Neith's JDM Nissan S15 Silvia Spec-R

[Andy616]

Lovely car, looks in great shape. Nice to see one standard, though I'd have probably fitted a square plate to the front.

I'm still trying to get my head round the price though. Did you get a hefty warranty with it as well?

[Neith]

Andy616 said:

Lovely car, looks in great shape. Nice to see one standard, though I'd have probably fitted a square plate to the front.

I'm still trying to get my head round the price though. Did you get a hefty warranty with it as well?

Yeah, I'm not sure why they fitted a standard UK plate to the front, looks a little odd. That might be something I change in the future. Warranty is fairly basic (doesn't cover clutch for example). Believe me though, I started looking at Japanese auctions for these in January. Consider what I paid for this, but I was still unsuccessful bidding on about 7 other cars prior to this (most of which were higher mileage examples). Not totally sure why, but S15s carry a hell of a price tag and this is pretty much what you'd expect to pay- possibly £1-2k less if the Yen isn't strong.

It's odd really; you can get a R33 GT-R for less money than a S15 Spec-R. Main reason I didn't is the insurance difference is crazy. Most places wouldn't even quote me (due to no NCB from an accident in my last car) and the ones that did weren't specialist insurers and quoted me £300 a month for a R33

Edited by Neith on Sunday 2nd June 14:46

[Andy616]

Neith said:

Yeah, I'm not sure why they fitted a standard UK plate to the front, looks a little odd. That might be something I change in the future. Warranty is fairly basic (doesn't cover clutch for example). Believe me though, I started looking at Japanese auctions for these in January. Consider what I paid for this, but I was still unsuccessful bidding on about 7 other cars prior to this (most of which were higher mileage examples). Not totally sure why, but S15s carry a hell of a price tag and this is pretty much what you'd expect to pay- possibly £1-2k less if the Yen isn't strong.

It's odd really; you can get a R33 GT-R for less money than a S15 Spec-R. Main reason I didn't is the insurance difference is crazy. Most places wouldn't even quote me (due to no NCB from an accident in my last car) and the ones that did weren't specialist insurers and quoted me £300 a month for a R33

Edited by Neith on Sunday 2nd June 14:46

Ouch, well like you say it'll hold its value well. What did your final exchange rate end up as? I imported in the middle of last year when the exchange rate was about 120yen/£. Now it's about 150.

[Neith]

I think it was around 140-145 when I got this. Really wasn't the best time to import but man maths ended up winning over sense

[Neith]

Not had much chance to work on the car lately for two reasons. Firstly, I'm in the process of getting together money for better security and a set of alloys. At this point, I'm starting to think that spending £2k on some Rays TE37s is a bad idea. I work in a place with a very badly looked after car park and I honestly think the alloys would get wrecked really quickly. Because of this, I think I'll look at getting some Rota Grid Drifts as they look similar but are much cheaper.

The second reason is I've been far too busy driving the damn thing Took it down to Norwich (from North East) recently to see relatives and it performed flawlessly, if a little thirsty. So far I haven't had any issues with the back end kicking out, but the weather's been nice and the few times it has been wet I haven't been driving quick enough to risk it.

I'm considering taking it on a track day at some point (once my bank account recovers a bit!); having never done one before though I'd probably look into some tuition first. It just seems a shame to own a car like this if it's going to spend its life at 30mph.

Anyway, with the weather being glorious today, I gave the car a good wash before the weather got too warm. I also decided to try and tackle the problem of the faded/discoloured headlight covers. I decided to try giving them a rub over with polish (I used Autoglym initially). It took a while to notice any difference, but it does genuinely seem like the plastic covers are clearer now. The driver's side one is still slightly cloudy so I'll go over that again and see if it improves.

Silvia badge inside the light is unnecessary but cool Cover looks clearer to me, so I guess it worked!


After a wash


Thoughts on the car so far: Very easy to live with. It is thirsty (I get maybe 24mpg at best, not sure if car needs mapping to improve this) but the ride is comfortable enough- hard but not crashy. Performance is hilarious; once the turbo spools up it takes off like nothing I've driven previously, but there is a noticable turbo lag. Handles very well and seemed to stick to the road very well when I showed it some decent B-Roads.

The best part of owning it is other people's perception of it. In one month it's been mistaken for a Skyline by numerous people. I've heard people walk past it and have no idea what it is (despite the huge Nissan and Silvia badges on the back ). It's certainly getting attention and surprisingly it's all been positive so far which is really appreciated.

I have to say, it's one of those cars where you have to look back at it when you've parked. Makes me grin like an idiot every time I drive it!

