S15.3 Supercharged RB30 drift car

[David Reid]

As if we haven’t got enough to do in between our day jobs and running PPS, we decided to go ahead and build a drift car…

Car / Shell / Chassis - We have discussed the idea many times before even starting the breaker business. As is the usual ‘want’, we wanted to be just like everyone else…and be different. So, looks wise, inspiration came from the S15.3 MASA car.



We hadn’t seen many around at that time (still haven’t seen another one ?) and we both think it looks ace, ours will look somewhat different though as we are using a combination of parts and panels to get ‘our’ look.

Engine - Power plant wise, again, we wanted to be like everyone else and do something different, so a supercharged RB30 it is with lashings of extra power, so we sold the engine and turbo it came with. Why a supercharger ? I can hear people saying. The answer is a simple : ‘because’. We are aware that there are turbos that will spool up so quick they seem like a supercharger and how superchargers ‘sap’ power etc etc etc and without wanting to get into a massive debate (please refrain from questioning it in this thread :whip: ) the answer is simply ‘BECAUSE’ it’s a little different and it will sound really cool

Driving - Although James and I like to have a go at driving cool stuff and have driven a few cars in our time we simply aren’t good enough to compete and do well so I asked a mate of mine, Scott Armstrong, if he’d be keen. You don’t wanna know what he offered for the chance, but needless to say, he was pretty keen…Scott is a professional driver and works for Continental Tyres based at MIRA. He gets to drive all sorts of cars, on all sorts of tyres, on all sorts of surfaces all over the world, at their limit and be able to give objective opinion...and he gets paid for it, some peoples dream job so, he ought to have the qualities needed to be competitive, after a few rides with him on various occasions James and I, in our humble opinions, are confident in his abilities... Scott has had a few attempts at the 'drifting' thing but lack of reliable car (yes, he owned the orange V8 Sierra for a while and still owns the Datsun rally car) has always hindered him, here's hoping we can change this.

So, on with the search for a 15. A bit of effort later I found one in Japan through Power Vehciles with light front end damage and a few goodies already bolted on.




SARD blade roll-bars



Zeal coilovers and cusco adjustable arms



Several weeks passed and finally it arrived at Liverpool docks so we took a day off work and nipped up to fetch it.



All sorts of other cool stuff in the car park...oh and there were some Impreza's aswell...



Back James's place we got to work stripping the interior. EVERYTHING went and the shell was totally stripped bare. Sound deadening was removed quite painlessly by getting up early on a cold morning and air chiselling it off. Then the remains were disssolved with white spirit. It was all off in a day




Note that the sill cavities seem to be filled with stiffening foam, an indication that the car has had competitive past perhaps ???

[David Reid]

Leftovers



Front end before spanner twirling...



and front end now...errr...modified.




Thats the donor engine you can see in one of the pics, we will only use the block and crank, and also a brief appearance by Scott

[David Reid]

Basic details of engine are RB26 head mated to the RB30 block, RB30 crank with custom pistons and rods.

RB26 donor


RB30 donor, in need of some TLC


Note height difference between blocks, 26 on left and 30 on right.

[Stavros]

Cool project.

We are aware that there are turbos that will spool up so quick they seem like a supercharger

Ignore them.
ANYONE who really believes that has NEVER driven a car with a decent sized turbo or supercharger IMO as thats bollocks, even with the most lag free car (Mk5 Golf GTI or some modern TDI engine for example).

Fuck the power a SC takes, matters nothing, it will drive awesome for drifting.

IMO use a big positive displacment blower rather than a centrifugal one, one off a Jag XKR is ideal, and run it at at decent s/c rpm, low boost is pointless.

[Dele-Himself]

Agreed,

You'd get more powerz from turbo but the engineering that would have to go into a Supercharger would earn more respect from me

[Stavros]

Fuck respect, SC is just a better plan if going from scratch

[LiGhTnInG]

This project is awesome.

I have always loved the S15.3 in the first picture.

[gtst lad]

now this is a cool project, i've always liked the idea of a s15.3

Look forward to following the progress.

[T.K]

15.3s are utterly choice. Interesting powerplant. Will be cool.

[vtec mini clubman]

what a project

RB30 in silvia is way cool

[Lex]

Exciting project

[Nelo]

Nice... some awesome projects on here at the mo.

[BRADs14]

awsome!!! cant wait to see the end results

[jammie654s13]

is a s15.3 a s15 with s13 front end??

[angrydan]

We!!!!

[Dori Mat]

very cool project good luck with it

[suprmek1]

I love that kit been wanting one for ages just cant get no one to ship it for me .

Good luck

[superclarkey]

nice project, maybe rethink RS13 front end.. there is a reason people remove the pop ups... they are gay

PS13 if you have to destroy the look of a s15

[Jeffers_S13]

nice project, maybe rethink RS13 front end.. there is a reason people remove the pop ups... they are gay

PS13 if you have to destroy the look of a s15

We are adding to the look of an S15 ! and who said we are using pop-ups ?

[Mattyboi]

Cool project!!!! Good luck with it