I'm looking to upgrade from my Evo IV in the next couple of months and will have about £15k to spend. The no brainer option is an Evo VIII - I know I love the car but saw a Skyline on the road the other day and thought I should consider it.
Has anyone on here owned/driven both? I guess most people on here will prefer the Evo but I'd be interested what people think of them and whether £15k will buy me a decent one or not.
£15k will get you a good R33GTR about '97 with some decent mods or an R34 single turbo (like what I had) and a lot of change to pay for big upgrades, which you won't get back.
Watch for residuals because the Skyline market has stalled, but you can get a good deal.
The biggest thing with Skylines I found was they are GT cruisers. Great for high speed runs on good dual carriageway, but just not so quick on the twisty stuff.
They start coming into their stride at 60+ and will leave most stock Evo's at 120+, but how useful is that?
Most Evo's will leave a Skyline behind on a twisty wet A road.
Oh and if you thought stuff was expensive to replace on an Evo.....
I was in the same predicament not so long ago but when I thought about it, a 96-97 R33 GTR or a 02-53 ?? Theoretically, the newer the car, the less things are likely to go wrong.
From all the ex-skyline owners I asked, they said get the newer Evo. Allround, its a better car than a R33 GTR from what I've been told.
The difference between a Evo IV and my VII is huge and I'm soooo pleased I opted for the Evo.
The biggest thing with Skylines I found was they are GT cruisers. Great for high speed runs on good dual carriageway, but just not so quick on the twisty stuff.
They start coming into their stride at 60+ and will leave most stock Evo's at 120+, but how useful is that?
£15k will get you a good R33GTR about '97 with some decent mods or an R34 single turbo (like what I had) and a lot of change to pay for big upgrades, which you won't get back.
Watch for residuals because the Skyline market has stalled, but you can get a good deal.
The biggest thing with Skylines I found was they are GT cruisers. Great for high speed runs on good dual carriageway, but just not so quick on the twisty stuff.
They start coming into their stride at 60+ and will leave most stock Evo's at 120+, but how useful is that?
Most Evo's will leave a Skyline behind on a twisty wet A road.
Oh and if you thought stuff was expensive to replace on an Evo.....
I had an R32 GTR (now have an Evo 8) and agree with the above. The R33 is heavier and most regard the 32 as the better car for trackdays etc. But then you are looking at a very old car and things will go wrong and then you have to pay the Skyline tax to get them fixed. Abbey charge £150 per hour.
The Evo on the other hand has been easier and cheaper to mod and is now much quicker than my skyline was. It is also very able on the B road twisties, the skyline tended to skip and bounce all over the place.
I used to have an evo IV re-built to 450bhp but eventually sold it and got an R34 GTT.
As most people say its deciding what you prefer:
light, nimble, early fast acceleration or a dual carriage way/motorway built monster car!
I'm lucky enough to now own both R34 GTT (650bhp) & an EVO VII (331bhp).
I personally prefer the Skyline as i think they are better built (more solid).
Having owned an EVO IV and now an EVO VII they are great fun for thrashing around twisty roads but whenever i give the evo's a lot of stick (continously) things always start to "tap, creak, rattle" and with enough nurture they can be cured....
but the skyline time and time again you thrash it to its limit all the time and runs as smooth as when i first got the car.
The type of rush between the evo and the skyline is so different it will always be down to personal preference.
My R34 GTT is currently the only RB30 engine conversion in the UK which is a 3ltr lump fitted to a RWD car. This car has been stripped to the shell and rebuilt (as an everyday road car for me wife and two little kids ) with re-trim/suspension/brakes/defi gauges/fuel system/ported and polished head with oversized valves.....pretty much everything needed to achieved 600lbs/600bhp and this cannot be driven hard on twisty roads...wouldn't even dream of it but on a nice long arching bend opening up on to a lovely straight..........oh my god the adrenaline is amazing combined with the noise of the screamer pipe/wastgate and dump valve.....awesome feeling...wheelspinning at 120mph is an experience in itself! - this cars got traction control, launch control/full throttle gear changing and is a monster.
I love both the skyline and evo....(my two favourite jap cars) for very different reasons but if i had to choose one...the skyline it is for me.
AS for expense on maintenance (forget modding) but i spend more on the evo keeping it reliable than i do the skyline and if you need a "down to earth" price for servicing skylines FORGET ABBEY.........choose Rising Sun Performance........awesome service, nice people, and realistic charges....pretty much the same as any other garage.
Both great cars, but the weight difference to an R33 or 34 is huge.
even the 32 is much heavier, but crucially much more expensive to run and tune, and you will want to tune it.
as has been said, not as chuckable but much better suited to mega power - though the big ends are as potentially faulted as the subarus.
The other thing is that despite their size and weight they are smaller inside than an evo and have a smaller boot.
The main thing that bothers me about them is the earlier cars look and are seriously dated, the R34 still holds mid 20s money for a gtr but the cars are 6 to 8 years old and starting to show it.
As has been said, everything you want to do 95% of the time the evo does better. Yes for cruising the skyline mixes it with porsches etc, in that respect it is a supercar, but then where do your driving priorities lie?
I was in a similar frame of mind a few months ago but decided on an Evo 8 MR - totally love the car and know it was the right choice for me.
I could have brought a good modified R33 GTR but would not have been happy as my favourite is the R34 GTR, which I would like to own at some point in the future. One of the main draw backs for me with the skylines (especially earlier one's) is maintenance - getting the parts and more importnat finding a good garage close by who know them well.
My advice would be to go for which ever car is your favourite? And worry about the details later lol :coolsm:
Interesting to hear from ex liner owners as i have always loved them myself but never knew anything about them... still gotta love the R34 GTR in bayside blue or that purple they come in..
A similar comparison would be a 3.0 GTO V's a GTIR Sunny, both completely different cars to drive.
I own an R33 and an R34 and drive Evo's, Subaru's, Supras and GTO's every day with work.
An Evo will never have the presence of a Skyline or turn as many heads (if thats what you like) but a properly sorted Evo will beat a similarly prepped Skyline down a twisty road every time..... it will therefore always be the first one of the pair to get you into trouble with the law for doing so (if that sort of thing matters to you) for to "beat" the Skyline you WILL have to be flat out (not too clever nowadays) whereas with the Skyline you are more likely to stretch its legs on long sweeping roads etc getting into trouble for silly three figure speeds which are easily achieved.
As for running costs a Skyline on full chat can consume £50 of fuel in an hour but so can an Evo, and as for the cost of repairs there are as many Evo specialists that can empty your wallet as quick as the Skyline specialists do, but you should bear in mind for extreme power applications requiring alot of R & D the costs are relative... try buying 1000bhp anywhere else!
It really all depends on what you want to use the car for, personally i would rather have a Skyline on the road and an Evo for track use, but i don't drive "flat out" everywhere
My Silver Six turns way more heads than my old black GTR, just because everyone knows what an evo is, Just look at any console driving game, not an R33 to be seen any where
As said skylines are awsome machines but nothing will touch the Evo up to 100mph for the same money, yep sure spend enough on a GTR and it will beat an evo, but you will be spending alot more on a GTR
Buy a black Evo III about 300bhp and spend the rest on Mods
and they are the dogs balls but they are very expensive to keep alot more expensive than an evo when we compare notes ...
sevicing and fuel consumption is a lot more (when we both go to "meets" or "cruising" they will have spent more on petrol for the same journey..and i dont mean the size of the tanks!
i love evo's and alsways will (was tempted by the skylines but the evo was a cheaper option! if one exisits!! :crackup:
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