I get asked for a lot of automotive advice. Two questions I’ve been getting asked a lot lately are from P-platers wanting to know what car they should buy or how they should modify it. My usual reply is ” buy the cheapest car possible, don’t modify it and save your money until you are off your Ps and buy a good car.” Why did I always say this? To avoid the wasted money on a slow car being only marginally less slow and adult thinking. But then I realised that half the fun is the modifying itself and teenagers are going to buy a car and play with it no matter how blue in the face an adult goes trying to tell them otherwise. This combined with the fact when i got my WA license in 1998 I was able to buy an MX-6 turbo as my first car, has meant I’ve never given a P-plate modifying solution a thought. I think it’s time I looked into it.

 

So, If I suddenly woke up tomorrow a 17-year old on my P’s, what would I do? Well, as with most things, it comes down to money really, but I have a theory that will work on a few different models of car. If you want to make outright power NA, then really the only way to go is with a Honda. K-swap into an old civic, S2000 etc. Honda modification is well documented, but it isn’t overly cheap or easy. But what other options are there? My theory is to buy an NA version of a performance car that is available in turbo form or, buy the turbo version and drop an NA version in the car while you build the turbo motor. Doing this will enable you to buy all of the suspension, drivetrain, wheel, tyre and braking modifications ( and aero and cosmetic ) for the car that you would buy if it was turbo anyway, and then focus on learning to drive, getting seat time and saving money for you turbo engine. You could still fit some engine accessories such as oil cooler and radiator, but my advice is dont even bother with power modifactions. Why? Because it is simply a waste of mony. I have personally watched ( and laughed ) while someone convinced he could make NA power, put together a SR20 with a 2.2-liter stroker, quad throttle bodies, solid lifters and all the fruit and make a measily 175wkW.  It cost him over $20,000 to make the same power and less torque than a S14 with an exhaust, intercooler and a bit of boost ( which would cost under 2K ).  Now that I think of it, the most powerful 4-cylinder NA I’ve seen was a stroked K-series Honda engine with all the fruit, and it still struggled to crack 200kW @ wheels. Same story with over 20K spent! I’d rather a car with 15K spent on the suspension, brakes, drivetrain, wheels and tyres and a 5K turbo engine combo any day of the week over that!

 

The other benefit of doing all of the suspension and braking modifications while on your Ps is that most young people with a turbo car only care about power and build a death trap. 300kW @ wheels S15s with stock brakes and lowered springs and no upgraded cooling system are pretty common in Sydney and are an accident waiting to happen. If you spend 3 years upgrading the suspension, drivetrain, wheels and tyres and brakes and attending track days, you will come out the other end much better off. I’ve always said if you can learn to drive without power, then you can drive even better when you’ve got it. Good lap times without power require precision lines, later braking and no stuff ups that you can simply power your way back out of. So what car and combos would suit this theory?

 

NISSAN SILVIA


Now,  your money situation will determine which model you buy, but obviously the later the better. Now there are a few ways to go on this. You could buy a turbo version of any Silvia and put an NA motor in it, or, buy a NA version and turbo it later. So which is the way to go? If you buy an NA Silvia you will get 4-stud hubs, small brakes and softer suspension. If you buy the turbo version you will get 5-stud hubs and larger brakes, but, you will have to buy an NA motor. Which way do you go? Once again, it comes down to money. The NA version will be cheaper to begin with and get you started straight away, but cost more later. You can also upgrade the brakes beyond what the turbo version has anyway and nothing wrong with some new hubs on an old car. If you go turbo, you pay more and also need to buy an NA motor. On the flip side, you can build the turbo engine on the side while you drive you car around and a NA engine is a lot cheaper to buy than the turbo engine you would need to buy later if you went NA.

 

So once you have your NA Silvia, now what?  Dont touch the engine. Period. Cops will leave you alone, it will be reliable and you wont waste money. The tiny power increase might make a wannabe drag racer feel better, but at the track, it will mean very little. Get to work on the suspension, brakes, drivetrain wheels and tyres. In fact, good tyre will make the biggest difference yo your NA Silvia for track times. We will be putting together a Silvia modifiers guide soon on our website. Just follow every part of it, bar the engine.  A lot of P-platers are going for the Autech version of the S15 which makes more power than a normal NA SR20, but the rarity and demand has kept prices high. Almost on par with turbo versions! I’d rather save the money personally, and spend it on other mods. Young people always obsessed with power…..until they go to a racetrack!

So basically, you spend three years modifying the suspension, brakes, drivetrain, wheels and tyres and then when your off you Ps, drop a turbo motor in and have the complete package.

