Nismo Exhaust Hangers

Seized the opportunity to upgrade Sharkie's exhaust hangers when I found out Nismo made equivalents in solid rubber. Those of you who know me from my SP days will know that I upgraded SP's exhaust hangers to Ralliart Group N items which are not solid but made from higher durometer (stiffer) rubber. The stiffer exhaust hangers prevent the exhaust from moving too much under hard acceleration and deceleration/braking leading to long term stress related failures and cracks. The stock exhaust hangers are too soft, come with big cut outs than contribute to even more softness and degrade and get worse over time.

Diagram below show's the N16/B15's exhaust hangers. 4 exhaust hangers are used and there are 2 types/shapes of exhaust hangers but I know Nismo only make one version which is the same as the exhaust hangers used for the rear muffler - in red rectangles in the picture below.

I bought 3 Nismo exhaust hangers. One is for spare. Part number is 20651-RS230. Each hanger costs 1000 yen or RM 32+ or so depending on the MYR to Yen exchange rate. Don't forget to add shipping which came up to 1920 yen for me via EMS air freight. Got my Nismo exhaust hangers from IRS Japan.

Picture of the Nismo exhaust hanger.

Mounted on Sharkie. The rear exhaust hanger is stock as Nismo does not make an equivalent. Notice the big cut out on the stock hanger.

The other side.

NVH is definitely worse than stock even with only 50% of Sharkie's exhaust hangers upgraded. Nothing more than an irritant with the occasional clutch chatter noise, exhaust growl, turbine whine, BOV release whoosh, tyre roar etc. :)

BC Racing ER Series Coilover Dampers

When I blogged about the different model BC Racing coilover shocks available for the Nissan Sentra N16/B15 I left out their top range ER Series as that was initially not available for the Slowtra. However thanks to the efforts of 2J Racing in the US in collaboration with BC Racing North America (NA), the ER Series is now available for Slowtras. 2J Racing race a Sentra in the US so they know what they are doing. Here's a pix of their famed race car. If it looks a tad ghetto and worn that's because it's a real Race Car that gets whipped hard rather than sitting unused and constantly lovingly cleaned and polished for car shows.

Anyway back to topic. The ERs are not available off the shelf for the Sentra so had to be ordered from 2J Racing in the US. I also tried Daniel and BC Racing Bolehland previously but no luck :( Build time quoted by Joe from 2J Racing was bout 4 weeks but I ordered before that and yet the shocks arrived just the day before my flight home. Talk about "Just In Time" service. Pictures below of the shipping packaging. Total weight as stated in the shipping label including shocks, packaging, tools, everything is 53 lbs (24.1 kg).

A set of ERs cost bout 70% more than the BR in RH (top pillowball mount) configuration. This also means every damper gets its own box and there are 4 boxes inside the main shipping packaging.

The package contains:

• 4 fully assembled ER Series coilover dampers with Swift linear rate metric springs
• 2 adjustment wrenches and allen key for the bracket holding the remote reservoir
• BC glamour plaque/badge
• User manual written in not perfect Engrish but can still be understood (by me at least)
• BC North America brochure

Opening up one of the damper boxes reveals the ER Series coilover damper.

I specified Swift springs which are bronze coloured rather than the standard black coloured BC Racing springs. Swift springs is actually the brand name for Tohatsu springs Japan founded way back in 1924. Swift springs are manufactured from a proprietary material designated "HS5. TW" rather than silicone chrome material used by majority of automotive suspension spring manufacturers. This advance alloy is stronger than silicone chrome which means Swift can make the spring wire thinner, wind the spring with fewer coils which decrease weight while increasing available stroke. In summary Swift claims to offer superior durability, stroke and most importantly to me weight savings and a more compliant ride. The Swift springs added another thousand or so ringgits to the cost which means my ERs now cost about double my BRs. I specified a 8 kg/mm front spring rate and 6 kg/mm for the rear. The spring diameter is also slightly larger at 65mm vs 62mm for stock BC Racing springs. Swift also make 60mm springs which should fit but I prefer bronze colour to blue :)

Picture of my ERs resting after the long flight home ;) Those springs sure look a bit short. More of that later.

The ER Series in BC Racing speak means "External Reservoir". This means every ER coilover damper features an external tube or reservoir for increased suspension fluid/oil capacity. The additional oil capacity reduces peak oil temperatures which decreases variations in damping rates due to oil viscosity  changes. In plain English this means the damper is able to operate consistently for a much longer period of time when compared to the BR Series. The external reservoir also house a secondary piston, which allows for compression and rebound damping adjustment to be independent or separated with compression damping adjustment via the remote reservoir and rebound damping adjustment via the main damper body. The separate adjustment of compression and rebound damping gives you more capability to fine tune the ride and handling of your car. ERs are monotube shocks btw. Do not confuse twin piston with twin tube.

Picture below of the front strut. Have not weight my ERs yet so can't comment how much heavier they are compared to the BR. Don't expect a lot of difference.

