The Cost of Inflation! PRO-RS Brake Hose Kit

I first bought the PRO-RS stainless steel teflon braided brakes lines in anticipation of a rear disk brake upgrade for the Slowtra bout 2.5 years ago. The brake lines were sold when the project stalled. I've since bought back the same hoses but the price has gone up by ~ 8%. All I can say is Ouch!

Anyway here are the latest pictures. Packaging looks exactly the same as earlier.

Two of the hoses. These are for the rears.

The hoses look very well engineered. The centre tabs are for mounting and correct routing. Incorrect routing is often the most common cause of braided brake hoses rupturing or breaking into two as the hose will rub against the shocks or wheel rim eventually leading to wear of the hose outer braid, etc. and ultimately failure. PRO-RS braided brake hoses feature a stainless steel outer braid while the hose is teflon lined. Teflon is a material that has less flex and expansion compared to rubber thus eliminating the spongy brake pedal feel. The latest specification hose feature a transparent outer plastic sleeve which should help to better protect the hose from abrasion and dirt. Each hose is labeled for correct location of mounting. Excellent feature I must say as this eliminates the blur mechanic installing the hose in an incorrect location problem

Closeup of the end fitting. This end fitting goes to the brake pipe/line on the car. The other end is a regular banjo and mounts to the caliper. PRO-RS claims that its end fittings are Trivalent chrome plating goes to further elaborate that Trivalent chrome provides a safer and environmentally acceptable alternative to traditional chroming process of Hexavalent chromium. It decreases health hazards from airbourne chromium. Waste treatment and disposal costs are reduced because the process uses no Hexavalent chromium, no additives with strong oxidants, and has an extremely low metal concentration which is up to 95 percent lower than Hexavalent chromium. To my eyes the plating looks better than traditional cadmium plating and looks similar to the plating used on my G Spec Performance clutch hose.

IMHO from previous experience this is really one of the best bang for buck mods you can do for your brakes. Highly recommended. Oh and why did I buy the PRO-RS braided brake hoses? Well my rear beam + disk brakes and other yummy mods have already arrived as I type this post.

Pro-Bolt 2010 catalogue

Pro-Bolt's latest catalogue is avail in softcopy via CD. The CD is posted direct to your doorstep FOC. Excellent service. For those who rather have something to read during trips to the toilet the catalogue is also available in traditional hardcopy.

Picture below of the CD. The CD contains the catalogue, price list and some pictures & logos.

The catalogue itself. Disclaimer - Extremely poisonous and will lead to a lightened wallet apart from car.

The catalogue can be found here. Pro-Bolt supplies WTCC Champions Seat Sport and Lotus Cars. They also supply Formula 3, World Rally and numerous national Rally Cross Teams throughout the world. Excellent pedigree I must say. I've ordered a full titanium bolt set for my strut bar and now contemplating if I should convert my suspension arm and brake caliper mount fasteners to Ti.

Battery Musings

I took out the battery a couple days ago to clean the tray and replace the stock bolts with some lightweight aluminium versions. The stock battery tray is held in place by 5 M8 X 25mm bolts. Pix below of stock battery tray after some cleaning. Boy was it full of sand and other road grime.

I promptly replaced the mild steel stock bolts with some aluminium items

Saves some weight and looks trick eh? But there's a problem. The stock bolts have flat hexagon heads while the aluminium bolts have socket cap heads which have a higher height and protruded from the well. This resulted in the battery and its plastic tray unable to seat properly as everything was resting on top of the 5 bolts. So I had to remove the aluminium bolts and put back the stock items. Sigh :(

Battery reinstalled with blue anodized titanium nuts. I'm currently on my second Delkor maintenance free battery. The first one lasted me close to three and a half years. Highly recommended. The Helix Cap 33 has been ditched. Anybody interested? Comes with trick real carbon mounting bracket.

This also got me thinking if I should replace the mucho heavy NS70 sized battery (>20kgs) with an Odyssey item. The Odyssey PC680 weighs 7kg only while the PC925 weighs 11.8kg but has more reserve capacity. Apart from saving lots of weight saved, the extra engine bay space reclaimed due to the smaller sized Odysseys will enable me to run something like an ITG Maxogen carbon airbox. Pix below of the stock and very restrictive resonator piping. One end leads to airbox while other end leads to the wheel arch fender.

