June 2000

Nissan GTi-R ....... No Virginia, size doesn’t matter!

The GTi-R first appeared in 1990, following in the all-wheel drive tyre tracks of the Nissan R32 - the car that humiliated the V8s in the 1991, ’92 and 93 Australian Touring Car Championships.

Yet, while the R32 was oriented towards competition on the bitumen, the GTi-R was intended for battle on the rally front. Ironically, despite all the huff and puff at the time, the GTi-R’s only major success on the World Rally scene was Gregoire De Mevius’ 1992 Group N World Rally Championship.

Still, Nissan’s baby animal GTi-R (called a Nissan Sunny in the UK would you believe!) is a potent little road weapon - even if it was never officially included in Nissan Australia’s model line up.

The SR 20 DET motor powering these little terrorists doesn’t really need to be opened up for serious fun and it’s the same basic engine as found in the Nissan 200SX.

Basic is the key word here however, because not all SR 20 DET engines are exactly the same.

Internally there are more than a few differences between various models of Nissan using the motor, yet the GTi-R appears to have been equipped with the best features.

The piston skirts, for example, are sprayed with oil to aid cooling, while the exhaust valves are sodium filled for the same reason.

There are slight camshaft differences between various models too, although those in this engine haven’t been touched and are undoubtedly more than adequate for the nature of the car.

Lifting the heavily vented bonnet on the GTi-R reveals the engine bay’s two major features - a quad throttle body intake manifold and a massive intercooler which is renowned for not really being in the best position on top of the engine. This can result in a few heating problems if you plan to keep the tacho needle close to redline all day!

And speaking of power, with its 170kW output, the GTi-R is on paper at least slightly more powerful than the WRX Subaru and some 20Kw more powerful than its 200SX bigger sister.

Yet at 1190kg in weight, the GTi-R is a good 60 to 70 kg lighter than both the WRX (1255kg) and 200SX (1265kg).

On a power to weight basis, every Kw produced by the GTi-R has to haul 7.00 Kg, while the WRX has a close 7.84 Kg matched to every kW. The 200SX is way behind in this area, with a whopping 8.6 kg per kW.

As for torque figures, the GTi-R has a claimed 284 Nm on tap compared to the WRX’s 290 Nm and 265 Nm for the 200SX.

Certainly not a bad testimony for a car that is almost ten years old, to be performance-matching itself so well against today’s performers – in terms of engine configuration and general price bracket that is.