Neith's JDM Nissan S15 Silvia Spec-R
Discussion
Neith said:
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.
It only gets driven when the roads are completely dry and salt free so it's still immaculate underneath and round the arches. It's the bits I can't see that I want peace of mind with so It'll be getting the chassis rails done with cavity wax and I'll probably redo the arches so I know they're properly sealed. Have you had any rust show up on the R32 yet? Hope not, it's a brilliant car.
Hopefully you'll get a nice surprise with the insurance come renewal. I'm with Adrian Flux this year on a japanese import policy and my insurance is less than half what it was last year.
Well, according to the documentation I have, this month is the car's 15th birthday! 
I've marked the occasion with a few things:
First, the worn out steering wheel leather is being restored this week which should more-or-less bring the interior back up to a nice quality (aside from replacing the gearstick gaiter which I can do any time).
Secondly I gave the poor thing a good wash! I've been meaning to for weeks but with the terrible weather we've had I haven't had chance. Also took the opportunity to check up on the rust I mentioned earlier. Most of it seems to have been held back, the wheelarch was rubbed down a few weeks back. The surface rust there has just started to re-appear so I'll be re-treating it again this week. I also had to remove some club stickers from the windows which had (for some reason) began tearing off. Amusingly, the PH smiley remains perfectly fine
Finally I'm attending a big club meetup in August, which happens to involve track time..at Snetterton, so I'll be finally taking it on a track day. Excited and nervous in equal measure, the last thing I need is to prang it but provided I don't drive like an idiot I should be ok. Bit of a trek down, but I have family in Norwich so it works out quite well.
The car's been absolutely flawless, haven't even had to change a bulb in almost a year of ownership. It was always intended as a stop-gap car to tide me over until I could afford to run a R32 GTR but at this rate, I see no reason to change car any time in the near future!
(which is more than I could say about my previous cars).
Looking good for a 15 year-old car if I do say so myself (Also rare evidence of British sunshine)
If updates seem slow on this, its because I'm working on the car in less obvious ways (refreshing the leather inside and so on). Performance upgrades aren't high on my list, and I simply haven't had the money to blow on new alloys yet
(This won't change either, considering tax, MOT and service are all due in a couple months!).
Plans after service etc:
- May need new tyres after Snetterton
- Change exhaust (still on lookout for the Nismo S15 exhaust but it's so rare)
- Alloys (currently thinking Rota Torques, or Work Emotion CR-Kai if I get rich all of a sudden)
- Switch side indicators to clear ones as I feel this dates the car quite badly
- New headunit to replace the hilariously 90's Japanese one
Still undecided if I want to lower it at all, even the stock exhaust hangs quite low. Will have to see how it looks on new alloys first.
I've marked the occasion with a few things:
First, the worn out steering wheel leather is being restored this week which should more-or-less bring the interior back up to a nice quality (aside from replacing the gearstick gaiter which I can do any time).
Secondly I gave the poor thing a good wash! I've been meaning to for weeks but with the terrible weather we've had I haven't had chance. Also took the opportunity to check up on the rust I mentioned earlier. Most of it seems to have been held back, the wheelarch was rubbed down a few weeks back. The surface rust there has just started to re-appear so I'll be re-treating it again this week. I also had to remove some club stickers from the windows which had (for some reason) began tearing off. Amusingly, the PH smiley remains perfectly fine
Finally I'm attending a big club meetup in August, which happens to involve track time..at Snetterton, so I'll be finally taking it on a track day. Excited and nervous in equal measure, the last thing I need is to prang it but provided I don't drive like an idiot I should be ok. Bit of a trek down, but I have family in Norwich so it works out quite well.
The car's been absolutely flawless, haven't even had to change a bulb in almost a year of ownership. It was always intended as a stop-gap car to tide me over until I could afford to run a R32 GTR but at this rate, I see no reason to change car any time in the near future!
(which is more than I could say about my previous cars).Looking good for a 15 year-old car if I do say so myself
(Also rare evidence of British sunshine)If updates seem slow on this, its because I'm working on the car in less obvious ways (refreshing the leather inside and so on). Performance upgrades aren't high on my list, and I simply haven't had the money to blow on new alloys yet
(This won't change either, considering tax, MOT and service are all due in a couple months!).Plans after service etc:
- May need new tyres after Snetterton
- Change exhaust (still on lookout for the Nismo S15 exhaust but it's so rare)
- Alloys (currently thinking Rota Torques, or Work Emotion CR-Kai if I get rich all of a sudden)
- Switch side indicators to clear ones as I feel this dates the car quite badly
- New headunit to replace the hilariously 90's Japanese one
Still undecided if I want to lower it at all, even the stock exhaust hangs quite low. Will have to see how it looks on new alloys first.
