Real Road Test: Nissan Skyline DR30 RS-X Turbo C "Iron Mask" 

For a guy that lives by the mantra “power, less is more”, it always amazes me the maniacal giggle when he flattens a v8 or turbo. Welcome to the dark side darth hubnut.

I remember when the Sierra Cosworth was launched the British motoring press made a big fuss of it's 100bhp per litre. It seems Nissan achieved that several years before. Excellent review Ian.

The fact that these haven’t been affected too much by the JDM fanboys makes it so much cooler. The R32/3/4 are too common now but the R30 is a really cool sight

That aerial angle adjuster could be handy when entering an automatic car wash.

Now we're talking. This is the kind of car design I love

I think Nissan made some of their best & most interesting cars in the 80s. Wish i still had my 1984 Silvia 1.8 turbo S12.

This is a thing of beauty. Even more so given that if u live in the UK . I'm not a big Nissan guy but I'm loving this.

Bet that golf driver thought WTF was that!! As power less is more just owned him.

This 81 Skyline really shows, that cars from the plug hole of despair company were so far behind right up until the end. Nice to see that the camera didn't shake at the words blow off 😄

The prettiest Skyline imo. Something about boxes, that tickle my fancy.

My 200SX has a rear wiper and pillarless doors. I really love it and had it from new in 2001 - its only done 40k miles as well!

Canada allows the importation of pretty much any vehicle that is more than 15 years old, so JDM cars suddenly had a big surge in popularity about 10-15 years ago, with the Skyline appearing to be the most popular, nonetheless this particular generation is almost never seen. Thank you for showing it to us.

"Power, les is, , , oh sod it". Weeeeeeeeee!!!

Absolutely appreciate these Japanese reviews. I grew up in Dubai in the 80s and virtually everything on the road was Japanese although US land yachts were also popular with the locals. Our family owned various Mazda 929s, 626s, and Mitsubishi Lancers and I learned to drive in a late 80s Corolla.

Can you imagine if they released this to compete with the Capri? Thats not even competition. Thats just taking the mick.

Loving these reviews with you and your camera lady. The camaraderie is heart warming.

being a jdm fan,i thought this looks heavenly!!

I wish they made cars just like this now. Wonderful example of a Japanese classic.

4:27 - SANDAL'S ALERT!!! Great car & review, Ian. 👍👍 . . . . The toes... MY GOD, THE TOES!!!!!!!!

Car wise the Skyline isn't exactly my thing but fascinating never the less. I'm just loving the Hubnut style of presentation and the Ms Hubnut camera lady combination is fab. I look forward to every new video. Speaking of slightly odd Japanese branding conventions there's the unforgettable Yamaha 'We Love Wind' range of helmets. I can't imagine why they didn't sell very well 🤭

I have had many an FJ20T back in the early 90s but never in the original vehicles, what a beast of an engine, it just blew every thing away that came before it, it really was a game changer. Put some boost in them and they become super peaky savagely breaking traction as they come on boost which all added to the theatre of it all. A++++ would buy again.

Love an 80s Japanese spaceship.

Beautiful! I've always loved DR30 and HR31 Skyline coupes. Another car I wish I'd bought 20 years ago, when import ones were cheap!

Dream car. Thanks for that. Really Enjoyed seeing a legend being pushed by a real person. :)

We never received this as well. Because of their age, they can be legally imported into the US. I like that the power is tractable, and could be used as a summer daily driver. I also love a rear wiper on a coupé or saloon (sedan). I laughed when you blew past that modern VW that looked like a GTI Golf! A most brilliant review, thank you very much!

We only got the 2.8 Gtx in South Africa - normal aspirated 2.8 inline 6 with just 12 valves.

Having owned a C32 Laurel, these 80s Japanese cars make me very emotional. I absolutely love them! My dad had a C31 Laurel when I was a kid and I can clearly see how similar this Skyline is to the C31. Same switches and buttons , similar dash, pedals and even under the bonnet they look the same.

In this video.... I become a hooligan driving a Skyline, great car, great review as always.

Utterly amazing video guys - I had no idea there were any R30s in the UK, let alone an RS Turbo. Probably the most HubNut of the fast Skylines, although the R31 GTS-R is equally cool. If this car had been publicised in Europe the established manufacturers would have crapped their pants. Sadly we had to wait until the R32 GTR for that to happen.

Had one of these years ago for my first car (1996). Later sold it for an R31 Silhouette that had been converted to turbo thanks to a wrecked VL Turbo with Jatco 4 speed auto. Later shoved all the parts into a Skyline wagon as the amount of rust in the Silhouette wouldn't pass inspection; had chrome roof racks, 4 stud 15" rims from a SAAB and an early Haltech fuel computer. Good times

I enjoyed this video, Mr HubNut. She totally obliterated that Golf GTi (other versions are available) @ 16:00 to 16:03!

