Nissan Sylvia Japan Gran Touring Championship

[R-34]

By Ricky Chu
Photography: I-DEA and GT Association/Masato Tsukada

Have you ever played a racing game and thought to yourself how bad'ass it would be if those cars were real? If there were more to these cars than just an "X" and "Y" accelerator and brake button? (Put your hand down, Jimmy, we know you have). Well, guess what? You ask and Super Street shall be your genie in a bottle and grant you that one wish. As long as that wish has something to do with seeing the Daishin Motorsports S15 Silvia in our magazine. So now you don't have to drive around the block all crazy in your Mom's station wagon while making braaap'braaap noises. Be grateful, since I've been trying to get Sharon Sotto to call me for the past three issues and my phone has yet to ring.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the JGTC, let us break you in. Don't worry, we'll be gentle. The four letters stand for Japanese Grand Touring Car Championship. Yeah, we know, it's five words, but hey, who's counting? The JGTC was created in 1994 and has grown substantially in its short time on the racing block. With 40 competing cars and over 44,000 spectators at any given venue, you know that the JGTC people mean business. Like many circuit races, winning a JGTC event not only concerns the car and driver's ability, but the strategy to schedule very quick driver changes and tire swaps. To last through this race requires endurance and more stamina than Jonny's hero, Peter North. Then there are the classes. So much to learn, such little time. There are two classes, GT300 and GT500. The numbers designate the horsepower limitations for each class. GT300, the class that this Silvia is competing in, allows for up to 300 hp. Go ahead and take a wild guess for the horsepower limits in the GT500 class. Get it? Got it? Good.

Building a car to run in either class is far from being easy. The GT Association sets up the guidelines and regulations for what can and can't be used on the competing vehicles. Motor restrictions are very important when it comes to racing in the JGTC. The rules allow engine swaps as long as the manufacturer remains the same. This means that Daishin could have pulled out the SR20DET motor and dropped in an RB26DETT from a Skyline. But due to huge weight increases, the more than potent SR20DET motor remained in the S15 chassis. Although 300 hp doesn't seem like a huge amount of power, I assure you that you won't see a sicker engine setup than this in the States. The car builders have the option of using a sequential or non'sequential transmission, up to six gears. To put the power to the ground, the Daishin Silvia is equipped with a Hewland six'speed sequential transmission and an Ogura triple plate clutch. Use of automatic shifters, electronic clutches, and traction controls are prohibited. (Can I bring my RC cars? They have two gears.'JL)

In a race series such as the JGTC, proper chassis setup is way more important than making lots of power. The body itself must remain stock, as you see with the Daishin Silvia. However, aftermarket material can be used for the hood, trunk, doors, and spoilers. Cars are allowed to be widened by 50mm, that's why the Daishin Silvia looks a lot fatter than a stock Silvia. The craziest part about building cars to compete in the JGTC is that so much of the vehicle has to remain in stock form and be functional. So even with all the craziness you see, the car is still somewhat streetable.

Time is running out, so hurry up and do the same stuff to your car. Go buy a widebody kit, strip your interior, and rev like a freak on everyone you see on the street, especially Jonny.

That's probably your only option since you will get as close to the Daishin Silvia as Jimmy will get to having lunch with Tyra Banks. (Actually, I did.'JL; Eating lunch in the same room as Tyra isn't the same as eating at her table.'JW) Actually, we'd believe you more if you said that you flew to Japan and convinced Daishin to let you drive the car. But, we truly apologize for giving you a taste of something so appetizing. Maybe it would be better off if you just went back to playing with cars like this on your video game console. Then you can go and run your mouth to everyone about how fast your Silvia is and not be a liar. It's OK, we don't blame you. Daishin wouldn't let us touch this S15 either. How sad, nobody trusts us; probably because of the stories they've heard about what we do to rentals.

[R-34]

i wonder what is the side of the tires, and look at the huge disc rotor enough to give me chill

[R-34]

i don't about you, but i like to look on the bottom of the car geez look at those things

[R-34]

I6 2.5 300 plus

[R-34]

when can i get my hand on this car

[R-34]

got wing?

for more http://www.superstreetonline.com/featuredvehicles/91538/

[R-34]

JGTC and NASCAR what do think is better? I think Nascar should follow JGTC, Nascar has been in this business for along time longer than JGTC. But look JGTC is going intercontinental believe or not? what continent am i talking about? How bout Europe, through out Asia, soon to be N. America, Africa? hmm you going to ask bro next2u about that :) . Nascar just stay in one place, don't be offended am just stay what is the fact, they will expand unless they change the way to race.

[sid]

Bro34,cai con Sylvia khac con 200SX o cho nao the?Em voi may thang ban em cai nhau mai ve cai vu nay ma chua nga ngu ?Em thay no khac moi cai logo o fia mui xe thoi.Em cung di thu hai con cung doi 98 roi ma chang thay khac biet may nhung em ko ro details about them both.

[R-34]

here it is sid, Sylvia is 200SX, 200SX is Sylvia

200SX History
The Nissan sports coupe line has gone through so many changes and so many names, that some models and years kind of fade into history. The 200SX of the 80's is one car that falls into this category.

In 1977, Nissan (then Datsun) decided it needed a change up in it's current line up of cars. As the 280Z was their only sports coupe in America, which grew heavy over the years and had a tough time meeting emissions standards with the inline 6, something had to be done. Since 1964, Japan had a sports coupe that was not only fuel efficient, but also cheap to produce and fun to drive. This coupe was known as the Silvia.

