Wannabe S15 owner

[PIIPete]

Hi,

I really like Nissans (1990's ones anyway) and currently drive a Primera GT (hence my user name) which I have modified, as well as doing some track days.

I really want an S15 Spec R as a second car for rear wheel drive action! An S14 would do, but I REALLY like the look of the S15 and it seems from what I have read that the chassis setup, lsd etc are a step better than the earlier cars.

There is a nice one with one of the UK importers at the moment that claims to be completely standard apart from the wheels, and they have some standard wheels they can supply from another car. I am not sure whether to go for this whilst its available as I would need to borrow the money, can anyone comment on whether its hard to find a standard one?

A standard car appeals to me at least to begin with as I am used to 160bhp front wheel drive, plus if these are rare then I may keep it standard.

 

[S15 SILVIA]

There's nothing better than a 'rare' car, other than a modified one.
I personally think a slightly modified S15 looks better than a stock standard one, plus they arnt really that rare anymore.
A set of nice wheels, and a set of coilovers completely change the look of an S15

 

[PIIPete]

I have bought one! A nice white Spec R Aero.
Incidentally it has coilovers and 17" alloys that I like the look off, but is a bit too lowered for bumpy b roads.
I was imported Jan 2010 and spent a year on the Isle Of White don't know if that owner was on here at all.

 

[pegliobaglio]

Welcome to the club mate! Look forward to seeing some pics

 

[LuPix_S15]

Welcome mate!


Isle of White rings a bell but there could have been 2 or more owners from Isle of Wight lol??

Sounds nice... agree with Mike, S15 is the perfect car for subtle mods like some lowering, 17's or 18's and front lip if not full bodykit etc

 

[PIIPete]

I was waiting to take some good photos to upload, but its been ages, so will add these two for now:

 

[PIIPete]

Jobs I have done since buying it in March:

Removed rear seats and belts.
Replaced standard paper air filter.
Car came with Cusco coil-overs and was too low - was sitting few mm from the bump stops, so all but the smallest bumps were a severe jolt.
Also came with a lot of alignment issues - toe out at front, massive camber at rear (Due to lowering without replacing any rear suspension links with lowering parts ), and to get the camber even at the front the adjustable top mounts had to be way off symetrical, one moved in and one out from zero. This turned out to be the front sub-frame under the engine was off-centre.
So I raised it a bit on the Cusco shocks - 15mm rear 10mm front, massive improvement in ride though still stiff (8k front 6k rear springs).
And undid the four bolts on the subframe and tapped it across, centralising by eye (it was visibly off-centre) - this sorted it I can now have the top mounts in the same place each side. Also got it slightly toed in (might put it to 0 toe).
Also deactivated annoying alarm chirps when locking and unlocking, and re-wired the alarm correctly - fitter for previous owner made a mistake which meant that it did not detect boot and bonnet sensors, and beeped a code every-time you locked it to tell you this.
Oh and the turbo gasket blew on trip into Europe, when I got home I replaced myself and replaced hard pipes with braided turbo lines, got all the bits from Horsham Developments.

A busy but enjoyable ownership so far.

 

[LuPix_S15]

Lookin' good matey

 

[PIIPete]

I have not updated about the car which I still have. I will start a thread in Members Rides and Specs.