Time to start saving more money..

Brake Dilemma

The European Nissan N16 Service Manual states the following brake specifications:

Master Cylinder Diameter: 15/16" (23.8125mm) - For QG15DE, QG18DE and YD22DD engines

I was pretty happy as 15/16" size is common to the SP and set about designing a Wilwood BBK (Big Brake Kit) along similar piston sizes as what was initially done for the SP (~1.38" diameter per piston for a 4 piston caliper). Then one day while cleaning the master cylinder on the Slowtra I saw the following embossed on the Slowtra's master cylinder - 7/8". This immediately registered horror and then disgust as 7/8" is only 22.225mm which is smaller than 15/16". If the total caliper piston area of  your upgraded BBK is too large for your master cylinder the term "pedal to the floor" will definitely ring a very painful, expensive and dangerous bell!

A quick check with the TCEAS parts center confirmed my nightmare. The MYDM N16 1.6 SG Manual comes with a smaller master cylinder compared to the SG-Lousy and 1.8 XG-L variants. Bummer! This means I would need to "upgrade" my stock master cylinder. And how much would a new master cylinder cost me? "RM1070 after discount" said the enthusiastic TCEAS technician. RM1070 just for a master cylinder!!! Once I pick myself  up from the floor I quickly said "Thanks but No Thanks" and have decided to look for an excellent condition pre-loved 15/16" or even 1" master cylinder from my regular contacts. Picture below of the Nabco master cylinder on the Slowtra. Talk about spec and cost cutting :( The N16 Service Manual also lists a Tokico master cylinder which is different so be careful what you get.

Rejections

Modifying the Slowtra is going to take a lot of customized fabrication and even more R&D than the SP due to lack of parts, interest, etc from the regular speed shops and parts makers especially in this part of the world. While this can be frustrating it is not going to deter me. Oh.. and did I mention this time I'm going positive crankcase pressure for the Slowtra? The QG engine hates to rev so a snail would be a better option. I initially played with the though of an SR16/20VE transplant but have decided to persevere with the QG. Call me a sucker for punishment.

In the meantime here are 2 rejection emails for your amusement

From Impul Japan:
Mr Andrew Saw

Thank you for your inquiry.

We are sorry but we do not have N16 Sentra in Japan so we do not have any parts set for the vehicle. We have some reinforcement parts for Bluebird Sylphy but do not know if they are installable on Sentra or not because we do not have an actual vehile to try.

We are sorry.

Best regards,
.........................................
HOSHINO IMPUL Co., LTD
Marketing and Sales Promotion
Tel: +81-(0)3-3439-1122
Fax:+81-(0)3-3439-5522
http://www.impul.co.jp/

Interestingly Impul has ECUs and even a build engine (camshafts, pistons, etc) for the Sylpy making 160hp (claimed). NA Bagus? Sylphy owners you heard this from me. But we have a Malaysian Impul Sentra right? Errr... please don't even talk about it.
 
Another rejection this time from Okada Projects USA. Okada has upgraded ignition coils called the Plasma Direct for the Toyota Vios/Yaris/Vitz so I was kinda hoping they would be able to do something for the Slowtra. Kinda wishful thinking huh?

Hello Leng,

Thank you for your inquiry.

Unfortunately we do not have any products suitable for Nissan QG18 engine and B15 Sentra.
Best Regards,

Akira Sato
OKADA PROJECTS U.S.A., Inc.
23891 Via Fabricante Suite 614
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
Tel: 949-583-7800
Fax: 949-583-7810
http://www.okadaprojects.com/

Clutch Hose Upgrade - It's Here

My clutch hose from G Spec Performance arrived just in time for Raya hols. Pixs below.

Please don't ask if the clutch hose is available for auto N16s. I'm 99.9% sure it's the same as my stock clutch hose and there will be no fitment problems. One end fitting is a banjo while I'm pretty sure the other end is an NPT though I'm not sure on the thread size. Shame the end fittings are just steel and not anodized aluminium. Now thinking if I ahould send the hose to have a version with alloy end fittings done up. The Slowtra's engine bay looks kinda dull without coloured AN fittings :)

Diet ICE?