C.A.R. said:
Looks ace, still!
I saw a white one of these yesterday on the A602, had no spoiler though which totally messes up the lines of these IMO.
Thanks, there's a few coming into the country lately- I think its due to the better exchange rates with the Yen vs Pound. I agree on the spoiler; the standard Aero spoiler looks hilariously overdesigned but I really like it. Without a spoiler I always think they look pretty odd, maybe because of the fairly long boot.I saw a white one of these yesterday on the A602, had no spoiler though which totally messes up the lines of these IMO.
danjama said:
Sounds like you're being smart to me, maintaining and improving areas that will help hold the value when you do decide to move on 
I stand by what I said before, lovely car, keep it up!
Thanks, the last thing I want to do is kit this out in a tacky bodykit, I've always liked the stock look better. In fact the only reason I want to change the wheels is because I don't like the design and they're a little small (kind of amusing having 16" wheels on a sportscar when we're now seeing 19"+ on modern cars). I think the only Aero change I would ever consider would be getting OEM rear spats and Aero front bumper to complete the kit. Talking megabucks for the front bumper though, so whether that'll happen is yet to be decided.I stand by what I said before, lovely car, keep it up!
I do love the Yashio Factory Gulf kit, but again it's really expensive and I honestly think it'd just get ruined on our roads so I don't see the point.
I also plan on keeping the original alloys stored so if I do ever come to sell I can revert it back to standard.
Bump for some (limited) work on the car.
Since February I've worked on a couple of things:
- Rust treatment. The car was undersealed on arrival into the UK but some rust patches had been starting to appear on the body work in the usual places (rear wheel arches, under bootlid and sills). Thankfully it was all caught very early while it was still surface rust. I've sanded back the affected areas and managed to remove most of it. This'll be a constant thing I need to do as it seems very susceptible to rust (a 90s Japanese car rusting? Never!
). Thankfully there's no visible damage to the car and if the bootlid rust gets too bad I can always track down another. The sills are another thing altogether but provided I keep on top of it the car should be ok.
- Servicing. Having had a large service when it arrived in the UK, I decided to get the car checked over by another importer before another service. Used Jurgen and the guys up at JM-Imports and can't fault them. Very reasonable rates and they work on the car right in front of a viewing area so you can see what's being done. The service did flag up a couple of issues though. Firstly, the car seems to have a very minor oil leak (I say very minor as the oil level hasn't dropped noticably at all). It's so small that they couldn't actually work out where it came from without more time. I plan on taking it back to JM soon so they can find it and sort it out. Secondly, the throttle cable has developed a lot of slack in it. I've tried adjusting it but it doesn't seem to change much so I need to try and figure out what's up with it. During the service I also got some new Pagid brake pads as the existing ones were pretty bad.
- Taken it a few places. I went to Hartside Cafe with a few guys in March, stopping at High Force on the way.
Hartside Cafe (was a bit foggy! Roads on the way up were mostly clear though and were amazing drives)
Road to Hartside
High Force
Extreme Torque Show at Sunderland's Nissan plant (cars were in a separate car park that visitors walked past on the way in) :
Also took it to the British Drift Championship round at Teesside where it got some attention (not drifting I hasten to add )
Newest purchase on the 'refresh the car' plan (and because I'm pathetic and wanted something Nismo on the car ) :
These should freshen up the side of the car as it looks old with orange indicator lenses.
Next plan is a track day at Snetterton in August. Will be taking it easy as its my daily driver but should hopefully be fun (first track day!). Some new wheels at some point (although mine is kind of unique by being standard!). Won't be much progress though as my money will be going on saving up towards a trip to Japan which is something I've always wanted to do.
Since February I've worked on a couple of things:
- Rust treatment. The car was undersealed on arrival into the UK but some rust patches had been starting to appear on the body work in the usual places (rear wheel arches, under bootlid and sills). Thankfully it was all caught very early while it was still surface rust. I've sanded back the affected areas and managed to remove most of it. This'll be a constant thing I need to do as it seems very susceptible to rust (a 90s Japanese car rusting? Never!
). Thankfully there's no visible damage to the car and if the bootlid rust gets too bad I can always track down another. The sills are another thing altogether but provided I keep on top of it the car should be ok.- Servicing. Having had a large service when it arrived in the UK, I decided to get the car checked over by another importer before another service. Used Jurgen and the guys up at JM-Imports and can't fault them. Very reasonable rates and they work on the car right in front of a viewing area so you can see what's being done. The service did flag up a couple of issues though. Firstly, the car seems to have a very minor oil leak (I say very minor as the oil level hasn't dropped noticably at all). It's so small that they couldn't actually work out where it came from without more time. I plan on taking it back to JM soon so they can find it and sort it out. Secondly, the throttle cable has developed a lot of slack in it. I've tried adjusting it but it doesn't seem to change much so I need to try and figure out what's up with it. During the service I also got some new Pagid brake pads as the existing ones were pretty bad.
