Nissan Silvia S15 - Unatteinable

Sneak a peek into the S15 cockpit and you'll encounter ingenuity at its best. The factory dash was ingeniously maintained while wrapped in Alcantara suede to add some show quality flair. Positioned in the factory air vents reside fuel pressure, oil pressure, and exhaust temperature gauges, all belonging to the DEFI BF meter family. Replacing the factory gauge cluster is the newest in DEFI design. The DEFI Super Sports Cluster (DSSC) known as a Stack meter type debuted at the 2004 Tokyo Auto Salon and now calls the S15's console its home. Slip into the BRIDE Gardis III bucket seat and grab hold of the Sparco Racer steering wheel while your feet rest on the Tilton floor mount pedal system. As you strap yourself into the bright green TAKATA harness; you can't help but feel like you're a true racer, ready to kick some serious ass on the track. Within arms reach is the fuel pump switch, igniter button, and SPA fire system, all clustered on a custom aluminum paneling.

Building a good race car is highly dependant on functionality and how well specific body kits and aerodynamics play their part at high rated speeds on the track. Using the latest technology in wind tunnel testing, C-West came through at a critical time of the build, delivering their highly coveted "GT Style" wide body kit. How wide you ask? Imagine 30mm over factory up front and 40mm in the rear. Included within the C-West delivery was a set of fiberglass front and rear fenders, hood, front and rear bumpers, and trunk lid. Combating against air resistance, modifications were made to the fender wells to close any previous gap that was created with the wide body. A full carbon GT-Wing II spanning 1450mm and 210mm in height was affixed on the rear trunk lid using a custom support brace designed by TEIN. With the body still warm to the touch from welding, the chassis was pushed across the street still on it's rotisserie to the paint shop where the interior, including the roll cage, and undercarriage was massaged with a custom variation of Audi TT gray. The outer shell and newly assembled C-West wide body kit received a fresh coat of custom 3-stage pearl white.

At last, a glimmer of hope and the light at the end of the tunnel was visible for both Sugano and Nakai. The dark lines under both men's eyes along with scruffy beards from pulling continuous all-nighters were painfully apparent. Two hours of sleep through a series of 24-hour shifts began to wear on both men as minor mistakes and blank stares increased by the day, yet they both kept to the schedule. While Nakai took charge of fabricating the hydraulic E-brake, steel braided brake lines, and clutch system, Sugano trudged forward and began the ever exciting task of installing the power system (relays, circuit breakers and harness). The only problem was the factory S15 dash harness and engine harness was not compatible with the new R32 unit. A JDM shop manual in hand and some mind retching wiring schematics, the newly purchased wire harness from Nissan genuine parts of Kanagawa Japan was cut, sliced, and spliced into the main chassis harness along with a MOTEC M7 engine management system. If you've come to doubt the seriousness of this build, a paid flight from Tokyo delivered Japans top MOTEC tuner to the doorsteps of TEIN. A full two days of wiring gremlins and startup problems were finally resolved as fuel tuning was rewarded with the RB26 coming to life. Additional features within the MOTEC unit that was programmed include anti-lag launch control, and traction control capability. Removing the factory windows in order to lighten the load, TEIN sourced out a full set of lexan windows including carbon fiber doors through HPI of Tokyo, Japan. A stock S15 tips the scales at 1216kg, or 2675.2 lbs. The TEIN S15 complete with RB26DETT in place and full cage, weighed in at 1293kg or 2844.6lbs. A mere 169.4 lbs from its previous weigh in.

What's in store for the TEIN S15? Already the RB-powered monster has a jam- packed schedule for the 2006 season, beginning with a trip across the Pacific Ocean to display during January's Tokyo Auto Salon. In the mean time, the car is currently at SP Engineering for some minor motor mount modifications while a spare motor purchased from Cars Factory Zele of Kanagawa, Japan, sits in the TEIN warehouse ready to be built as a second backup motor for insurance purposes. Along with some shakedown tuning at Buttonwillow and minor adjustments, you can expect this S15 with the soul of a Skyline to tear up the tarmac at numerous time attacks and drift events at local venues near you.

Head to the message boards at www.importtuner.com to chat about this feature vehicle.