Project Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R – Part 4: Borg Warner Turbo and Vibrant exhaust install

It’s been a few months since we’ve posted anything about the R33 GT-R. To bring you up to speed, I’ve had nothing but joy come to me while in and around this car. The Skyline is everything it’s hyped up to be, and then some. Unlike driving the Supra, where everyone who spots it knows instantly what it is, and acknowledges it with the appropriate headlight flash, thumbs up, free rev, or “Supra!!” scream (yes by mostly very young men), the GT-R driving experience is rather more comical.

With less people noticing what this GT-R is right off the bat, it’s funny when their brains actually do register what they saw. At first, they’ll look at the car like they would anything else, and then–just as they start to look away–they suddenly rubberneck back with huge, saucer-sized eyeballs, and their mouths uttering–and sometimes literally screaming–expletives that I can’t repeat here. Again, by very young men.  Sometimes they’ll cover their mouths in disbelief, like they just saw a band member from the Beatles. Either way, it’s safe to say my wife knows I didn’t buy this car as a “chick magnet”.

The thing that surprises me is how many times people will pull up and ask me how on earth I was able to get a GT-R like this Stateside, when you can start with something as simple an Ebay search to see a few listed. In fact, that’s how I’d originally found mine, although I purchased it offline in the end. In any case, I don’t know if it’s like this on the coastal cities, but out here in the Midwest it’s always fun to see what type of responses I’m going to get. Don’t get me wrong, I’d do the same thing if I were they. There’s just something about these Skyline GT-Rs that does it for me, and I’m so excited to be getting closer to the “end game” of this project.

Until now we’ve seen the GT-R get a proper look with the addition of Volk TE37 SAGA wheels wrapped with 275/35-18 Falken Azenis RT660 tires. Walking away or back up to the car never gets old. And as much as I love any R33 GT-R, this car would just not visually be the same without that wheel and tire combo. When I look at the car, I still can’t believe it’s mine. But when inside the cockpit, the upgrade I or any driver are going to get the most out of–and tapping all the senses–lies under the hood. For that we enlisted the help of Borg Warner for its 8374 EFR turbocharger, Full Race for its RB26 exhaust manifold, and Vibrant Performance for its universal exhaust components.

Vibrant Performance was established in 1997 to design and produce exhaust and induction performance products for the Sport Compact market, and has been a big part of various MotoIQ projects. In order to keep up with the exploding demand for its high end products, as well as with the growth of the industry itself, Vibrant has expanded its line up to include various exhaust and induction components for Sport compact cars, domestics, trucks, and even motorcycles. While we will be using some of its stainless steel components for the R33 GT-R, Vibrant also sells various exhaust straight piping and bends in various sizes, but also in aluminum and titanium as well!