2002 Nissan Silvia Spec R (S15)

[Richard2211]

Purchased early this year from the S15 owners club is my 2002 Nissan Silvia Spec R (S15). This was the last year of production for the Silvia and having wanted one for some time, finding a 2002 model, with great service history, in my favourite colour, made it a bit of a no-brainer. I had actually been bidding on S15's in Japan back in 2014 but nothing had come of it, so when this came around I was pretty excited!

When purchased she was on 63K miles, had 1 mature owner since import (who was brilliant I may add), came with a plethora of original parts, had full Japanese and UK service history, had a brilliant spec with some good quality parts fitted and generally ticked all the boxes I could ever ask for.

Without going into the full spec I'll just add that it has been re-mapped with a programmable ECU for UK fuel and with a few basic modifications is putting out a responsive ~300BHP in a car weighing a shade over 1200KG equipped with no traction control and a helical LSD as standard.

The first picture when she was home.

Edited by Richard2211 on Monday 24th October 23:43

[themanwithnoname]

Lovely. Great to see one that hasn't been tapped off every wall ever by the drifters.

Would love one myself at some point.

[ChocolateFrog]

Nice car.

I was looking for a S15 around the same time, but didn't end up buying one. I think I emailed the seller of that actually car but you must have just bought it.

I wanted either a blue or yellow S15 with the aero kit that was either standard or lightly modded but nothing was available. They're from the golden age of Japanese design.

[Cupramax]

Nice, these seem to have improved with age.

[Richard2211]

Thanks for the comments. So many of them have been thrashed within an inch of their life that I decided it must be quite rare to find a genuine one that has been looked after like this has. Prices are steadily on the up at the moment too (although I suspect that is fueled by the GBP dropping against the JPY).

Anyway, I took it around Europe a few months into ownership. Four cars, three Supras and my Silvia, did around 3000 miles covering France (Dijon), Monaco, Italy (Lake Como), Switzerland (St. Gotthards Pass, Susten Pass, Furka Pass), Germany (Nurburgring) and Belgium (Spa). The Swiss passes were amazing - seriously something I would urge anybody to do once in their life. I also managed a lap of the ring! The whole trip deserves a thread of it's own, but for now I'll post just a few of the many amazing photos we have.

[Richard2211]

[Richard2211]

[Richard2211]

[Richard2211]

Annoyingly, this is the one and only shot of the car on the famed Green Hell!

[Richard2211]

Alongside the road trip I ensured the car got a chance to stretch it's legs around the "Evo Triangle" and the roads on route. The Silvia handles days like this so well. It is relatively light weight, nimble, quick spooling and makes all the right noises - I'm bias, but I love it!

Sorry for the picture spamming.

[Richard2211]

themanwithnoname said:

Lovely. Great to see one that hasn't been tapped off every wall ever by the drifters.

Would love one myself at some point.

Thank you. I have zero intention of drifting the car but I will endeavor to do the odd track taster session.

They're great cars. Overlooked by many as solely a drift car when they actually perform brilliantly across the board. I achieved 42MPG out of this on the run to Folkestone!

[themanwithnoname]

Richard2211 said:

Thank you. I have zero intention of drifting the car but I will endeavor to do the odd track taster session.

They're great cars. Overlooked by many as solely a drift car when they actually perform brilliantly across the board. I achieved 42MPG out of this on the run to Folkestone!

Good stuff! Though it would be remiss of you to not occasionally explore the boundaries of grip and handling in such a great chassis!

They've always been a spot on tourer, and I'm still trying to convince Mrs Noname she needs a Varietta (the folding hard top variant)

[Lgfst]

That is one nice clean example. I'm extremely jealous, it always has been something I wanted. One pulled into Tesco at Northwich behind me last night, I was just in awe.

Love the pictures too.

[cerb4.5lee]

Very nice and a gorgeous colour too, I would love one, enjoy it.

[Jez m]

Lovely S15. I miss my S13 so much

[SirSquidalot]

Lovely! This is a potential next car as insurance is a hell of a lot cheaper than the TVR/M3 i was looking at!

[Richard2211]

themanwithnoname said:

Good stuff! Though it would be remiss of you to not occasionally explore the boundaries of grip and handling in such a great chassis!

They've always been a spot on tourer, and I'm still trying to convince Mrs Noname she needs a Varietta (the folding hard top variant)

The chassis is brilliant. I had a previous Silvia (S14A) before this one, which was also good, but the S15 has various brace-work fitted at the factory to increase rigidity. I have also had a four wheel alignment to a custom spec which has changed the feel of the car for the better. The only limitation at the moment is the eccentric bolts for the rear camber arms as I can't quite dial out enough negative camber - but I'm looking at options for that as I type.

Now the Varietta really is a rarity over here from what I gather. I've only ever seen one in person but that was at a car show.

[aka_kerrly]

Richard2211 said:

Spec R is a dam good looking car, certainly doesn't look nearly 15 years old!

[Richard2211]

Following on from the previous posts, which seem to have had a great reception (thanks all), I thought I would bring the thread a little more up to date.

So, last month I took the car to Santapod Raceway in Northampton to see what it would run down the 1/4 mile. I only did one run, to satisfy my curiosity, and managed a 13.02 @ 107MPH. I would say this is a good time considering it only has basic modifications and is very much a road car. No preparation to the car was made, just showed up, showed my licence, signed the disclaimer and prayed I didn't brake anything.

Here's an in-car video. Give it a watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcShPjc_PRs

Also, along with de-tarting the engine bay and a few new items to keep it up to par (new OEM gear-knob etc), I purchased a set of new wheels and tyres. Rota RT5, 18", staggered and in sizes that allow 225s up front and 255's in the rear. They may not be to everybody's taste but I personally think they transform the car. Also, I shod them with some decent rubber, as recommended by Demon Tweeks - Yokohama Advan AD08R. Below is a picture taken whilst at Japshow Finale this year.

[Richard2211]

The picture above may not show them off the best. Here's another picture the night they were fitted.