I remember lots of these in New Zealand in the late 80s when import licenses were removed on used cars. Sadly they were mostly brought by people who were both incapable of either maintaining a car properly or driving one properly (many owners died). The silly thing is that people including myself did not appreciate just how good these were at the time as they did not cost much more money than anything else as a used import. Never judge any car by what it costs to buy...

My boss in the 80s had an R30. It was the hatchback with the smooth as silk RB24 6 cylinder engine. Lovely car. "Wheels" magazine (Australia) described the R30 as a "Japanese BMW".

Beautiful car, I love the engine sound. Your video quality has gone up incredibly, I really enjoy your videos

For way too many years I hadn't seen one of these in the flesh. As soon as I did I realised what all the fuss was about!

Japanese roadworks (and so I’m guessing other hazards like a breakdown) are often signalled by flares to this day. Unless my memory serves me badly; I know I’ve seen that somewhere and it feels like it was Japan… 😝

That dash looks like the one in my Bluebird ZX turbo I used to have back in the day

You had me at DR30. Worthy of a like before even watching the video. A friend back in NZ had one for a while. Not a RS but still very cool. Had the auto drop-down front spoiler with obligatory OBRUT script.

Better late than never with the sandal alert 😯

I think Ian you have just changed my mind on my dream car! What an absolutely beautiful car. It's just perfect. The owner is really lucky to own this amazing car!

I agree enough power is there to be enjoyed, to much power is just wasted when you cannot get to use it.

Sandals alert! Brilliant review Ian, R30’s are a lovely car and very underrated!

Changing the angle of the aerial is for scratching lines in the sky... Extra class road test of another exotic car. Thanks, Miss and Mister HubNut! 😃

Enjoyed that flashback to 1980. I was 18 then and unaware of these. Great to catch up now😁

Hubnut likes his basic humble cars, yet every video I've ever watch with him driving a car with a blow off valve, his smile beams like a kid in a sweet shop 🤣

What a lovely car, plenty of power and great looking too 🙂👍👍

I'm sure someone has already said it but flares were a necessary safety device, in the event of an accident the flare could be lit to warn other motorists. Modern Japanese cars have electric flares with a flashing light on them. Just like the warning triangles in Europe.

I believe Honda also had multi valve engines in the early eighties, 12 valve Preludes and Civics. Also with the introduction of the the 16 valve V-tec engine in the CRX 100 bhp per litre without turbochrging.

It's great that Ian can and may drive with these beautiful and special jewels to show us.

Gotta love a two tone car, I had an S12 Silvia about 20 years ago that was similarly two tone although it's CA18ET had nowhere near as much punch as that beauty!

Magnificent car, a real Japanese engineering showpiece that Ian. I had a ride in a friends 6cyl Skyline once (don't know the specs) but it literally grabbed the horizon and threw it at your face. Amazing.

Power is less, then you get your hands on a Skyline, big smiles, now hand it back.

I had a really nice Skyline in the late 80's it was reliable, comfortable & economical if you didn't drive like a Nutter..!! (Guilty on Occasion.) I Loved it, until my Brother in Law Drove into it, while it was Parked up my Driveway..! Destroying the Rear of it and Shunting the Front of the Car into the Tree it Was Parked under..! ( for Shade ) A Story of "One Too Many at The Pub and Driving Home..!" He Bought me a Car a Few Days later with Apologies too many to mention. But while I had it, all was nice in the World. Thx Again for the Memories Mr HubNut. It was however not as nice as that Wee Beastie..!! Gr8 work Mr and Miss Hubnut. Cheers 😎

One cannot ignore a car equipped with Van Halen!:)

This might just be my favourite hubnut review of all time

Great review Ian, thank you. Never seen one of these running before so it was a real treat. So sad we didn't get this in the UK. The way it delivers reminds me of my RS500 recently reviewed by Jonny Smith on TLBS. Remember also the R31 Skyline GTS-R with the turbo six in it. That was the stepping stone to the crazy R32. Again, well done, sir. Really enjoyed this.

Awesome video and thanks for showing all the details of the DR30. I will use your video as reference to build my 1/24 iron mask model. Cheers!

It was certainly very advanced for the day, amazing

The aerial thing may be so it can be laid flat when using a car wash. What a car though!

I love that valve sound.

Fair play mrs hubnut does a great job of filming , Ian youre a lucky man .

Sandals, skyline = Hubnut.

Cor, it's like a very angry 910 Nissan Bluebird coupe that has been down the gym and done couch to 5k. Brilliant!

OK, it's clear to see that Fergus is a man of great taste. I'm some what envious, it has to be said.

