Engine Mods on a SPEC S Nissan Silvia

[Lesta3474]

Hi Guys, Just want to know if engine modification on a Nissan Silvia Spec S will harm the lifespan of the engine? I was looking into things like the exhaust manifold... Cold Air Intake... things that will not restrict the airflow.

Not sure about bolt on headers and what not.. all I want is an extra 20 - 40 gain in HP (anything more will be a bonus) so that my new Wheels done feel so sluggish when compared to the stock wheels.

Any input will be much appreciated!

[Romeo]

Should keep it original, "modifying" a vehicle does nothing but depreciate it, whilst at the same time chewing up your capital. I see quite often guys will buy a 'not-really-a-performance-car' car and put $5-10k into it, then end up selling it for 1/3rd the amount they spent on it.

If you want performance, get a motorbike. That's what I did, haven't looked back since ;P.

IE:

$6k worth of mid 90's 600cc+ motorcycle will dominate 95% of the vehicles on the road.

EDIT:

Lifespan really depends on how well you treat it, given 15 minutes warm up time those engines are pretty safe. Turbo?

Also, depends how you drive as well. If you want to be fast in a straight line, then engine mods would be a good idea. But if you're a real man and plan on actually cornering, you'll make up a lot more time with suspension work than engine work.

[Lesta3474]

Lol! I have a learner license on a motorbike. Bought a 150cc bike during Jun and been taking it to work until my old car broke down so thats why i got the Nissan Silvia (been eyeing one for a long time now). Because of the bloody learner restrictions (which i think is bloody rediculous) I can't go out and by a GSXR or a YZF or Ninja etc. Pretty keen on a 750 GSXR 08. I mean, I've plenty of experience on bikes.. just that the process of getting a license here meant i had to go through the same procedure as a 16 year old (is that the age restriction)!

Anyway, back to the car... Its a N/A car and I don push the car too hard as to prolong the lifespan (Don see the point pushing the car hard on public roads). Been thinking about suspensions as well but engine is more on getting the acceleration back to how it was.. or maybe slightly better.

BTW:

I don like drag racing.. more of a circuit guy. No offense to all the Drag racers out there.

[paul_r]

i used to have a s14 silvia.... how much money are you willing to spend?

things i done were, 4-2-1 extractors, 2.5 inch exhaust from extractors with a resonator and rear tip.

Remade the air intake, got rid of standard plastic intake, got steel/alloy (cant remember) intake made up to follo path of standard intake and instead of pod filter in engine bay i got the pipe to go through body of car to where standard air box holes went and pod filter was outside engine bay. (hope you get what i mean) intake sounded wiked!!!!!

made car go alot better, sounded nice but not too loud, be careful with the sr20 motors, if exhaust is not made properly (eg too big or not enough resonators) sound stupidly raspy and terrible!!!! 20-40 hp gain in a na car can be quite expensive, once intake and exhaust done get car dyno tuned, pretty sure the silvias can get their ecu's remapped. reasonably cheap to get done, no where near the cost of a link.

made it go a bit quicker, cant really expect too much from a n/a car, also upgraded suspension and brakes, made it sit alot lower, ride ALOT better, silvias have natural great handling, all i done was got new shocks and super low springs, managed to get a really good deal, front strut brace aswell. really stiffened up car and handled a dream. If car is 4 stud you can get the 5 stud hubs from s15 silvia and some s14s and they have bigger brakes, uprated pads is all i done and made a great difference

id recomend adjustables, totally transform a car, but even the superlows i had in mine were reeally stiff and handled great, sat nice and low (but not too low)

let us know how you go, would love to see pics (silvias are still my fav cars)

[smidey]

adding a pod filter & doing extractors will increase power but will also most likely improve your fuel economy under normal use as the engine will flow better as it isn't as restricted. I don't know too much about rice burners, does it have an air flow meter or map sensor? a map sensor will be fine but i did have a gtx familia that kept blowing air flow meters after i added a pod filter. an air flow meter lets the right amount of air mix with the fuel. a map sensor adds the right amount of fuel to the air which simply means more air, more fuel & therefore more power.

I don't agree that modifications decrease the value on this type of vehicle, if it was collectable it would.

[paul_r]

they have air flow meters

[smidey]

they have air flow meters

you may want to flag the idea of a pod, just change the standard pad with a k&n. in 97 when i had my 90 gtx they were $228 each & probably more now. Maybe the newer ones won't fail, someone else may have or didn't have any fail.

