Let's admit it, drifting is not exactly the easiest form of motorsport for a car. The main aim of the sport is utter destruction. Tires are the first to go, obviously, then comes the clutch following countless "kicks" to get the rear wheels to break traction. Bouncing off the limiter in every gear is not easy for the engine either and let's not even get into what can happen when things go wrong and you find yourself sliding uncontrollably into a barrier. With so many components becoming consumables, drifters have for years been forgiven for not caring so much about the way their cars look like. Functioning oily bits have always taken precedence over spotless bodywork, however this doesn't apply to everyone. Enter Andy Gray of Powervehicles.com. Andy's right-out passion for the whole drifting scene is simply admirable. A few years back he moved to Japan from his native Scotland, to culture his drifting skills in the land where it all began. His philosophy is a simple one, drift cars have not only need to pack an almighty punch in the engine department but they need to back their performance with a stunning exterior. His latest S13 project car is the perfect example of such fine balance.
Built for a customer, the 1992 S13 Nissan Silvia you see here sports a very clean and simple approach to aesthetics. However, as the old clich goes, looks can be deceiving. Under strict orders to create a very powerful setup Andy decided to do things a little different from the norm. So instead of going crazy with tuning parts on the stock SR20, the 4-cylinder motor was pulled out and set aside for something with a little more, ehm, oomph. D1 shop Kazama Auto sourced an RB26DETT from an old R32 Skyline GT-R, an engine that was in great condition despite its age. To prepare it for a slight increase in power the head was pulled off and the bearings upgraded to Nismo items. An HKS metal head gasket was fitted to make sure the engine would cope with the slight increase in boost. To keep the spread of torque and power accessible at any rpm a set of 256 HKS cams were dropped in and adjusted with the aid of HKS slide cam pulleys. Once the engine was all sealed up it was on to the turbo manifold, which was slightly ported to match the slightly bigger openings on the Nismo N1 turbine flanges. These Garrett blowers are a tested and proven upgrade and good for 500 HP on a stock engine like this. With all ancillaries in place, it was on to creating the custom engine mounts and making sure everything would fit in the smaller Silvia engine room. The exhaust side was finished up with a set of HKS front pipes, which were slightly modified to clear the underside of the chassis, ready to be connected up to the one-off cat-less exhaust system that had been fabricated. Custom aluminum piping was used extensively in order to create intake pipes on which the two GReddy filters would be fitted on. Custom work extended to the intercooler piping which had to be fabricated to line up with the HKS intercooler. In the fueling department, only a Nismo in-tank fuel pump was fitted which makes sure fuel pressure stays high so that the stock injectors can be used at their full-duty cycle. Thanks to the remapping done to the Impul ECU that the S13 originally came with, 500 HP were easily achieved, giving the Silvia way more power than it needs. Exactly what you want on a drift car! To take care of the cooling, an HKS oil cooler was joined by a Yashio Factory triple layer radiator which is kept in check by the custom air-separator tank. To make life easier, a 5-speed R33 Skyline Type M transmission was mated up to the RB26 along with a twin-plate OS Giken clutch. Still from OS Giken is the 2-way LSD, which locks instantly allowing the car to be steered on the throttle.