It's said that one man's treasure is another man's garbage, and this fishing-lure colored S13 is a prime example of that truth. Here in the United States, this weekend track machine would be the envy of every track whore in town. But at home in Japan, it lives a very unglamorous-sounding life as a "Junk Racer."
We have a sneaking suspicion that something must have been lost in translation though, because the idea of racing junk conjures images of demolition derbies, racing big orange busses on circle eight tracks, or NASCAR even. But if this car is any indication of the caliber of machines competing in the "Junk Racing" series, their junk truly is our treasure.
The car's owner, Koiso Takashi, tells us the term "Junk Racer" comes from the type of racing that he campaigns it in. The run-what-you-brung Taikyu series is similar to events held by organizations such as NASA or Speedtrial USA held on the mainland. Like its U.S. equivalents, the "Junk Racing" class has less strict regulations compared to many other sanctioned forms of racing-hence the term.
Sometimes, you've got to work with what you've got, and that's exactly what many tuners in Japan do. Without the easy access to the highly specialized tools that we take for granted here in the U.S., Japanese tuners are sometimes forced to use less high tech fabrication methods. But does that mean it's junk?
When you get right down to the heart of the matter, this car is anything but a junker. Well, at least by boorish American standards, that is. Costing its owner around $30,000 dollars to build, this PS13 is outfitted with all of the goodies the owner needs to propel the car around the track at breakneck speeds. But getting it to the point it's at now wasn't an overnight affair.
One of the most interesting mods on the Nissan is the transmission. During the 3-month build of the car, the transmission presented the biggest obstacle to surmount. Tired of dealing with wonky stock transmissions that he decided simply weren't up to snuff, Takashi got serious about his shifting and built himself a gearbox that would stand up to the abuse he dishes out. Creating a bastardized ECR33/PS13 transmission by mixing and matching the components from the stock trans and an ECR33 Nissan Skyline trans, he exercised the demons in his gearbox, in the process, creating himself a transmission that wouldn't give up the ghost in the heat of battle. After its completion, the Frankenstein gearbox was put through a battery of testing to ensure it would stand up to the torture of racing. Which it did flawlessly. An Exedy twin-plate carbon clutch and an ATS LSD help the hodgepodge of a transmission get the engine's torque down to the ground.
The stout SR20DET mill under the hood is likely the culprit behind the transmission gremlins, and it's little wonder why. The all-aluminum, inline-4 is notorious in the racing world and is capable of producing prestigious amounts of track-pounding power. The SR short block sports the stock bore and stroke measurements of 86mm and 86mm, while forged pistons with an 8.5:1 compression ratio compress the air and fuel in the combustion chambers.
With the engine apart for the short block buildup, Takashi turned his attention to the cylinder head. To help the turbo squeeze air down the engine a little more easily, a set of HKS 256 camshafts sporting 10.5mm of lift on the intake cam and 10mm of lift on the exhaust side were bolted to the top of the cylinder head assembly.
Being a "junker" one would be fully justified to expect the car to exploit some type of less-than-spectacular engine management system. But there's no half-assed stuff going on with this whip. An HKS F-Con V Pro is pulling the strings on the SR mill and making sure everything jives. Hey, like we told you. What's junk to one is a jewel to another.
With the engine build and the engine management in check, Takashi was free to turn his attention to adding the peripheral accessories to the SR mill. A Bosch fuel pump makes sure the engine receives adequate amounts of fuel, while a K&N air filter removes particulates from the air before the air is sucked into the turbo's compressor housing. Compressed, air is directed into a custom, one-off intercooler to help get the intake charge temps down to near-ambient temps.
Once the air and fuel are all mixed up and compressed in the combustion chambers, the HKS F-Con V Pro sends a signal to the ignition system, which in turn fires a set of NGK sparks plugs and sends Takashi hurling down the track. After leaving the engine, the super-heated exhaust gasses pass by the exhaust valves and into the cast-iron exhaust manifold. From there, they run through a custom built, one-off titanium muffler. Hey, working with what you've got often means that fabricating it yourself is the only option.
Whether it's a junker or a jewel, building a racecar is always a learning experience-and for Takashi this was definitely the case. Specifically, he says he learned a lot about chassis dynamics, not to mention the importance of having a solid and rigid platform to start from. He says welding in the rollbar and strengthening the unibody made the car much easier to drive and control, which doesn't surprise us at all. The more flex a chassis has, the less effective the suspension is, simply because the chassis will flex instead of the suspension-and that's bad.
With the chassis dynamics sorted out, Takashi was left with a solid foundation to build his suspension setup upon. The front and rear quantum shocks are paired with a set of NOVA springs, front and rear. Body roll is kept in check at the track thanks in part to the above mods, as well as the stock anti-roll bars, front and rear. Rounding out the suspension setup are a set of 18x8.5-inch wheels shod in Toyo R1-R rubber sized 245/40-18 up front and 245/40-18 out back.
Braking is a big part of road racing, and as such, the brakes are heavily taxed while Takashi tears down the track. To help prevent any unexpected encounters between his Silvia and any large objects, Takahashi upgraded the braking system. After deciding that the stock rotors and calipers were up to par, he slapped on a set of Dixel R-type brake pads, installed a set of Al's stainless steel brake lines and called it a day.
Its not everyday we see a kick-ass body kit on a "junker," so it must be our lucky day. The Silvia is outfitted with a Gekisoku kit and rear wing. Takashi says the most unique part of his car is the blister D-MAX fenders and custom inner wheel tubs that have been welded up D1-style.
It's difficult to drive a car without seats or instrumentation, so Takashi installed a Bride seat to keep him planted in the car while Omori and Autometer gauges are used to keep an eye on the engine's vitals.
Sure, the car isn't a highly polished show queen, but it's a racecar, and racecars are made for one thing: to go fast. Which hardly makes this car "junk." In fact, even Takashi was quick to say that anyone who replicates his car can expect good lap times at the track.
Despite the differences in aesthetic perceptions, there are some experiences that are truly cross-cultural, and blasting down the track in this blown Silvia is something that needs no translation.
Hot BoxGarage Itowww.garage-ito.com
Gekisokuwww.chargespeed.com
D-Maxwww.carstudio.co.jp/dmax
Boschwww.boschusa.com
Hkswww.hks-power.co.jp
Ngkwww.ngksparkplugs.com
Exedywww.exedy.com
Sparcowww.sparcousa.com
Toyowww.toyo.com
Omoriwww.omorimeter.com
AutoMeterwww.autometer.com
Behind the BuildHead to the message boards at www.importtuner.com to chat about this feature VEHICLE
Name. Koiso Takashi
Age. Secret
Hometown. Osaka, Japan
Occupation. Int'l man of mystery
Hobbies. Racing
Build Time. 3 months
Feedback. ito@garage-ito.com
Quote. "If someone were to replicate this car, they could expect good lap times at the track"