# My 33 handles better than my 34!!!!!!



## stephenwap (Mar 26, 2010)

There's nothing better than how a gtr goes around corners on country roads, nothing would keep into it going round corners, i've had a few 4wd cars, an evo VI, a celica Gt4, a 33Gtr and a 34 Gtr and i hate to say it but i think i like driving the 33 better than the 34 it sticks through corners better than any of them, the 34 is still my baby but i don't think i'd ever sell the 33 for that reason. 

P.S. My 33 is a v-spec, do you reckon if i put v-spec suspension on my 34 it'd behave any better???????


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## matty32 (Dec 18, 2005)

depends on so much, tyres, suspension set up etc


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## stephenwap (Mar 26, 2010)

One of my mates told me once that it was because the 33 has a shorter wheelbase making it easier to handle, I'm running Te37's with 275/18 inch goodyear eagle F1's on the 34, the 33 is standard enough with only an exhaust system and n1 turbo's and the 34 has an apexi fc commander, induction kit, futjitsubu exhaust system (really really quiet), and has been remapped, i can't remember what power it was making but it was fairly modest... yet the 33 seems faster, maybe its just the loud exhaust


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## infamous_t (Jul 9, 2007)

The R33 has the longest wheel base & length, the R32 shortest, and R34 is between the two.
The R33 & R34 pretty much have identical suspension, so the only significant difference I can think of (all other mods being equal) is that your 33 (V-Spec) had A-LSD, but your 34 (Non-V-Spec) doesn't.


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## stephenwap (Mar 26, 2010)

Yeah the 33 does have a-Lsd cos it lights up on my clocks when i turn the ignition on, can these be got for the 34 and if so does it have its own ecu or would it be just a case of fitting it and reprogramming the fc commander? excuse my ignorance i'm not well up on performance cars but i'm learning every day :thumbsup:


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## TREG (May 20, 2004)

The 33 seems to be always played down against the 34 but the truth is there is nothing between the 2!
Every track day race I've seen its always the 2 of them battling for 1st place through out the race


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## skyjuice (Apr 4, 2009)

both my r32's have handled so much better than the r34's ive had .


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## stephenwap (Mar 26, 2010)

The 33 just seems to dare me to go into bends faster all the time you just have to point it where you want to go and it go's, There's no doubt about it though, Gtr's make the driver 5 times better than you'd be in any other car, at least for me anyway. I just wish my 34 would be as inspirational as the 33....


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## mattysupra (Oct 31, 2008)

I was under the impression that the 34 was the best around track and then the 32 and the 33 ? 

However, the difference between all cars is so minimal that i really dont think that anyone can tell the difference on the road. I believe that on track the only difference would be maybe .5 of a second on a 1 minute lap. 

If you can tell a difference on the road then your R34 is out of alinement or your comparing two very different setups?


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## Steve Law (Oct 22, 2009)

Hi,

I had always understood that around the Ring, in standard trim, it was the R33GTR that was the quickest of the 3.

ATB,

Steve


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## mattysupra (Oct 31, 2008)

Steve Law said:


> Hi,
> 
> I had always understood that around the Ring, in standard trim, it was the R33GTR that was the quickest of the 3.
> 
> ...


That's interesting to hear. See i was understanding that the 33 had better electronics than the 32 but the 33 was over weight so ended up being a slower car. So Nissan designed the 34 back on the 32 chassis that was lighter but used the tech from the 33 and improved it slightly more which ended up with the 34 being 'KING' of the 3. However the 32 will always be known as the original ' Godzilla ' So basically a 34 is actually a 32 with the updated tech of a 33? 

Am i correct in thinking that the 33 is the heaviest of all 3 cars? Also am i correct that the 34 was designed around the 32 where as the 33 chassis design was binned? 

Does anyone know of a video comparing all 3 cars in stock trim and driven by the same person?


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## Steve Law (Oct 22, 2009)

Hi Matty,

no I don't think thats correct, I don't have the exact weights but I thought they got progressively heavier.

