The good folks at Hoonigan recently uploaded a straight-line showdown between two rather spicy vehicles. In the red corner, a 1985 Datsun 1200 isn't afraid of duking it out with a 1992 Nissan Skyline GT-R. Both of them are monsters under the skin, packing 654 and 1,600 dyno'd ponies. Insane, innit?
The insanity doesn't end here, though. In the Sunny-based ute's case, we're dealing with a curb weight of approximately 2,910 pounds (1,320 kilograms). That puts the R35-swapped trucklet high above the MX-5 Miata, just shy of the Subaru BRZ's curb weight. Be that as it may, its twin-turbocharged V6 is a very different animal compared to the NA inline-four mill of the Mazda and NA four-pot boxer of the Scooby.
Instead of the R35's bone-stock turbos, the pickup is running a BorgWarner 76-millimeter spinny lad. In the bed, that is, because it didn't have room in the already tight engine bay. Pictured with wide tires out back and skinnies up front, this Sunny sure is one crazy build.
The R32 takes it up a notch with almost 1,000 more ponies from an RB30 with a whole lotta go-faster bits and pieces. A 3.2-liter stroker kit, dry-sump lubrication, Injector Dynamics… uhm… fuel injectors, and a Precision 8085 turbocharger are the highlights.
Sticky tires are obviously featured as well, plus a nitrous bottle in the trunk. The gap sauce makes a world of difference in any drag race, and the same can be said about the five-speed sequential. By comparison, the Datsun makes do with a three-speed automatic. Tipping the scales at 3,483 pounds (1,580 kilograms), the R32 should make easy work of the Sunny truck.
And it surely does, even with a three-car-length advantage for that badass ute. The fun part of the following video begins at the 10:25 mark with a 1,000-foot dig race, which is 305 meters in the metric system. The way the R32 goes through the gears is certain to leave a lasting impression on any racing enthusiast.
Back in the real world, the R35 will celebrate its 16th anniversary later in 2023. Even so, it still kicks butt in the quarter mile. Rather than Nissan taking its sweet time with the R36, the real tragedy of the GT-R is how much the base version costs. $120,990 is Corvette Z06 territory, and that's way too much compared to the $69,850 starting price of the 2009 model. Adjusted for many years of inflation, make that $98,985 today.
Another tragedy is Nissan dropping the ball with most of its pickups. The Titan is the worst-selling truck in the full-size segment, having moved a meager 10,550 units in the first six months of 2023 in the United States. The Navara was dropped from the European lineup in 2022 due to poor sales, leaving only the Frontier as the only Nissan-branded pickup worthy of your hard-earned money.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News