I've decided the primary objective for Slowtra at least for the remainder of this year and next would be to at least lose its nick. Fast is the opposite of slow and there are 2 ways to be fast. One is to build power and the other is to lose weight for a better power to weight ratio. As many would have read from my earlier posts the N16 Sentra is already a big and flabby car and this got worse with all the mucho heavy ICE gear and sound deadening. The ICE is especially bad with more than 25 kgs in the boot itself.

In a bid to lose weight, the Slowtra lost it's spare tyre, car jack and tool kit. I know many will be shocked and say this is impractical but hey it costs zero ringgit and I'm desperate to lose some weight. The spare, jack and tool kit easily weighs more than 20 kilos and I can put everything back should I drive really long distance.

The next step is to simplify the ICE. I've decided to ditch the Focal 27KX subwoofer and its customized enclosure, the wiring, bracketry, etc. The Steg K series K202 amplifier powering the sub had already been sold to a Bro. This leaves the TRU amp and the Focal 165 K2P 6.5" 2 ways in the front door and its tweeters on the A-pillar as the only ICE gear left in the Slowtra. Told you I was desperate. The amount of weight lost is as follows:

• Focal 27KX - 7.2kg
• Steg K Series K202 amp - 3-4kg
• Sub enclosure, panelling, acryllic windows, VDH speaker cable for the sub, etc - ~5kg (I didn't weight but I'm pretty sure this is very under estimated)

Total weight lost from the simplified ICE setup is easily more than 15kgs and possibly close to 20kgs for a combined total lost of ~40kgs (Simplified ICE + spare + jack + tool kit). Driving home the butt dyno immediately registered power differences of several horsies especially during 3-4th gear acceleration. Of course don't expect similar sound quality but hey even with my full ICE setup my home system blows it away in terms of SQ. So long as it delivers "decent" sound quality for my daily driving I can live with the revised ICE. Plus don't forget by the time the engine and exhaust mods get thrown in I'll be enjoying the exhaust note more and possibly some psssh sounds rather than the ICE. Oh and competition spec brakes deliver a nice squeal every time you do a slow stop. Need I say more?

Pix of the revised simplified ICE setup. Really neat looking and I get my boot space back. Problem now is how to fit a rear strut bar?

And this is not the end. I'm looking to ditch my TRU amp (~4.8kgs) for something much lighter like the Alpine PDX series of Class D amplifiers. Class D is more efficient than traditional class A/B leaving to smaller more compact circuitry with less neat for heat sink area. This leads to much smaller and lighter amplifiers albeit at the expense of sound quality but as I mentioned the brief now is for less weight rather than outright sound quality. The Alpine PDX-F4 weights nearly half my TRU Billet Series B2110 at only 2.87kg. Anybody want a mint condition preloved TRU Technology amp?

Nose Job

My Impul Front grille arived last week but I could not fit it then as the Slowtra was at the painters for a beautification job. After 4 years the Slowtra's front bumper, grille, bonnet and fenders were littered with lots of road rash and love bites. Decided to repaint more than 60% of the Slowtra and the resulting work took nearly two weeks. Got the car back today and immediately drove to TCEAS to get the Impul grille fitted.

Pix below of a pristine and virgin looking front bumper and bonnet till the next meeting with pebbles especially from lorries. Grrrr... My painter's the same guy that's been doing the SP previously. He knows my requirements and standard so I wouldn't simply settle for anyone else.

So why did I decide to go for the Impul grille? Well I was thinking about replacing the stock grille as it had way too much chrome in it and besides you can't really repair the chrome bits damaged by pebble hits. The stock grille also costs substantially more than RM500 so rather than get a replacement might as well settle for the sportier Impul grille which retails at RM800 but I managed to get some decent discount. The Impul grille is also much simpler to maintain and repaint when necessary. Pix below of the humongous box the Impul grille came in. The part number is IMN16 04FGTS for those with a part number fetish. Just tell TC you want the Impul N16 or Sentra grille would be simpler.