[paul_r]

ive owned a number of sr20 & 18 powered cars all with pod filters, have never had a prob with the airflow meter, and they are very cheap, can get second hand for next to nothing. all sr18de/20de/20det AFM are interchangable, think even ca18 ones are the same however dont quote me on that

keeping origional airbox and panel filter makes the intake alot quiter (intake of a screaming sr20de once vvti kicks in is wiked!!!)

not sure about power differences but factory airboxes are generally classed as restrictive, air intake as i mentioned earlier has just the pod filter with no restriction and is blocked from engine bay heat, best of both worlds (in my opinion)

[smidey]

i cant remeber exactely how the AFM works, but dosn't it heat excess air to keep the air/fuel mix right?

[paul_r]

i cant remember exactly how it works, been a while since ive had a car with an AFM, something along the lines of the afm has a sensor that heats up or expands as more air flows through thus creating a current which the ecu reads and allows the corresponding ammount of fuel to be added.

cant remember exactly but pretty sure its close to that

[smidey]

i cant remember exactly how it works, been a while since ive had a car with an AFM, something along the lines of the afm has a sensor that heats up or expands as more air flows through thus creating a current which the ecu reads and allows the corresponding ammount of fuel to be added.

cant remember exactly but pretty sure its close to that

something like that, i know the issue with mine was so much air was going through it couldn't keep up & burnt out.

[David R]

cant really expect too much from a n/a car

LOL bring that poxy starlet to the next NZHondas track day at Taupo and we'll see just how much you can't really expect from an NA car... :roll:

To be perfectly honest you're kinda wasting your time with the Spec-S, if you wanted performance you should have saved a bit more and started with the Spec-R. You will get a small gain from doing I/H/E but it still won't get you close to a stock Spec-R.

But to answer your question, doing a few basic bolt-on mods shouldn't have any effect on the lifespan of your motor. Keep it well serviced, don't give it death when its cold, etc and you should have a good run with it. If you're more of a circuit/cornering guy then forget about the motor and spend some money on some decent coil-overs, lighter rims with good tyres (yes folks, wheels are actually a performance mod if you don't buy big ugly heavy chromes!!), and perhaps some uprated sway bars and braces. That way if you do decide to upgrade to a Spec-R (or just drop an SR20DET in) then you'll still be reaping the benefits, unlike you would with mods to the motor.

Speaking from personal experience, I got far more enjowment out of doing handling upgrades to my civic than I did doing a B18C-R swap, blowing a heap of cash on a new motor and close ratio box made it a heap quicker, but not really that much more fun than the stock B16A...

[David R]

Paul/Smidey; the GTX and the Nissan have two different types of AFM, the GTX has a "flapper" with a flap that opens more or less depending on how much air is being sucked through, and the Nissans have the "hot wire" one which has a wire with an electrical current running through it and works on temperature.

[smidey]

i reckon the best mod i ever did to a car was fitting HUGE brakes. being able to brake hard & late makes it a real driving experience. When i say HUGE, i have 13" (330mm) discs & 4 pot calipers. You won't need to go to that extreme but performace brakes will make a big difference.

[spoon]

normally doin ane modification will result in less fuel economy as it can upset the fuel/air ratio and overfuel

[David R]

i reckon the best mod i ever did to a car was fitting HUGE brakes. being able to brake hard & late makes it a real driving experience. When i say HUGE, i have 13" (330mm) discs & 4 pot calipers. You won't need to go to that extreme but performace brakes will make a big difference.

For sure, good pads and fluid should be next on the list after good suspension and tyres! Aftermarket calipers can also reduce the unsprung weight which has a big effect on handling. I've heard nothing but good things about these guys: http://www.racebrakes.co.nz/

[paul_r]

am hoping to be at the next nz hondas track day, a bunch of mates go to most of them, an orange gto and red evo 6 if youve been to any of the previous ones, i even marshalled at one of the ones Ben Foote organised before going down south (i think). also hoping to go to to toyota v honda when it comees up.

[smidey]

For sure, good pads and fluid should be next on the list after good suspension and tyres! Aftermarket calipers can also reduce the unsprung weight which has a big effect on handling. I've heard nothing but good things about these guys: http://www.racebrakes.co.nz/

yeah they are great, the help with anything they can. Wilwood was my choice & it was worth it. i guess it would be as good as gaining 40 hp.

[evil_elmo]

LOL bring that poxy starlet to the next NZHondas track day at Taupo and we'll see just how much you can't really expect from an NA car... :roll:

To be perfectly honest you're kinda wasting your time with the Spec-S, if you wanted performance you should have saved a bit more and started with the Spec-R. You will get a small gain from doing I/H/E but it still won't get you close to a stock Spec-R.

