It's very easy to spoil the basic recipe and get away from the purity of the GT-R concept when adding aftermarket body-styling bits. There aren't too many additions other than the factory Nismo stick-on bits (such as the oil cooler grille, and carbon door garnishes) that do much for the R34… until you lay eyes on the Blitz wide-body kit pictured here.

The car didn't start out this way, with the owner, Jason from Perth, driving his R34 GT-R around as stocker for a while before deciding to get serious with not only its visual, but also its mechanical appeal. Having had a lightly tuned R33 GTS25t in the past, Jason wasn't particularly interested in keeping his R34 stock for too long, and even at the time of the purchase had his mind set on making something completely different.
Buying a kit like the Blitz wide-body is a fair commitment. It's not something you can fit yourself in the driveway with a tube of Sikaflex and some rivets. If you fit this kit, it's staying fitted, because it takes a lot of time and money to fit it properly. Jason initially saw the kit in a Japanese magazine and had to have it.

Getting the parts wasn't a simple matter of a phone call, though, as anyone who tries this approach with Japanese companies comes away confused, and with no parts. Jason entrusted his order to Hanson Yeoh from Xspeed, who got the best price on the kit by sourcing it through his contacts in Singapore.
Once the massive collection of boxes was in Australia, the complete kit (and I mean complete - front lip, undertray, diffuser, front and rear arches) were sent to Autocraft Smash repairs, who got busy with the fitting process. Typical of the high quality Japanese manufacture was the fact that all of the parts supplied by Blitz fitted the GT-R body without requiring any modification. The only "non-Blitz" parts fitted to the R34 are a Veilside bonnet (nice), and the stock rear wing, which even from the factory is a fairly impressive-looking piece of kit.

Autocraft's Patrick Dick then put in the hard yards to carefully screw the GT-R together before applying a complete new coat of paint. The only problem then was that, when fitted with the stock GT-R rims, the whole thing looked a little bit silly. Nothing for it, then, but to add a decent sized set of boots. I might be a traditionalist here, but in our eyes, and Jason's, there is still nothing that beats a set of AVS Model 5s on a R34. In 19x9.5-inch width both front and rear and 275/30 rubber (Advan AVS) they provide the perfect visual finishing touch.

The only concern that Jason had once rolling was that the power output of the Skyline was now way down on its visual impact. This wouldn't do. Sure, there were some changes to get the R34 going in the short term, such as a 5Zigen straight fit exhaust and some extra boost pressure, but the bottom line is that nothing complements a wide-body GT-R as well as a screaming external wastegate.
The simplicity and effectiveness of a single turbocharger conversion on a RB26DETT engine is hard to ignore, so Jason didn't. Rather than go for a tried and tested Japanese kit, Jason decided to walk the less-trodden ground of fitting a Turbonetics T61 turbocharger. Any follower of the American scene would nod their heads knowingly here, but it's not a common fitment in Australia, which means there is no bolt-on manifold for a GT-R.

Xspeed's Andre Veenedal was unfazed by any of this apparent fitting difficulty and volunteered his fabrication skill to manufacture a mandrel-bent manifold to mount the turbocharger. Assembled from 1.75-inch stainless pipes and doughnuts, the finished result is as good as anything that we have seen. Keeping with the non-Japanese-conventional theme, the wastegate of choice was a Turbosmart 45mm external unit. Sounds wicked.

Plumbing the entire turbo kit up from there was a fairly simple task, with Xspeed completing the installation courtesy of some more custom polished stainless tube. The intercooler chosen for the R34 is an HKS type-R, while a Blitz "SUS Power" twin air filter kit provides the air filtration.
The reciprocating parts of the engine are a little more conventional, with 8.7mm-lift HKS 256 inlet and 264 exhaust camshafts. Southside Engine Centre has installed a set of HKS 87mm pistons, which combined with an HKS 2mm head gasket lowered the compression ratio to 8.1:1. Nismo engine bearings, ARP studs, and a JUN oil pump complete a sensible rebuild for this power level.

A late addition to the build process was a GReedy bolt-on inlet plenum, which has not only been polished externally, but also flowed and ported internally. Other decorative yet functional additions to the engine bay are HKS silicone hoses, Earls braided lines, Xspeed custom catch cans, and a sensible turbine heat shield. Notice that with all this modification the stock multiple throttle bodies of the GT-R have been retained, which sort of left the guys with a dilemma when it came to engine management.
Picking a computer that could run the RB26DETT engine in the required "throttle versus pressure" mapping mode limited the pick to only a handful of units, with Jason finally opting for an Autronic SMC, which, when finally installed and tuned, will allow the airflow meter restriction to be removed. Initial results from the tuners, Race Torque, have shown that the R34 is capable of generating a massive 421.3hp or 314kW at the wheels (on a Dynojet) using only a near-stock 0.9bar of boost pressure. Unfortunately, any more boost is more than likely going to drive the HKS injectors well past their maximum duty and require a major fuel system upgrade. Jason is confident of close to 400 rear-wheel kilowatts when boost is wound up.

The interior, brakes and suspension remain normal, but if the first two stages of this build-up are any indication, Jason will be standing out from the crowd in these areas too.

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