The TCEAS technician took about 15 minutes to remove the stock grille (loosen 7 nuts) and install Impul grille (only 6 nuts to tighten). Factor in extra 15 minutes as additional time take to view, discuss and comment about the Nismo and cf parts on the Slowtra. Pix with the new grille fitted. The Impul badge really looks a mismatch with the Nismo logo on the bumper lip.

Closeup

I took the Slowtra home, gave it a good wash and promptly removed the Impul badge. The badge is fastened to the grille via good old double sided tape making it easy to remove. Lost a couple grammes of weight too! Looks loads better to my eyes with the Impul badge removed.

Closeup

All in all I'm pretty satisfied with the cosmetic upgrade. The Slowtra now looks to my eyes cleaner, sportier and less "Ah Pek" like.

Clutch Hose Upgrade

I've ordered a stainless steel braided teflon/kevlar lined clutch hose from G Spec Performance in the States. I originally wanted to order from Techna Fit but the guy that I emailed told me he can send the hose via mail then never bothered to reply my next email on shipping cost and payment arrangement and another email reminder. Great customer service Not!

The clutch hose is meant for a USDM Sentra B15 with QR25 engine and different gearbox but my research tells me all USDM B15s and likely MYDM N16s use the same clutch hose. Guess I'll know in a couple weeks whether I'm correct.

Wassup with the Dog III?

Mike Kojima's excellent articles on the Dog III project can be found at Moto IQ's website. I won't be doing any further writeup on the Dog III as no point talking on the same thing. The article from the man hinself can be found here. The Dog III is proving to be a real inspiration for me to take the Slowtra towards a more performance oriented level.

Motul RBF600 Factory Line Brake Fluid

The brake fluid in the Slowtra is as old as the car itself so I guess it's time for a change after 4 years. Having used the excellent Motul 5.1 brake fluid previously on the SP I've decided to go for the same brand again. But this time round I'm trying the RBF600 having heard numerous praises and accolades mentioned on this brake fluid over the years. Unlike the 5.1 which is more for daily driven ABS cars the RBF (short for Racing Brake Fluid) 600 is a 100% synthetic Dot 4 race/performance brake fluid for race conditions but has proven to be long lasting as well.

So what's the deal with all the DOTs? DOT or "US Department Of Transportation" is used to classify the various fluids in the market. DOT 3, 4 and 5.1 brake fluids are glycol based while DOT 5 is silicone based. The higher the DOT number the higher the boiling point of the brake fluid indicating the ability of the brake fluid to withstand higher temperatures. However please do not use silicone (Dot 5) based brake fluids unless mentioned ok to use in your car's user/owner manual as these can damage the ABS system and even the brake seals in your car. Interestingly enough the boiling point of the RBF600 exceeds the Motul 5.1 despite the lower DOT rating. Confusing huh? The wet boiling point of the RBF600 is listed as 216 degrees C/420 degrees F while the dry boiling point 180 degrees C/356 degrees F.

Motul sells the RBF600 in 500ml bottles so I promptly bought 3 bottles to be on the safe side even though most brake fluid drain/refill operations will use bout 2 bottles. Apart from brakes, brake fluid is also a very good hydraulic fluid and can be used for the clutch system which is where I'm intending to use my excess fluid. Beauty shot of the brake fluid below

The brake fluid is waiting to go in together with a whole host of other stuff when I can find some time.

Impul Slowtra

Yes your eyes did not deceive you. These are pictures of a new N16 Slowtra. Impul is a popular Japanese Nissan tuning house and founded by ex-professional race driver Hoshino Impul. Impul has links to Nissan and currently runs a SuperGT team campaigning a GT500 class GTR. Quite why they (Impul and TCM) see fit to launch a hotted up Slowtra nearly 10 years after its launch and replaced by the G11 Sylphy or B16 Sentra in many markets defies logic but hey who's complaining?

