Theres a lot of Nissan S15’s out and about, but none of them Rock and Roll like this one!
Can you count to ten in Japanese? How good is your Japanese? Well.. if you know your numbers maybe you can work out what this S15’s number plates might mean. At first, when i met with the owner Ritsu, he had to explain. It’s not that i can’t count to ten in Japanese, but rather the Japanese take a different spin to their number plates and customizing them. Ritsu gave me a run down of the Japanese number plate system, mentioning that only numbers are available, and that some numbers have more meaning than others. Of course the common ones are 7’s for luck, 8 for fortune but this ‘696′ is for Rock and Roll! (Roku-Kyuu-Ro-!) Haha cool!
Ritsu mentions he bought this car for quite the irresistible price through Yahoo Auctions. When he bought it, he says that the body kit was way too over the top and that the side skirts stuck out like a Kaidou Racer! This may be why it was so cheap.. He then set out to transform that car to a more ’subtle’ and driftable state. The result of that is this groovin’ machine.
The front and rear ‘aero’ is made by an unknown maker, but looks strangely similar to the Super-Made parts. In the over-fender department Ritsu has gone out and opted for some D-MAX over-fenders, fattening up the car front and rear by 30mm. Filling out these beautiful guards are CTS-Zero-1 Hyper 9.5J wheels with Federal SS595 225/45/17 tyres.The general theme for the car is weekend drifter, but keeping it all straight and sideways, the car employs CTS Tension rods, Yashio Factory full height adjustable suspension and a whole host of other small suspension parts from Ikeya Factory and KTS.
In the engine department, Ritsu has gone ‘minimal’ (or so he says) and kept the engine internals standard. In saying that, the number of extras put on to support the engine is a different story. First of all, air is sucked in through a pod style filter to the standard turbo which sits on a Tomei ‘Expreme’ manifold. From there the charged air goes through a HPI intercooler and to the standard manifold. Boost is kept at the right level with a HKS boost controller. Keeping all the hot oil in check, a Trust 13 row oil cooler has also been added.
Putting all of that to the ground, a Nismo 6 speed Cross Gear set has been and installed and is mated to a Nismo Copper-mix clutch and Nismo LSD with a 4.2 final. Looking inside the car a sparse yet totally functional set of parts come together in pure automotive harmony. The seats on both sides are Bride buckets and the steering wheel is a Nardi Rally. As Ritsu is quite handy with the tools, a lot of little extras have been made and added by him. One of them is the Lamb Buck Skin Dash (sewn and put together by him) as well as some added reinforcements and spot welding around the front tower and rear towers (Also Ritsu’s work)
The plan for the rock star ride now is to keep it the way it is and continue drifting it. Ritsu has developed quite the taste for drift, thanks to his friends, and hopes to improve his sliding skills in the near future. Hopefully we’ll be able to catch up with him and his friends again soon!
P.S. For anyone thats wondering what that computer in front of the passenger seat is, it’s a Rally Computer as Ritsu used to be a rally driver! Cool!
Peter Horniak
Spec List:
Body
Front Strut - Spot Welded
Rear Bulkhead - Spot Welded
JAF-J Approved 13 Point Roll Cage (by Safety 21)
Exterior
Front & Rear bumper - Unknown Maker
Front Fender - D-MAX +30mm
Rear Fender - D-MAX +30mm
Bonnet D-MAX D1Spec
Colour - Nissan Air Blue No. T11
Interior
Steering Wheel - Nardi Rally
Seat - Bride Artis
Dash Board - Original Lamb Buck Skin
Navigators Foot Rest by Okuyama
Rally Computer by Nono
Suspension
G-Master Super Knuckle
Yashio Factory suspension
KTS Rear Arm - Full Pillow Ball
KTS Tension Rods
Ikeya Formula Strengthened Tie Rods
Endless Type-R Pads
Wheel/Tyre CTS-Zero-1 Hyper 9.5J-17 / Federal SS595 225-45-17
Engine
Internals - Full Normal
Tomei ‘Expreme’ Exhaust Manifold
HPI Intercooler + Piping
Yashio Sports Catalyzer + Silencer
Trust 13 Row Oil Cooler
Battery has been moved to the rear
Driveline
Nismo 6 Speed Cross Gear Set
Nismo LSD (4.2 Final)
Nismo Copper-mix Clutch
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