Skyline. That word alone is enough to evoke feelings of excitement from most car enthusiasts. On our small island, there are not too many of these legendary Japanese cars running around, and even less of the top-tier GTR models. We do have fully built race-spec Skylines here, as well as others which are closer to stock. The R32 is the first GTR that got dubbed “Godzilla” due to its perfect winning streak in every race entered when it debuted – That’s outstanding! There is one R32 GTR that is unlike any other, roaming the streets on a daily basis. Some may even call it a Frankenstein car if enlightened about its specifics.
Kurn is a man who wants to enjoy his car, and has built a car for that sole purpose; enjoyment. One can see that looking back on some of the cars he’s owned – Turbocharged Lancer, 240SX and so on, that he’s no stranger to the sports car life. The Skyline, which looks achingly gorgeous, thanks to two different pairs of vibrant purple wheels (front and rear), is his latest automotive endeavour. On our first shoot, he pointed out the missing grill, which he plans on replacing with a mesh and the old school GTR logo in the future. Other small details on the exterior, like the OEM Nismo hood spoiler, really add to the subtly aggressive look of this car.
As mentioned before, Kurn drives this car everyday as it is his only car. I wondered how he managed the twin-plate clutch on a daily basis. “It’s not horrible,” he noted, “The issue is balancing on hills. It’s a nightmare.” There is air conditioning & a fairly decent sound system, so it has the creature comforts one would expect from a daily driven car.
Being a Skyline fanatic myself, I was elated beyond words when he agreed to our interview. It was Creole Sunday (of all days) which we agreed to meet. It was quite a warm day but we were committed. While most were enjoying their bakes and cocoa tea and other creole specialties, we were out and about getting those oh so perfect shots of the R32 – There is no bad angle to view it. In between shoot locations, I rode in the passenger seat with Kurn. It was my first time actually sitting in any Skyline and I was basically living a childhood dream. Looking around the interior, it definitely shows its age. One can quite easily forget about the not-so-pristine dashboard when he gives the accelerator pedal a bit of a kick. The sound of the Nissan six-banger delighted me and is something akin to an aphrodisiac – it’s that good!
Although the car is a GTR chassis, it does not have the original RB26DETT engine. Some mods he made include an aftermarket Epman 320lph fuel pump, K&N air filter and HKS turbocharger, just to name a few. It does however drive the rear wheels only, which is Kurn’s preferred setup. Since acquiring the car, he’s done a slew of other modifications to the engine, suspension and electronic components.
After the photos were taken, we sat down with Kurn for a short but very informative interview. This is what he had to say.
Q&A
What initially got you into the car scene and cars in general?
Well, it was one of those stories just like everybody who was young playing Gran Turismo. It was literally Gran Turismo one. I started playing the game and I still wasn’t interested in cars until one day I was coming from school and I saw Shaft’s RX7. I was like ‘hey that’s the car from the game, they actually have these things!’ Instantly I was hooked. When I started paying attention to the game I realized they’re real and some of them are actually here, I was hooked instantly. After buying my first car, there was no turning back.
So you said the Skyline isn’t your first car, what other cars have you had?
My initial car was a 1993 Lancer MX saloon, but with a 1.8 turbocharged engine from the Lancer GSR of around the same year. Second car was a non-turbo Pulsar VZR with an SR20VE engine swap. The previous owner got a bearing knock and upgraded to a 2 litre. After that I bought an S13 240SX, not a Silvia not a 180SX. It was actually an American-spec 240SX – left hand drive converted to right hand drive by the previous owner and had a SR20DET swap. Then in 2013, a month after taking part in Drag Warz, the Skyline came up for sale. A month later, I bought it.
The Skyline is a GTR shell. What engine did it have when you bought it?
I bought it as it is, with the RB20DET installed already. The car was bought by the owner before the last, as a complete GTR rolling shell with everything but engine and gearbox. He had a four-door R32 prior to that which wasn’t actually a GTS-T. It was also an engine swap with an RB20DET. He sold that shell, had the engine and gearbox there, got the GTR shell and just put the two together.
Now that you own the car, why not go back to the GTR platform with the RB26 and AWD?
