Silvia Club of NSW

Why drive when you can drift?
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 Post subject: Leif's S13 Silvia
PostPosted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 4:45 pm 
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TO4
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Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:14 pm
Posts: 234
Location: Sydney
Car: Mazda 3 MPS
Real Name: Leif
I’ve been writing about my S13 for a while on my blog (see sig), but it’s a bit waffly and so I decided to start a summary/build up thread here...

I bought the car off Mitch (MAXBOOST) from this forum in October 2007, so i've owned it a bit over 2 years. I’m told it was owned by a former SilviaNSW President before that, so it's been in the club a while!

So far, it hasn’t been modified a lot; any spare car money has been spent on maintenance and track days only, but in 2010 there should be some more love for the car.

When I took delivery of the car it looked like this:

Image

It had an SR20DET Blacktop conversion, GT28R Ball Bearing turbo, and a few other breathing bits.

The 3” exhaust has no muffling, so it’s a noisy bugger but I kinda like it that way. Interestingly, I’ve never been defected - or even pulled over in it for that matter (touch wood).

It also had front strut brace, replaced springs and shocks, and new swaybar bushes.

Rims are Rays "Paton Place" 17x7 fronts, 17x8 rears.

Interior had a Momo corse bucket seat, OMP copy dish steering wheel with boss kit, boost gauge, and a stereo!

Dyno chart:

Image

So far I’ve added

-5 stud hub conversion from S15 including LCA’s
-S15 front rotors and calipers
-Project Mu HC+ Pads Front and Rear
-Kazama adjustable Castor Rods
-Viscous LSD
-Ricer HID lights (which did nothing)
-Some good road tyres.

So far I’ve done about half a dozen track days and a couple of skidpans in this car. In current spec my best times are

Wakefield: 1:12.9
MDTC: ~47.5

I'm heading to oran park south at the end of this month too. Really looking forward to all the undulations and quick changes of direction.

Image

The car is a heap of fun for what it is, but currently rolls miserably and also understeers mid corner:

Image


Plans for 2010 will start with suspension and tyres:

- A decent set of springs and shocks/coilovers – I don’t like the idea of off the shelf Jap coilovers which aren’t designed for rubbish Australian roads. Our tracks aren’t that smooth either, so I’ll be looking for something a bit more customised to our conditions.
- Thicker swaybars – probably the usual whiteline adjustables.
- Semi’s
- More driving

If I can get into the 1:09’s at wakey without any more power, I’ll be happy.

Further down the track, I’d like to remove a bunch of the interior, stereo, etc etc and add a cage. My car certainly isn’t the quickest at the track but I think being capable of 170 odd on the straight at Wakefield, it should have a bit of extra safety gear.

Also, I’m 6’6” and it’s tight with a helmet on, so I’m looking into getting a roof panel fabricated to replace the sunroof and re-gain that valuable extra headroom!

I would like to hear people's thoughts on suspension. It's essentially a weekend car because I walk to work, so i'm more focused on a good track setup than a street ride.


Last edited by Leif on Tue Dec 01, 2009 11:29 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:31 am 
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Quad T88
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Location: gatesville
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if you're not keen on jap coilovers.
perhaps look at some bilstein shocks & spring combo to suit ?


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:23 am 
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Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:14 pm
Posts: 234
Location: Sydney
Car: Mazda 3 MPS
Real Name: Leif
Yeah that's one option i've read about - choosing a suitable spring rate and having the shocks revalved to suit. I'm not saying no to all coilovers, I just want a spring rate and shock combo which is suitable for Australian roads, and can be rebuilt/serviced in Australia. I'm lookng forward to talking to some suspension experts and see what they recommend. Who have people had good experiences with for their suspension setup?

Picked up a set of 32 gtr rims with used semis last night too.. i'm acutally kinda happy to be starting on a used set, because i'll probably flat spot 'em learning how to brake, and they ain't cheap :lol:


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:44 am 
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Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2003 3:27 pm
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Car: Hello Kitty!
Were they ando's (s13deviat) old ones?

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:50 am 
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Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:14 pm
Posts: 234
Location: Sydney
Car: Mazda 3 MPS
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Yep that's them.

Had a good chat to him about the Southern Sporting Car Club among other things. He also told me the story about your trip over there to see a brake master cylinder :oops:


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:54 am 
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Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2003 3:27 pm
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He still owes me a 6 pack!

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PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 2:58 pm 
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T25

Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2009 2:24 pm
Posts: 2
Car: R33 SII GTS-T
yay, first post on Silvia NSW forums :D :D
while you are hard at work ive been wading through the interwebs for you..

