I have a total 180 degree disagreement with my cousin, regarding his R33 GTST Skyline

 

 

That one ^^^

 

He is doing a big rebuild on his car and has the engine out... I helped him do it... it was minus 5 and he lowered it onto my hand :-#

 

Anyway, here is the main disagreement we're having, He wants to crack open a 70'000 mile perfectly functional stock RB25 and replace internals, possibly stroking it and all sorts. Whereas I think he should leave it alone. In my opinion as I have done with my zed, he should replace everything supporting the engine, radiators, alternators, oil and fuel pumps, etc etc, and get all the life out of the original engine that he can. So that come the day it fails at 120'000 miles, he can rebuild it, supported by an awesome set of accessories and things like oil temp sensors and good experience of how to properly maintain the second engine.

 

I just feel that I have read a lot of stories where people have rebuilt engines and had them smoking withing months or years.

 

So, my questions:

 

1) In your opinion, leave a working engine sealed, or rebuild it prematurely/preemptively while it is out?

 

2) How long should a forged or rebuilt engine last, compared to OEM ones.

 

3) How long do they tend to last?

 

Thanks guys :)

But then again, he thinks an EVO 5 is an attractive car!

 

Correct! This is a desperately ugly car, in particular from the back. It's a Mitsubishi Carisma with a giant growth on the boot. Don't get me started on the front end or interior, its only saving grace is that lovely Momo steering wheel.

 

 

Never understood the visual hype over these things. If it wasn't known to have such excellent mechanical, it would be a laughing stock, they've aged soooooo badly.

 

If I were to pick a similar car from the era, it would be the P1. It has a better balance of looks with performance than the grotesque Evo 4,5 and 6. The 1,2 and 3 were pretty dire to look at also.

 

Over-rated car unfortunately Si, as is the evo. I never had a P1, but had a tuned up STI Type-R 2 door with the adjustable centre-diff. Problem was my first drive of one was on a rally track and I was gobsmacked by how capable it was - sadly none of that transfed to the road.

 

Pro's - front looks a lot better than the evo, rear not so much - I think the evo 3 and 4 had a nicer arse-end. Sounds lovely and purposeful. You cannot lose the thing, even with the diff at 90% rear it just won't spin with spirited driving. It's a ****ing brilliant daily driver which makes the right noises. Reliable. Jailbait still love a bit of it ;-)

 

Con's - the bhp is there, but the torque isn't and there's substantial loss through the tranny. Feels agricultural inside. Andy Forrest / RGM insane builds aside, it doesn't pull as well as other cars of similar power. It's still instant wide-boy / chav in a cup.

 

Out of it's class it's like the 3 primary jap contenders were never masters of all trades:

Impreza: reliable, good looking and sounded lovely, but didn't have the performance on the road.

Evo: Performs much better than impreza like-for-like, plesant to look at, but insanely unreliable and costly to maintain, makes z32 ownership look like a cheap hobby.

Pulsar: Straight line would hoop either of the above, sounds ace and is a proper sleeper, but understeers like a front-wheeler without extensive diff and tranny work, ultimately the least reliable in terms of transmission failures and looks like something you'd be ashamed to step in walking down the park.

 

If you haven't had one, I reccommend taking a drive in a mildly tuned GTST/GTT, it's fun, fast, reliable and sounds delicious. If you can tweak the looks a little more to your taste they are a decent daily. It's comparable to a Z32 drive-wise but I prefer the grunt of the vg :-)