Firstly, the car works with what it has. I’m not building it to be a drag racer, or a complete track car. It’s the car I have to do everything with; go to work, the movies and dinner. It’s the only car I have, it’s my daily driver but I also want to take part in these things. Since I bought it with the RB20, it has power. It was basically stock so the potential has not even been tapped. So I saw no need to spend a lot of money, because I think people fail to realize the cost of the engines. It may be only $1,500 US dollars to buy, but remember you have to ship it and our customs duties are not the best. You may end paying $10,000 to $15,000 EC dollars just to get the RB26 and probably the gearbox with it. If I wanted to do that, which I don’t, I would keep the car rear wheel drive anyway, and I would have to get an RB25 gearbox, which costs an arm and a leg, if you can find one. For me, it’s not practical when I have a working car that does what I want it to do, when I want it to do it.
What have you done to the car since acquiring it, in terms of personalization and performance?
The very first thing I did to personalize it was change the colour of my rims. I got it with a set of 17 inch Desmond Regamaster rims, which are rare and discontinued, which is why I kept them. I sprayed them in purple so the car is identified as mine and not the previous owner’s. A guy here had 750cc injectors up for sale, which would be drop-in replacements. I had a tuneable ECU and he had a map for the injectors which he could sell me. It was a no-brainer. We put in the larger injectors and the map and the car was.. faster, instantly. Following that, someone else had a turbo manifold and turbo outlet pipe available. I got that. So the car now has an HKS GT2540 turbocharger and HKS turbo outlet pipe. It has an RB26 intake manifold and upgraded front-mount cooler. I’ve changed literally the entire exhaust side of the engine. Suspension wise, I got a new set of 24-way Fortune Auto FA500 coilovers all around, and aftermarket front upper control arms. Electronics wise, I went to a full standalone AEM EMS version 1.I have an AEM UEGO wideband sensor, auto meter boost, water temperature, oil temperature & oil pressure gauges. I have installed an ORC clutch kit – twin plate clutch, pressure plate and lightweight flywheel. To further personalize, I got an intentional mismatched pair of rims. I always wanted TE37s or CE28s, but they’re ridiculously expensive, so I got replicas. In the back are Varrstoen ES2s and Varrstoen ES3s at the front, both 17 inches, and I sprayed those purple as well.
The purple wheels on your car have become an identifying factor for you and your car, what inspired this colour choice?
When I wanted to change the colour of the rims, they were a yellow colour, which would never grow on me, ever. People kept referring to the car as the previous owner’s car, because they would see it and know it by that. I have never been partial to coloured rims, but personally white, matte bronze and a dusty gold would be fine. Considering the style of the rims it had at the time, it would have not looked nice. So, I went through the colour spectrum and I could not find cars with purple rims at the time. So I thought, ’hmm, I should try purple? Yeah, it should be fine.’ Then after that, the rest is history. Everything has been purple to the point where I realized how much I like purple and I started buying purple clothes.
I noticed you mentioned that this is your daily driver. How is it to drive on a daily basis?
The issue is with the clutch for daily driving. Balancing on hills with that clutch is a nightmare. Eventually I will get it, but it is manageable. Fuel economy wise, even with the upgrade to the larger 750cc injectors and the tune I got, it is actually quite effective. You would expect it to burn a lot of gas, but it’s actually not that bad on gas. I could go from Castries to Vieux Fort and back on about a quarter tank of gas. It’s good on fuel when it’s not stop-and-go traffic. The AC worked, but my compressor decided to die on me. I have my music in there, my deck, sub and amps. So I have those basic creature comforts in there.
Do you maintain the car yourself, or do you have a specific mechanic or tuner that you take it to?
