Part of that is due to turbo lag, and part of it is the R34’s burly 3,673-lb curb weight.
With all this build-up, perhaps it’s no surprise that the stock RB26 2.6-liter inline-six, despite twin turbochargers and its classy metallic red cam cover, is something of a letdown from a standstill. Of those riding the wave of Japanese car nostalgia, the GT-R has the biggest reputation and, from the driving seat, the greatest fascination. Shorter, more angular and more aggressive in character, it remains the true icon, as patient American Skyline fans biding their time to import their real-world Gran Turismo favorite under the 25-year rule will be aware. As the pinnacle of the RB26-engined lineage the R34 is the most dramatically styled and recognizably ‘Skyline’, even if the real groundwork was actually done by the R32 and R33. Conservatively these U.K.-spec GT-Rs had another 50 horsepower though, most owners accepting Nissan’s tacit invitation to unleash the real potential via aftermarket modifications.
The officially listed 276-horsepower output didn’t help. Nissan hoped the R34 would be a breakthrough success but, in the end, $75,000 was simply too much for a car that literally looked like it had come straight from a video game. Owned by Nissan, under the wrap it’s the rarest of rare things – an absolutely stock R34 GT-R, based on the Japanese V-Spec with a few U.K.-market upgrades to tempt buyers out of their Porsche 911s and BMW M3s. I’m with them, having driven out from England in the car to cheer on the three privately entered GT-R Nismo GT3s taking part in the race. Which is why a Porsche GT2 RS could be doing a rolling burnout past the R34 and not get a second glance from the gamers. Meanwhile games and movies created a portal into Japanese car culture for a worldwide audience, many now buying for real the cars we once idolized on screen. Taking on European manufacturers in their own backyard with the first sub-eight-minute lap of the Nürburgring was a provocative move, and it established a grudge match with Porsche that lasts to this day. By the late 1990s, the Skyline’s Godzilla reputation was well-established and, like other Japanese manufacturers, Nissan was on a roll. But this car is still The One.ĭeservedly, too. These kids aren’t even the Gran Turismo generation, they’re the children of the Gran Turismo generation. There are plenty of tasty cars among those queuing to park up for the race but, for the gamers, sight of a Calsonic-liveried Skyline is like crossing paths with a legend of stage or screen. Truly, the lines between the world created by Yamauchi and the real one are blurring like never before.
Meanwhile, on the famous track, graduates of the gamer-to-racer Gran Turismo Academy are among the drivers competing for real, every car in the race bearing a Gran Turismo windshield banner. A former N24 competitor himself, he’s here to supervise the game’s evolution into the e-sports era. Within it, a round of the FIA Certified Gran Turismo Championship has been taking place, finalists from across the world racing each other in the presence of the game’s creator Kazunori Yamauchi. That’s something I discover while sitting in race-day traffic at the 24-Hour Nürburgring endurance race, cruising in a Calsonic-wrapped R34 GT-R along the boulevard beside the giant Ring Werk complex. NÜRBURG, Germany - There’s no doubt that the Nissan Skyline’s status as a gaming icon remains undiminished. Cancel Search Back to: The 2020 Autoblog Gaming Guideĭriving a Calsonic Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 on a Nürburgring road trip Virtual collides with reality as Gran Turismo dreams come true