For the Ring, the 33GTR was around 9seconds quicker than the 34GTR I think.

ATB,

Steve


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## stephenwap (Mar 26, 2010)

Yeah i thought that the 33 was quicker too around the nurburgring, apparently the only car quicker than it around the same time was the jag xj220 which flopped cos it could never reach 220mph


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## Steve Law (Oct 22, 2009)

Matty,

According to Wikipedia France, R32GTR 1480kgs, R33GTR 1530kgs, and R34GTR 1540kgs.

To be honest, not sure how accurate that information is, but in anycase it doesn't appear as though there is much of a difference between them.

Rgds

Steve


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## Mookistar (Feb 5, 2004)

stephenwap said:


> Yeah i thought that the 33 was quicker too around the nurburgring, apparently the only car quicker than it around the same time was the jag xj220 which flopped cos it could never reach 220mph


The xj220 flopped because they replaced the engine with a much lower spec but refused to refund deposits

Ended up with the engine out of the metro 6r4!

Mook


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## Glen (Jan 21, 2011)

The R32 is correct. With me in the car and half a tank its 1450kg


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## jlgumby (May 23, 2010)

mattysupra said:


> That's interesting to hear. See i was understanding that the 33 had better electronics than the 32 but the 33 was over weight so ended up being a slower car. So Nissan designed the 34 back on the 32 chassis that was lighter but used the tech from the 33 and improved it slightly more which ended up with the 34 being 'KING' of the 3. However the 32 will always be known as the original ' Godzilla ' So basically a 34 is actually a 32 with the updated tech of a 33?
> 
> Am i correct in thinking that the 33 is the heaviest of all 3 cars? Also am i correct that the 34 was designed around the 32 where as the 33 chassis design was binned?
> 
> Does anyone know of a video comparing all 3 cars in stock trim and driven by the same person?


The 33 didn't only have better electronics than the 32, it had a better, stiffer chassis, better aero, and better suspension also. The 34 is based on the 33 chassis I believe. All GTR's got heavier, R34 therefore is the heaviest. But R33 was 22secs a lap faster around the Ring than R32 doing it under 8mins, interesting also to see that according to research, even the current E92 M3 has not been able to lap the ring under 8 mins, that's impressive for a car built in 1995. :thumbsup:


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## .::TopSky::. (Nov 4, 2010)

mattysupra said:


> That's interesting to hear. See i was understanding that the 33 had better electronics than the 32 but the 33 was over weight so ended up being a slower car. So Nissan designed the 34 back on the 32 chassis that was lighter but used the tech from the 33 and improved it slightly more which ended up with the 34 being 'KING' of the 3. However the 32 will always be known as the original ' Godzilla ' So basically a 34 is actually a 32 with the updated tech of a 33?
> 
> Am i correct in thinking that the 33 is the heaviest of all 3 cars? Also am i correct that the 34 was designed around the 32 where as the 33 chassis design was binned?
> 
> Does anyone know of a video comparing all 3 cars in stock trim and driven by the same person?


Nice point mate, you are right!

I think there is Nurburgrin videos of the R32 and the R33 by the same japanese driver but im to sure about the R34. I`ll search for it tommorow if anybody doesent post it, too tired right now.


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## Glen (Jan 21, 2011)

Don't see why people compare the technology the 33/34 has with the 32. Comparing 89 technology with late 90s is like comparing a grand daddy black and white tv with a 50" Led tv.


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## mattysupra (Oct 31, 2008)

Glen said:


> Don't see why people compare the technology the 33/34 has with the 32. Comparing 89 technology with late 90s is like comparing a grand daddy black and white tv with a 50" Led tv.



I was not trying to compare by date and what each car had, i was comparing on the fact as you say the cars got newer and on that fact the computers became quicker. End of the day all 3 cars have the same mechanics but just got quicker computers controlling them. 


Anyway, it irrelevant what i think as i think i have miss understood the weights of all 3 cars and what has actually changed over the years! 