The Silvia in production at the time was called the S10 Silvia, and was powered by a small version of the 280Z engine. This was undesirable as they were trying to get away from this engine line as the gas crisis increased, so a new Silvia had to be created; one that would be viable for the American market. But in order to get a foothold in the American market early, the Silvia S10 was sent over in 1977. As Nissan had used engine sizes all through the Z line as their names (240Z was 2.4L, 280Z was 2.8L), they aptly named the car the 200SX. Many people actually become confused at this point and call the car the 200ZX, which it is not. The Z named cars were Nissan's "Best of the Best", recieving the 'last letter in the alphabet for the last word in performance'. The 200SX, on the other hand, was not built as a supercar, but as something cheap, fun and reliable. That's why it recieved the 'S' name, for 'sport'. If you're wondering about the 'X', that was introduced to the car naming structure in the late 70's to signify the car had luxury options.


The S110 Silvia came in 1980 in two versions, a coupe and a hatchback. The engine offered in America was the same 2.0L 4 cylinder from the S10, but with a NAPS-Z head. This provided more useable power, and required less gas to do so.

An interesting fact is that Nissan, like Mazda, took on the challenge of building a rotary powered car. A 1000cc rotary was found to produce as much power as a 6 cylinder engine, but use less fuel and weigh less as well. A few prototype rotary S110's were built, but reliability was poor and the rotary engines were problematic, so they returned to using 4 cylinder engines.

After a 6 year run of the S10 & S110, which were adorned with great sales and a whole new young, sporty image for Nissan, they decided to introduce the a new platform to keep up with the times. The main complaints were rust, body stiffness and power, so Nissan had to address all of these with the next generation.


Enter the S12 Silvia. This new 200SX was not only faster, but had more headroom, a more luxurious interior, a stiffer chassis and 'advanced anti-rust protection' as Nissan called it. As the 1980's were the era of Turbochargers, seen on everything from Chrysler K cars to High end supercars, the 200SX had to also have a turbo engine option. An all new 2.0L 4 cylinder was introduced which sported greater compression, more power and better fuel mileage from it's dual spark plug design. Although, the engine everyone lusted after was the 1.8L Turbo. This turbocharged engine, although smaller, boasted 20 more horsepower than the basic 2.0L engine and used less gas than it's bigger 2.0L brother. The kicker is that the rest of the world had the 1.8L engine for a long time before America saw it, and (following the same naming convention) was aptly named the 180SX everywhere else. Since the 2.0L was still the American base engine, they stuck with the name 200SX here.

From 1984 until 1987, the 200SX recieved rave reviews and sold thousands of cars. In 1987, amognst calls for more driveability, the Turbo engine was dropped in the U.S. Instead, a 'Special Edition' was created then that housed the 300ZX's V6 engine which pumped out more torque and bigger horsepower numbers to woo potential buyers. But a new Silvia was already in the works in Japan that was better in every way and was ready to take on the sports coupe challengers of the 1990's. This car was called the S13 Silvia. Will this explain? or you need more?

[sid]

thnx so much for the info bro R34.But i still wondering why they still keep this name Sylvia and 200SX with the brand new version 98 with new body design.?althoungt is similar with each other? At the beginning i though 200SX was America Version but i drove them both when i ve been in NZ and both of them is righhand drive.:confused: and like u explained for me,200SX is more luxury interior but it s the same bro.Nothing special...
Bro r34,do you know any info about 300ZX,it s really strong with tubrocharge (twin tubro) version n i really admire it but i cant find any info about its new version,Did they stop produce this serie or continue?

[R-34]

Originally posted by sid
thnx so much for the info bro R34.But i still wondering why they still keep this name Sylvia and 200SX with the brand new version 98 with new body design.?althoungt is similar with each other? At the beginning i though 200SX was America Version but i drove them both when i ve been in NZ and both of them is righhand drive.:confused: and like u explained for me,200SX is more luxury interior but it s the same bro.Nothing special...
Bro r34,do you know any info about 300ZX,it s really strong with tubrocharge (twin tubro) version n i really admire it but i cant find any info about its new version,Did they stop produce this serie or continue?

Both of this car are the same. In Japan they don't use number as US called 240sx, Australia called 200SX, might be the same as UK, Japan called it Sylvia let put it that way. As for Fairlady (300ZX) it come with TT and non TT. I'll post the information on Z later, my boss is marching around, how irritating

[R-34]

Engine 3.0L Double Overhead Cam (DOHC) 24-valve V6
with Nissan Valve Control System (NVCS) and
Electronic Multiport Fuel Injection
Horsepower 222 @ 6400 RPM
Torque 198 ft-lbs @ 4800 RPM
Compression 10.5:1
Drag Coefficent 0.32
Weight 3200 lbs
Brakes Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS)
11" Front / 11.7" Rear
Wheelbase 96.5"
Length 169.5"
Width 70.5"
Height 49.2"
Wheel Size 16" x 7.5"
Tire Size P225/50VR16
O-60 MPH 6.8 s (Cartest V 4.5)
1/4 Mile 15.0 @ 93 MPH (Cartest V. 4.5)



no word

[R-34]

this is a sport car after all

[R-34]

choose your destiny

[dinhdong]

O-60 MPH 6.8 s (Cartest V 4.5)


dam nice