The "mods" are limited to new subtly redesigned bodykit, new sportier front grille, Impul shocks and finally a "power' mod - the Impul Blast II exhaust muffler which should give bout 1-2hp and better response at the expense of more noise. Rims/wheels appear to be 16" Impul FS-16 which is from Japan but if you ask me I'll take my Rays Gramlights anytime anyday ;). The other mods are made in Bolehland including the exhaust muffler. The Impul Slowtra is not cheap and is listed as:

• 1.6 MT Comfort - RM94.5K
• 1.6 MT Luxury - RM98.5K
• 1.6 AT Comfort - RM98.6K
• 1.6AT Luxury - RM102.6K

Yes you got that right. Nearly RM103K for a 10 year old 1.6 Slowtra. Ouch! Details are at Impul Malaysia nee TC nee Nismo Malaysia's website http://impul.com.my/

Luckily the parts can be purchased separately. The bodykit goes for RM3K, grille - RM800, shockers - RM2.5K, 16" Impul FS-16 wheels - RM4K, stainless steel Impul Blast-II exhaust muffler - RM1.8K. Whether the parts are worth it or expensively crazy you decide. A little bird did tell me the parts can be had with a 10% discount. Anybody managed to get more discount please do let me know. Am really interested in the exhaust and grille. Heck I've just called Alan and ordered the grille. Stay tuned..

It's Good to be Back!!!

I can't believe my hiatus from blogging has been nearly 2 years. 1 year 9 months to be more exact yet it feels just like yesterday as time has moved so fast. I originally took the hiatus to move into my new house and also to concentrate on my studies. Well I'm currently in my last semester and should be done by October. This means more time for hobbies and toys and the sadly neglected Slowtra. Woohoo!!!

Much has changed with my life, hobbies and toys in the intervening 21 months. As mentioned I moved into my new house and also finally got hitched. There has been changes to my career though mostly on a positive note. My wife's health hasn't been the best either so more TLC and time spent there. Then I got really crazy with my hi-fi. Not not the ICE variety but serious 2-channel home hi-fi. Anyway this blog's bout the Slowtra so lets not go there :) The Slowtra has registered 72+K kms to-date and continues to run without a hitch. The only "mods" have been new tyres and a new windscreen wiper. Oh and recently changed my rear Nismo shocks as the right hand (driver's) busted a seal. As you know the Nismo S-Tune is not rebuildable so decided to get a pair rather than only one damper to ensure the handling is balanced. Will blog bout this later.

I've been thinking bout the new direction for the Slowtra in the past 2-3 months and have decided to take it more towards the performance edge. Am still not building a "Dog" level racing car but the mods moving forward will be more towards a harder performance edge. The ICE is being slowly reduced to a simpler setup. I've removed one Steg amp and the sub is sitting in my boot unused. Anybody want a mint condition Focal 27KX sub? Have got a couple of real performance mods lined up in the roster so stay tuned. And yes, it's really good to be back!!!!!

Nissan Motorsport Parts Catalog for B15/N16

This got posted recently over at MySpecV forum. Looks genuine. Most of the hardcore internal parts are for QR25 engine but some like the 5-speed short shifter and grounding kit will fit our lowly N16. Contact details are provided further below. The the forum posting is located here.

Does anyone have a spare good condition QR25 engine and associate gearbox lying around?

Nissan Motorsports Competition Parts Catalog

Just downloaded this from NNAnet.com. I will list all the B15 parts, along with other necessary information. PM me for any further information you would like.Parts information will be listed as follows:DescriptionPart NumberPrice (if i have gotten it yet)I tried to see if my dealer gets any kind of discount, but unfortunately, we don't. The best thing to do would be to call Nissan Motorsports directly to quote prices or make a purchase. Contact information is at end of post.

