What is an ER34? A guide to Nissan Chassis Codes.
I know that some of you right now are eager to type into the comments section “A four-door R34”. Some of you probably will.
It’s a common misconception that even the most knowledgeable Scandinavian car-nut gets wrong, and I don’t blame you - it takes a bit of digging and research to understand what it all means.
This is not an ER34
In the photo above, we see two R34s. The one further away is an ER34, but the one closer is not. They are both Skylines, they are the same length, both have four doors, both share the same chassis. The only visual difference is that the closer one has a facelift bumper (that means re-designed).
If it’s not an ER34, then what is it?
It's an HR34
Above we have the spec-sheet for the HR34, and the plate in the engine bay of my ER34.
Remember that the two cars were almost identical. The only difference between them is the motor size.
E is the code for a 2.5L
H is the code for a 2.0L
And remember kids, don’t confuse the chassis code with the model.
The HR34 is an R34 GT, while the ER34 should be an R34 25GT
And yes, there are 2-door ER34s - you just have to look at the 5th image in Google.
GT-R
Some of you may have noticed that GT-Rs are often called BNR or BCNR. What does this mean?
B means it is a 2.6L
C means it has HICAS 4-wheel steering (however it is sometimes omitted)
N means 4WD
R means the Chassis (Silvias are S-chassis (S12, S13, S14, S15), Skylines are R-chassis (R30, R31, R32, R33, R34))
Why the different codes?
Because 4WD and 4WS require a different chassis to implement the additional bushings, racks and axles.
Now the head-scratching stuff
Looking at the spreadsheets above, we can see that the R33 is the easiest to understand. Their badges are easy to understand and so are the chassis codes - a GTS is 2.0L n/a, a GTS25 is a 2.5L n/a, add “t” to the end and it’s a turbo - GTS25t.
However the R32 has made a mess with their chassis codes and the R34 omitted some information.
So we established that the N is four-wheel-drive and the C is four-wheel-steering.
However there are no ECR34, BCNR32 or BCNR34.
As Aki Itoh has informed me, the lack of the C initial is due to the 4WD models also featured 4WS in the R32 and R33 while the R33 allowed either as optional extras.
As for the R32, it even leaves me scratching my head wondering why they us R and KR for the motor.
What I do understand is that GAE is an automatic transmission, GFE is manual, and GYE is a 2.5L automatic.
The F prefix is a 1.8L (that dates back to the R30 chassis).
Other Chassis:
S - Silvia and early Fairlady
C - Laurel and early Skyline
A - Cefiro
WC - Stagea
N - Pulsar
F - Leopard
U or T - Bluebird (earlier just used numbers e.g 510)
Y - Gloria, Cedric and later Leopard
Z - later Fairlady
GT-R
Sorry for the long head-scratching post, here is a BNR32 (no potatoes).
This content was originally posted by a Car Throttle user on our Community platform and was not commissioned or created by the CT editorial team.
Comments
Getting my R34 GT-T sedan soon, can’t wait.
Awesome! Welcome to the club.
This man gets it! :D
Great article! More people should read this, it explains the codes perfectly!
Nicely wrote.. Same thing with S-Chassis’s, PS13, RPS13, RMS13, RMLS13, RMKS13, etc.. Soo many. lol
This is a much needed article. I lose a little faith in humanity every time I see a kid write “that’s not an R34, it’s an ER34”
did you just say… B”C”NR32? i don’t know of an R32 with a laurel type chassis
Yah, but I changed to BCNR to follow the point I made. I don’t have any R33 GTR photos so I changed it back.
plus, the age old question every true skyline enthusiast is “What’s the chassis code and year for a 4-door, 4WD turbocharged 2.5L non-neo R34?” and yet, never has it been directly answered
As far as I know, there isn’t a way to tell from chassis number if it’s a sedan or coupe. Maybe somewhere in the other numbers (like QM1 is Nissan White paint code). As for the motor, you might have to look at small details like the injectors. I read online that the 1998 R34 is non-neo, but mine has the actuator, V-inlet and top-feed injectors that you don’t find with other RB’s.
No R32 GT-R came out with the chassis code “”BCNR32” only “BNR32”
R33 is the only one that had the “C” in the chassis code
Never made sense to me why the 33 is the only C chassis GTR. Ask me about the Hako’s and Kenmeris and I’d have no clue why they use KPGC.
I changed it back to “BNR32” in the last section.
Nice job dude! Good info easy to understand, only a few know this, so, thank you! I find really cool all this chassis code stuff, so maybe someone should do the Civic ones, or whatever other car that has a lot of variations. Again, I really appreciate this.
The ER is a four door r-34 incase you missed it
Here we have it guys!