The Nissan Skyline GT-R’s menu of factory tuned versions run deep, and one could argue that the NISMO CRS cars are the ultimate examples of the breed. The Clubman Race Spec treatment, which combines the highest level parts NISMO has to offer, is available on R32 through R35 generations, and upgrade the already potent machines for amateur track duty. It’s a rare treat to see these cars at all, but Nissan has just released a video of the R32 and R33 CRS at speed at Fuji Speedway.
The CRS cars are essentially modern equivalents of the NISMO S-Tune cars that the Omori Factory came out with during the Tuner Era heyday. NISMO treated the package as if tasked with creating the pinnacle variants of the R32 and R33 when the cars were new, except that they’re now three decades old.
Powered by S2 RB26DETT engines hand-built by NISMO and fed by R34 turbos, output is estimated to be around 400 horsepower, while also generating plenty of low-end torque as well as high revs. But the full S-Tune and CRS packages are much more than the motor. Chassis stiffening bars, intercooler, titanium exhaust, oil cooler, clutch, brakes, diffs, and suspension are all upgrades one can choose from.
One can purchase the parts a la carte, but the CRS cars are more than the sum of their parts. The package is tailored by Nissan’s top performance engineers to deliver the best balance for street and light circuit use. The parts are spec’ed and designed to work in unison, so unless you’ve worked in the a shop that builds WEC race cars, the complete whole is going to be more settled and even than if you were to pick a bunch of random parts off the shelf from your local Autobacs store.
We find it amazing that NISMO is still supporting these cars so long after they’ve been out of production. But it just goes to show, the GT-R is still one of the best driving and most beloved cars available, regardless of era.
It must’ve been pretty cold track surface temperatures that day of the publicity shoot. Those cars just weren’t that grippy around the track!
But in any case, that’s major love for the cars! Definitely still one of my dream cars, and the modernization of it makes it even more appealing.
The parts that really elevate the CRS cars from just being “we put all the parts together” is more about the quality of the restoration they do to the cars. The interior is completely reupholstered and restored, the chassis goes through a similar process of restoration with concours-level paint.