This knob adjusts the rebound damping. There is a 30-click adjustment range per BC but there are typically ~32 clicks. The knob is aluminium and centre stem steel. The upper top mount uses a Japan made pillowball (spherical) bearing.

The compression damping adjustment knob on the external reservoir. Same 30-click adjustment range. Interestingly this adjustment knob appears to be completely made of steel.

The rear damper. Like the BR series, the entire lower body/mount is aluminium.

LHS rear damper remote reservoir. Upper section of the reservoir (black colour) seems to be steel while lower part (gold coloured) is aluminium.

Shocks manufactured just this July. JIT remember?

The bump stop. Length of the bump stop is ~ 3.8cm or 1.5"

I specifically requested 200mm (8") spring length when I ordered my ERs but upon measuring, the front springs are only 152mm (6") in height while rears are 178mm (7"). WTF! Not sure if I will be able to achieve the ride height I want with with the shorter spring length/height. Sorry, "slammed" and "hellaflush" are not in my vocabulary. For daily driving duty Sharkie is only about 2 cm lower than stock and I wouldn't go more than 3cm. Will need to sort this out before I install the shocks. Patience Bro Wallance...

Nissan Sentra B15 Race Cars For Sale

Came across these trick Sentra B15 race cars for sale just recently. These are engineered and build by Le Mans and Daytona winning Multimatic Motorsports in the USA. The two 2002 Sentras also come with a substantial spares package. Original build cost was $200K USD (whadayya expect? these are professionally build race cars after all) but the whole package is offered at only $15K USD .today That's less than the cost of a Myvi 1.5!

Cars are for track only (full time kereta perang) and future extensive roll cage, fully stripped interiors, one-piece race seats, remote reservoir Dynamic suspension with Hyperco springs, ATL external fuel cell with quick refill filler necks, etc. No you can't use these cars on the road. Engine is a normally aspirated SR20DE. Further details can be found here. If only I live in the US. Sigh...

Full Circle - Back to Fog Light Covers

Decided to close up the two holes on The Shark's bumper where the fog lights used to reside but had to make way as the left hand side fog light was fouling the intercooler piping. While the holes initially looked fierce akin race cooling vents (who am I kidding?) after awhile I started to feel the holes looked "ghetto" or like Sharkie's bumper was incomplete. This niggling feeling did not go away so I decided to cover them up with fog light covers like a stock Slowtra SG trim.

Since I sold my original covers after fitting fog lights I had to buy back new ones from TC. Cost was not an insubstantial MYR 1XX for a pair without painting. If only I could read the future in 2007. Sigh.. Picture below of the fog light covers.

Painting cost me RM60 and install took bout 5 minutes for both covers as these just snap on to the bumper. No fouling issues as the cover is many times thinner (less depth) than a fog light.

Right hand side. Looks neater eh? I can argue the cover reduces aero drag and possibly lift ;)

Left hand side.

Wonder if anyone can replicate these in carbon fibre for me?

Nismo Veruspeed Oil Filter

Ordered my Nismo Veruspeed oil filter from RHD Japan. Price quoted by RHD Japan is 1,995 Japanese Yen. You will need to add shipping on top of that. Pos Laju never sent me any notice to go collect when the oil filter arrived. Luckily I was able to track the shipment on the web and called Pos Laju to arrange for pick up. Malaysia Boleh service :(

Picture below shows the actual oil filter box vs the shipping packaging. Major waste of packaging and my money (on the shipping) if you asked me.

There are 2 models of Veruspeed listed by Nismo. Get this one for QG engines. All QGs use the same oil filter. The other model is larger (longer) and typically used by Nissan factory turbocharged engines/models.

Why the Veruspeed oil filter? Well, Nismo claims that the large filter area (3 level filtration) decreases pressure loss and improves filter efficiency over an extended life-span. This stabilises oil pressure and stops dirt and sludge from getting into the engine. The Veruspeed oil filter uses a "Inclined Density Structure" filter element structure in which the filter weave becomes denser towards the centre. Larger particles are caught near the surface while finer particles are trapped in the fine mesh near the core. The action prevents clogging. More details and pictures on Nismo's website. Make sure you can view Acrobat pdf files.

Picture below of my Nismo Veruspeed oil filter.

Filter will go in during Sharkie's next service together with the WPC oil pump. Will know then if there is a real pressure increase or I have spent a big wad of my hard earned money for nothing.

Front Lower Control Arms with Whiteline Bushes Installed

Tao got the me brand new original Nissan front lower control arms as requested. The arms are RM420 per piece (RM840 a pair). He also got the stock bushes removed and the Whiteline bushes pressed into the new arms. Took a bit of research and coordination work with the machine shop to ensure correct orientation of the bushes as Whiteline did not supply any install instructions with the bushes nor was there any instruction on their website. Simon was very helpful and provided me this drawing.

Picture below of my front lower control arms with Whiteline goodies. The Whiteline bushes and the arb link kit combined cost more than the arms.