My next question for you all is , how come everyone seems to refer to the R33 being the car that was 'over weight' when it appears to be the 34 that was?


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## mattysupra (Oct 31, 2008)

Glen said:


> The R32 is correct. With me in the car and half a tank its 1450kg



very interesting. 

Manufactures weigh there cars with no fluids in them. So no oil, water, fuel etc and certainly without a driver. 

So that means your car is maybe 80-90 kg actually lighter than a stock car? well according to WIKI. 

Does anyone else know what there cars weigh? I think i will take mine to a weigh bridge in the morning to see just how heavy mine is.


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## Glen (Jan 21, 2011)

mattysupra said:


> very interesting.
> 
> Manufactures weigh there cars with no fluids in them. So no oil, water, fuel etc and certainly without a driver.
> 
> ...


My car has no rear seats... but im sure that wont change the weight dramatically. Ive never had a car that actually weighed what the manufacturer said it should.


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## LiamGTR (Nov 26, 2006)

This topic has opened my eyes, I always though 33's were best suited for drag as that's what I always see video's of them doing


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## stephenwap (Mar 26, 2010)

The biggest weight saving i reckon i could do would be to lay off the take-away's i weigh 107kg, need to lose about 25 . Saying that, I go karting with a few lads every week, it's good craic, I'm carrying nearly 6 stone more than one of the lads and still manage to lap him 5 times consistantly each week :thumbsup:


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## Mookistar (Feb 5, 2004)

LiamGTR said:


> This topic has opened my eyes, I always though 33's were best suited for drag as that's what I always see video's of them doing


The 33 was the original Ring record holder back in the day. Much to the competitors annoyance etc there were accusations about Tyres and boost. Nothing changed 15 years later with R35

Mook


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## andyR43 (Jun 13, 2010)

mattysupra said:


> My next question for you all is , how come everyone seems to refer to the R33 being the car that was 'over weight' when it appears to be the 34 that was?


Because Matty like the good elder brothers that we are, we try to protect our younger, shall we say slightly larger, siblings from all the nasty comments people make about weight!


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## nick the tubman (Jun 28, 2006)

the R33 is hugely underestimated. often berrated for its size which is all a big mistake that many make.

I have read that if you set up a R33 properly, it is the quicker of the 3 models by some margin. the Nurburgring times go some way to prove this. 

it just did not have the Initial impact the 32 did in racing, nor the 34 Playstation Kudos.. but it is the better car. 

all IMO of course.


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## Asphalt Jet (Oct 20, 2008)

nick the tubman said:


> the R33 is hugely underestimated. often berrated for its size which is all a big mistake that many make.
> 
> I have read that if you set up a R33 properly, it is the quicker of the 3 models by some margin. the Nurburgring times go some way to prove this.
> 
> ...


Second That!


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## jabran200 (Sep 5, 2005)

weighed my r32 and it was dead on 1500kg with a full tank, full roll cage, hicas pump removed, a/c removed, 2871rs, hks manifolds, oil filter relocation system with oil cooler.


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

Alot depends on the camber/caster and toe settings off the car, mine was 7mm out at the rear when i bought it, got a FRSU done and it totally changed the way the car handled!


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## r33-sky (Sep 27, 2009)

My R33 gts-t is significantly faster round a local track than a mates VGC R32 GTR with a good engine spec. twin 2530's forged build etc.
He has a set of hard tein coilovers on, that has not been set up with the care realy needed, my car is VERY carefully setup and weighted with a lot of polly-bushes arb's and love.


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## REDWOOD (Apr 21, 2010)

Does anyone know where to get the geometry and suspension setup from or perhaps best camber, caster and toe settings for road/track?

I changed my gtr33's original suspension with the car showing 75k miles to greddy coilovers which have not been setup properly yet and the car handled much better before.

