S15 Life

I find that owning an S-chassis vehicle has its own charms, lifestyle...an'aura' if you will of what the car is all about. It's debateable whether the car itself brings out those feelings or if it's the culture surrounding the car, but the 15 to me at least, brings its own personality compared to the GTR, it's a light-hearted, fun, capable RWD sports car that doesn't take itself too seriously and doesn't look like it'll bite your face off.

Combined with the excellent SR20DET in RWD configuration, it's not the ultimate iteration of this classic motor as found in the GTI-R, however in JDM guise, it's still more than capable of putting a smile on your face :)

I don't have any updates on the car as yet, but I am looking at sourcing a new pair of headlights from Nissan, and addressing the braking system with something a bit more effective...perhaps a new set of slotted rotors and some new brake pads, more research needed!

Stay tuned!

- Matt

The Good Stuff!

Inspiration...

Hey guys,

Just a couple of 15's from my library I use for inspiration :)

Fine Tuning the 15's Stance

Hi Guys,

Well some interesting changes have taken place this last week. In keeping with my theme for the car, I was unhappy with the stance of the front wheels due to no camber adjustment. So the rears were sitting quite nicely with -4.5 degrees of neg camber but the fronts were a sorry state of affairs with -0.5

I was still happy with the ride height at the rear of the car but the the front was about 1.5cm too high, also I believe the car would benefit from a traditional RWD rake. Therefore after reading review and user's impressions of the kit and keeping the street-build nature of the car, I went for some BC BR Coilovers, with a 8kg F/ 6kg R spring rate.

The coilovers themselves are a sound kit offering 30 levels of damping adjustment, height-independent adjustability relative to the spring itself, thick dust boots, rubber pillowball construction with integrated camber-tops up front. I was impressed at the degree of height adjustment these units provide, with the ability to go from above stock height to well below legal.

So, I had the kit now I needed the expertise to install and adjust to my specs, I looked no further than Heasman Steering located on Princes hwy, Tempe. These guys have been in the game longer than anyone else and their knowledge, and particularly service and attention to detail (coming from a self-confessed OCD guy) is top-notch.

I consulted with them and specified that I was after stance and not outright handling, the team suggested taking out a degree from the rears to -3.5 and a -3.0 up front, and this setup I can say is flawless in my view. With the combination of rolled guards, this setup does not rub/scrub/bump or otherwise contact the body at all, and considering the ride height on a street car, this is my idea of practical stance.

Interesting to note, the front pillowtops still had a fair bit of adjustment to go, really impressed with this kit for the price so far.

Keeping in mind the springs will take approx 1 week to fully settle, I'm happy with the height and how the body sits over the rims.

Driving impressions s far are very positive, the car is completely transformed, bumps, ripples are soaked up quite well, I have left the damping adjustment on 1 all round and the adjustment feels very much like the Nismo S-Tune spring/shock combo. Comfortable on the street yet able to hit the track occasionally. No clunks, rattles, or otherwise unusual sounds as yet and I will provide regular updates on their performance. To anyone considering a value-oriented coilover kit and hesitating in the face of Tein/D4 etc, I can safely say these will suit street driving without hassle.

Stay tuned for further updates!

- Matt

What Happened?

Hey guys, Matt here with a long-overdue post.

Well, what happened?

Lots.

I lived the GTR for several years and I enjoyed it immensely. Without a doubt the most exhilarating automobile to have come from Japan, and in my humble opinion, Japan's true supercar. Some might call me a purist, but I believe the GTR-series ended with the BNR34. To me, a GTR is defined by an Inline-6 twin-turbo motor in a menacing coupe body with a 5 or 6-speed on the floor and round tail lamps. That's it.

Well, life changes and so do people, me being one of them. I will one day return to the GTR life but I have since found a new project with a clean JDM-specification S15 Spec-R.

Some might say I traded down, but I must say the S15 has an endearing quality about it, I'm not sure exactly what it is but it makes you love it more and more. Where the GTR commands respect and reserved driving on the street if one intends to keep their license, the S15 brings a whole new take on the idea of driving to have fun.

In my personal experience, owning a 'fun' car is all about the looks, sounds, feelings and experiences the car gives you and in a short time the S15 has shown me that going fast is not all driving is about. I don't know if I'm getting old but I find that I have toned my driving considerably both on and off the street.

A lot of people compare the S-chassis cars to their GTR cousins and so too I myself. Things like 'oh it's not as fast as the GTR...not as capable etc' but it doesn't pretend to be. It's a substantial package, with a tight chassis, reasonable 184kw motor in JDM guise, significantly lighter at around 1200KG and posesses a rather pleasant interior.

My aim with this car is to keep it clean (my OCD showing here...) but to also explore the stance/fitment lifestyle that I've been obsessing over the past two years. I've been lucky to find a clean and relatively unmolested JDM Spec-R you see below, I'll run through the specs below:

Make: Nissan
Model: JDM-Spec S15
Colour: Pearl White
Grade: Spec R
Powerplant: SR20 DET

Suspension: Unknown-model Apexi Coilovers, Hardrace rear camber arms
Wheels: Enkei RPF01 17x9.5 +15 (to be confirmed)
Intake: Simota aluminium intake pipe with HKS Mushroom
Exhaust: Unknown-model Apexi cat-back system

I hope you will enjoy this blog and join me on the next part of my journey as I document my first ever S-chassis project :)

Cheers

Matt