Forged racing pistons for QR25DE, 13:1 CR (set of 4)12010-QR25G

Forged H beam connecting rod for QR25DE (set of 4)12100-QR25R$335.33

Piston Ring set for above12033-2J201

Racing connecting rod for QR25DE (set of 4)12100-QR25R$1980.00

Aluminum flywheel for all QR25DE Sentra SE-R and Spec V13210-QR251

High lift, race valve springs for QR25DE. ceramic coated. (set of 16)13203-QR25R

Spin-on adapter for remote oil filter location; can be used with an oil cooler. SR20DE & QR25DE (Big)15238-E1119$25.50

Nissan Motorsports grounding kit, includes 6 grounding wires & instructions, smoked clear heat shrink. Custom fit to Sentra SE-R and Spec V w/ QR25DE.24080-BGNDK

Poly engine mount insert kit QR25DE.99996-1112G

Racing piston and rod kit for QR25DE.99996-QRRSP

Replacement friction kit for aluminum flywheel, 12310-QR25112311-QR251

Short Shift kit for 6 speed Sentra SER and Spec V 10/03+34101-B15S4

Short Shift Kit for Sentra with 5 speed and 6 speed transmission. 2.5 liter engine only 02-0434101-B15SS

Short shift kit for all MT. Attatches to the transmission pivot for a 30% reduction in throws. 2nd piece attatches to shift lever to re-center. 2002+34101-B15S5

Front Hawk 9012 Blue racing brake pad set.41060-HB268

Front Hawk HP+ Autocross brake pad set.41060-HB268N

Stainless steel braided 4-wheel brake line kit, DOT compliant. For use on cars with ABS.46200-22046

MISCELLANEOUSI'm not going to list all the information. PM me for details.

NISMO shift knobs: 10mm threads: polished aluminum, black aluminum titanium, aluminum w/ carbon fiber insert, titanium GT race, JDM special edition-black leather w/ red stitching. 12mm threads: titanium GT race

Spec R emblemgear shift pattern plate: 5 & 6 speed

Nissan decal: black, red, silver, white

Koni strut bump stop, trim to fit

Heat insulation

Auto Math Handbook

Driver suit patch, Nissan Logo

Sentra Spec V GT4/5: fiberglass nose, rear deck lid, LH door panel, RH door panel, hood panel, L 1/4 panel, right 1/4 panel, rear bumper. Lexan rear window. Window surrounds. Latch.

And much more, including race equipment.

CONTACT INFORMATIONToll-Free Order Line: 888.833.3225 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (CST), Monday through Friday24-Hour Fax Line: 615.223.3341email: nmc.race@nissan-usa.com
Address: Nissan Motorspors 610 Enon Springs Road East Smyrna, TN 37167

Data Lost!

Two Sundays ago was one of the worst moments of my life cyber wise. My hard disk suddenly decided to die in a very bad way (controller motor crapped itself out) and I lost thousands of photos of my house, the Slowtra, SP, mods, documents, everything. Even my work Outlook files going back to 2000-20001! Silly me for not having a good external drive for backup..

I've had 3-4 hard disk crashes previously but never this bad. Usually the data can be recovered but the problem now is my hard disk is really dead. Nothing can connect to it! Does anyone know how to salvage data from my kaput h/disk? Small reward (RM150-300 depending on how much can be salvaged) offered. Who wanna try? Am on my knees begging...

Dog III - Interior and Brakes

Interior and dashboard pix from the Dog III. Anything even remotely contributing to weight has been removed. This includes carpeting, sound deadening, ICE and even the stock dashboard itself. Pedals and steering wheel are from Sparco. Boost gauge is from Auto Meter and boost controller a TBC-1 unit from Chris Rado's World Electronics. A GPS track mapping system is also used.

For those safety freaks there's unfortunately there are no airbags. Racecars depend on the roll cage, multi-point harness and driver safety helmet for safety and combined these offer much more protection and safety than any airbag!

Digital dash and data logger are from Racepak Data Systems. The dash model to the top left of the steering wheel is a G2X dash. The dash display tells you your lap time, the overall elapsed time and what lap you are on. The data logger utilizes it's own display unit. There is a shift light on top of the display unit to indicate when to shift gears. The data logger is likely a LDX Logger. TheLDX combines data acquisition with our advanced instrumentation! The LDX Logger also takes full advantage of the capabilities of the V-Net technology. In addition to the wiring harness that imports the signals from the engine RPM, drive-shaft RPM, water temperature, oil pressure, and battery voltage, up to 32 optional sensors modules can be attached to the single V-Net network cable. This yields a total recording capability of 37 channels of data. The LDX Logger can record and upload to a PC the data from all of the monitored sensors, while at the same time displaying the input from up to 21 of those functions on the dash screen. Data loggers are a most valuable and indispensable tool for a driver and race team to playback and analyze the performance of the car to indentify areas for improvement that will contribute to better future laps.

