Preview: NZ Performance Car Issue No. 251

K I W I - B U I LT G R O U P B F I R E - B R E AT H E R

IS T

HE

CAR T S BEMADE? E H T VER E

LONG LIVE THE AE86 AT 86 DAY! THE WORLD’S FASTEST IMPORTS BATTLE ON AUSSIE SOIL

MUSCLE S TA R TOSNO C TO B E R 1 5 GARAGE

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NOV. 2017

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251 ISSUE

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ISSUE #251 CONTENTS

“I’M A FINER-DETAIL TYPE OF PERSON; I LIKE THINGS TO BE QUITE NICE” 04 ED

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LOOK GOOD, DRIVE BETTER

SUPER-STYLING SR20 S13

14 S-CHASSIS

HISTORY LESSON

CELEBRATING A LINEAGE LONGER THAN MOST REALIZE

CONSTANT REVOLUTION

528KW 2.2-LITRE S14 CIRCUIT MASTER

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20 RUNNING WILD STREET-BRAWLING RB26 S15

YAZI

LS-POWERED PLAYBOY BUNNY

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ISSUE #251 CONTENTS

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004 EDITORIAL 006 ED TEAM CHATTER 008 NEWS 044 SUBSCRIBE AND RECEIVE 066 BUILD UPS — SILVIA MODIFYING 101 076 CRUISE MODE 082 WEEKEND WARRIOR 086 TWO-WHEEL TERRORS 088 TECH TEST — TURBOSMART OIL PRESSURE REGULATOR 090 NEW PRODUCTS 094 UNDER CONSTRUCTION 098 GIG GUIDE 099 DRAG TIMES 100 DAILY DRIVEN 102 LOCAL SPECIALISTS 104 WHAT’S COMING NEXT MONTH

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046 BATTLE OF THE HEAVYWEIGHTS 2017 BRISBANE JAMBOREE

054 PUSH IT TO THE LIMIT

KIWI-BUILT GROUP B CELICA

060 THE MEETING OF OLD

86 DAY AT SUZUKA TWIN CIRCUIT

072 STROKING THE RB — PART TWO BUILDING A 3400CC RB RACE ENGINE

078 BEAUTY IN IMPERFECTION

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THE MISSILES OF EBISU

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S-Chassis

H I S T O R Y

L E S S O N

WE TAKE IT RIGHT BACK TO THE BEGINNING TO FIND OUT HOW THE NISSAN SILVIA BECAME ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR PERFORMANCE MODELS IN THE WORLD WORDS: JADEN MARTIN PHOTOS: NZ PERFORMANCE CAR ARCHIVES

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1965–1968 NISSAN SILVIA (CSP311) The CSP311 is still a point of argument in the S-chassis lineage, because, while it was the first to officially carry the Silvia nameplate, it was based on and shared a chassis, floorpan, engine, and most mechanical components with the Fairlady SP311. Early success with the Datsun Fairlady and Nissan Cedric saw the automaker look to try its hand at building a new luxury sports coupe, with Nissan in-house designer Kazuo Kimura working on designing a concept.

Nissan liked the idea but was not happy with the styling and brought in outside help courtesy of German designer Count Albrecht Graf Goertz — this saw the final product take on a very European appearance. Featuring a long bonnet line that lunges forward of an open grille; large wheels and wheel arches; and small, subtle bumper bars, it was also the first Japanese car to be designed using a full-scale clay mock-up.

Introduced for the 1965 model year, it was never intended to be produced in large quantities, with Nissan opting not to make presses to stamp out the panels. Instead, the body was handcrafted on a jig — explaining why it retailed at near double the price of its Fairlady counterpart. Most examples were licked in a metallic green colour dubbed ‘Silvia Gold’, with later examples available in white. In total, 554 were produced before the model was discontinued in 1968.

SILVIA PATROL

By early 1965, Japanese-made performance cars were becoming a common sight on the streets of Tokyo and Yokohama, and the Datsun Bluebirds that the Police Highway Patrol had been using weren’t going to cut it. The solution was to enlist the fastest Japanese production car, which was also one of the most expensive cars to be built in Japan — yep, the CSP311. It had the highest top-speed figure, and outperformed the Fairlady and Skyline by two seconds on the quarter-mile, and, thanks to being the first with disc brakes, it stopped pretty well, too.

PAUL NEWMAN’S BSR 200SX

1975–1979 NISSAN SILVIA (S10) After a seven-year break, Nissan dusted off the Silvia nameplate for its all-new S-platform that took heavy styling inspiration from the Datsun Sunny/120Y. Known as the ‘S10’, with its L18 heart, it was marketed as an economical sports car, but reports from the era claimed it couldn’t handle cornering quite like the Z or 510 that it was going up against — the latter of which it shared front suspension with. And, not to repeat the downfalls of the previous model, which critics claimed was too small, the S10 was considerably more spacious and bulkier in comparison.

