+61-2-9687-1924
+61-414-764-495
From April 2001, Nissan Australia is sourcing a limited range of Nismo parts for the S15. Contact your dealer.
There appears to be plenty of room to run larger wheels under the standard guards. Check with the relevant authorities in your area before proceeding, but a popular combination is 17" x 9" on the rear and 17" x 8" on the front. We're now talking about 45-series rubber which is not cheap, and ride quality will suffer, but hey, this is supposed to be a sports car isn't it?
Note that if you lower the S14, you will suffer from excessive negative camber at the rear. Whiteline have a kit to correct this if necessary.
Having sorted out the rubber, some have noted that the factory suspension is a bit overworked. A number of vendors in different locations have suspension (springs, dampers) packages available. These changes should be considered in conjunction with the choice of tyres and wheels and for the intended purpose of the car (quick road, race, etc). For one example, check out Eibach in the US, or Selby in Australia. NISMO Part # for the damper kit is 54300-RS540
A front strut brace is available from many sources. NISMO part number is 54420-RN526
The S14 also seems to very sensitive to differences in tyre pressures, especially with bigger wheels.
So, by those steps, your car looks better, handles better, sounds better and goes better to the tune of 85KW (113HP). Put it another way, the twin-turbo 300ZX has less power...
Of course, your warranty is null and void...
UK owners could contact SuperChips for 30 - 40 extra horsepower
The S14a uses an embedded ECU ROM, which means you can't just plug in a new chip. The folks at PowerChip tell me they use an additional computer in these cases which "massages" the data going to the standard Nissan ECU. Results are the same, but the installation is not really for the Do-It-Yourself crowd.
An alternative to this is the UniChip, distributed in Australia by Air Power Systems. This is a programmable "interceptor" which allows tuning of ECU input and output signals, leaving the ECU as-is.
In the same vein is the HKS F-CONV piggyback unit. Hot 4's fitted one of these to a 1995 car with excellent results.
New options that have come to my attention are the LINK Engine Management System from AVO in Melbourne, Australia, and the APEXi "PowerFC". They plug into the factory harness, completely replacing the Nissan ECCS module. They are also fully programmable.
One contributor says for track work the standard pads (in the UK) are just not up to it. He fitted new pads obtained through Demon Tweaks in the UK. I can't comment on these claims.
Steve from Melbourne, Australia feels the Endless pads are suitable for both street and track work. This seems to be more important on the rears which can get overworked.
I switched to Pagid for the 1999 Grand Prix Rally. I must say I am very impressed, but you'll have to keep working to keep your wheels clean as they throw huge amounts of dust.
Kevin has suggested good choices to be Bendix Metal King Semi-Metallics, Performance Friction or Hawk
If anyone else has experience in this area, please let me know
The inlet side of the factory air filter can be modified to accept a pipe that runs down beside the intercooler ducting to the undertray area (on an S14-style car).
Another option is if you replace the stock airbox with a pod, there is a small flat plastic cover which shields the LH headlight wiring. If you remove this, (it just clips in) you can get a length of pipe between through there to draw air in behind the grille opening.
The S14a cars have a simple cold-air pipe that can be adapted to feed your new filter
This draws air in from the main stream, which may be up to 60 degrees cooler than the engine bay. It's simple physics that cooler air is more dense, so you get more air into the engine. More air makes for for more horsepower...
The first part is find a gauge that you like (I used a 46mm HKS unit). Unfortunately the instructions were all in Japanese and the most useful bit was this picture. Dean Evans from "Fast Fours" came to my rescue. You need to insert a T-piece into the pipe that goes from the inlet manifold to the fuel pressure regulator. Simple eh? You try finding it...
With the bonnet (hood) open, stand at the right side of the motor. Look at the left side of the intake plenum (the big silver box). In line with number 2 cylinder is a small rubber pipe that heads forward to a metal "can" located below the valve timing solenoid. This is the one you want. Now here's where it gets tricky. The original pipe is a little over 50mm (2") long, and it turns ninety degrees at about three-quarters of it's length. IF you just cut this tube and insert the T-piece, the barbs of the T are likely to be too long so either the tube won't be in the right place or it will crimp trying to make the bend. The solution is to make up a new hose tat uses the T-piece to make the ninety-degree bend for you and use one "straight" end for the pressure regulator, the other for the gauge and the "middle" for the manifold. Now you can neatly run the tube under the plenum and back to the gauge. There are four rubber plugs in the firewall near the back of the engine (probably more if you have an auto), so you don't even need to drill any holes (but remember to use a grommet!)
The only hard part left is to mount the gauge. That's a matter of personal preference. If your car doesn't have the "premium" sound package (or if you remove it), there is a shelf above the ashtray that will easily fit three 50mm gauges (hey, guess where the Japanese cars have the boost, oil and volt gauges :). Me? I replaced the ashtray...
The traditional place is at the oil-pressure switch. On the SR20DE & SR20DET engines this is to the rear of the oil filter (which is on the right side of the engine, down low). An auto parts supplier should be able to supply the fittings you need. Looking at the wiring diagram, it seems the ECCS does not need the switch to be there, but you probably want to keep it. In this case a brass "T" fitting could be screwed into the original hole, and the switch and gauge take-off fitted to this.
Be sure your connections are tight and carried out in a professional manner. Oil leaks are nasty, not to mention hot.
A bleed valve is a simple, mechanical means of raising the boost in a turbocharged engine. The idea is to restrict the amount of air pressure available to operate the wastegate (this works with or without ECCS control). If fitted and set up correctly, they give very good results for a low initial cost.
