If there's one good thing about driving a cheap car, it's that you never feel bad when you own it. Have you ever flown off track and gotten the bumper pelted with a shotgun blast of pebbles? No problem, it didn't look that great to begin with. Is your fuel level gauge not working? Who cares? This car is more than 19 years old. Just keep your auto club membership card in your glovebox (they'll eventually be on speed dial anyway). There isn't a curb, rock, parking space, racetrack, or mountain road on earth that will strike fear into your heart when you're driving a cheap car that won't likely be mistaken for a Ferrari F430. It's a great state of mind to be in. Who needs an STI or Evo right?
Another great phenomenon that occurs when you purchase a car that your significant other won't ever understand is satisfaction. Change out sloppy dead bushings for fresh new ones and you'll swear you just re-engineered the new GT-R. Swap out shocks for units that actually don't leak precious fluid and you'll be happy track day after track day. The reason why improving an old chassis is so dramatic is that you'll actually feel like you're getting a noticeably larger improvement for your money. And you know what? You really are.
The Nismo reinforced six-speed transmission kit from JDM Power comes with the case preasse
We've already laid down the groundwork for Project S13 by putting a solid new suspension into place. After fitting TEIN's latest monotube Mono Flex coilovers, SPC adjustable rear control arms, Energy Suspension bushings just about everywhere, and some custom alignment modifications by M1 Fabrication and Development, Project S13 drives straight and feels more solid than it ever did in the '80s. We've got a brand-new Garrett GT2871R turbocharger waiting to go onto our SR20DET, but power is easy to make with a turbo engine and balance has to come first.
One of the most often overlooked areas of modification in a project car is drivetrain. When you're hammering up and down through the gears at the track or through the undulating hills of a local back road, the clutch under your left foot and the lever in your right hand matter as much as anything else. Put together a good system and you'll be too busy chasing short straights and tightening turns to notice. Drop in a few pieces of junk and you'll be cursing the imprecise feel or shocking engagement points as you careen off the road.
Compared to the SR20DET five-speed transmission, the Nismo gearbox is 3.8 pounds lighter,
Like you, we enjoy driving more than carrying out R&D, so we decided to get it right the first time around and went with one of the most reputable names in Nissan tuning: Nismo. Short for Nissan Motorsports International, Nismo is the tuning and racing arm owned by Nissan. From within their Tokyo headquarters, Nismo maintains a Super GT GT500-class program and produces some of the most extensively engineered and tested aftermarket go-fast parts. This includes camshafts, reinforced oil pumps, suspension arms, brakes, and limited-slip differentials.
Nismo parts are of high quality, properly documented, complete, and install like OEM because they are, basically, OEM engineered. We reported in the first installment of Project S13 (Jan. '09) about the Nismo competition parts clutch kit that we picked up from North American exclusive distributor JDM Power. The single-plate Coppermix clutch is rated to hold 391 lb-ft of torque and engages lightly and easily. It's also 1.4 pounds lighter than the factory SR20DET clutch. The Nismo Coppermix aluminum flywheel is 3.3 pounds lighter than stock for a reduction in rotating mass but the most important thing about our clutch kit is its S15 application.