Paul William Walker IV is famous. Back in 1986 when he was 13, he landed his first job on the TV series "Throb," playing the role of Jeremy. What? You don't remember "Throb"? How about his 1991 guest spot on "Who's The Boss?" playing Michael Haynes? Not ringing a bell, huh? Of course then you cherished his every appearance on "The Young And The Restless" as Brandon Collins back in '93, right? So that's drawing a blank too. OK, then how about him as Officer Brian O'Connor in 2001's "The Fast and the Furious" and its 2003 sequel "2 Fast 2 Furious"? You remember him now? Well, this story is about that guy's car.
Actually, this 2001 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II is a member of a fleet of vehicles Paul Walker has accumulated that also includes a '67 Nova powered by a late-model Corvette LS-1 5.7-liter V8, a Porsche 911 GT3, an Audi RS6, some exotics, some trucks and some plain old expensive cars. The Skyline, though, is the car that's most identifiable with Walker because it's similar to the R34 driven by his character in "2 Fast 2 Furious." Except that when we drove one of those movie car Skylines back in the July 2003 issue, it had its all-wheel-drive system defeated and was generally hacked up. This one is vastly nicer than that, although we had some problems driving it as well.
Walker started strong with the king of the GT-Rs. The V-Spec II is overstuffed with the latest all-wheel-drive tech, the highest output version of the GT-R's dual turbocharged, 2.6-liter inline six, a Getrag six-speed manual transmission, underbody aerodynamic trays and adjustable wings topside. Of course, it-like every Skyline-was never exported to America and is right-hand drive. It's also among the last of the GT-Rs, as production ceased in 2002 and the world is still awaiting the car's rebirth using the new Skyline (Infiniti G35 coupe to us Americans) as a base.
But as good as the GT-R is to start with, virtually everything on the car has been reinvented. Working with Enrico Del Mar of Modern Image Signworks (www.modernimage.net), whom Walker met on the set of "The Fast and the Furious," for which Modern Image did the vehicle graphics, the Skyline was shipped down to Advanced Engine Breathing Systems (AEBS, www.aebsracing.com) in San Diego with the intent of optimizing the car for track sessions on such road courses as California's Willow Springs Raceway.
As such, AEBS concentrated on building something flexible. Walker wanted an engine with excellent mid-range response and a chassis with quick reflexes and imperturbable steadfastness. This wasn't going to be some sort of 1,200-hp drag car that falls on its face the moment it's asked to idle or turn a corner. But it wasn't going to be a soft-riding street car either. This car would be built to be a rugged and fun track machine.
First thing AEBS did was yank out the standard RB26DETT and replace it with a new engine built around Tomei's Genesis Phase 3 long block, which is basically a re-imagination of the RB26DETT with the intent of surviving much greater boost levels. Toward that end it uses Tomei's own forged pistons, H-beam rods and counterbalanced crankshaft to withstand the onslaught. Sitting on top of it all are a set of Tomei camshafts and it's all battened down with Tomei reinforced steel fasteners. Compression was set at 9.2:1.
To feed the stout bottom end, AEBS selected HKS' GT-RS twin-turbo system featuring two ball-bearing HKS Sport Turbos both designed for quick spool-up for good mid-range power. They breathe in through an HKS Suction Intake kit (with two polished-aluminum intake arms capped by HKS filters), and pump out through HKS piping to a R-Type front-mount intercooler. An HKS SSQV blow-off valve is on-board to keep reversion in check, an HKS EVC controller monitors and controls the boost levels and a Tomei Reytek programmable ECU coordinates the various aspects of engine performance. A Nismo cat-back exhaust system is responsible for funneling all the waste gas away from the passenger bay and Walker's high-priced lungs.
Behind the engine are the usual Getrag six-speed and a Nismo clutch. Nissan's standard ATTESA-ETS all-wheel-drive system then distributes the resulting thrust to, no surprise, all four wheels.
The suspension was twisted into place with Aragosta coil-overs with remote reservoirs to avoid heating under extreme circumstances and abuse. Nismo anti-roll bars are used front and rear as well as a Nismo front strut tower bar.