GT-R vs Skyline GT-R: What Is Actually the Difference?

Short version: the R32, R33 and R34 are Skylines with a GT-R package. The R35 is not a Skyline at all — different platform, different engine, different name. Here is the long version.

The one-paragraph answer

A Skyline GT-R is the high-performance version of the Nissan Skyline. The Skyline is an ordinary Nissan model line that has existed since 1957 and has mostly been made up of unremarkable saloons and coupes. Three of those generations — R32 (1989–1994), R33 (1995–1998) and R34 (1999–2002) — were offered in a GT-R specification with the twin-turbo 2.6-litre RB26DETT straight-six, ATTESA E-TS all-wheel drive and Super-HICAS four-wheel steering. The R35, launched in 2007, is simply the Nissan GT-R. Nissan removed the Skyline name because the R35 shares no platform, no engine and no body with any Skyline. It is its own model.

Why did Nissan drop the Skyline name?

Because by the mid-2000s the Skyline had become something else. After the R34 ended in 2002, the Skyline line continued as the V35 and V36 — larger, more comfortable, front-engined rear-drive luxury sports saloons sold in most of the world as the Infiniti G35 and G37. Those are perfectly good cars but they are not GT-Rs, and Nissan had no intention of building the next GT-R on that chassis. When the R35 arrived it needed a clean-sheet platform with a rear transaxle, an entirely new engine, and a global identity that was not tied to a Japanese model name most export markets had never heard of. So the badge became simply Nissan GT-R, and the R35 became the first GT-R in history that is not a Skyline.

Is every R34 a GT-R?

No, and this trips people up constantly. The R34 generation Skyline was sold in several forms. The 25GT-t (chassis code ER34) has a single-turbo 2.5-litre RB25DET and rear-wheel drive. The 25GT is naturally aspirated. Only the BNR34 is the GT-R: twin-turbo RB26DETT, all-wheel drive, wider arches, the big rear wing and the multi-function display. From the outside a well-presented ER34 in the right colour looks very close to a GT-R in photographs, which is exactly why non-GT-R R34s are popular with people who want the shape without the six-figure price.

GTR MAFIA TOKYO runs both. Our fleet includes a genuine R34 Skyline GT-R and a non-GT-R R34 Skyline, and we tell you honestly which one you are in. If you specifically want the real GT-R, the Premium Plan at ¥36,000 per person guarantees one.

GTR, GT-R or GT R — which spelling is right?

Nissan writes it GT-R, with a hyphen. "GTR" without the hyphen is by far the most common way people type it and it is universally understood, including by us — our name is GTR MAFIA TOKYO. "GT R" with a space is a Mercedes-AMG thing. Nobody in the scene will correct you for writing GTR, but the badge on the boot lid says GT-R.

What does GT-R stand for?

Gran Turismo Racing. The name arrived in 1969 with the PGC10 Skyline 2000GT-R, which was a homologation special built so Nissan could go touring car racing. Every GT-R since has been a road car built to satisfy a racing ambition, which is why the badge is used so sparingly — Nissan has applied it to six cars in fifty-seven years.

Which one should you ride in Tokyo?

They are genuinely different experiences and not everyone wants the same thing. The R34 GT-R is mechanical, tight, loud and historically important — you feel the 1999 in it, in a good way. The R35 is savage, comfortable and shockingly quick; it will out-accelerate almost anything you have ever been in. Our Premium Plan draws at random from those two, so either way you are in a real GT-R. Guests who care deeply about which one usually tell us on WhatsApp and we do what we can with the schedule.

Frequently asked questions