For the little things that can be read upon and if I have the tools, I can do. Some of the stuff I’ve seen done by my mechanic and I’ve done it myself after. For tougher jobs, because of where I live, I cannot do certain things like jack up the car and whatnot. I have a guy from Gros-Islet, his name is Laurie Pamphile. He’s a run of the mill mechanic, but also dabbles in these performance cars after owning his own project. He’s used by a lot of us in the car community. Whether it is engine, gearbox or suspension, I go to him. For the tuning aspect, I have Mr. Caryl Haynes. He owns a RB30 powered S14 Silvia. He’s had years of experience in the tuning field, and I would say he’s very proficient in RB engines, having previously owned an RB20 himself. He tunes the other Skylines here, the RB26s, RB25s and SR20s. He’s done literally all Nissans that you can think of. He’s the go to guy for Nissans, but he can do everything. He’s tuned Civic Type Rs and road tuned some of the AWD cars because the dyno doesn’t provide for those. As he once told me, ‘I haven’t blown an engine yet,’ so I will always go to him for any of my needs.
What are the power figures of the car, in terms of torque and horsepower?
At present, the car is actually on its second tune. In initial tuning, we had no boost controller, so we limited it to what the wastegate was which is 9psi. We got 207 whp (242 at the crank), which was at the time, the fastest car I’ve owned. I was happy with that. Then I got my new ECU, so I had to retune. My tuner looked at the previous map then set his target. This time around we got 205 whp but more torque, at the same amount of boost. At the dyno, there’s a performance shop. He said, ‘we need more boost!’ So I just bought a manual boost controller from them, and slapped it on the car that night. Eventually we ended up at 14 psi and got 242 whp. My tuner said the map I have is good for 22 psi on that turbo. From his words 20 psi would produce 300 whp, so at some point in time, that’s what I’m going for. I also have an HKS EVC 4 boost controller that isn’t installed yet. Since that boost controller has settings for high, low and scramble boost settings, I’m going to tune it for 10 psi to drive daily, 15 psi for drag racing and maybe 18 psi to press the button for a 5 second boost to 18psi, and call it a day.
If you were to sell the Skyline, what would be your next car, or what piques your interest?
To be honest, if money became available, I would buy another one, but I would get a full-fledged GTR, because it is my dream car. So I basically own my dream car. So if I were to sell this one, my next personal logical step is to go for one with an actual RB26. I don’t really discriminate because I love cars on a whole, although I have a thing for Nissan. I did put the car up for sale once to test it, to see what I would buy next. I actually was going to buy a manual, non-turbo MK4 Supra. A lot of people were saying, ‘you in a Supra? It’s Blasphemy!’ At the end of the day when I reach the point of selling this car, I can say I had one, so it’s on to something else. I’d know what it’s like to have a Skyline, I’d know what it’s like to have a Supra. Even though the Supra was non-turbo, it was still manual and rear wheel drive, so I could still have fun.
How active are you in the St. Lucian car culture, in terms of automotive events?
To say if I’m active? Yes. From car number one, once there is an event, I was there. Once my car is up, I will take part in almost anything. There has not been an event that has come up while my car has been up that I’ve not taken part in. Drag racing; I will do it. Dexterity; I will do it. Car shows.. It’s a little rough around the edges, but if the organizers want me in it, I will show up. If my car is down and someone is putting on any even of the same nature as I’ve mentioned, I will contribute. I will be in the background if they need me, I will be in the foreground if they need me. I would do whatever it takes to help the sport, or the culture on a whole.
You’ve experienced many types of cars, what would you say is your favourite drivetrain?
Thus far, I have gone from front engine, front wheel drive, turbocharged to front engine, front wheel drive with valve timing, then, to rear wheel drive, both turbocharged. Personally, I will continue to buy a rear wheel drive car. I mean I do have buddies with all-wheel drive cars, they tell me of their experience but I haven’t experienced for myself. Yes, an all-wheel drive may hug the corner and out accelerate me at corner exit. That does not mean my car will not perform in that same setting. It will corner very hard, maybe not as hard as an all-wheel drive, but at the end of the day, if I want to put it sideways in that same corner, I can do it with ease and have fun. So for me, FR all the way!
It was quite an eventful day, with Kurn and his R32. From the blistering sun to the surprise appearance from a supped-up Toyota Chaser and Shayne’s Impreza that we recently featured, it was all-in-all a pretty awesome afternoon! We definitely adore Kurn’s car and we can hardly wait to see what he has in-store for it. In between motor cross events and drag races, you can be on the lookout for Kurn’s car on a street near you.