From Mike - Shown below is the Sparco Circuit seat and the Sweet Steering column. The Sweet column saves a bunch of weight and cleans the area under the dash up. The Sparco wheel is covered in foil to avoid greasy finger prints on it. There are a few weird things about the Circuit. The padding in the butt is about 4" thick forcing you to sit very high. I have concerns about the safety of this as well. In a severe crash the foam could compress, causing you to fly out of the harnesses. I am going to be cutting this foam down or beadseating it. Even with the extremly lowered rails, you sit sort of high. We may modify the seat rails more to get the seat as low as possible.

This is the mounting bracket for the Sparco seat. The mounting bracket is fabricated and then directly welded into the stock chassis sheetmetal.

From Mike - The Sweet collapsable steering column. This is made for domestic race cars where the steering box is well forward of the firewall. A bad wreck could drive the column through your chest. On this car the steering rack is on the firewall so if the car crushed that far, the steering column might be the least of your worries. However the 6" of collapsing section is still a big plus for safety.

Gear shifter and brake bias adjustment assembly. From Mike - To fine tune our front-to-rear brake bias, we installed a Tilton Brake proportioning valve from Bits n Pieces Motorsports. This valve allows us to decrease or increase the amount of rear braking power from inside the cabin instantly to compensate for fuel load or driver style.

Pix below of the front brake caliper and rotor assembly

The Dog III is fitted with Stoptech ST40 4 pot calipers and 13" 2-piece (330mm) slotted rotors with an aluminium centre hat up front. The centre hat reduces unsprung weight. The front brakes uses a Performance Friction 01 compound brake pad. I've previously contemplated Stoptech calipers for the SP but boy are they huge in size and won't fit my 16X7" SSR Type Cs. Mike uses lightweight, forged and very expensive Rays Engineering Volk Racing TE37 wheels, sized 17x8 inches with a 38mm offset and the TE37s easily clear the caliper. From Mike - Although the Stoptech brakes are big, they are actually about 6 pounds (2.73kg) lighter than the stock brakes due to the aluminum alloy construction. Per Mike the rear brakes make do with a slotted rotor and Carbotech XP10 compound brake pads. The calipers are stock. Motul RBF600 brake fluid is used. And no, your eyes are not deceiving you. The wheel hubs on the Dog III have been converted to a 5 lug PCD 114.3 bolt pattern.

Stay tuned as I talk about the serious hardcore aero stuff next!

Mike Kojima's Nitto Tyres Sentra Spec V Racecar aka Dog III - Suspension

As promised here are the hardcore porn stuff from Mike Kojima's monster. Photos and tech explanations reproduced with consent from Mike Kojima from his SR20 forum postings. I've added some of my explanations where possible to make understanding easier. Let's start with the suspension..

Aluminum strut bar, Modifed shock towers with camber caster plates and remote reservoirs for the KW Struts/shocks

Andrew - The N16/B15's front suspension strut towers cannot easily accept a camber plate top mount and needs to be cut and a new top rewelded. Not a bolt-on job. Detail explanation in Nitto Tire's blog.

Front KW strut assembly complete with remote reservoir and top camber castor plate. Andrew - And NO.. these are the real deal racing struts and not some Taiwanese or Bolehland knockoffs. You can buy several sets of Tein Super Streets for one of these. The KW damper is 3-way adjustable. The top elongated hole/slot on the strut lower mount means further camber fine tuning.

The rears

Front suspension with adjustable wheelbase, caster, camber, kingpin inclination angle, bumpsteer and roll center. I wanted to make the anti dive adjustable too, but ran out of time, maybe later in the development cycle. Making an adjustable front swaybar was a bitch in this car, see lower endlink mount on the bottom of the control arm, and slot in arm for the endlink. The bar has minimal endlink angularity though. Andrew - anti swaybar is also known as an anti-roll bar. Tie-rod, arb and front lower arm outer pivot (the part where it connects to the hub/upright) are spherical bearing items. Other bushes are from Superpro.

