Chressmore 'Bolt' White with his Nissan Skyline GTR.
It started out as a 'must-have' mobile. The '89 rendition of the Nissan Skyline GTR holds a hallowed place in the hearts of many gear heads, but for diehard Nissan fans, the combination of a BNR32 body shell with the world famous RB26DETT (2600cc, fuel injected twin turbo) engine and four wheel drive is the holy grail.
Chressmore 'Bolt' White is well known for his exploits with Mitsubishi's four-door supercar, but this Skyline actually sat in his garage for two years after he bought it (in 2005) before he figured out what to do with it. "I wanted it as a collector car," he said. "It was factory stock, right down to the paint. I would drive it from time to time, but somehow it just did not have the poke I thought it should have."
On one of its sporadic drives with him at the wheel in '07, he saw the oil light flicker, and the rest, as they say, is history. The last time Automotives saw the car it was under a tarp with its innards all asunder (about February '07). Bolt said tha he was told by the knowledgeable that the oil pressure sender was bad, as an EVO technician he left nothing to chance; he had to check the oil pump, so he lifted the engine and tore into it. He found out that the venerable Nissan straight six double overhead cam motor has issues with the oil flow draining from the head to the sump, so much so that the oil would be held up in the head, starving the oil pump and the bottom end at race revs.
The factory had already seen this as a problem and restricted the galleys going to the head, but the engineers didn't envisage that tuners would be extracting north of 700 whp from this venerable platform. So our erstwhile Mitsubishi tuner restricted them some more. "I was more concerned with rpm than boost," Bolt opined. "At elevated revs, I would see the same problem recurring, even after restriction. So to manage that, I kept the revs under nine grand." Now the limiter is set at 8200 rpm.
Engineering and sturdiness
It was about this time that Bolt noticed the engineering and sturdiness built into the short block of this engine. While rebuilding it, he didn't even change the bearings! "Today's engine internals have the beef to take two, three or even four times the power that they came with from the factory," he said. "The key to making these engines live at extreme power levels is proper engine management. If an engine leans out at stratospheric revs, you are going to end up with a block full of melted parts."
The first computer he used with this combo was a Top Secret box, made by an outfit out of Japan. However, he was not able to manipulate fuel and timing maps as efficiently as he would have liked. After trying a number of other ECUs he liked the features and tuneability of the AEM stand-alone management system, and stuck with it. The engine is bone stock internally, and the integrity of this new ECU means that his engine is a durable one.
With the oil issue sorted, our maestro buttoned the engine and dropped it back into the car. True to form, Bolt decided to go quarter mileing with his new toy. On went the surgeon's gloves and out came the twin turbo exhaust manifold with Garret T25 spools, to be replaced with a single turbo manifold with 1 5/8 inch primaries and a single Garrett GT35R ball bearing turbo, which is theoretically capable of flowing 700hp on this engine! Without a cam change or nitrous, the totally stock engine makes a streetable 550-600hp. Tuned by Blaine Grandison, the car, with a stock four-wheel drive system and sporting 16x8 stock GTR wheels with Hoosier DOT slicks, was campaigned at the December 2, 2007 NDRC meet at Vernam, where it was put in the 11-second bracket.
The boost
The car drove to the event, with Blaine tuning it on the way down! Shoe'd by Richard 'Puffy' Nicholas, the car laid waste to all competition. In the semi-final round, the car was given a bye run, and Bolt wanted to see what the car would do. So Blaine dove into the car's brain once again; the boost went up from 24 to 29 lb, and the mandate was given to "Mash up di engine! Push de pedal tru di fyawall!" And Puffy dutifully pressed and shifted to the tune of 10.723 seconds at 133.09 mph! Needless to say, they went on to win the class.
Alas, this car would not live to enjoy its now legendary status. On the way home after the meet (remember, this is no trailer queen), Puffy was held up in toll booth traffic. Motion in the rear view mirror caught his eye, and he barely had time to brace for impact ... ironically, it was the driver of another Nissan (X-trail) coming down the 'chute to the booth that allegedly misjudged both his speed and distance to the stationary Skyline car in front; the X-trail veered into the guard rail and physics took over, bouncing the SUV back into the Skyline, ripping the right rear suspension off the car and pummelling the car with enough force to buckle the car on the right side from sill to roof. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but to use popular vernacular, "it kinda done, still."
So where is it now? The car's entire driveline seems to have survived the incident, with the exception of the right rear suspension and wheel. The vehicle was unceremoniously dumped at Auto Source, Bolt's garage in Ziadie Gardens. This car is arguably Nissan's most famous model, here and overseas. This particular car has cracked 11 seconds and, according to people in the know who were in attendance, the car's full potential had not yet been realised.
With Bolt's experience, Automotives feels that low nines are possible with the stock motor! But racing is expensive. Speed costs; how fast do you want to go? White has already spent a king's ransom in the pursuit of his hobby. In the meantime, he has essentially created a rolling bill- board for Nissan with this car. Bolt and his team are ready and able to go to the next level. Fidelity, Automotives thinks that this is one horse you should back!
- Mario James
