Holidays are typically a time for feasting. In your post-Christmas food coma, gorge yourself on this video reminder that in Japan, excess is not always best. There, engine displacement has a not insignificant effect on how much tax you pay for your car. That’s why there are insanely engineered cars that max out at 2.0 liters.
At the introduction of the R32 Skyline the 2.6-liter, twin-turbo GT-R may have been the one we all drooled about, but the GTS-t Type M was a more affordable, less complex option. But that didn’t mean Nissan skimped on the suspension, brakes, or overall competitiveness of the car.
As this 1989 Best Motoring video proves, even a mid-level R32 can be plenty of fun. The GTS-t Type M came with a 212-horsepower, single-turbo RB20 inline-six, rear- instead of all-wheel-drive, and four-/two-pot brakes front/rear. Put up against an elimination bracket that pits it against other Bubble Era greats like the FC3S RX-7, Galant VR-4, 1G Supra, and Silvia S13, the GTS-t Type M still comes out on top. Of course, in traditional Best Motoring viewing fashion, take the races with a grain of shio, but it’s still a fine way to recover from your post-holiday binge.
It would have been interesting to have all the cars driven by the same driver, with no “sideways motoring” for the camera, but really going for fast lap times.
Still a lot of fun to watch though.
It’s funny how wayward even some of the performance cars of the era were on a track. I remember reading magazines doing track testing talking about how brakes would fade and cars would roll and on-limit handling would be all over the place, so it’s neat to see that demonstrated.
Modern performance cars have certainly moved on in that regard – they’re coming from the factory with stiffer suspension, stickier tyres, bigger brakes etc. Not always beneficial on the road, but quite useful on track.