So the big alloy inlet those Americans made was no good? Being just a random lump like so many inlets I didn't think it'd have very equal flow at least. I see it's got a Porsche Cayanne inlet manifold now! Way better.
Good eyes Stav! Yes, we ran into a couple of teething issues with that inlet manifold but with a bit of work we should be able to get it to work better. For now though we will be using a Cayenne manifold as you said - we'll get some engine bay shots in the next few days as we put together the finishing touches.
More progress! First up was the rear mounted cooling setup - having spoken to a handful of experts in the field we decided to have a rethink and go for a slightly different setup which involved introducing a roof scoop and angling the radiator backwards. We'll get some pictures of the completed setup shortly. One matter that needed addressing was the rather ugly and inefficient OEM inlet manifold which we decided to replace with a Porsche Cayenne item. While it may seem a bit obscure to run a Porsche inlet on a Nissan engine the manifold's fantastic flow characteristics are impossible to ignore. However, in order to fit the manifold we needed a pair of bespoke flanges making up. There was only one company we were going to call and that was Die-Max Engineering up in Scotland, owned and run by BDC competitor Steven Donnelly's family. Suffice to say the flanges are a work of art and we can't wait to get them fitted - stay tuned! Next up was a lovely delivery from our sponsors at Maxxis - a plethora of their awesome MA-Z1 drift tyres ready to be destroyed, thanks guys! Obviously we needed some wheels to put them on - enter some XXR 530s in 18x9.75 et20 sizes. We couldn't wait to chuck them on the S15 and take a look - with fresh paint and the new wheel setup we can only imagine how mean this thing would look driving down the street...but next up is fresh vinyl ready for Round 1 of the BDC!
Not long until Round 1 of the BDC! One area of the car that did get a full refresh was the range of Japspeed suspension arms. We posted some pictures of these a few pages back but what we didn't touch upon was the new arms in our range that have been included in the build. First up was our new style SuperLock Tension Rods to help with additional clearance for the cars Geomaster steering setup and wide front wheels. The focus with these arms was strength and durability and as such they are extremely rugged while still providing us with all the extra clearance we need. And mounted to the car: We also fitted a pair of our new SuperLow rear toe rods. We originally designed these with cars running standard rear hubs in mind in an effort to provide additional clearance between the arms and the subframe and, although our V8 S15 runs Geomasters (thus altering the arm angle in comparison to a more basic car) the additional clearance is still handy. Here is one of the arms mounted up to a Geomaster hub: And in the name of testing we chucked a standard hub back on the car to check how it compared: And the finished article: With Round 1 of the BDC at Lydden Hill just a few days away we've got our work cut out but we'll keep you posted every step of the way!
The car had its first shakedown at Lydden Hill the weekend before last for Round 1 of the Maxxis British Drift Championship. Obviously we'd have liked to have had some time with the car before the event but unfortunately we were too pushed for time. Shane and the S15 headed out onto the damp Lydden circuit and, bar a few minor tyre pressure and alignment tweaks, it was pretty much spot on. Heading into practice the entire team was confident in both the car's and Shane's abilities and were hoping for a good qualifying spot. Shane looked to have the potential to take the top spot but a handful of unforced errors put paid to his efforts but he managed to secure 5th place in convincing style. With the Top 16 battles drawn Shane would be finding himself up against Dan Chapman come Sunday afternoon. The first battle saw Shane in the lead position - he took a commanding lead but unfortunately drifting onto an area of the track that remained greasy and wet resulted in a spin. With the roles reversed Shane chased hard but unfortunately the prop failed on us just before the hairpin leaving us with no option but to retire. Nevertheless it was a successful first shakedown for the car and we can't wait to get it back out on track! You can read our full event report on the Japspeed website here: 2nd for Sully at Round 1 of Maxxis BDC! | Team Japspeed Wheel clearance wasn't really an issue but engine/sump clearance was - Shane also prefers the car without it.
Sorry for slacking on this guys - time for a bit of a recap. Since Round 1 of BDC the car hasn't seen an awful lot of use but we've been spending the time trying to iron out issues. In particular, drivetrain related problems related to the sheer amount of torque this thing puts down. In May the boys headed over to Barbados for Top Gear Festival so the V8 S15 and 2JZ Lexus were left on a boat and wouldn't reappear until they docked in Barbados a few weeks later. Obviously heat was a major concern of ours considering the Carribean climate but thankfully there were no serious issues to report all weekend and the guys had an incredible time with Lewis Hamilton, Ken Block, Clarkson and the rest of the Top Gear crew. The Bushy Park circuit was only finished a day or two prior to the event so we were some of the first to give the new layout a shakedown. Unfortunately Shane wasn't able to attend Round 2 of the BDC due to other commitments so the car's next outing wasn't until Round 3 of King of Europe at Lydden Hill. Shane netted 10th place in qualifying but unfortunately transmission issues reared their ugly head and we decided not to run the car for fear of causing severe damage to items such as the Quaife 'box without being able to inspect the issue further. After being satisfied that we'd resolved the issue and, having chucked some new plates in our Exedy Hyper Triple clutch, we took the car down to Greg at Protuner to try and extract some extra ponies. The graph below is the result (excuse the scribbles): We can switch between maps on the fly should we wish to turn things up or down a notch but one area for concern was the loss of low down torque in comparison to the previous setup. We're currently running 0.9 bar wastegate springs but these will soon be swapped out for a pair of 0.4 items on Greg's recommendation before the next mapping session. With a fresh dosage of power we loaded the car up and headed straight from Greg's to Teesside for Round 3 of the BDC. The first practice session took place in the dry but the heavens opened as the cars returned to the pits, washing away the traction and leaving an extremely greasy and slippery track surface in its place. The team battled on and Shane netted a very respectable 6th place in qualifying. In fact, all four Japspeed drivers made the cut and would be competing in the battles the following day. Shane's first battle was against our Maxxis team mate Christian Lewis, but unfortunately his day was to end prematurely during his chase run as he lost all drive while shifting up coming out of the final hairpin. As he limped the car back to the pits we set about diagnosing the fault prior to bringing the car back to base and studying it in more detail. The cause? A GTR driveshaft sheered in half, a sheared diff casing across the rear mounting studs and snapped teeth on the diff clutch packs. Yikes! The rear end of the car is currently in pieces as we work on refurbishing the GTR diffs that we've got (we found more clutch packs with snapped teeth in these too!) and we'll update again once the car's back together.