But to answer your question, doing a few basic bolt-on mods shouldn't have any effect on the lifespan of your motor. Keep it well serviced, don't give it death when its cold, etc and you should have a good run with it. If you're more of a circuit/cornering guy then forget about the motor and spend some money on some decent coil-overs, lighter rims with good tyres (yes folks, wheels are actually a performance mod if you don't buy big ugly heavy chromes!!), and perhaps some uprated sway bars and braces. That way if you do decide to upgrade to a Spec-R (or just drop an SR20DET in) then you'll still be reaping the benefits, unlike you would with mods to the motor.

Speaking from personal experience, I got far more enjowment out of doing handling upgrades to my civic than I did doing a B18C-R swap, blowing a heap of cash on a new motor and close ratio box made it a heap quicker, but not really that much more fun than the stock B16A...

i agree with dave, you're not going to get alot of HP with simple I/H/E mods and the amount of money you would spend, you rather of saved up and get a spec R

another think to remember is the exhaust DB law, modifying your exhaust you most probably will be over the limit

[Ghaz]

get rid of the rev limiter... not sure if they have it but mine did, S14 K's, now i dont have ta worry bout cutting out at 210k's, and get a turbo off trade me and make it an SR20de+t, and a nice big intercooler.

don't make it too low, my exhaust sparks when im 4 up, but i tend not to take many passengers.

[paul_r]

sr20de+T is reasonably cheap, can pick up all the gear second hand for reasonably cheap and its almost direct bolt on, from memory just need to get oil lines done and a det thermostat housing with the water lines. pretty sure you need a det fuel pump injectors etc

But thats when you sacrifice reliability for power, although the sr20de motors can handle being turbod, so long as they are tuned properly and ran on good fuel they in theory should be alright. Not sure if i would risk in on a s15 though, alot of money to spend if something goes wrong.

New intake system, along with new exhaust system, mine had extractors was 2.5inch with 2 resonators and a shiney tip thing, was quiet but sounded nice. then get put on dyno and get ecu remapped.

shouldnt cost too much to get done, then decent suspension and brakes and youl be smiling. The above mods should do nothing to affect reliability, give car a bit more power, sound nice and be able to outhandle alot of other cars on the road

[David R]

get a turbo off trade me and make it an SR20de+t, and a nice big intercooler.

Complete and utter waste of money, talk about doing it the hard way! If you want forced induction, sell it now before you spend a cent on it and buy a Spec-R, then you get the actual DET motor that was built for boost with lower compression etc, 5-stud hubs, bigger brakes, etc etc etc.

[Lesta3474]

Is turbo charging a Spec S safe? What about Supercharging.. in any case.. doing force induction on an engine that was not made for it to begin with.. isn't that bad? I guess i could run lower boost since the compression on the SR20DE is much higher then the turbo version? Does that mean less turbo lag as well?

Maybe I'm being alil unrealistic about the HP gain... will 5-10 hp gain be even noticeable though? Oh, and how much HP gain if i changed the Intake and exhaust flows?

lol sorry about all the questions... As far as engine mods go.. I'm still very green!

[paul_r]

you can use forced induction on a n/a motor, i am in the process of doing the exact same thing to my starlet. number one rule is GET IT TUNED, detonation kills motors fast.

one of quickest gt starlets in nz is useing a basically standard n/a 1500 motor running about 20psi and makes over 200kw at wheels and runs 11's. thats my goal eventually.

but i definatly agree with david, if you want to go turbo route sell car now and buy a spec R, already has all the goodies from factory, save alot of hassle and money etc

been a while since i had my silvia, cannot remember exactly how much power can be expected from intake and exhaust, definatly dont expect huge power gains its just not gunna happen. perhaps ask on nissansilvia.co.nz forums how much power gain to expect from cold air intake, full exhaust and remapped ecu, getting ecu remapped will offer best increase in power, and costs a couple hundred to get done, but i would wait until air intake n exhaust done first for maximum gains

i think your model silvia comes with around 150 horsepower standard

[Hoody]

normally doin ane modification will result in less fuel economy as it can upset the fuel/air ratio and overfuel

With alot of the "chip's" or "re-mapping", A/F ratio is leaned out. That is how they get the "more power, bigger economy" claim's. Ie; A certain well known Commodore ECU re-flash. Most manufacture's err on the side of caution with there A/F ratio's