Plans for anyone who wants a quick overview (in no particular order)
- Upgrade security
- New alloys (probably Rota Grid Drifts, painted either gunmetal or bronze)
- New exhaust (maybe HKS Hi-Power, but still looking into this)
- Upgrade the headunit, ideally to a double din with sat nav integrated
- Get the steering wheel leather retrimmed
- Possibly Aero front bumper? Not sure on this yet as they're very expensive but do look incredible.
- Air Filter upgrade (again, looking into this).
- Switch front number plate to a square 'import' one

[TheHeretic]

I had an absolutely fantastic carrozzeria double din unit when I got my MR2T from japan. Looked fantastic! get one., Go retro. You know you want to.

[danjama]

Stunning car. I feel the same about my mr2, despite it being a na uk model. Like you say, we're the GT generation

Really love Silvias, and this looks a good one.

[M159V8]

I really like this car, and the colour looks lovely in the sun!

[aww999]

That is such a great looking car, and a rare sight on our roads! Is there much room in the back? I am wondering if it might be OK for carrying a nipper in. You make a good point regarding driver training and trackdays; after driving fast RWD cars for ten years, and thinking I knew it all, I went on my first trackday (at Bedford - nothing to hit if you cock it up!) and was fairly hopeless. I then did a car limits day at North Weald airfield which was pretty helpful. You can choose between having 2, 4 or ~30 people on the day (and obviously this has a big impact on the cost!) - I went on a four person day so had plenty of tuition and track time. It's a good starting point, and you can throw the car around in perfect safety, but the main thing I learnt was how little I knew I then managed to get a good deal booking an instructor for a whole day at Bedford which was extremely helpful and built my confidence a lot.

Unfortunately I have had about three years off from trackdays due to having a kid around, so I have forgotten eveything I learnt, but I would still recommend it to anyone! (Trackdays, not kids!)

[Neith]

aww999 said:

That is such a great looking car, and a rare sight on our roads! Is there much room in the back? I am wondering if it might be OK for carrying a nipper in. You make a good point regarding driver training and trackdays; after driving fast RWD cars for ten years, and thinking I knew it all, I went on my first trackday (at Bedford - nothing to hit if you cock it up!) and was fairly hopeless. I then did a car limits day at North Weald airfield which was pretty helpful. You can choose between having 2, 4 or ~30 people on the day (and obviously this has a big impact on the cost!) - I went on a four person day so had plenty of tuition and track time. It's a good starting point, and you can throw the car around in perfect safety, but the main thing I learnt was how little I knew I then managed to get a good deal booking an instructor for a whole day at Bedford which was extremely helpful and built my confidence a lot.

Unfortunately I have had about three years off from trackdays due to having a kid around, so I have forgotten eveything I learnt, but I would still recommend it to anyone! (Trackdays, not kids!)

Thanks, the only other S15 I've seen here so far was at a car show (JAE in 2011).

The back seats are very cramped, headroom is fairly decent (comparing this to a Gen 7 Celica) but the legroom is almost non-existent. I reckon a child should be ok in the back, but adults will really struggle I think.

And yeah, main reason I'd go for some instruction is to learn about oversteer and correctly safely at speed. Although, I'll probably learn that forcefully once winter sets in (This is my daily, so not sure what'll happen come winter yet).

[aww999]

I found that learning to control oversteer was a bit like learning to juggle - you're going to drop it a few times before you start getting it right, and it's much better to do that on an airfield or trackday than on a roundabout with kerbs and streetlamps. The car limits day I did spent quite a lot of time on practising lift off oversteer, many times on the same corner, so you can get a feel for what is happening. I was worried about wear and tear on my car, but you don't HAVE to push it any harder than you would on the road - you can still change up before the rev limiter! The only big expense is tyres, but unless you drive like Chris Harris you will be surprised how long they last.

[JohnsonNL]

Neith said:

On the subject of the exhaust:

Really excited to pick up the car; I am firmly one of the so-called 'Gran Turismo generation' and went through school being obsessed with Skylines, RX-7s and so on. To actually own a car like this is pretty special to me and is something I honestly never thought I'd go ahead with.

My only concern at the moment is the small matter of RWD. My 2 previous cars were front-driven and I'm well aware that I have a pretty responsive turbo engine and no traction control. With that in mind, I really don't fancy pranging it so any advice for learning to drive a RWD would be really helpful as well. I'm guessing it won't be an issue 99% of the time on the road but figured I'd mention it.

