The driver's seat is the place to be sitting in this '92 Nissan NX-R. Suspended nice and close to the tarmac, the laid-back cabin with its glass targa roof credits it with a modern, sporty feel. But drop the right pedal and as the owner Michael Wentriro puts it, "passengers lose fingernails in the dashboard".
No sir, this car is certainly no filter-and-exhaust wheezer, but a real performer which retains the terrific drivability and response of a standard naturally aspirated SR20DE motor.
Michael purchased the car in 1996 from a mate who decided to go to town on this good-looking compact coupe. After a few minor mods, he strode into Fueltronics asking the fellas there for a bit more sting in the tail. After some heavy persuasion it was decided to go for a 75hp nitrous kit along with the necessary engine management changes to cope with the magical gas. And after taking it for a gas-powered drive the then-owner Arthur was a happy customer.
He then went to work fitting a set of lowered APEX coils and Koni shockers to get the desired ride height and ride, and then selected larger Whiteline swaybars front and rear. With this done, we can genuinely state that the car handles exceptionally well and is practical enough to be able to manage spoon drains without bottoming or making crunching noises. Although the famous K-Mart carpark speed humps can still catch the car out...
At this stage of development all was well - until Arthur became tired of the expense of frequently feeding the hungry SR-motor with the gas. So once more the car got parked in the Fueltronics garage and was subjected to another phase of modification. The ever-strong Nissan engine was left basically as God intended internally, but it was treated to good ol' forced induction courtesy of a custom turbo installation.
A joint project between ATS and Fueltronics, the engine received a modified SR20DET exhaust manifold to include a VL Commodore turbocharger (T03). The relatively large size of this turbo combines wonderfully with the high-compression engine and comes on boost as early as 2000rpm, but it can still flow enough to keep the engine honking under high load and rpm conditions. A Fueltronics electronic boost controller controls the standard T03 wastegate with preset levels from 6 to 15psi. On 15psi, the car patters left and right as the rush of torque to the front wheels plays mayhem with the tyres.
Cooling compressed intake air is an interesting custom water-to-air intercooler. Using a Whale 12V bilge pump, water is circulated through a Subaru Liberty front intercooler radiator and into a custom fabricated heat exchanger core with AVO design end tanks welded on. The flattened intake crossover pipe is actually one pulled from a Japanese Nissan turbo motor. As part of the Turbo Control Centre 2, an electronically controlled blow-off valve is fitted to the induction system, which is all fed through a cylindrical K&N filter under the hood.
To maintain good head flows and the right drivability, larger cams from a SR20DET (turbo engine) have been inserted into the engine. The standard engine management system was re-chipped and modified to suit the over-atmospheric intake pressures, with modified fuel and ignition curves to suit premium grade fuel.
At the other end of the combustion process, a 3-inch mandrel system collects spent gasses and puts them through a high flow cat and single rear muffler. Like most 3-inch systems, the car sounds pretty wild too - especially with the whistle of the turbo when it's on boost.
The front wheels are linked to the power plant by the standard 5-speed gearbox, with a heavy-duty pressure plate and aftermarket clutch added to prevent slip. That's up to the front rubbers!
With 16x7 Momo Status rims under each guard, the poor-sap 205/45 Toyo Proxes cry and let go whenever the boost needle is winding up, but the car isn't totally uncontrollable - its just a little eye-widening....
Combining turbocharging with the nitrous kit created even bigger traction problems. A smaller 50hp gas kit was installed but Michael says it was still too dangerous in urban areas. Because of this, the financial cost of filling the bottle and the added drivetrain stress, the kit has been discarded for the time being.
Having travelled a total of 95,000 kilometres (59,000 miles) the car has proven totally reliable, although the odd noise from a front driveshaft has been reported. Obviously the standard Nissan components are well engineered.
With the glass targa roof removed the car is a top summer cruiser, but unfortunately Michael says he doesn't get to enjoy it as often as he likes - not with work and all. Helping to make the whole NX-R experience an enjoyable one is the presence of a top quality sound system that consumes the entire rear cargo area.
Starting with an Alpine AXR-9270 18-stack CD/ cassette/ tuner, quality audio wires relay signals to a rear mounted Alpine V12 amp and a smaller Pioneer unit. A pair of 12-inch subs and rear Kenwood 6x9s are pounded by the V12 amp, while the Pioneer amp feeds a pair of front splits.
For the cosmetically inclined, the rear subs are complimented by neon speaker rings which can pulse to the beat of music, but for more practical reasons the rear 6x9s are mounted on hinged mounts to give access to some storage space. And because of constrained under bonnet space, a Stinger battery with gold plated terminals is at home in one of the compartments formed by the hinged 6x9s. Up front the Momo gear knob sees duty and there's a VDO boost gauge, Fueltronics LCD boost control unit and the standard cruise control equipped steering wheel to grab onto.
In case you didn't notice the sticker on the rear window, the car is currently for sale. But if he doesn't sell it, Michael wants to fit bigger brakes - the current racing pads just don't do enough to contain the car's speed. With around 142kW (190hp) on tap at the front wheels of this 1100 odd kg (2420lb) car Michael says he can steam-roll V8-powered HSV Commodores, which is an activity that makes him feel "sort of bad".
Yeah sure - I'd be heading straight for confession...
Note:
The car is presently for sale in South Australia, anyone genuinely interested can contact the owner through AutoSpeed.
Contacts:
ATS (Adelaide Turbo Service)
+61 8 8377 2511
Fueltronics sales@fueltronics.com.au
www.fueltronics.com.au
AVO
http://www.avoturbo.com/