Adjustable rear panhard rod that gets rid of the stock Scott-Russell linkage, roll center height is adjustable via panhard rod. Andrew - the panhard rod assembly is custom fabricated. Again you can't simply buy these parts aftermarket and bolt-on.

Speedway Engineering rear antiswaybar with remotes for KW Shocks. Andrew - anti-roll bar stiffness is adjustable via the holes in the blade. The closer the hole to the arb the stiffer! Like the Nissan N15 DTC racecar the anti-roll bar goes through the spare tyre well

More hardcore porn stuff and "upskirt" shots to follow. Who wanna be the first to mod the Slowtra to similar Supertra levels?

N16 Manual Transmission

Did some research lately on the manual transmission found on all MYDM CKD N16 1.6 variants and found the following information which might interest you below. Pls note all info is cap S-Tune (Saw-Tune) and is the result of my own personal research work. I cannot guarantee 101% correctness so use the info at your own peril!

1. The gearbox model for QG16DE is RS5F70A, model code number 7J006. The gearbox model for QG15DE is RS5F30A. Nissans designation for transmissions is as follows, example RS5F70A:
RS=Remote Shift, FS=Fixed Shift
5=5 forward gears, 6=Forward gears
F= Front drive, R=Rear wheel drive
70=Model designation
A=Standard/open final drive, V=Viscous LSD & H=Helical LSD

2. The gearbox is made by Aichikikai Japan or Aichi Machine Industry Co., Ltd. Apart from transmissions Aichikikai also produces engines for Nissan.

3. The 70A gearbox is a pretty robust unit and is specced by Aichikikai to withstand up to 200Nm of torque. One fellow forumer from OZ Pulsar group told me the gearbox is capable of withstanding 500hp but I honestly wouldn't try my luck so far.

4. The USDM B15 Sentra with QG18DE runs the same manual gearbox. This simply means the same gearbox can be fitted as a "performance upgrade" for Bolehland Sentra XG-Ls. The 70A gearbox is also found in the P11 Primera but with a different bellhousing. This means many other SR20DE engine variants and car models in the Nissan lineup will use the same gearbox combination.

5. TCM Malaysia quotes the following gear ratios:
1st=3.333
2nd=1.955
3rd=1.286
4th=0.926
5th=0.756
Final Drive=4.167 (brochure), 4.176 (service manual). The service manual is correct while the brochure is incorrect and TCM never bothered to correct it for the Sentra FL2 and Sport brochures. I'm pretty sure it's never been corrected since the beginning! And how do I know which publication is correct? Well the service manual lists the following: Final gear teeth count=71, pinion=17. 71 divided by 17 will give you 4.176470588235294117647....

The USDM B15 SE had the following gear ratios: 2000-2001 B15 SE.. 4.437 (FD), 3.333 (1st), 1.955 (2nd), 1.286 (3rd), 0.926 (4th), 0.733 (5th). Compare, contrast and make your own assumptions!

6. The RS5F70 gearbox also comes with a LSD - Limited Slip Differential (not the drug!) variant. The gearbox with LSD fitted is RS5F70V. The LSD is of the viscous type hence the "V" designation. Needless to say the RS5F70A does NOT have a LSD.

7. Nismo did have an aftermarket LSD for the 70A gearbox once upon a time but this has been discontinued :( There are rumours the LSD for RS5F32A gearbox is the same and can be fitted to 70A gearbox. Who wanna be the first guinea pig to confirm this? I'll personally chiah you lunch if you confirm the theory above is correct or a bunch of hogwash. The Nismo LSD part number for 4.176 final drive RS5F32A gearbox is 38420-RS360.

8. Some useful links from SR20 Forum in regards to said gearbox. Excellent reading and knowledge material. Folks in this forum are pretty technical unlike some other Nissan forums.
"B15 tranny - why it's better than B13/B14"
"Disassembly of a B15/P11 tranny to install a friction type lsd"
"P11/B15 transmission swap into a B13/B14/P10"

I'll just stop at #8 for the time being before I bore you non-techies to death. Also you know how much we Chinese like the number 8 :) Hope the information has proven useful.