read if you like Skylines.

Complying with substantial need in Europe for the R33-generation GT-R after its look on the top Equipment in the 1990s, then-president Hanawa Yoshikazu purchased GT-R group manager Watanabe Shozo to look into the possibility of selling the auto in The United States and Canada.

“North America calls for left-hand drive,” Shozo told Ideal Vehicle Internet. “If the guiding wheel is relocated to the left, the GT-R has twin turbos, so the steering shaft would be closer to the turbo at the rear, which would create a thermal issue. There was additionally an idea to make it a solitary turbo, but we quit on that particular idea as it wouldn’t have actually been a GT-R.”

Nissan notoriously never imported its epic line of Horizon GT-R cars into The United States and Canada. It ends up that virtually wasn’t the case, according to a set of interviews with the cars and truck’s head designers published last week by the Japanese publication Finest Car Web.

“We could not think of the R34 Skyline without the GT-R, so we concentrated about it,” Shozo included. “In the end, we decided to fine-tune the straight-six GT-R. We chose to leave the V-6 to the next generation.”