I have no preload on the springs and very little damping but the car still bounces around quite a bit. The original suspension was brilliant over bumps and I wonder if it would have been better to buy new original suspension as I don't do track days and drive on our crappy roads. I guess it's a bit naive to think I can bolt on aftermarket suspension and think it will be better than Nissan's after the money they spend on r&d.


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

It really depends on how you like the car to handle, whther you like the back end planted or like it to slide and then gather it up on the exit of a bend.

Depending on the driving style i would set up the car with 1.5deg neg camber front and rear, 1.5 mm toe out at the front and 1mm toe in at the rear. You can then start adding and taking caster and camber away depending on how the car feels through the twisties.


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## D-Ranged (Aug 16, 2007)

Ive always thought my R33 GTR handled the best, when i had the 32 GTR i thought it was pretty crappy, compared to my R33 GTST which i had before it.

IMHO my R33 GTR is the better car all round, and it has stock suspension at the moment, when i put my coilovers on there it should be even better!


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## tonigmr2 (Sep 12, 2002)

So many variables. Suspension, set-up, how worn the bushes are, type of tyre....and that's just for starters.


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## jlgumby (May 23, 2010)

I had a friend translate a Japanese article for me a while back when I was in HK, which generally stated that the R32 was built purely for success in racing, the R33 was developed to improve on where Nissan felt the R32 should have been better and improved, notably chassis and suspension, and the R34 was really built for the demands of the public who wanted the agressive appearance back and had very little focus put on racing as they had with the R32 and R33. 

It went on to describe the extensive track testing of the R32 and R33 especially aroung the Ring, however Nissan did not spend anywhere near that committment on the R34.

Don't know how true that is really, be interesting to hear what others think of that. R34 does look nice though.


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## .::TopSky::. (Nov 4, 2010)

Ive driven a stock R33 V-Spec (My own car before I rebuilt it) and a modified stock sunspension/tires R34 GTR V-Spec (My mates car) around the same track under the same conditions and on the same day.

The R34 feels faster for some reason and it "sits" better on the road/track, it also feels more responsive than the R33.

The R33 feels taller than the R34 and it kind of "bounces" through the corners in a good way it feels verry nice and smooth.

The R33 really feels like a verry different car sometimes, the R34 is according do me the tougher, "racier" GTR.


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## blue34 (Jul 28, 2005)

the 34 has by far the stiffest chassis and only if you drove 3 factory fresh cars would you be able to make a comparison. Of course one 33 might handle better than another just as it might a 32 or 34 or whatever combo you like as it depends on the car. Oh and a better driver might make a worse handling car go faster on track.

it just sounds to me like the 34 needs alignment.


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## Sidious (Jul 14, 2006)

Handling and road holding are 2 different things.


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## wardiz (Dec 23, 2008)

Steve Law said:


> Matty,
> 
> According to Wikipedia France, R32GTR 1480kgs, R33GTR 1530kgs, and R34GTR 1540kgs.
> 
> ...


I've two books about Skyline GT-R and these numbers are correct.
However R33 v-spec weights 1550kg and R34 V-spec weights 1560kg.
But these weights are "dry weights" : the fuel tank is empty. When comparing to european car weights be aware that it includes a loaded fuel tank. Japanese rules and European rules were different at that time.
The R34 is shorter than the R33 but remains heavier because it's chassis is 40%-50% stiffer than the R33.
A lot of work has been done on the chassis as well as on the aerodynamics.
There is plenty of informations about the mechanical differences between R32, R33 and R34 in this book : 
Skyline GTR: The Ultimate Japanese Supercar
Great book to read and full of information.


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## Guile (Jul 23, 2011)

Didn't nissan improve the suspension geometry on the R34 from the R33? maybe you had better tires on your R33?


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## stephenwap (Mar 26, 2010)

I have nankangs on the 33 and goodyear eagle f1's on the 34 so judging on price the goodyears should be at least 2.5x better 

Anyway as soon as the engines back in the 34 i'm gonna get it aligned and balanced and maybe see about purchasing some v-spec suspension for it.

Steve


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