Are you surprised?
A lot of people hang on every word Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire says. Some of those same people might have shredded on anyone who likes or dares to own a Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R. It might comes as a shock to those people and others that Farah is a fan of the R33.
Out of the JDM Skyline GT-Rs, the R33 is the one that’s forgotten or worse. After all, the R32 is the “purest” form with its low curb weight and low-tech platform. The R34, which is just about legal to import to the United States, is the quickest with absolutely crushing performance specs and a look that’s muscularly good.
It was during the 1993 Tokyo Motor Show that everyone got their first glance at the R33 Skyline GT-R, which caused quite the buzz back then. After all, the R32 had been so dominant in motorsports that Japanese announcers dubbed it “Godzilla.” Expectations were high when the car was finally released to the public in January of 1995.
Evolutionary in its design, the R33 took the R32 and improved upon it. Not everyone agreed that it was a better car, even though it was faster, provided better handling stability through a stiffer body design, and benefitted from more even weight distribution (nose diving is not conducive to performance).
Nissan even launched a new all-wheel-drive system called ATTESA E-TS PRO on the Skyline GT-R R33. It was more advanced than the ATESSA system used in the R32, the thing people said made Godzilla dominant on the track. Stronger and faster than before, the system used in the R33 is superior.
Knowing all this, it’s difficult to completely understand the hate for the R33 GT-R. We’re happy someone as influential as Farah is helping to set the record straight, because it’s time people appreciate the forgotten JDM Godzilla for its many good qualities.
Check out what the man has to say and learn a few things.