DR30 RS-X is a rarity that was only sold in Japan I think, we got 4 doors and hatchbacks but no coupe in Australia and if I remember correctly only got the 6cyl ones By itself the FJ20 engine is also quite a block, one of the first if not first engines out of Japan that had more than 2 valves in each head and sort of ended up being a race engine here for a lot of stuff over the years, hence they got very rare because people blew them up. A friend imported a DR30 RS-X privately into the country but it more or less stalled out as we couldn't get enough parts for the FJ which was a real pity. The Nissan Leopards from this era and the R31 generation are also well worth a look in too as they're a little bit more civilised but they'd be a rare cat now

Nice love it

Brilliant review Ian, love it when you feature the occasional 'super car'

Your videos are definitely getting better, great camera work from Mrs Hubnut too

Cool looking ship this. I can remember in very early 80s that the Mazda RX7 started to break into Australian Touring Cars but it was just a bit to slow to defeat the Ford and Holden V8s. However, a few years later Nissan started to break in with these Skylines and they were very fast. They were very exciting to watch because they looked like they were out of control most of the time time. They did eventually conquer the V8s at Bathurst in 1991.

Simply awesome!

Haven’t seen one in years. My younger brother had one here in NZ when Japanese imports first started coming in. I remember in the day thinking it was stupid fast

The 80s and 90s was a great time for coupes and sports cars of all sizes. Sadly consumer choice is somewhat limited in this sector for today's cars

I had a 1987 B11 Coupe, loved that car, and I am recognising quite a few components on this!!

Sounds great. Many wipers! Gonzo styling! Red velour! What’s not to love?

Now that is a Car! A glorious trailblazer; we had a 180B Bluebird estate back in the early 80's and looked at a Laurel or two. Sweet noise and epic shove, and Van Halen as well, perfection! 👍🖖

That runnung gear in an estate Skyline would be the ideal car for me. This car though is wonderful, smart and sympathetically updated, such a shame they didn't sell them in the UK.

I had a Dr30, the pre facelift with a turbo FJ20. Very stout engines for the early 80's.

It’s brilliant! And yes Japanese cars did have an image problem over in U.K. at the time, prob because we didn’t get the top of the range models like that one.

An aerial angle adjuster is also handy when boarding the Channel Tunnel train too!

Great review and love the new camera work courtesy of the 'camera lady', lovely looking coupe indeed.

The R32 coupe has the same proportions just with rounded edges, it hadn’t struck me until watching this how similar they are

Oooh I love that bus-like chuff sound on the gear change... :-)

Miss hubnut is definitely rocking (not literally lol) that camera!

i always wanted one of these, my dad bought the Nissan Sylvia in the late 80's and it was really powerful. 1.8 Turbo and CD player as standard. Later on he bought the Nissan 300ZX, one he still has today. I will ask him if he would consider you to drive it, as it's fully on the road and uses it in the summer.

Aww the main protagonist of Shuto Expressway Trial original movie.. a classic car

That car is the absolute dawg's bollox! Awesome.

I can only imagine the DR30 RX-X Turbo must be a very satisfying foot-to-floor driving experience with a Blow Off Valve under the bonnet?

I love Skylines.. That is a Beatiful Car.!

Yes, I did enjoy that! Thanks again for another great road test.

Double knocker 👍🏻 we got the fj20 non turbo in the S12 Silvia which are also rare as rocking horse poop

I never really liked Japanese cars, I always thought they were a little bit boring. But thanks to this chanel I start to apreciate them more and more. This Skyline looks great and seems to be a very exiting car.

Best looking rear lights ever, done =)

Haha he was gunning for that black golf from halfway round that roundabout 😂😂

More Japanese goodness, cheers! I love this interior .......Now before I pick Bobby Geldof up for a lift to Live Aid wheres my Frankie Says T-Shirt.........

I just moved into an older house (well, North American older - ~1946) and the garage door opening is actually lower than the aerial on my Mazda2 at its max height. If I parked in there with any regularity, I could absolutely use the height adjustment like this Skyline has (not sure if that's the reason for it, mind you).

Saloon cars with rear wipers - joy. I’ve owned 2 in my time - Mazda 323 saloon & a Ford Orion. 👍

What a fantastic car, love the cool details! Have to say you and Miss H make a fantastic team 👍👌👍

Hoping for a mid eighties Nissan Stanza.....many a happy memory for me. Can't be many left now.

That one’s a treat for sure. Thanks! By the way, if it wasn’t for your channel I’d never have known that my Fiesta’s wipers leave a Triangle of Doom directly in my line of sight. Now I can’t un-see it. :-(

"...here's the blow off valve, something you won't hear very often on this channel..." Ian's honest, sandal-shorn understatement is why I'm still watching a few years on.