It’s been a big week for the 180sx. After running fine after repairs (costing ~$600 all up) for a few weeks, the opportunity came to have to car on the dyno and run down the quarter mile within a couple of days of each other.

My first drag meet was a lot of fun but ultimately frustrating. I have discovered that a stiffly sprung drift car is not a good launching drag car. After four runs on an average temperature night the best ET managed was 15.0. Traction in first gear was the culprit with the car simply lighting up both tyres the whole way until second. Positive however was my mph which was at a very nice 98 mph, faster than many cars running mid 14s. This hinted at the car’s potential and its power output which would be known in a few days.

I will tackle the drags again soon, trying many old tricks to get some traction off the line and post the mid/low 14 second times the car should be doing. Tricks will be to soften the rear suspension, run less tyre pressure, more fuel, and to hopefully get some meatier rubber.

The Silvia NSW dyno day was a much happier event, even though the temperature was very warm and not ideal for turbo cars. The car made 132.7kw @ rear wheels in fourth gear, a great figure for a car with only a cat back exhaust and $26 POD filter. Remembering that the stock flywheel output is 153kw and a stock car will normally make around 110kw @ rear wheels, it is reasonable to assume the car is now making approximately 180-190 kW using this same ratio. Of course the only way to know the engine power output is to use an engine dyno so it’s best to just stick to chassis dyno figures.

Next to come is a new high quality dump pipe, and then a very large front mount intercooler that is already purchased and waiting to go on. It seems the target of 160kw @ rear wheels may not be so hard to achieve at all.