2006 is the year of a true comeback. The extremely rare, limited edition BNR32-based HKS Zero-R has been re-released sporting a fully re-engineered engine, transmission and suspension. Could this be the ultimate street-going GT-R? The history of this unique car starts back in the early '90s when HKS' headquarters in Japan decided to do what tuning shops such as RUF where doing in Germany, and that is create bespoke high-performance streetcars. The project started with four cars being built. However, when the time came to register them as one-off models not tied with the Nissan brand, the problems began. Due to Japanese legislation at the time, HKS was required to crash test a number of cars in order to obtain road homologation. HKS decided to abandon the project as it would have proven too expensive, totaling Y13,000,000 ($116,400) per car. In the end, HKS kept three of the cars. The fourth was purchased by the Sultan of Brunei, who had it shipped home to join his extensive collection of exotic cars.
It wasn't until last year that HKS decided to bring back the Zero-R. This was possible thanks to slightly more lax legal procedures that would allow HKS to register the car as a modified Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R. When HKS announced this via a small feature article in an issue of the Japanese GT-R Magazine, the phone calls began. The job of bringing the car back into life, and of creating it in line with modern performance expectations, was given to HKS Technical Factory in Tokyo. As Mr. Kikuchi, president of the workshop explains, the 450PS and 50 kgm developed by the original cars just wasn't going to cut it in today's market. The now obsolete TA45S single turbine needed to be replaced and every other technical aspect of the car looked at in order to guarantee the best possible result.
The silver car you see here is the first Zero-R to be registered in Japan, now owned by a GT-R-crazy doctor in Kobe. This was the first of the three cars HKS had left to be converted into "modern-day" specifications. It all started with the engine. The old RB26 was scrapped and replaced by the finest performance parts currently available. Basing the build on a limited edition Nismo GT-block, it was already bored to accept the fully forged and balanced HKS 2.8-liter kit. Thus the final product would guarantee ample durability and strength seeing that this block was the same thick-walled item used on all RB powered GT-500 race cars from the JGTC championship (now called Super GT).
The extra 200cc in capacity would help achieve the goal of creating a motor that is powerful but responsive, with bucket loads of torque at any rpm. Compression was slightly increased to 8.7:1 while a lot of work went into preparing the head for optimal breathing performance, with fully ported and polished intake and exhaust ducts as well as full HKS valvegear. For best real-world performance it was decided to use the recently released HKS V-Cam System, which introduces programmable variable valve timing on the intake side. As both drivability and durability were the main objectives for HKS, it was decided to use a set of GT2530 turbines. These allow the Zero-R to crank out 600 PS at 7,400 rpm, and - thanks to the combined hike in capacity and V-Cam System - a mighty 66 kgm at 4,400 rpm. These are figures GT-R owners would have only dreamt about 10 years ago, especially if you take into account the progressive power delivery and virtually flat torque curve from 3,000 rpm all the way to 6,000 rpm.
Juggling all this twisting force is a Nismo Coppermix clutch, which is as easy to use as a stock factory unit and sends drive to the Getrag 6-speed transmission. No, that's not a misprint - HKS has replaced the Nissan 5-speeder with the BNR34 box. The final drive is now 3.9, and is perfectly matched for the electrifying performance of the revamped RB.