Every area of the car was in need of attention, so Jen decided to take it all on at once. "I just couldn't drive it around with that terrible kit," she confesses, and spent the next 6 months or so on eBay, Yahoo Japan and flipping through HyperRev books trying to track down OEM Nissan replacements. When it was all done, the S15 was given a genuine Spec R front and rear bumper, side skirts, and Nismo turn indicators. The interior was gutted as well, and given ultra-rare Recaro SRD Confetti Edition front seats, an equally scarce Nardi Deep Corn steering wheel and host of HKS, A'PEXi, Nismo, and Blitz goodies from the land of the rising sun.
With the car immobile for so long, it only made sense to pull and refresh the engine that had no doubt been as neglected as the rest of the car, and since it was to be kept as reliable as possible, Jen decided to keep upgrades modest. The stock turbo and manifold were retained, but since higher boost was planned, Jen replaced the faulty OE wastegate actuator with an HKS unit, and regulated boost with an A'PEXi boost controller. The S15's stock side-mount intercooler and airbox were replaced by a GReddy front-mount, and an HKS Suction intake, and maximizing their potential are two Tomei 264 cams, and an A'PEXi N1 exhaust. Upgrading the injectors wasn't needed, but Gaithersburg, MD's Atlantic Motorsports was called upon for a quick tune, reflashing the factory ECU to safely produce just over 300 whp and as many lbs-ft of torque.
It was at this point in the S15's build that Jen was approached about using the car as a test-bed for parts development. The deal was simple: over the course of 6 months, the newly formed Fortune Auto would use the car to develop fully adjustable coilovers, four-inch adjustable air-cup top hats, and adjustable rear upper arms and lower toe arms, in exchange for contributing one of each product to the car upon production ...which turned out to be a useful addition for Jen's next and final phase of its build: slamming it more than five inches on ultra-rare, three-piece Work Meister S1s, measuring 18x9 in the front and 18x10 in the rear, with a ridiculous +4 offset all around. As of this writing, they're thought to be the most aggressive ever stuffed under street-going, factory S15 sheet metal; a feat Jen says, "was the most challenging part of the build... of any build I've done on a car this far."
"When I first brought the car home, everyone thought I was crazy," laughs Jennifer. "Nobody thought I'd be able to rescue it and turn it into what it is today." Properly modifying a stock car is difficult enough; restoring a neglected one back to stock is arguably even more challenging. But doing both--to a car that was never made available on our roads to begin with--is undeniably worthy of 2NR ink, especially when the end result balances restoration and modification so tastefully. And Jennifer's S15 is one of the most extreme success stories of its kind out there--trust us; we've seen the original pics, and there's a reason we won't print them!
Behind The Build
Head to the message boards
at www.importtuner.com to chat
about this feature VEHICLE.
Name.
Jennifer Jar
Age.
24
Hometown.
PLANO, TX
Occupation.
Student
Hobbies.
Watching Movies, Reading, Traveling, Photography, Playing Tennis, Swimming, Shopping, Listening To Music
Build time.
Six Months
Feedback.
fortuneauto.com
Quote.
"I DON'T WANT TO GIVE OUT MY EMAIL"
"please remember to blur my plate"
'00 Nissan Silvia
Output 302 WHP, 301 LB-FT
Engine Tomei 264 cams, spark plug cover, oil cap; GReddy front-mount intercooler and piping, downpipe; HKS Suction intake, iridium spark plugs, wastegate actuator; Fortune Auto catch can; A'PEXi N1 exhaust, EVC4 boost controller, turbo timer
Drivetrain Exedy clutch
Suspension Fortune Auto coilovers, rear upper control arms, rear lower toe control; Top Secret air suspension cup kit; Cusco front and rear anti-roll bars; Nismo rear strut brace