One of the most coveted high-performance cars of the import scene is the Nissan Skyline. Hailing from the land of the rising sun, only a chosen few can legally run these cars on city streets, in many "left hand drive ONLY" countries, by way of a conversion, since ALL Nissan Skylines come in right-hand drive configuration. Sure, some specialty tuner shops have taken a stab at converting this all-wheel drive monster to have its pilot situated in the proper side of the vehicle, but none have even come close to looking like a factory installation... At least, until now.

Brian Gonzales, the lucky owner of this white R33, commissioned Redline Racing of Manila for the momentous task of converting this car to left hand drive. Not only did they accomplish that to the meticulous taste of Mr. Gonzales, but also fulfilled his need for huge amounts of horsepower!

Upon close examination of the car, anyone would be hard pressed to realize that this was a conversion in the first place! From the stitching of the leather dash covering to the firewall in the engine compartment, no signs of cutting are visible. Even the wiring harness was finished with a "factory like" look.

The interior sports an aluminum 6-point roll cage. The bars are positioned so close to the body, that entry and exit of the car is unhindered. Two large adults and two not-so-large adults can comfortably fit. Not that you would want to carry this many people in this land bound missle. This of course is still a high-performance car! The Recaro seats up front securely fasten the driver and passenger for the high-G cornering in the twisties and hard launches at the strip.

Moving in to the engine compartment, more of this craftsmanship is showcased. Trying to make a close inspection can be quite difficult to focus on due to the numerous "go fast" goodies from the Apex'i parts bin! (more on that later) The firewall shows no signs of having been the recieving end of a cutting wheel, torch or saws-all. Every curve, crevace and mounting hole looks just as it would if this car came straigh off the Nissan assembly line! Masterful, to say the least.

Now, for the good stuff!

As mentioned earlier, this R33 is a rolling catalog for Apex'i. Starting with the 1000HP component kit, everything that can be replaced in the engine, was replaced with the high-performance marquee. Stroker crank shaft, steel rods, racing cam shafts, 87mm pistons, dual valve springs and titanium retainers are all sourced from Apex'i. The reciprocating assembly was then balanced and blueprinted along with stage III head works by AER (Automotive Engine Rebuilders).

With the long block all buttoned up and ready for HP, more parts were needed from Apex'i. Out went the factory twin turbos and in came Apex'i's own sigle turbo setup. With enough capacity to outflow the twin hairdryer arrangement, this kit is designed to furnish up to 3 bars worth of boost! (ain't that a kick in the pants!) Since this turbo kit was designed for a right hand drive car, Redline Racing had to modify it slightly. Now that the brake booster is situated in the opposite side of the engine compartment, along with the steering mechanism, the wastegate had to be moved to a higher location. Then, the brake booster was also moved rearward by almost a couple of inches!

The pressurized air is then routed through a large Trust front mount intercooler, to remove excess heat from the intake charge. Then, to control everything, an Apex'i Power FC takes care of all the digital duties.

To transfer all that HP and torque to the wheels, an Exedy Quad plate clutch is called to duty. Slowing down this beast is certainly not for regular binders. The folks from Brembo supplied the brake rotors, calipers and pads, situated front and rear of the Skyline. To absorb road irregularities and to properly plant the huge contact patches, coil over shocks (from, you guessed it, Apex'i) rest where factory units used to reside.

Riding in this beast is something you won't forget anytime soon! A slight tickle of the go-pedal sends the boost gauge in to orbit. Turbo lag is none existant and the rush is truly out of this world. Even the huge gumballs are no match to what this engine can deliver.