The Nissan Cefiro A31 'Skyline' mod a.k.a the R-TERTIPU

Heavily modded - more R34 than A31 

I was perusing through some older photos and thought I'd like to discuss about a certain old Nissan that was, or still is quite popular with the car modding and drift scene - the Cefiro A31. This car was produced from 1988 to around 1994. It shared the same platform as the Nissan Skyline R32 and the lesser known Nissan Laurel. It shared its MacPherson strut front suspension with the S13 Silvia with the exception of the 4WD version which shares the same front and rear suspension as the R32 Skyline GT-R.

 It was labeled as a sports sedan but I think the 'sports' was just marketing. The stock 2.0liter Cefiro that sold in Malaysia came with a 4 speed auto gearbox (later 5 speed) driving the rear wheels and had puny 15 inch wheels.  the stock RB20E engine was a smooth straight 6 cylinder engine. It was quite responsive but it didn't really like to rev. The ride on stock tires was firm yet comfortable but due to the stock ride height you'd know that grip levels were pretty low. However, when it came to the looks of the Cefiro A31 it did have sleek body styling but it also suffered from too much overhang front and rear. In short it was a quite an ordinary car to drive with sedate looks. Unless it was wet and then you could do oversteer easily. And since it was rear wheel drive and had interchangeable parts with the R32 Skyline GT and GTR  the car ended up being a favourite of drifters and modders. Even Skyline body parts could be grafted onto it. The A31 was highly tunable and became a favourite.

Here you see my pal Firdaus walking the A31+R34 on an invisible leash.

Take a look at the one in the photographs above and below from a few years back. It was so highly modified that it now looked more like a four door R34 instead of even an R32. This belonged to a serious local drifter for serious competition. But what the photograph tells us is that an A31 can look like a R34 if one pours serious money into it. I suppose its performance is close to one too. Oh, that car was so serious that it actually ran a Toyota 2JZ engine from a Supra. Hows that for total confusion - A31 to R34 with a 2JZ Toyota heart.

Now moving closer to home, the car in the picture below was owned by a close friend who then sold it to my brother in-law back in 2002 - Sorry about the pic, I personally don't have more of it in my files. This white Cefiro was nothing like the stock normally aspirated straight Six 2.0 liter RB20. This white car had a Nissan RB20DET 2.0liter turbocharged engine from . I had driven it a couple of times and  I assumed that it had close to 240bhp at the engine in its state of tune based on the boost rating and the mods it was running. One could throw in the RB25 turbo or the top of the line GTR RB26 engine too. It depends on how deep one's pockets are.

The white car  ran on coil over shocks on 225/45/17 tires in front and 235/45/17 at the rear on classic Enkei RP01 rims. It had a custom built bodykit with a modified front GTR type bumper/lip, side skirts and rear Skyline lights. It definitely looked the part, especially with the very aggressive rear camber settings. This was more of a road car than one used to drift, as the rear differential wasn't one that locked easily. So you see, the car had more R32 Skyline parts thrown at it including having Skyline looks too.

While it was fast in a straight line, it was a handful to drive around town. The RB20DET engine is an old school turbocharged engine. You could tell due to the lazy off boost nature of the engine. It refuses to rev freely. This is probably due to the low compression nature of the engine. It comes on boost at around 3,500rpm. Boot it too early in exiting any tight corner, the tail will step out and you had better watch out as the steering may not be as fast as you'd like. It may be easy to hold a drift in the car if you have the space to do so but on the road, you wish the steering was a tad faster. Now add that firm slightly rock hard ride, it somehow becomes a tedious town car. Negotiating traffic tended to be a chore due to this. Off boost it was somehow worse to drive than a stock A31. The differential also contributed to low speed understeer and the ride while avoiding potholes was slightly troublesome. But give it an open road and you have over 200kmh on the speedometer. Close to 240kmh if I was not mistaken.

Anyway, my brother in-law held on to the car till 2005 and sold it off. I believe the car is now a metallic blue in colour and somewhere in the middle of Pahang. I suppose cars like these have a following because it costs around RM25,000 and above to buy one. Even the newer, front wheel drive  Cefiro A32 is actually cheaper to buy.

So there you have it. The cheapest way to own a pseudo Nissan Skyline R32, or in some cases, a R34. But as what my friend used to call his car in Malay rings true. The Nissan R-TERTIPU. Tertipu means 'misled' or 'misguided'. Aptly so wouldn't you agree?