Author: sr20tuning

I have had some minor repairs made to the car in the form of some welding to the intercooler support tag and the dump pipe. Details and pictures of this can be found on Front Mount Intercooler and Dump Pipe pages respectively. This means that the car is ready to enter the next Silvia NSW dyno day at Unigroup Engineering this Sunday. The last recorded figure was 134.9rwkw when the car was fitted with the POD filter, cat-back exhaust and CES dump pipe. Further modifications since then are the front mount intercooler, the Blitz ebc running ~1bar, and the 3 inch high flow cat. I am hoping for 150rwkw, which was my original aim for these modifications.

Just a quick update to tell of a slight change to the Exterior Evolution page, which has now been split into two pages to aid user friendliness. Another pic of the car with the new KT rims has been added and can be found with the others on Page 2. I will probably do a similar deal with this page, and no doubt one day I will go through and proofread the site to remove all my typing errors.

Finally the wheels are on the car, and after a bit of fiddling I am very happy with the results. One thing I was disappointed in was the position the front wheels sit in. I was hoping for the rims to be almost in line with the guards without spacers but this just wasn’t the case. The rears sit beautifully with ample tyre/strut clearance and fantastic width. However the fronts sit an inch or so inside the fenders.

To combat this I reinstalled my previously used bolt on 20mm spacers. This pushed the wheels to very nice width, but I am disappointed they were needed. I’ve also lowered the front of the car a little less than 10mm to get a slightly better stance. I was able to do this all from the strut top in the engine bay without removing anything, thanks to my special camber tops.

So now the car is looking much better and the handling is perhaps improved. Wider track with lighter rims and a slightly lowered centre of gravity make the front end feel very nimble.

Check out the pics on the Exterior Evolution page.

The next step for the car is to fix a few niggling little problems, such as the crack in the dump pipe and also one of the intercooler support straps has snapped.

Another dyno day is upcoming so finally I will have a correct power figure. After the inclusion of the new cat I am confident of nearing my 150rwkw target for these current mods.

Yesterday didn’t quite go as planned. A logistical error with the wheels meant that they only left Adelaide the day before instead of last Friday as previously thought. Fingers crossed for receiving them before the weekend. I did at least pick up my new high flow 3 inch cat, for which I’ve made a new small page for: High Flow Cat. I installed it this morning in drizzling rain, but there were no dramas which is a nice change.

On the road the car seems to have picked up some extra midrange, and boosting slightly harder. It is hard to tell though as throttle in this weather will spin the wheels coming on boost in most gears. Some dry weather should tell the full story, and then I’ll be able to tell if the car has picked up any more boost.

Today should be a great day. This morning I installed my GAB rear strut brace with a little trouble, pics can be seen on the Interior Evolution page. I have been told my wheels are due in in a few hours, so I am getting ready to drive down and put them on. Needless to say I’m excited, as it’s been about a month since I first spied them for sale on NissanSilvia.com. I plan to pickup a high flow 3 inch catalytic converter I had lined on the way as well. It looks like I have sold the BSA rims previously on the front of the car, so the brake upgrade can be in motion in the next few weeks. I plan also to install a brake bias adjuster, to stop the front wheels locking up too easily with the new braking capacity.

Good things are happening at the moment for the 180. The wheels should be on the car by mid next week, and I have finally secured purchase of a rear strut brace, which should arrive around the same time. I’ve decided that the best brake setup for my buck will be used R33 4 piston calipers, on new DBA R33 size rotors, drilled to the 4 stud S13 pattern. Some decent fluid and hopefully pads should enhance the braking performance a great deal, and have the car ready for some safe track time.

The car should be getting lighter and lighter too, as the new wheels should save around 30kg I imagine, in overall mass: rotating mass and unsprung weight. In short this means acceleration and handling should both improve slightly. Today I plan to strip the carpet and maybe other stuff I find in the front half of the cabin. Look out out for an update soon with pics.

There is a chance too that I might be able to acquire a slightly damaged late model Type X 180sx front bar, which should go nicely. Fingers crossed.

I’m glad to say I have located an excellent set of wheels which should arrive from interstate next week. They are Keiichi Tsuchiya designed Modex rims, 16×7 inch at the front, and 16×8 inch at the rear. Specially designed by the drift king for the S13 they are in 4×114.3 PCD, with offsets that sit them right out in line with the guards without spacers. Apparently they weigh only about 5kg each too without rubber. Will update with pics as soon as they are on the car.

They should give plenty of room for brake upgrades, which is planned in the near future. I will be retaining the 4 stud setup, with either redrilled S14 discs with calipers (4 spot vs stock 1 spot), or possibly new DBA blanks drilled to 4 stud and matched to something like a Z32 300zx front caliper (4 spot also). I will cover the conversion in pictures on the site.

I have also added a new page to update interior developments. The Bride seat pictures have been moved to this more relevant page, check it out – Interior Evolution.

Not much has changed, the 180 continues to rack up reliable kilometres, testament to how strong theses cars really are. A few mods are planned in the near future, as well as some updates to the site. Firstly I plan to fix an exhaust leak from a crack in the dump pipe, and during that time I will add a bigger 3 inch high flow cat. This is the only part of the exhaust system that is still small so hopefully I’ll get a bit more response and power from the upsize.

Also on the shopping list is a fresh set of wheels. I am after something in 16 or 17 inch diameter that is at least 7 inches wide, preferably 8 or 9. Therefore they will sit very wide out in line with the guard lip, and hopefully have enough room to clear larger brake calipers.

Soon I will be updating the ecu tuning sections with a specific guide to ROM editor, as I have come across some excellent websites of late.

I must say I am enjoying my new black car immensely, even though many do not understand the thinking behind the colour choice. “So what colour are you going to spray it? It looks like its in primer….” is a common response. Oh well, such is the downfall of continuing the drift style of the car in a country almost oblivious to it. Enhancing this image however, is my latest aquisition, a Bride Ergo seat.Once again because it’s not a Recaro people don’t understand the attraction but some of you out there will know how desirable a seat like this is. Purchased privately from NissanSilvia.com it is once again an example of how valuble internet resources are.

I didn’t know which page to put the pictures on so I just put them on the Exterior Evolution page.

The painting is finished! Finally I am not embarrassed by the appearance of the car for the first time since ownership. Please visit the Paintjob page to see the entire process in pictures. Big thanks to friends David and Jesse for their assistance. If all goes to plan I will be servicing the car in the next few days, so it will have a complete mechanical and aesthetic freshen up all at once. A great time for the 180, the only problem now is finding a new nickname as Green Machine no longer applies.