- Taken it a few places. I went to Hartside Cafe with a few guys in March, stopping at High Force on the way.
Hartside Cafe (was a bit foggy! Roads on the way up were mostly clear though and were amazing drives)
Road to Hartside
High Force
Extreme Torque Show at Sunderland's Nissan plant (cars were in a separate car park that visitors walked past on the way in) :
Also took it to the British Drift Championship round at Teesside where it got some attention (not drifting I hasten to add
)Newest purchase on the 'refresh the car' plan (and because I'm pathetic and wanted something Nismo on the car
) :These should freshen up the side of the car as it looks old with orange indicator lenses.
Next plan is a track day at Snetterton in August. Will be taking it easy as its my daily driver but should hopefully be fun (first track day!). Some new wheels at some point (although mine is kind of unique by being standard!). Won't be much progress though as my money will be going on saving up towards a trip to Japan which is something I've always wanted to do.
Bump time!
I've owned the car now for just over 2 years. I'd had it on sale for a few months because a R32 GT-R is an itch I'd like to scratch. Unfortunately a combination of time wasting buyers and the skyrocketing prices on R32s means that isn't going to happen any time soon. Disappointing but I do like the S15 anyway so it's not a huge loss. So, onto the S15...
I mentioned that I had a trackday planned at Snetterton last year. The day went well but I only did a few laps, being so far from home in my daily I didn't fancy binning it. (For anyone wondering why I went all that way only to do a few laps, it was a yearly club event). The car performed reasonably well aside from the brakes which were fading after a few laps. Will definitely be more track days on the agenda at some point!
Anyway, over the last few months:
- New headunit (Pioneer FH-X700BT). So nice to have an MP3 player seeing as the original stereo was CD and Minidisc!
Not a great picture but you can sort of see it:
Great headunit, my only criticism is that the coloured lights on it are very bright, even with the dimmer on.
- MOT came and went with only a couple of advisories but one was the oil leak which I'd previously noticed. I've had it looked at and it seems to be an extremely minor leak coming from the front crank seal. The car is booked in to get this looked at again soon.
- While the car was getting the oil leak looked at, the garage noticed it was down on power too. After changing fuel filter (in case it was due to starvation) we think one cause might be a collapsed catalytic converter as the exhaust flow seemed like it was restricted. To rule it out I've bought a sports cat which should be getting fitted soon.
Unfortunately at this point I began thinking 'well if I'm taking off the exhaust to fit a new cat I should probably just upgrade the exhaust while I'm there'.
Enter this
HKS Silent Hi-Power exhaust. I'd been wanting a new exhaust for a while as the S15 sounds very quiet as standard. At the same time I didn't want an exhaust that'd disturb other people on the road. Whether it is quiet enough at low revs I don't know but I'll find out once it's fitted...
I've also done a few miscellaneous jobs like restoring the headlights (again), sanding back rust (again) and fixing a few bits (centre air vent fin connector had came loose). Complete pain of a job prising the vent out but the only other way is to remove the dash!.
Next plans are to finally get to the bottom of this oil leak/decreased performance and then get saving for some new wheels. After that maybe bite the bullet and go for an Aero front bumper...
I've owned the car now for just over 2 years. I'd had it on sale for a few months because a R32 GT-R is an itch I'd like to scratch. Unfortunately a combination of time wasting buyers and the skyrocketing prices on R32s means that isn't going to happen any time soon. Disappointing but I do like the S15 anyway so it's not a huge loss. So, onto the S15...
I mentioned that I had a trackday planned at Snetterton last year. The day went well but I only did a few laps, being so far from home in my daily I didn't fancy binning it. (For anyone wondering why I went all that way only to do a few laps, it was a yearly club event). The car performed reasonably well aside from the brakes which were fading after a few laps. Will definitely be more track days on the agenda at some point!
Anyway, over the last few months:
- New headunit (Pioneer FH-X700BT). So nice to have an MP3 player seeing as the original stereo was CD and Minidisc!
Not a great picture but you can sort of see it:
Great headunit, my only criticism is that the coloured lights on it are very bright, even with the dimmer on.
- MOT came and went with only a couple of advisories but one was the oil leak which I'd previously noticed. I've had it looked at and it seems to be an extremely minor leak coming from the front crank seal. The car is booked in to get this looked at again soon.
- While the car was getting the oil leak looked at, the garage noticed it was down on power too. After changing fuel filter (in case it was due to starvation) we think one cause might be a collapsed catalytic converter as the exhaust flow seemed like it was restricted. To rule it out I've bought a sports cat which should be getting fitted soon.
