Joe's Silvia S15 Update September 2019

Hey Okishima fans!

It's Joe from Drifted here, and I wanted to share with you the latest updates to my street S15.

So, since I last updated back in January, there have been quite a few changes, mostly under the hood.

New to S15's? Then this S15 guide was written just for you.

The mostly stock engine has been upgraded with a selection of bolt-ons, including a 3" turbo elbow to complete the full 3" turbo-back exhaust system, uprated Walbro fuel pump, GReddy electronic boost controller and a Nistune ECU.

I then took the car to well regarded SR20DET tuner Martin Battye. The boost has been increased from the stock 0.65 bar to 0.9 bar and it has made a substantial difference in shove and noise. The big surprise was the MPG has significantly increased as a side effect.. nice!

The first serious outing for the car this summer was the July D-Warning Wales driving tour. This tour is run by a group of old friends and is one of my annual driving highlights.

The S15 was joined by a selection of tasty metal on the challenging Welsh mountain roads.

Highlights included a Honda S2000, Honda Civic Type R (FN2), Porsche Boxster among many others.

The S2000, Civic and S15 were closely matched on the tight and twisty roads. The S15 seemed to pickup quicker with its turbo grunt, however, once the Honda's VTEC systems were on song there really wasn't much in it. I didn't get to drive it but talking with the owner the FN2's predictable FWD handling allowed him to push harder in the corners where I was not quite as committed with my Silvia. There was very little in it between the S2000 and S15.

The views were really special.

After the tour was concluded, engines cooled and beers poured, I was honoured to have the S15 voted "Car Of The Tour" by the attendees. Thanks, guys!

Can't wait till next year...

So, what's next for the car?

Right now it is under surgery for a custom front mounted intercooler upgrade, and then it is back for mapping to > 1bar. I am hoping to break the 300bhp barrier but the temptation to swap out the turbo for something tasty is real...

Enter the S15..

Hi Okishima fans.

I wanted to drop a little update about a new car in my stable; my 1999 Nissan Silvia S15.

This car is my daily driver and over the coming years, I will slowly transform it into my ideal daily.

The spec is pretty basic, 50k miles, full Aero kit, fogs, 3" exhaust system, HKS intake, Bilstein suspension, WORK XT7 wheels (18" 8.5 ET+32 square), clear rear lights, Bride seats and shift boot.

Stay tuned for updates and you can check out my latest car driving games project here.

Wall Rubbin'

I found these photos on an old memory card and realised I'd never done anything with them. Just a few shots of the 2009 JDM Allstars Event at Wembley.

Home made

Took a trip over to GarageRippleDrift in sleepy Spalding, Lincs last night to get some tyres put on the Origin wheels. I caught Paul Smith and his Dad come-Chief Mechanic Roger putting some finishing touches to his Japspeed Maxxis Tyres S15.

The car started out life as a Spec-S non-turbo Automatic model but was treated to the SR20DET and manual swap by Mitch at Driftgarage during his brief ownership of the car.

The transition from good base-model drift car to full on purpose-built track car, including paintwork has all taken place inside Paul and Roger's modest garage out the back of Roger's house. Note in the picture above the SERIOUS amount of steering lock, this has been achieved by using Japspeed steering arms and ends and some very trick GPSports knuckles which allow for adjustment of the steering pick-up points on the hubs. The front arches have been cut out and 'tubbed' to make the most of this generous extra lock.

As I was visiting Roger was working on the finishing touches of the wiring loom which he assured me was 'just wiring the wipers up'. I'm not sure if he was joking or not, that amount of wires is enough to send me running! The interior is simple and purposeful, a pair of Corbeau seats and powder-coated white Fabricage occupy the main cabin space, meanwhile the stock S15 dash has been modified to accomodate ProSport gauges, which look almost factory!

The car now sports clean white paintwork, a departure from last year's standard Nissan red. Japspeed have been supporting Paul for the last two seasons, I am looking forward to finally seeing the car drifting alongside Danny Ayles' and Shane Lynch's Japspeed S15s in Sunday's BDC Team Event at Norfolk Arena. Danny and Shane's cars are both running high-power RB25 engines from the R33 Skyline so I hope Paul can keep up!

Something tells me he will be able to! The piece-de-resistance takes centre stage when you lift the EPRacing carbon bonnet. The engine is a 2500cc 1JZ lifted from a Toyota Soarer. The turbo is a GT3076R mounted to a Japspeed top-mount manifold and the combination produce 474bhp and 440lb/ft torque, more than enough to chase down the other Japspeed S15s. Sadly more than enough to twist the prop earlier on in the month at Prodrift Round 3 also!

The car is finished externally with some nice touches, red/white rear lenses, carbon bootlid and DMax wide fenders complete the picture.

If you want to see the S15 in action be sure to pop over to Norfolk Arena at the weekend for Round 4 of the British Drift Championship - two days of full on action! Be there Saturday from 6pm for Round 4 and Sunday from 10am for the Team Drift Competition!