I’m feeling a little bit nostalgic right now. A little over two years ago, I was presented the opportunity to become a writer for StanceNation, and my first article was Nissan Silvia from Australia. It was wide-bodied, aggressive, mean, and sinister. Now, two years later and countless features written, I’m back with another, sinister, Australian Silvia. This time, a ’98 S14 owned by Chris Muscat from Melbourne. He comes out swinging, representing that Aussie x Jap-style mash-up that were accustomed to from the land Down Under.
Now hold up a minute…a ’98 S14? It doesn’t look like a kouki model. Now before our readers start hammering away on their keyboards that we don’t know what we’re talking about at S:N, Chris’ car is indeed a late-model S14 which he converted to the earlier, zenki style. Some might see this as sacrilegious and downright stupid, but I can guarantee that Chris doesn’t care what you think. “It wasn’t something a lot of people agreed with, but I never once regret doing it.”
So, why convert the car? Well, besides the fact that Chris likes the way the Zenki looks over the Kouki, he also stuffed the car into a wall a few years back at a local drift event. He deliberated whether to scrap the car or fix it, and after some thinking and convincing from his mates, Chris decided to rebuild the car and change it up. The first order of business was ordering a full Rocket Bunny kit for the car which consisted of full front and rear bumpers, front wide fenders, rear over fenders, side skirts, and duckbill spoiler. The kit adds a total of 30mm extra girth to the Nissan, throwing caution to the wind of all the New Years Resolutioners and proclaiming that FAT is the way to be. Before being finished in a glitter-bomb infused purple paint job, Chris added a BN Sports vented hood and East Bear side mirrors. Rounding out the Zenki conversion is a set of 2up crystal clear headlights, D-Max clear bumper lights and signal lenses, and 326Power tail lights.
We don’t feature many S-Chassis here that aren’t practically scraping the ground, and this S14 doesn’t disappoint. A lot of people complain about how ‘impractical’ it looks to have a car this low, but come on, you’re on StanceNation. WE LIKE LOW CARS! Like Sir-Mix-A-Lot says, “I like ’em real thick and juicy,” and s-chassis owners have been nailing that down for a long time. With its wide hips it was time for Chris to back that ass up and dump it to the floor. Chris’ S14 gets low thanks to a set of HSD coilovers while a pair of 20mm extended front, lower-control arms, PBM castor rods, and Disstroy Garage extra lock knuckles help dial in the camber and provide extra steering angle for when the car is sideways. Out back is more PBM goodness with their rear LCAs, toe-rods, and traction rods providing the necessary adjustments to achieve Chris’ desired look and performance.
For wheel choice, Chris went with a classic in the Japanese wheel world; SSR Koenigs. The classic, five-spoke design has inspired many wheels in its time, and the finest wheel connoisseurs will always aspire to have a set in their collections. These Koenigs come in at 18×8.5 and 18×10 with an effective offset of -20 up front and -21 in the rear.
Inside the car sees an AGI bolt-in roll-cage for added safety while drifting. A pair of Bride Brix seats hold Chris and his passenger in place, while matching, purple Crow harnesses secure them snug, and a Nardi 330mm steering wheel provides the steering input. A series of Blitz BLM gauges provide Chris the necessary feedback on the engine vitals so he can keep a watchful eye when he’s sliding the car around the track.
Under the hood of this S14 sees a fair bit of work too. The factory SR20DET motor has been worked over to produce a little over 340rwhp on 18lbs of boost. The stock T28 turbo was replaced in favor of a larger, Greddy TD05-18G turbo which sits on a Greddy top-mount manifold. The compressed air is chilled via a Greddy front-mount intercooler with custom charge piping done by Havoc. HKS Step 1 cams and Tomei rocker arm stoppers keep everything in the head happy when Chris is high in the revs. Fuel is supplied by a quartet of Nismo 740cc injectors which are fed by a duo of Walbro pumps and a custom, 2.5-liter surge tank to make sure there are no hiccups when the car is sliding around. Finally, a custom, 3″ exhaust from Primal Garage fires out the fumes and any un-burnt fuel out the rear. To make sure all the power gets to the rear wheels is an ORC single-plate clutch and upgraded flywheel, while the rear diff was lock (aka welded) by Primal Garage to make sure both wheels are spinning at all times.
The finished result is a car that Chris can have fun in, and really that’s what all this car modifying stuff is about; having fun. Chris did what a lot of people wouldn’t by turning his late-model kouki into an earlier, more common zenki model, but he did it because it’s what he likes. Sure, if you built your car purely to slide around a track, you could raise it up a little and put a meatier tire setup on it, but Chris likes that ground-scraping, low look. He built the car for himself to have fun, and everyone should take note of that. Sure, it’s fine to take some insight from your friends, or the advice of someone who’s more knowledgeable than you when building your car, but you should never let others dictate what you can and can’t do. There’s no rule book to building a car (unless you’re building a spec car, or something specific like a spec car) so do what you like and have fun doing it. That’s what Chris did, and he’s got a pretty sweet S14 to show for it. Now Chris, don’t go hitting anymore walls. Enjoy this one for a bit, eh mate!
Aero:
Rocket bunny front bar
Rocket bunny rear bar
Rocket bunny side skirts
Rocket bunny 30mm front guards
Rocket bunny 30mm widebody rear guards
Rocket bunny spoiler
BN sports hood
East bear mirrors
326 power style tail lights
2up clear headlight lenses
Dmax crystal corner lights
Dmax clear front bumper lights
Driveline:
SR20det making 255rwkw (341hp) on 18psi
Genuine trust td05-18g
Genuine trust 48mm wastegate
Genuine trust high mount stainless manifold
HKS step 1 cams
Tomei rocker arm stoppers
Nismo 740cc injectors
Trust front mount intercooler with Havoc custom lobster back piping
3a racing pod filter
Gktech catch can
Primal garage custom 3″ exhaust
Primal garage locked diff
ORC single plate clutch
Walbro intake fuel pump
Walbro external fuel pump
2.5L surge tank
Koyo 53mm alloy radiator
Nismo thermostat
Suspension/wheels:
Custom 20mm extended front lower control arms
Disstroy garage extra lock knuckles
Power by max front castor rods
Power by max rear camber arms
Power by max rear traction arms
Power by max rear toe arms
HSD coilovers
Cusco strut brace
SSR koenigs 18×8.5+10 (30mm spacer) & 18×10+9
Project MU brake pads
DBA slotted rotors
R33 skyline drum rear brake conversion
Interior:
AGI bolt in roll cage
Bride brix 2.0 seats
Bride seat rails
Crow enterprize seat harness’
Nardi 330mm deep corn steering wheel
Blitz BLM carbon face boost gauge
Blitz BLM carbon face water temp gauge
Blitz BLM carbon face oil temp gauge
Blitz BLM carbon face oil pressure gauge
Yashio factory gear knob