Unfortunately at this point I began thinking 'well if I'm taking off the exhaust to fit a new cat I should probably just upgrade the exhaust while I'm there'.
Enter this
HKS Silent Hi-Power exhaust. I'd been wanting a new exhaust for a while as the S15 sounds very quiet as standard. At the same time I didn't want an exhaust that'd disturb other people on the road. Whether it is quiet enough at low revs I don't know but I'll find out once it's fitted...
I've also done a few miscellaneous jobs like restoring the headlights (again), sanding back rust (again) and fixing a few bits (centre air vent fin connector had came loose). Complete pain of a job prising the vent out but the only other way is to remove the dash!.
Next plans are to finally get to the bottom of this oil leak/decreased performance and then get saving for some new wheels. After that maybe bite the bullet and go for an Aero front bumper...
Finally got the HKS Silent Hi-Power fitted, along with a sports cat. The car doesn't 'bog down' on acceleration anywhere near as much now and it almost feels like a completely different car (so must've been mainly the collapsed original cat), especially with the new exhaust note. Around town it's only marginally louder than standard, which genuinely surprised me. I know it's marketed as a 'Silent Hi-Power' but I didn't really believe it much. It's only under hard acceleration that the noise starts to build, and I think it genuinely sounds good now. I now have a new worst enemy in the speedbump at the end of my road 
Quick video comparison of the standard Nissan exhaust and the HKS:
Standard Nissan exhaust with fairly knackered cat: https://youtu.be/nBEnG-f9GhA
HKS Silent Hi-Power: https://youtu.be/R25TFUUpclc
Next on the list of major purchases will be some wheels, but I need a few months to recoup some money Can't wait to drive it more now that it doesn't sound like a tractor...
Quick video comparison of the standard Nissan exhaust and the HKS:
Standard Nissan exhaust with fairly knackered cat: https://youtu.be/nBEnG-f9GhA
HKS Silent Hi-Power: https://youtu.be/R25TFUUpclc
Next on the list of major purchases will be some wheels, but I need a few months to recoup some money
Can't wait to drive it more now that it doesn't sound like a tractor...Hey, sorry, 4 year old post!
Have you still got this? I saw your other thread elsewhere about rusting around the petrol flap and other places.
Would you recommend getting an S15?
Seriously thinking about it but as I would have to drive it all year round I wouldn't want it to rust to pieces. I'm guessing you had it under sealed and it has just been through the normal wear and tear of UK winters..
As it happens I'm also from Middlesbrough so I've probably seen this car around! Hopefully you still check the forum
Cheers
Have you still got this? I saw your other thread elsewhere about rusting around the petrol flap and other places.
Would you recommend getting an S15?
Seriously thinking about it but as I would have to drive it all year round I wouldn't want it to rust to pieces. I'm guessing you had it under sealed and it has just been through the normal wear and tear of UK winters..
As it happens I'm also from Middlesbrough so I've probably seen this car around! Hopefully you still check the forum
Cheers
nseann said:
Hey, sorry, 4 year old post!
Have you still got this? I saw your other thread elsewhere about rusting around the petrol flap and other places.
Would you recommend getting an S15?
Seriously thinking about it but as I would have to drive it all year round I wouldn't want it to rust to pieces. I'm guessing you had it under sealed and it has just been through the normal wear and tear of UK winters..
As it happens I'm also from Middlesbrough so I've probably seen this car around! Hopefully you still check the forum
Cheers
Sorry for the late response, just happened to notice this when I was browsing reader's cars Have you still got this? I saw your other thread elsewhere about rusting around the petrol flap and other places.
Would you recommend getting an S15?
Seriously thinking about it but as I would have to drive it all year round I wouldn't want it to rust to pieces. I'm guessing you had it under sealed and it has just been through the normal wear and tear of UK winters..
As it happens I'm also from Middlesbrough so I've probably seen this car around! Hopefully you still check the forum
Cheers
I sold the car about 3 years ago, it was starting to cost me more than I was happy with (I would fix one thing and 2 other things would break).
As for whether I'd recommend one, yes. They're great fun to drive and (so far) the prices haven't gone ridiculous (they're maybe a couple of thousand more expensive than when I bought this in 2013). The rust was the main recurring issue- the car was undersealed on arrival, but parts like the wheel arches and sills begin to rot pretty quickly. I think if you could keep one garaged it wouldn't be too bad but mine was used as a daily even through winter.
As far as I know the car went to Scotland after I sold it but last I checked it was SORN'ed. I sold it before it cost me too much more and bought a Clio 197 (which was a terrible mistake) and I now drive a RX-8 (which ironically has been my most reliable car
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