In Australia, you could buy one from TurboSmart or make your own. AutoSpeed ran an article on exactly how to do this, as have Zoom Magazine.
A word of warning though. Don't just fiddle with the valve unless you know exactly what you are doing... You can get massive boost which will destroy the engine very quickly.
There are two devices I know of that can read this data stream other than the CONSULT unit itself. The Techtom MDM-100, distributed outside Japan by G-Force Engineering (resold by Stillen) and the APEXi Multi-Checker
Be warned though that Stillen and G-Force advertise that the MDM-100 has an inbuilt data logging facility. This is not correct. The logging feature is a separate product, which is not available outside of Japan, apparently because it requires Japanese Windows to operate
The other limitation of either device is that only two parameters may be examined at any time. I suspect this is really a limit of the CONSULT system, and it is read-only. You cannot alter anything with these units.
If you want the connector details, they are located on this page.
Another hint: Pull the zoom out to "wide angle" and you'll get youself in the shot as well.
The engine is fitted with the sump from the RB25DET to facilitate a conversion to RWD, and in this case the engine was converted to use a single, large turbo although this was done for outright performance rather than packaging reasons. You'd need new brakes, front suspension and a lot of fabrication to cope with the conversion, but I guess if cost is no object...
Akamine's Tuning Spirits in Okinawa will do the conversion for about 750,000 Yen. I don't know whether that includes the engine or not.
Japanese Motor Sports in Adelaide, South Australia have transplanted an RB20DET into an S13 Silvia. Apparently the conversion was relatively straightforward.
I get this one a lot, Either someone buys a second-hand controller, or needs a manual translated. This is a list of on-line manuals that I know about. There are probably others, so please let me know!
| Maker | Model | Link | Notes |
| Apexi | AVC-R | http://www.mkiv.com/techarticles/avc-r/ | |
| Blitz | DSBC | http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/9589/dsbc_inst.html | Photo |
| TRUST/Greddy | Profec | http://www.greddy.com/profecguide.html | |
We've got money left over, and the car will be quicker. You'll only be able to turn the boost up a little with the stock intercooler, but it can be done! If anyone else has a good, low-budget please let me know and we'll add it to the page.
The stock intercooler really is tiny... On an S14 it is 220mm x 170mm x 60mm not counting the end tanks. If you haven't seen it, click here for some photos:
| Rear View | Bottom | Top | Pipe Side |
The S15 is said to have a slightly thicker core, but I have yet to verify this personally. If you think that's bad, the RB20DET and RB25DET-powered Skylines use the same intercooler!
So should you replace it? If you live in a hot climate, and want to turn the boost up, then it should be on your list of priorities if you want your engine to be reliable. There are plenty of aftermarket intercoolers available, and it's also possible to adapt the Skyline GT-R unit to fit behind the front bar. Given it costs a lot less than the Japanese branded units, it's worth a look.
Is there a downside? Yes. You will get a bit more lag as the new pipework and intercooler take more air to pressurise them.
Why do the factory fit such a tiny unit? Probably to keep the cost down...
I have not tried all of the suppliers on this list, and they are in no particular order. All I know is that some of you were happy with either the parts or service.
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Active Auto Sportique +61-2-9687-1924 |
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A.V.O. Australia (+61-3-9584-4489) - Manufacture electronic parts for many turbo cars. |
| BAZ Motorsports (+61-2-9693-5544) | |
| BD-4s (+61-2-9879-3322/fax +61-2-9879-3366) - Master HKS distributor | |
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CENTRAX AUTO ENGINEERING (+61-7- 3344 2558/fax +61-7- 3344-7677) |
| CheckerFlag Japan | |
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Chiptorque (+61-7- 5596- 4204) - Custom engine management tuning. |
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Evolution R Australia (+61-3-9873-4388) - Master TRUST distributor |
| Federal Performance Parts (+61-2- 9586-1428) | |
| GTech Auto Accessories (+61-3-9813-0722) - Apexi Distributors | |
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Japanese Motor Sports (+61-8-8260-6919/fax +61-8-8260-5000) |
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Just Silvia Parts +61-414-764-495 |
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MoTeC (+61-3-9761-5050/Fax: +61-3-9761-5051) Replacement engine management systems for street and competition. |
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MRT Performance (+61-2-9809-2110) - Built 3rd outright place SX in 1998 Targa Tasmania |
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Nismo - Japan The factory source.
AFAIK, these folks won't do mail order, but
have agents in most countries where you could buy an SX
From April 2001, Nissan Australia is sourcing a limited range of Nismo parts for the S15. Contact your dealer. |
| Nizpro Australia (+61-3-9761-1522/fax +61-3-9761-1533) - Simon has built some monster versions called "SX-R" | |
| Selby Suspension Systems (+61-2-9540-5533) - Have an economical lowering kit | |
| Silvia Engineering (+44-1621-858-856) Nissan specialists in the UK | |
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SpeedFreaks Performance (+61-403-002-254) West Australian Performance Shop |
| Steve Millen Performance (+1-714-540-5566/fax +1-714-540-5784) - Mainly 300ZX, but some interesting bits. | |
| Speed Technology Labs - Japan (+81-82-244-2494) | |
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Unique Autosports (+61-2-9634-8000) Nissan import specialists in Sydney |
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Whiteline Suspension (+61-2-9280-2666/fax +61-2-9280-2500) - Have a full suspension package for the S13 and S14 |