I remember reading somewhere a while back that Tein now release their coilovers in two different spring and damper rate combos; 'Jap Spec' and the softer 'Aussie Spec'

Tein 'Super Street' Coilovers (i have these in my 33 for ride quality reference) for your s13 are part number QSN20-EZSS4 for aussie spec ones. Description from TEIN material; "TEIN Super Street Kits
TEIN Super Street Dampers are exclusively designed for Australian conditions and promise to enhance your vehicles’ handling, whether its for track or normal street use. The TEIN Super Street coil over suspension is height adjustable and damper adjustable"

QSN20-FZSS2 is the p/n of Aussie spec Tein 'Basic Damper'. Description from Tein site; "TEIN Basic dampeners are derived from the popular TEIN Super Street kits but come without the dampening force adjustment & top mounts to offer a more economical option."
and
"TEIN Basic coil overs feature:
Australian tuned spring & valve rates
Height Adjustable spring platform"

Now the Super Streets that they are derived from are $2130 delivered to Canberra; http://www.nissansilvia.com/forums/inde ... pic=210749 so the 'Basic Damper' would be a bit less than that.

I agree with your sentiments about off the shelf Jap items being not neccesarily suitable for Australian road and track use but these TEIN items with spring and damper rates in mind for Australia might be easier than getting some custom units made up.. still searching for actual spring rates numbers for you...


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 3:04 pm 
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Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2009 2:24 pm
Posts: 2
Car: R33 SII GTS-T
and interestingly enough.. put up for sale yesterday...

http://sydney.gumtree.com.au/c-Cars-Veh ... Z169111594


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 11:17 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:14 pm
Posts: 234
Location: Sydney
Car: Mazda 3 MPS
Real Name: Leif
Took the car to Oran Park South on Sunday. Managed a best of 54.9, which I was reasonably happy with. Although Dave Sieders (V8 Supercar driver in the Fujitsu series) managed a 52.3 in his first and only hot lap in the car :oops: . Certainly some room for improvement on my part. Really enjoyed the first drive on semis, so much more fun than road tyres.

Great circuit too, really interesting. The first corner requires so much patience, and turn 4 is cool - it seems like a simple 90 degree left hander, but the car feels 'light' as you go over the crest which keeps things interesting... the dog leg is something else again. I had the inside wheels on the concrete, but I couldn't grow the balls to take it flat.

A pic I found:

Image


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 9:46 am 
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Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:14 pm
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Location: Sydney
Car: Mazda 3 MPS
Real Name: Leif
As you've probably seen, this car is up for sale. The title of the thread is still appropriate, but will now refer to this car :)

Image

Image

I bought some wheels off the old owner of this car a couple of months ago, and at that point the car wasn't for sale. I was obviously quite interested in the car, so had a good chat with the owner about it and that was that.

About a month later, the car was up for sale. After taking a test drive and being very happy with it, I laid down a deposit before Christmas and picked it up mid January.

There's very few things I want to change, It's almost perfect for me as it is! Famous last words?

It's got some mild engine mods to produce ~180kw at 12psi or ~210kw at 15psi.

It's also got Tein Superstreet coilovers, R33 calipers with slotted rotors, and an adjustable whiteline front swaybar.

Things that rarely work in these cars like electric mirrors, dashboard dimmer lights, ash tray lights, they're all in perfect working order! I'm chuffed.

The old owner was a member of the Southern Sporting Car Club, and the event format sounds good, so i'm going to get to as many of their events this year as possible. First outing is 14th Feb at Eastern Creek. The old owner managed a 1:50 flat in this car, so that's something to aim for!


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PostPosted: Sat Mar 06, 2010 7:03 pm 
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T28

Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2009 1:24 am
Posts: 29
Car: 93 180sx
thats a nice silvia ...


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 4:15 pm 
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TO4
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Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:14 pm
Posts: 234
Location: Sydney
Car: Mazda 3 MPS
Real Name: Leif
Before the EC day, I got a few little bits and pieces with the car sorted out.

Had a harness plate welded into parcel shelf, so I can now use a 4 pt harness and retain the factory seatbelt for road use. I got a new set of Yoko A048's, and installed a camera mount on the parcel shelf so I could take some footage with the ol' digital camera.

It poured all week and the Sunday morning was damp and overcast. It was ok in the morning, then rained after lunch. I managed a best of 1:58.1, which is ages off the previous owner's best time, but for the first outing, I was just happy to have it home in one piece. New semi's in the wet was good fun.

Heading to Wakefield this Sunday. If the weather's good, hopefully I can crack the 10's - something i've wanted to do for a couple of years now.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:34 pm 
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Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2004 8:46 pm
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Location: Rouse Hill
Car: coon
hey mate, long time no see. Good luck on sunday, post up some footage if you get some.

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:36 am 
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TO4
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Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:14 pm
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Location: Sydney
Car: Mazda 3 MPS
Real Name: Leif
hey mate, yeah it's been a while! what's the status of the goblin? give me the good news!


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PostPosted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:34 am 
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Location: Rouse Hill
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You're not going to be happy....

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