The R35 era of Nissan’s GT-R is among the many most vital fashionable sports activities vehicles, and never simply because it survived a whopping 17 years available on the market. This GT-R helped introduce the world to the thrill of launch management. It provided astonishingly good traction administration and stability management programs earlier than they had been cool, and the R35 nonetheless seems to be nearly as good in the present day because it did again within the 2000s. 

However there’s one side of the R35 that felt a bit misplaced: the transmission. At launch, the six-speed DCT made for a automobile that bucked and shook with each shift. Via the R35’s practically two-decade run, that transmission bought higher and higher, to the purpose that, within the last model I drove final yr, the transmission was… perhaps not nice, however not unhealthy.

Picture by: Robin Trajano | Motor1

Enter Crewch with the final word repair: An R35 Nissan GT-R with a handbook transmission. Crewch is a Nissan tuner extraordinaire, based again in 2002 by Yoshihiko Kuruuchi. Primarily based within the Kansai area of Japan, southeast of Kyoto, the corporate not solely operates a full tuning store but in addition has its personal museum. Swing by and you may peruse 400 notable Nissans on show, together with “Mr. GT-R” Hiroshi Tamura’s personal tuned R32 on show. 

However the spotlight of Crewch’s work is not their assortment, it is their wild creations, like a 600-horsepower Fairlady Z drag racer that made its debut on the 2023 Tokyo Auto Salon. 

Even crazier, although, is the “delusional” Crewch GT-R356C, which wears a decidedly excessive physique package. This was meant to specific what a future GT-R would possibly appear like, a machine impressed by the GT-R50 and Hyper Drive ideas. Whereas the GT-R356C is probably much less profitable than both of the ideas which impressed it, I’ve a sense you may be a little bit extra charmed by Crewch’s newest creation, the handbook R35.

Picture by: Tokyo Auto Salon

The sweetness right here, although, is below the pores and skin. Given how elementary the R35’s drivetrain is to the car, this might by no means be only a easy swap. The R35 makes use of a definite all-wheel-drive transaxle setup, with the transmission sitting on the rear axle pushed by a conventional driveshaft from the VR38DETT V-6 up entrance. 

Driving the entrance wheels from that form of setup necessitated a second driveshaft, operating from the transaxle on the rear again as much as the entrance. The association creates an actual headache for anybody who desires to place a handbook transmission within the R35 whereas sustaining the GT-R’s trademark AWD.

Picture by: Crewch

Given how elementary the R35’s drivetrain is to the car, this might by no means be only a easy swap.

Discovering an answer has taken the crew at Crewch 12 months. The selection of transmission was straightforward, not less than: A Getrag 233 was chosen, the identical six-speed used within the R34 GTR. The household lineage is a pleasant bonus, however the structure is kind of totally different. The R34’s ATTESA (Superior Complete Traction Engineering System for All-Terrain… phew) mechanical AWD system sends energy to the entrance wheels straight out of the transmission by way of a brief driveshaft, which lies on the entrance of the automobile. It is comparable in idea to the R35’s digital AWD system, besides that the transmission is not on the rear.

As you possibly can see within the images, the packaging is tight, however the crew at Crewch managed to squeeze all of it into the central tunnel within the R35’s chassis. Crewch fabricated a number of assist braces and mounting brackets to carry the brand new drivetrain in place, that are highlighted yellow within the images you see right here. 

Picture by: Crewch

The change in transmission means the ultimate drive is totally different, however the Getrag 233’s 3.545 ratio is shut sufficient to the three.7 last drive within the R35’s DCT that it is not an issue. In actual fact, Crewch mentioned that the marginally taller ratio is definitely useful for tuned R35s. 

So, the excellent news is that you just keep AWD performance with this method put in, albeit with the older, mechanical ATTESA system fairly than the R35’s digital one.  

Crewch’s handbook R35 testing on the observe.

Picture by: Crewch

The unhealthy information? Sadly, all the R35’s superior traction and stability management programs are disabled. However, for these searching for a extra uncooked, engaged driving expertise—like somebody who’d usually desire three pedals to 2 paddles—which may sound extra like liberation.

Crewch representatives declined to cite any acceleration figures for this handbook R35 however confirmed that it will be slower than a automobile with the DCT. That is no shock, what with the truth that it takes a human being a little bit longer than 150 milliseconds to depress a clutch pedal and transfer a shift lever.

Picture by: Crewch

This, then, is not going to be probably the most high-performance R35 of all time, however it could be among the many most enjoyable to drive. And sure, you will get one if you happen to like. Crewch is finalizing fitment and testing on the prototype car you see right here, creating the required jigs and tooling to show this right into a reproducible package. 

The hope is to complete that course of over the subsequent 4 to 6 months after which provide it on the market. Complete price? For Crewch to put in a used Getrag 233 and deal with all of the conversion, the associated fee will likely be round 6.3 million Japanese yen or about $45,000 at in the present day’s (extremely fluid) change charges. 

Bringing your personal transmission? That drops the worth right down to about $35,000 put in.

That, after all, requires you to get your automobile to Mie Prefecture. However the firm does plan to promote kits internationally as soon as they’re accessible, assuming the tariff scenario makes such a factor possible. Control https://crewch.com/ for particulars, however be forewarned: the crew at Crewch don’t communicate English.