Nissan Skyline R31

The birth of the RB

The R31 launched the RB20, a 2.0-litre straight-six, in a whole family of tunes: the single-cam RB20E and RB20ET, the twin-cam RB20DE, and the one enthusiasts care about, the twin-cam turbo RB20DET. In the R31 the RB20DET made 190 PS, which is worth knowing because you will often see 215 PS quoted for it. That higher figure is the later R32 and C33 version, not this car. There were also humbler CA18 four-cylinder and RD28 diesel models for the fleet-and-taxi crowd. Australia, meanwhile, got its own engine entirely: the 3.0-litre RB30E, never sold in Japan and shared with the Holden VL Commodore.

That RB30 is the reason Australians know the RB name in their bones. Holden licensed it in 1986 because its old six could not meet the country's new unleaded-fuel rules, and in the deal it locked up exclusive local rights to the turbocharged RB30ET, so the factory-turbo RB30 was a Holden-only thing and never a Skyline one. Those VL blocks went on to become the donor bottom ends for the legendary big-capacity RB30DET builds: an RB30 block topped with an RB25 or RB26 twin-cam head. If that rabbit hole is your thing, we have a dedicated guide to the RB25/30 and RB26/30 engine builds here, including how to tell a turbo RB30 block from a naturally aspirated one.

The GTS-R: the real reason to care

The halo R31 is the GTS-R, a Group A homologation special built in 1987. It took the RB20DET and gave it the works: a big Garrett T04E turbo, a factory tubular stainless exhaust manifold, an intercooler roughly four times the size of the standard car's, an LSD and a lightweight flywheel, all good for 210 PS on the street and well over 400 in race trim. Around 823 were built (our own build data on this page agrees, 823 including the four prototypes), barely more than the 500 Group A demanded. This is the car that developed the turbo-six, all-out-Group-A thinking Nissan poured straight into the 1989 R32 GT-R. In a real sense, no GTS-R, no Godzilla.

A first, and the driver's grades

The R31 was also the first Nissan fitted with HICAS rear-wheel steering. Below the GTS-R sit the GTS and GTS-X, the twin-cam-turbo grades with the same 190 PS RB20DET, sold as a coupe and as a pillarless four-door hardtop unique to the R31. There is also the Autech Version, a run of around 200 coupes hand-finished by Nissan's Autech division. Want a driver's R31 without GTS-R money? A genuine GTS or GTS-X turbo is the sweet spot.

Built here, and raced here

Australians have a real claim on this one. Nissan assembled the R31 locally at Clayton in Victoria, and on the track Gibson Motorsport ran the GTS-R in Group A, with Jim Richards and Mark Skaife winning the 1989 Sandown 500 before the whole effort rolled into the all-conquering R32 GT-R. So the R31 is not just the GT-R's technical predecessor, it is a slice of Australian racing history in its own right.

Buying one

The GTS-R coupe is the blue-chip R31 and the one to chase if the provenance and originality stack up, so check the VIN reads HR31 and that the turbo, manifold and intercooler are the real GTS-R parts, because tribute cars exist. For everyone else, a genuine GTS or GTS-X turbo is a cheaper, honest way into an early RB Skyline, still overlooked next to the R32 that followed it. Just remember: anything wearing a “GT-R” badge on an R31 is telling you a story that cannot be true.