However, it featured more traditional lines than

the rival Toyota Celica and Mazda Capella, causing it to prove far less popular, even in Japan.

Exported to the US rebadged as the 200SX, and packing an emissions-choked L20B engine, the S10 was even less popular. There was still a distrust of Japanese sports cars, and the federally mandated beefed-up bumpers ruined the cars’ intended lines, causing sales to flop.

Both in the US and Japan, buyers tended to opt for the Celica instead. Nissan tweaked the styling in ’77, responding to the criticism, but it was too little, too late. More than 145,000 examples were built in its four-year lifespan.

Despite the S10’s unpopularity, American actor and race car driver Paul Newman piloted an IMSA B-production 200SX in 1977 for Bob Sharp Racing (BSR). It featured a host of BSR custom fibreglass pieces for weight reduction and enhanced aerodynamics. The L20 featured a raised compression, from 8.5:1 up to 10:1, with Solex 50mm twin-choke carburettors, sourced from the Datsun competition catalogue, bolted to the head.

Newman campaigned the car under BSR in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Championship.

Along with a 280ZX driven in a separate class, Newman claimed a combined eight pole-position starts and 12 race wins in 1978, going on to take out class title honours and finishing third overall in the S10. This success would be repeated the following year when he drove a perfect eight-out-of-eight race wins.

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RUNNING 1999 NISSAN SILVIA S15

WILD

WHEN HI-POWER PERFORMANCE WAS GIVEN AN OPEN SLATHER ON A WORN S15, THE RESULTS WERE PURE STREET BRAWLER WORDS: MARCUS GIBSON PHOTOS: ADAM CROY

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1997 NISSAN SILVIA (S14)

C o n s ta n t Revo luti o n RACE CARS ARE NEVER TRULY FINISHED: IN THE QUEST FOR SPEED, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING TO LEARN, SOMETHING TO TEST, AND SOMETHING TO REFINE. THANKS TO THIS PROCESS, DURING NINE YEARS OF OWNERSHIP, THIS S14 HAS DEVELOPED INTO NEW ZEALAND’S FASTEST SILVIA, ONE SPLIT SECOND AT A TIME WORDS: MARCUS GIBSON PHOTOS: ADAM CROY

racer’s mind is a hectic environment, for, as well as all the normal brain-wave activity, you’ll find it chock full of mathematical equations, scenario simulations, and problem-solving circuits, all of which run around the clock. Even during normal daily tasks, those brain programmes are constantly ticking over, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, aimed at the goal of going faster. This is why a racer’s car is never truly complete; it will remain in a perpetual state of evolution until the day it’s crashed, sold, or shelved to move onto the next project.

The E&H Motors S14 has been going through this process for the past nine years. In fact, wind the clock back some 67 issues, and you will find this very car gracing the pages of Issue No. 184. At the time, a younger Hans Ruiterman was really only just beginning on the road to dialling in his S-chassis for grip, following a fleeting flirtation with drift.

It was originally purchased as a crashed shell with the intention

of building it into a cheap drifter, which was soon followed by a hypo 500kW SR20VET, before Hans discovered his love for grip racing, an arena he found to be a much more natural habitat.

This led him down the rabbit hole, and, over the following five years, the S14 went from raw untamed weapon to precise circuit sniper, and a formidable contender in both the NZ Superlap series and GTRNZ. Current PBs have Hans circulating the likes of Hampton Downs at a blistering-fast 1min 6.5s, Pukekohe at 1min 7.1s, Manfeild at 1min 10.1s, and Taupo at 1min 32.5s. It wasn’t an easy road to get to this point, but doing double duties has certainly had its advantages. “I find Superlap really good to focus on car set-up; it’s quite satisfying to go out in the right head space and focus on running the lone perfect lap. I really enjoy the set-up side of it. Whereas, with GTRNZ, it doesn’t really matter about running a perfect lap as long as you’re passing guys and [are] up in the field.

I love the amount of seat time you get,” Hans says. While making

YAZI

®

1996 NISSAN 180SX TYPE X

AFTER GOING THROUGH TWO SHELLS AND HAVING NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT, MOST WOULD HAVE GIVEN UP, BUT ELLIOT BROWN WAS DETERMINED TO BRING HIS VISION OF AN LS-POWERED ROCKET BUNNY TYPE X TO LIFE WORDS: JADEN MARTIN PHOTOS: AARON MAI

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H E AV Y H I T T E R S FOUR NATIONS SQUARED OFF UNDER THE BRISBANE SUN FOR JAMBOREE WORD: MARCUS GIBSON PHOTOS: DAVE REID

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