Nice purchase. One of the better looking japanese cars of its era.
I think 250 rear wheel driven hp's is not much to worry about, even though it's turbocharged.
The boost will come in pretty easy and predictable.
Just don't instantly floor it when it's wet
Your tire setup will also be important (stock S15 setup is probably something like 215 front, 235 rear?)
I currently own a '00 JDM s2000 Type V, that also was 250hp stock.
It handled great when stock (very predictable and controllable oversteer).
Currently my S is turbocharged (430bhp / 390nm torque) and it's still pretty easy to drive!
I think the boost comes in pretty damn hard around 4500rpm's, but even in the rain it's not that scary.
Still on 235 width tires in the rear by the way (although they are semi slicks).
I don't have traction control either, so I just don't floor it when its rainy or very cold.

Enjoy !

Edited by JohnsonNL on Monday 15th July 07:00

Edited by JohnsonNL on Monday 15th July 07:01

[liner33]

WeirdNeville said:

24 mpg + noticible lag = split intercooler or failing turbo gaskets imo. Definitely get that checked out.

Agree , replace the lambda as well , Eurocarparts for a basic bosch 3 wire one very cheaply less than a tenner if memory serves , they are a service item thats meant to be changed every 5 years but rarely are

[Eski1991]

Love that green samba in the the background.

[Neith]

Cheers for the advice on the low MPG. I'll get it checked over soon. I will say though that as I use this as a daily, it does spend a lot of time in start-stop traffic (I work in a hospital and finish work as visiting hours start so the traffic is always horrendous). I'd imagine that contributes to the low MPG, but will still get it checked over. The 'lag' I'm experiencing could just be that I'm not used to the power delivery on a turbo (all my previous cars have been NA) but combined with the lowish MPG it's worth checking over.

[Neith]

Quick update. Owned the car for about 4 months now and not a single issue (low MPG turned out to be me just being too lead footed, I've seen an increase in MPG since then).

I've finally got the security aspect of the car sorted; Cat 1 Alarm/Immobilizer was fitted recently. I used Duncan from Mobile Installation Services (based in Middlesbrough) and can't recommend him enough.

Now that I finally have the car fully secured, I can move on to the more fun stuff

Alloys are still a while off as I can't decide what will suit the car. It sits as standard on 16s but I think I want to slightly increase it to 17s. I'll hold off on wheels until I'm absolutely sure what I want. With this in mind, I think my next change will be an induction kit and exhaust. Probably going for a HKS Silent Hi-Power exhaust within the next couple of months.

I've also managed to restore the headlights with a Meguiar's Plast-X kit. Unfortunately the driver's side light is still slightly discoloured on what I assume is the inside. Not enough to be a problem but I'll have to keep an eye on it.

Sorry the updates as yet haven't been very interesting; I wanted to get all the security sorted first before I make a start on other changes. I'm in no rush to make extensive changes to the car anyway, and far too busy enjoying driving it.

Quick shot from a recent SXOC meet. I was first to arrive so I figured I'd get a shot of the car with the Nissan garage in the background. You can see the difference in the headlights, passenger side is much clearer.

[cerb4.5lee]

Love it! enjoy it.

[Neith]

Well, I've now had the car since June and had a good chance to live with it on a day to day basis. Still loving it, and it's been relatively kind to my wallet (that will change around April when the service, tax, MOT and insurance are all needing renewing )

In the last few months:

The front plate was changed to a square one, mainly because the old one kept catching my leg whenever I went round the front of the car


Air Filter needed changing, so I JDM'd it up and got an A'PEXi 'Power' Filter.


Been to a few local meets...


Unfortunately my time recently has been distracted by a problem. The dreaded rust has started making an appearance in a couple of places. It's still very early (slight surface rust) but I've jumped on it as soon as it was noticed. There's a little under the rear passenger wheel arch, a small spot under the boot lid and a small bit on the tray the battery sits on. I've rubbed the affected areas back and used some Hammerite Rust Remover and will keep an eye on things. I'm really hoping it doesn't get to a point where the arch will need grinding out.

More to follow, next on list is continued rust protection/removal and then I'd like to get the steering wheel retrimmed before I bankrupt myself in April

[Andy616]

Looks much better with the square plate. My main job this year is going to be rust proofing as well. How bad is the insurance if you don't mind me asking?

[Neith]

Andy616 said:

Looks much better with the square plate. My main job this year is going to be rust proofing as well. How bad is the insurance if you don't mind me asking?

I pay around £1500ish a year but I'm not an ideal comparison (live in a 'bad' postcode, had an accident in 2012 that nullified my NCB). That's only with Elephant as well as most specialists wouldn't insure me until I had more experience with rear-wheel drive performance cars. Once renewal comes in I'll start looking elsewhere.

Have you had any rust show up on the R32 yet? Hope not, it's a brilliant car.