So you’re into drifting and want to drive a competition-spec car. Cool, but what happens if you also want a kick-arse dori-inspired, totally unique ride for the street that’ll also hold it’s own at car shows? Well, you’re left with really one option if you want to do it right: build two cars.
With the debut of his awesome, mega power, widebody blue S14A last year, we organised to have him bring both cars to a full-on studio photoshoot so we could showcase two of the hottest Silvias in Queensland to you guys.
While many would focus all their energy in perfecting one car at a time, Jerome actually divided his time between both cars, adapting many unique and incredibly desirable features into the development of both, while pushing the level of engineering, finish and detail through the roof. They’re two cars, re-constructed in a similar mind-set to go about delivering their same ultimate end-goal in very different ways. So, read on and be amazed at what Jerome and 101 Racing have achieved.
SLIDE
As it stands today, the formerly blue, S14A-faced Silvia known as PIG513 is a battered, well-worn and decidedly used-looking testament to how hard drifters push their cars. The once beautiful Velocity Red pearl paintjob (and glitter-filled black turret) is chipped, scarred and flaked, having copped plenty of abuse from kitty litter, ripple strips, flying rubber and other cars, and Jerome reckons that the car turns in too lazily, meaning the chassis is softening and past its competitive best.
Still, you’re looking at the 2005 DriftZone Q1 Series Champion, a car that beat a host of other super-competitive vehicles along the way and satisfied Jerome’s appetite for the side-winding sport while his S14 sat idly by in the workshop.
The first thing that most people notice is the unconventional S14A front-end conversion and BN Sports uber-wide body kit, instead of the all-too-common S15 “strawberry face” or 180SX swaps. The older generation coupe’s rear guards take on a different look with the BNS kit, seeming more like hugely flared out stock items rather than complete aftermarket creations, but, this mix-master approach to styling bodes well for the overall aesthetics. In the car’s beautiful shade of pearl red (sprayed on by those legends at DMD), along with the crazy fat VeilSide 18x9.5-inch and 18x10.5-inch wheels, you’re looking at a seriously horn bit of kit.
At idle, PIG513’s SR20 sounds far more anaemic that its wilder brother. Smoother and raspier, packing an edgy note that does away with the deeper, ballsier grunt of the S14’s motor for decibel overload that rattles windows and fills the photographic studio we’re in with fumes in seemingly no time at all. You can tell this car has been built to win competitions in its pure-minded focus.
Behind the frantic four-pot is a rather bizarre deviation from normal drift hacks: a beefy Tremec six-speed manual. While most drift Silvias/180SXs run R33 Skyline or VG30 300ZX five-speed manuals, the Tremec box is a near-bullet-proof piece of American engineering that has a wide range of ratios available, most of which favour huge wheel speeds. For those not schooled in burnout and drifting lore, the more wheel speed you can get out of your car the more smoke that you have coming off your tyres (ie: the faster the speedo reads, the more smoke you pump).
So, with the ability to out-smoke his rivals, Jerome had to get the newfound set-up to work, which involved having a one-piece tail shaft made up to fit between the new ‘box and the Cusco two-way limited-slip diff. Far from street-able, the two-way locks up at the merest thought of a down-change, and will let him leave fat black lines as soon as the power is fed down the trans tunnel through the carefully balanced new tail shaft.
Handling is one of the cornerstones of a drift car’s performance, so D2 coilovers were selected and installed with a fair slice of negative camber and positive caster dialled in: for scalpel-sharp steering and effortless self straightening of the wheel when sliding sideways. There’s also large R33 Skyline brakes sitting under each wheel, meaning the Silvia has also undergone a five-stud conversion.
It struck a few of us as strange that Jerome had almost a complete front-half cabin full of trim. Carpet, sound system, door trims and all remain, though there’s no sound proofing or tar and it’s gutted basics behind the driver and passenger Bride seats. This is because of dirt and dust flying into the interior while drifting, swirling around and getting in Jerome’s eyes, making it excessively difficult for him to see. So, the carpet and hood lining went back in to trap the dust and debris, making it far easier to see the road ahead.
Under the bonnet, the engine was revised to scream for hours at peak rpm and have enough guts to smoke those fat rear tyres like Arnold Schwarzenegger with a case of Cubans. The capacity of the SR20 went up to 2.1-litres thanks to JE pistons and Eagle con rods (both forged for strength), while a nitrided S15 crankshaft and ACL Race bearings were installed to handle the extra pressure pushed through the block from the larger turbo and the sump was swapped for a much larger GReddy unit that’ll stop starvation issues from high cornering G-forces. The HKS 2835R snail and matching 60mm wastegate was selected for lightning fast response, but also manages to ream massive amounts of air into the SR20 head that was ported and polished to match the flow of the new huffer, before being stuffed full of HKS 262-degree camshafts and HKS valve springs that’ll add a much higher ceiling of delivery and reliability to the power band. Interestingly, the turbo only pushes 18psi of boost into the engine, helping alleviate any lag which keeps the throttle crisp for snappy drifts, adding up to a total of 270kW at the treads on the 101 Racing chassis dyno.
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