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using a nissan s15 spec r as a daily

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euge07

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hi everyone

i am thinking of purchasing a nissan s15 spec r as i absolutely love the looks of them.

how practical are they for a daily driver? for a 12mile commute each way so not big miles.

do you find them reliable? i wouldnt be after big power, just exhuast and induction mods and maybe a wee map.

ive had 4 honda vtecs and my last car was a 06 vauxhaull vxr, have no rwd experience, does it take long to get onto the s15s?
thanks
 
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Addicted

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I'm also in the same boat, and my commute is 11 miles :)

Currently with a Renaultsport Clio 182, always wanted one and tempted to bite the bullet!
 
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I went from a 2ltr Hyundai Coupe to a Spec R for my daily so I think I'm suitably qualified to answer this question - it's totally doable without much compromise.

I only do about 20 miles each day but £65 worth of Tesco Momentum lasts me the best part of two and a half weeks - it's the most economical car I've owned so far!

As for getting on with a RWD, if you respect the car it will respect you :) just don't let the turbo get too excited when you're turning a corner (or roundabout) and you'll be A-ok my friends :thumbs:
 

Jay

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i think to answer this question it helps to know how far you intend to drive it each day. for example... in my case i live 3 miles from work. it became utterly impractical to drive the '15 on the work run because it was spending much of its life with the oil never reaching running temperature. this cannot be good for the engine! so i got a p.o.s. daily to run back and forth.
however, if your daily workload is a lil higher, and the car gets a proper run out then i see no reason why it cant be perfectly suitable as a daily. fuel costs vary enormously from car to car depending on mods, mileage, who mapped it etc etc, but as long as you dont mind spending a lil more than your average on fuel then its a small price to pay to get the "my car is the most awesome in the carpark at work" factor!

good luck with your possible future purchase!
 
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Putting it this way: my S15 is my daily, I drive 30 miles to work and back, so no problems with warming up there, if I make little trips however, I ALWAYS make sure I don't push her, as she won't get warm enough in 2-3 miles to even push it into turbo, so to your question, yes you could easily do it, but if you want a car you can just get in and push fast I wouldn't, in your 12 mile commute, there would be 2 miles you could drive fast in the middle, first and last 5 being sensible and letting her warm up and cool down:)
 
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I used to have my old S15 (sounds weird only selling it 6 days ago) as a second car when I bought it. I had 4 cars at that point, living at home, as I'd switch between them most days. I ended up using the S15 for a daily for nearly a year and a half and I had no reliability issues atall. The only thing that let go was a gearbox due to the power I was running. If you maintain it well, like I did mine, you won't have problems. I must have done nearly 20k miles, running a considerable boost level on large turbo's with literally no engine problems what so ever.
 

S15_SAM

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Running a spec r as a daily is not an issue atall guys! Especially a stockish one.

Just don't go too mental with suspension work, I.e polly bushing or rose jointed suspension as that makes the ride very firm and jittery.

With regards to power mines only got fmic, walbro fuel pump, induction kit, full 3" Decat exhaust, boost controller, and remapped by Horsham developments to 1.2 bar and it's the perfect balance between driveability And power. With good tyres (Goodyear eagles, continental contact 3, Michelin pilots) I can accelerate round a corner in the dry and have no real issues. They are so easy to drive!
 
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Mine is a daily, well it is when it’s on the road :nod:

Pros -

Looks good on road and people always look
Sounds good on the road and people always look
Can drive it very sensibly but power is there when you need it

Cons -

Fuel is crap, mine does about 17-20mpg I think....I was getting about 130-150 miles to £40 at £1.34 Tesco’s finest.
Mine isn’t very comfy, lots of annoying squeaks and nvh (polly bushed almost everything)
My coilovers are almost destroyed so it doesn’t really like even the smallest of pot holes or bumps, again these squeak like a bit*h
In the winter mine suffers from the common 2nd gear syncro being hard to engage until it warms up.
Don’t even think about taking any more than 2 extra people in your car unless they are midgets.
Sometimes I get paranoid about where I park it, but this is more me than the car...some of you might not care.
Hard to drive in the winter when its icy or snowy if your not used to it, this also depends on tyre choice and experience. I’m okay driving mine now tbh unless it gets really bad.

Most of it is down to personal preference and the specific mods you have on the car, mine will be fine once I sort the coilovers out and sort the rear camber out too so I’m not going through tyres like they’re chocolate. They are amazing cars and I love mine to bits, occasionally though using it as a daily does get tiresome, but when you’ve had a break from driving it for a few weeks once you get back in to it.. its brilliant!
 
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Hawks

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Yep, I use mine as a daily :) love every second of it even on the commute to work lol. RWD I learnt the hard way the other month as I come of the road so be careful really specially in the wet where it caught me by supprise. :s As for Eco mines not too bad. Only run v-power, £40 odd a week :) its all good!
 

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so the general consensus is.....
its not the perfect daily, BUT the pros far outweigh the cons. if its a daily you are after, keep the tuning side sensible, particularly with regard to suspension and chassis modifications.

one thing is for certain. once you are used to the car then you will LOVE it!!!
 
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Hawks

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The answer to that is 'yes' just to be short lol! Cons don't matter when you have one :-D
 
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I used my S15 for my commute to work of 50 miles per day 5 days per week for around 2 years and it was great. Never missed a beat and the economy wasn't bank breaking either. That was when it was mildly tuned to 305 bhp and a fully set up chassis etc. Come winter time though I wouldn't waste my time again.
Up here the snow can be awful and if there's even a light dusting the rear wheels just spin- coupled with a road with a bit of gradient results in you going no where. For these situations I recommend a K11 :D
Apart from winter it's a great car to use.
 
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I've used my S15 Spec-R as a daily for almost 3 years now, and racked up over 40,000miles over the term.
Reliability is spot on, bar normal wear and tear. The only 'reliability' issue was when a turbo coolant pipe snapped, but once these have been replaced by braided lines, then they shouldn't break again.
Drive well in the dry, well in the wet, well in the snow.. i've driven it in all weathers and cant fault it as a RWD car with no ASC/traction control.
Bascially, if you want the car to drive as a daily, do it. don't think about how it'll work for you. If you want and enjoy the car, then it will work out just fine. :)

Just bear in mind that if its gonna be your first RWD, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE drive it sensibly until you're used to it. And i dont mean a few weeks. I mean months. You wont know whats going to happen, until it happens, if you aren't expecting it and have no experience. So just go steady on the corners, and steady when you're booting it, and you should be fine. :) Also pays not to drive it hard in the wet, because it will lose traction very easily!
 
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Pheonix

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My S15 is a Daily :) Well, I don't drive it through the day anymore >.< but in the last 5 months I've put 15,000kms on it :S Should probably stop driving it so much.
Very Practical to drive :) though heavy on fuel :/
 
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