Part of what we’re doing with Tunerzine now is making sure the work our photographers did over the years actually survives somewhere. Not every shoot from that era made it to print, and plenty that did are now trapped in dead magazines, expired hosting, or simply gone from the website. This one is a perfect example. Christopher Jue shot the Powerhouse Amuse Phantom R35 GT-R at the docks, when the R35 was still brand new and the entire tuning world was circling it, and the shoot no longer exists at its original home. So here it is, so it can live on.
Some context for how big a moment this was. When the R35 landed, the question hanging over it wasn’t whether it was fast, everyone knew it was fast. The question was whether it could be tuned the way every GT-R before it had been, because the old inline-six was gone and the new VR38DETT was an unknown quantity wrapped in factory electronics nobody had cracked yet. Powerhouse Amuse was one of the first serious Japanese shops to answer, and the Phantom was the answer: a deliberately restrained build that proved the platform without tearing it apart.
The restraint really is the whole story here. Look at the spec sheet and you’ll notice what isn’t on it. The brakes are stock. The turbos are stock. The tires are the Dunlop SP Sport 600s in 285/35/20, the R35’s original fitment. The interior keeps its electronics and amenities. What Amuse actually changed comes down to an exhaust, a ROM, suspension, aero, and seats, and that short list produced 603 hp at 6,563 rpm with 571 lb-ft at 5,270 rpm.
The exhaust is the centerpiece, a titanium system built from Amuse’s R1000 No. 1 turbine outlet, a No. 2 straight pipe STTI, and the R1 Titan Extra STTI muffler at the back. Amuse’s titanium work from this era had a reputation for a reason, and Jue’s shots of those four tips do it justice. Working with the exhaust is the Amuse Hi-Tech ROM HBL, the shop’s tune for the R35’s factory ECU, and between the two of them, that’s the entire recipe for the power figure.
The chassis follows the same philosophy. Amuse fitted its R1 adjustable suspension kit to bring the car down and left everything else where Nissan put it, stock brakes included. The aero is where the Phantom announces itself visually, with an Amuse front under diffuser and a dry carbon rear wing. Inside, the only change the sheet records is a pair of Recaro SP-A seats in the HANS-compatible version, with the car weighing in at 3,691 lb (1,674 kg).
Thanks to Christopher Jue for the shoot, nearly two decades after he took it. This is exactly the kind of work the archive project exists for, and there’s plenty more of it coming.
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