BRZ vs r32 Skyline
 

I've been in the market for a car for the last couple months. Finally got my first real job a couple years ago and have been saving up to buy a car. I currently own an 87 325is and a 91 GVR4. I plan on selling both before buying my next car.

I've been going back and forth between these 2 cars for awhile. The r32 is one of my favorite cars of all time and I'm also somewhat partial to older cars. But then again, the brz is the car I've been wanting a company to manufacture since I've been into cars. 20k can get me pretty much a perfect gts-t or a really nice gtr. And with another 10k into it, I can mod the car how I want it whereas I'd have a bone stock brz for the same price. I really cannot decide which car I want to get. Anyone have experience with both or just have some opinions on the matter?

Since you are asking an 86 forum, seems like your decision has been made.

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Hesitating between a R32 and a brz is like hesitating between marrying an 18 year old poor woman, or a 70 years old rich lady.

You don't really know what you want.

25 year old project
vs.
Brand new with warranty

Not exactly a coin toss, if it really is then do the project while you're young and expect to never see the money again.

Meh, depends if you're going to DD the hell out of it or not.

Given that the r32 is an older vehicle, you might want to get a $5k beater to use as your daily. With a BRZ, you wouldn't necessarily have to do that.

Also, an r32 won't depreciate like a sack of rocks as the BRZ will (unless you buy used, but even then sort of an alarming rate of depreciation).

New car or Old car. Warranty or no Warranty. Nissan or Subaru. Heavy or Light.

RHD sucks ass, and owning an RB20/25/26 in america isn't great. The skyline, despite the hype, is still a 25 year old Nissan. They're quick, but they're rickety shitheaps. Not to mention the difficulty in convincing your insurance company that your state-titled 1989 NISSAN 2DR is worth $25,000. Or convincing your bank the same thing. The RB20 is also a pile of fuck, if you get an R32 GTS-T and actually pay $20k for it you're insane.

If you really want a JDM car, you'd be far better off waiting a year or two until the JZX81 toyota mark ii / chaser / cresta are legal. Nicer platform than the R32, and 1JZ parts interchangeability means they're not totally unreasonable to own here in the states. They'll also probably be a bit less than 20k.

But probably the best of both worlds would be getting something fun but reasonable to daily like a corolla or civic or something and then getting a lexus IS300 to 1jz swap. Or if you want to have your cake and eat it too, get a wrecked / burned / flooded / theft recovery FT86 from an insurance auction and make that your project.

I actually own one as well as the 86 and that is not enough, parts for BNR32 aren't cheap. Lots of young people scrape to get one then can't maintain it so they become shitboxes. The major reason why they aren't on the road much these days.

umm, those are nothing compared to the GTR, nothing about the JZX81 is "nicer".

He's considering the GTS-T as well. I'd say hands down the JZX81 is a better car than an R32 GTS-T.

GTR, maybe has the advantage on paper because of the dual wishbone and AWD, but it's still not as incredible as everyone thinks they are. I'd much rather have a nice JZX81 than an R32 GTR, but maybe that's just me.

Either way he'd be better off buying USDM cars for reasonable prices.

Feel free to go through the list of things that makes a JZX81 nicer than an BNR32 apart from having 4 doors and cheap toyota parts?

From a financial perspective the 86 is probably a way better way to spend your money.

It will have warranty, it will get you to work 5 days a week, being new means no risk of it being a money pit.

Having said that something like GTR at that age should be a 2nd car not your primary, so then you'd also need a reliable daily that can you get from A-B every day. Being a 20k dollar 2nd car makes the Nissan a very expensive toy.

the 1jz non-vvti is a better motor than the rb20, r154 is stronger than the rb20 trans, the rear suspensions are functionally equivalent but the toyota parts are beefier and the a-arm is the upper which means the RLCA is easier to replace with an aftermarket piece, and nowadays there's also info on how to DIY pillowball upper control arms out of circle track parts. R32 GTS-T's don't have the R230, do they? If it's the R200 that means the rear diff is also the same level of durability, although there's possibly more/cheaper ratios available for the toyota 8" in the JZX81. factory clutch-type LSD instead of viscous. nicer interior. massive trunk. 1.5jz rebuild potential with cheap USDM 2jz-ge blocks. the front suspension is functionally equivalent but toyota used a knuckle integrated into the strut housing, which means roll center is adjustable with RCA's easily and replacement steering arms are easily fabricated.

Had a buddy with a r32 gtr. Car was ferocious! Problem with that car is parts availability. Unless you can "over night parts from Japan", i'd stay the hell away from that car. I've had numerous chances to buy clean r32's but again, parts are hard to come by and skylines aren't exactly cheap to mod.