Tema: Modest Magenta

Just another daily-driven 500-hp Skyline GT-R




People are generally scared shitless when they go to the dentist. All those drills, evil-sounding machines and sadistic dental assistants. But there are upshots to being a dentist--you get to play with some cool tools, including that thing that sucks the spit out of your face, and of course, laughing gas.



Laughing gas, for those of you who don't know (and if you don't, put this magazine down, right now), is also known as nitrous oxide, one of the greatest power adders known to man. Trinh Nguyen, Atlanta dentist extraordinaire, may like using nitrous for work, but when it comes to his daily driver, well, he likes our other favorite power adder: turbochargers.





Trinh has never been content with merely working on people's smiles and gums. He also likes to wrench on some serious hardware. He started with a turbocharged Civic, complete with a basement-built engine. Of course, that project got out of hand and turned into a trophy-winning 600-hp front-wheel-drive drag car.

That high-horsepower love sparked by the Civic has turned into quite a vehicle collection, spanning all types of hot rides. He still has the enhanced Honda, but also has--for fun--a Ferrari F355 Spyder, an old-school '73 Mustang and the obligatory Ford truck tow vehicle.



So what does the man who has everything drive daily? Well, he wanted a car faster than his Ferrari and without any reliability worries. In today's marketplace, there are plenty of all-wheel-drive stormers, but there's nothing like the Skyline GT-R for the combination of style, racing heritage and the huge horsepower potential of the RB26DETT.





Of course, with that radical selection therein lies a problem. You can't exactly go down to your local Nissan dealer to buy one of these puppies, so a nationwide search was underway. Trinh ended up finding a MotoRex-federalized 1995 R33 GT-R in the place where you'd least likely expect--New York City. Yes, this car was duelling yellow cabs driven by Manhattan's internationally trained finest on a daily basis, year round. Luckily, the car was kept in very good shape and it had already been tweaked to make big power. All it needed was some fine-tuning by Trinh to calm the estimated 500-plus ponies.



The RB26 is far from stock. First, the induction system was redone with a custom twin-turbo setup. Custom exhaust manifolds send spent fuel to spool dual T04E/T3 .58 A/R Garrett turbos. Pressure relief is supplied by a Blitz blow-off valve. Intake charge is cooled by a NISMO intercooler and excess fuel is supplied by a Sard 255-lph fuel pump, a custom-built fuel rail and a half-dozen 720cc RC Engineering fuel injectors.



Controlling this beast is a Trinh-tuned Electromotive TEC-3R standalone engine management system. This unique system eliminates the need for the restrictive stock mass airflow unit and the stock engine control computer. However, Trinh kept the stock systems in place to control the all-wheel drive and drive the stock instruments. Strangely enough, the car was also equipped with an A'PEXi Power FC, which Trinh discarded and left the Electromotive box to do its magic. Power runs through the stock five-speed manual transmission, an OS Giken twin-plate clutch and steel flywheel.

To improve the Skyline's monstrous handling and give the car a slight attitude adjustment, JIC coil-overs were installed. Helping carve the twisties as well as adding some bling are 18x10-inch Blitz Z1 wheels wrapped with 275/35ZR-18 Nitto NT 555s. Bringing the heavy car to a halt is a full Brembo big brake kit with 13-inch rotors.



As for the body, it's stock. Wacky purple paint? Stock. Body kit? Who needs it? Interior? You guessed it ... pretty much stock. Audio system? Only the whine of two turbos, at least when we saw the car last. Trinh has since installed a full ICE system to keep him entertained in the crazy Atlanta traffic. In its previous life (pre-Trinh), the car was featured at the Atlantic City International Auto Salon. But Trinh doesn't plan to let it sit around at auto shows any longer. Instead, he's concentrating on keeping the car a great all-around performer and suitable for the daily drive to work on people's teeth. Besides having the GT-R tweaked further by Ed Senf from dynotuner.com, Trinh modded it with a lightweight VIS carbon-fiber hood, tweaked the color on the wheels and added some more gauges by Defi.

Of course, the Skyline could end up like his Civic did--an uncompromised track car. As for laughing gas, Trinh is going to let that stay in his office. He's content getting his high from the rush of two spooled turbos.