Nismo Getrag Transmission Conversion Kit BNR32/BCNR33

Earlier this week Nismo announced a new offering: Nismo Getrag Transmission Conversion Kit BNR32/BCNR33. This kit essentially replaces the entire transmission and All Wheel Drive system from the R32 and R33 series with the setup used in the newer model BNR34 series, which is a 6 speed manual transmission instead of just a 5. Here's how Nismo describes the features:

The high performance, 6-speed Getrag Transmission is standard in the NISSAN BNR34. This Conversion Kit includes the transmission as well as a Coppermix Clutch and all the parts necessary to install it in a BNR32 or BCNR33. You can also choose from three possible Coppermix Clutches.

The kit includes: 

Getrag transmission	6-speed transmission, standard on the NISSAN BNR34
2	Transfer case	NISSAN BNR34 Transfer Case
3	Front Drive Shaft	NISSAN BNR34 Front Drive Shaft
4	Rear Drive Shaft	NISMO BNR32/BCNR33 Rear Drive Shaft
5	Clutch	3 Choices	NISMO Sports Clutch Kit (COPPERMIX Disc)
			NISMO Super COPPERMIX TWIN
			NISSAN BNR34 Flywheel + NISMO COPPERMIX Disc & NISMO Sports Clutch Cover
6	Transmission cross member	NISSAN cross member from BNR34
	Engine Mount	NISMO BNR34 reinforced transmission mount
	Shift Knob	NISSAN BNR34 shift knob
	Clutch Hose	NISMO Stainless mesh Clutch Hose
	Oil	NISMO COMPETITION OIL type 2189E(75W140) 2L (See note 1 below)
	Assembly Kit	Conversion Kit assembly parts

How-ever... To install this into an R32 or 33 there is a necessary modification, as Nissan has put it; you'll need to Hammer out the floor pan in order to accommodate the extra 20mm from the BNR34 transfercase. Personally I'm a little surprised they couldn't come up with a better alternative then that. Really I don't think anybody is very keen to start mashing away at their cars' under-body with a mallet. But what about the price, perhaps if you owned an R32 or R33 and you'd blown up your transmission and were looking for something a little stronger this kit might be just up your alley.

The Pricing guide lists the kit with the twin plate copper mix clutch to sell for as much as: 997,500 JPY, which is roughly $11, 850 in the US... Not exactly priced competitively considering it's just a stock BNR34 transmission. 

Also, if you were in the market for a transmission it would be important to consider other options as well, so we should do just that. First you might still want a 6 speed Getrag, so I checked on Yahoo Japan Auctions and found one right away, although used, for 299,000 JPY ($3,550), you get the 6 speed Getrag, the shift knob, transfercase and forward prop-shaft. Essentially the biggest chunk of the conversion.

As for the value of the twin plate clutch included in the kit from Nismo, pricing on RHDJapan.com suggest the clutch kit should sell for roughly $2000 US. 

So that puts us up at roughly $5,550, which is a far cry from the $11,850 Nismo asks for their kit, the only difference now between these 2 separately and the Nismo conversion kit is one transmission mount and cross member, and the rear drive shaft.


In the other direction, looking up from $11, 850 you may think, why bother getting a standard BNR34 box when for only a mere $4,000 more on RHDJapan you can have yourself the stunning OS-G 6 speed Sequential gear box. This savage monster of a gearbox is capable of handling up to 1500 horse power, I don't think I need to say anything more about that.


For most of us though, who would be on a budget or at least of a sound mind, blowing up an R32 or R33 gearbox may happen if the power is dialed high enough and we may have to consider other options that may be better for value but still deliver performance. When the transmission gives up its ghost its usually the input shaft, syncrhos and maybe some gears that let go, everything else will usually be fine and capable of handling large amounts of power, including the standard R32/33 drive shafts, and transfercase.


In that situation you could consider replacing the components with uprated parts and calling it a day, such as the OS-G close gear 5-speed kit with strengthened input shaft, which will only set you back $3,900 on RHDJapan.com. These kits have been known to handle power adequately and with the close gear set, acceleration is sure to improve as well.

Thats a few of the ways to handle a broken transmission, ranging in price from low budget to top end, for anyone who's upped the power on their RB26 motor, these thoughts will have surely already been considered, but we always hope we're never forced to act on them.