 

SUBARU IMPREZA


The same theory can be applied to the Subaru Impreza as well, although it gets more complicated. Skylines and Silvias are know for the interchangability, but with the Subaru its a bit different. There are a few more differences between them such as seats, drivetrain, brakes and in some models the chassis is stiffer.  In the original GC shape ( MY94-MY00 ) its pretty straight forward to swap running gear from WRX into GX, but later models have more and more differences between them, separating the turbo models further away from NA models. If your into DIY and having fun, I would either start with the oldest GC Impreza possible( 94 ) and buy a crashed or rally only MY00 STi. Then you can swap over seats, interior, brakes, bodykit and save the engine for later. From MY01 onwards, I would buy a WRX and put a NA engine in it as the differences are too great between NA and turbo. STi would be even better!  I strongly advise against the starting with GX/RX then covnerting to turbo alter in alter model WRXs. It’s not as easy as it seems. You would be better off driving your NA Impreza around with just wheels and coilovers, then selling the car and putting the parts into a WRX.

 

NISSAN SKYLINE


Same deal as the Silvia. Choose between buying a NA and turbo it later and have 4-stud, small brakes etc or start with a turbo and drop in a NA motor. My pick for the DIY-er is to buy an R33 GTS-25t and drop in a R34 NEO motor. That way you can freshen up the RB25 engine and you already have 5-stud, reasonable brakes, R200 diff, RB25 gearbox in the car. But if you start with an R32, then get an  NA GTS as the RB20 engine and box will get ditched when you go turbo anyway. Stick with the NA RB20 ( less power but oh well ) and do the diff, brakes, suspension and put in an RB25 gearbox. Then latter, drop in an RB25DET and off you go.

If your an avid Skyline fan, and money isn’t an issue, you could always buy a GT-R and drop in a NA engine for a while. Just do me a favour and take off the GT-R badge until your off your Ps :)

 

WARNING! – DO NOT USE A TURBO ENGINE WITHOUT THE TURBO

OK, some people ask me “why not just take of the turbo?” Simple.They drive like junk. Turbo engines have lower compression and camshafts optimised for forced induction so when they dont have boost then dont have power. A turbo SR20 makes 147kW factory and an NA makes between 100 and 126kW from factory. If you remove the turbo, the SR20DET will, at a guess, make around 75kW ( maybe less ). you wouldn’t be able to put up with it while on your Ps and with the price of NA engines being very cheap, there is no need to look at this idea.

 

 

THE ULTIMATE BUDGET P-PLATE COMBO

If I had to start on the smallest budget possible and work my way up, how would I do it? I’d start with a Sr20 manual S13. It would have to be SR20 and manual as the gearbox is the same in turbo and non turbo, so wouldn’t need to buy one later, and doing a manual conversion to an auto is a pain. Starting with that model is the way to go.

First step would be to buy S14 front lower control arms, knuckles, hubs,brakes, swayabr and struts out of a wreck. I would then fit lowered springs and install all of that into the front end.  The reason you need to get the entire front end  is that 5-stud hubs do not bolt onto a 4-stud knuckle. You can buy aftermarket 5-stud hubs that do, but the added benefit is that S14 lower control arms are 20mm longer, giving better track and more castor  (on the same castor rods). It will also be cheaper to buy the entire front suspension and brakes from a wrecker.

Up the back I would find S14 rear hubs and brake rotors and bolt them on. The knuckle doesn’t need to be changed and the rear calipers are the same anyway. The new disk is required t go 5-stud. I would also pick up a R32 GT-R rear sway bar from a wreck if I could too. On the back I would also replace the factory shocks with some new ones when installing lowered springs as the factory ones WILL fail and leak with matched up with lowered springs.

While at the wrecker I would also  grab some S14 or S15 wheels, which are wider and bigger than S13 and will give a factory but more modern look, and I’d also pick up a R200 LSD diff out of a turbo version. But before it goes in, I’d open it up and shim it, making it tighter and work more like an aftermarket mechanical LSD for a lot less money.

Last thing would be spending the money on some decent brake pads such as Nismo or Project Mu. Dont let anyone fool you, cheap brakes are cheap for a reason. They are crap.

 

Some other budget mods would be some steering arm spacers for more lock ( $20)  and some castor rods would be a handy upgrade right about now too if you serious about track work. Am oil cooler would go down well also if you have the budget.

This combo as a budget build would handle great, stop great and be nice and reliable and a great car to learn how to drive in. It would also drift like a bandit in the wet :)

 

 

 

 


 

 

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