The entire install job was done @ my house front porch DIY style with Tao and myself supplying the bst. Picture below of Sharkie trying to eat Tao for lunch. Bad Girl!

Tao also trimmed the arm end where the ball joint resides to clear my brake rotors and repainted the trimmed end of the arm. This part bolts to your front hub and knuckle. The ball joints height determines the N16's front roll centre geometry.

Picture of the Whiteline inner rear bush on the left hand side front lower control arm. You can see the offset internal hole for additional positive caster. Positive caster helps stability by causing the tyre to lean into turns when the wheel is turned improving traction. The L shaped thingy in the background top centre is my assembled Whiteline front arb link.

The install job took a tad less than 3 hours but could have been much less had Tao not forget to bring along a spanner which meant he had to go home to fetch the MIA spanner and then back to my house again. While waiting for Tao I decided to do some tender loving care with a can of WD40. Picture below of my for sale BC Racing BR shocks after a bit of cleaning. Excellent condition eh? So what are you waiting for? :) "62 200 07" means 62mm diameter coil spring, 200mm height and 7kg/mm spring rate.

Picture below of both my stock seven year old front lower control arms post removal from Sharkie.

The triangular piece of metal plate in the picture above is the rebound stopper which attaches to the front subframe. There is one on each side of the car. Bro Peter got me a pair brand new ones from the US via Greg @ GSpec. There are no bushes on the rebound stopper and that bush looking thingy on the stopper is actually a piece of my anti-rust coating that decided "it" loved the rebound stopper more than Sharkie hence decided to part ways with Sharkie. Bummer!

Picture below of the brand new RHS stopper. Thanks Bro!

My puny looking (when compared to the Whiteline equivalent) 7 year old front arb links. Rubber on the bushes have hardened and a tad out of shape but otherwise still perfectly functional.

Took Sharkie for a drive after the install and immediately the effect from the Whiteline bushes were noticeable. The car felt more compliant @ yet reactive to sudden steering speed and one can feel more of the suspension doing it's job. The ride was less crashy and actually more comfortable at speed. Drive slow-mo and the very slightly firmer ride from the Whiteline bushes are noticeable but really no biggie deal to me. Got the alignment dialed in the following day over at Goh Swee Hin. Sharkie's alignment post lower arm install and before the alignment job. Look at the lack of (negative) camber! Dayum!

Picture below of my alignment report printout after some work.

The GSH alignment tech tells me the camber is as much as I can get without more extensive work or resorting to failure prone camber bolts :( The tech also asked me if I can adjust camber via my shock top mount since I am on pillowball top mounts so I showed him the small tight hole on top of the front suspension turret :( Here's an alignment report comparison from 2 years ago when Sharkie was Slowtra. I feel there's more negative camber to be had with the slotted bolt holes in the lower mount bracket of my BC Racing BR coilover shocks but it is a lot of work. Need to find an alignment shop willing to do the work. Tao tells me there is a shop but it is in Kulim. Sigh..

I also took the opportunity to fill Sharkie's tyres with nitrogen. Yes I know, our atmosphere is approximately 78% nitrogen but it's the remaining 22% of oxygen and other crap I am concerned about. Cost me RM 5 to inflate a tyre with nitrogen so its RM 20 total for four tyres. Picture below of the machine used to inflate tyres with 100% nitrogen.

The benefits of nitrogen are stated on the machine itself.

So far no squeaks from the bushes but its very early days. Time will tell.

My BC Racing BR Coilover Shocks are for Sale (RESERVED)

Having enjoyed my BC Racing BR Series coilovers so much I am probably upgrading to the top spec ER series. This means my BRs are for sale. To recap my BRs are "RH" spec which means the top mounts are lightweight aluminium alloy with Japan spec spherical bearings. If you are worried about the noise you can use back your stock rubber mounts. To recap the specs:

• Monotube, 46mm piston in a 53mm damper body
• Front lower strut mounts are heavy duty powder coated carbon steel while rears are aluminium alloy for lightweight.
• 30 way damping adjustable (compression and rebound damping combined). Want a comfy every day ride or really stiffen things up for track day. No problem, just adjust the damping to your liking.
• Independent ride height adjustable. You can go super duper low like the Stance Nation or VIP guys without compromising the suspension travel and performance of the shock. 
• Each BR shock is individually dyno tested and matched. Slotted bolt holes in the lower mount bracket for the front struts. This gives the option for an extra quarter or half degree of camber to be dialled in.
• My front spring rate is 7kg/mm and rears are 5 kg/mm. These are plenty comfy to me and likewise my wife has no complains about the ride quality having sat in my car long distance (multiple trips to and back from Penang to KL). Your butt can't be softer than hers. 

The shocks were bought back in late 2011 but Sharkie sat unused for 9 months last year pending the oil change job. This means the BRs have only been used for about 10k km maybe slightly more. There are many tens of thousands of kilometres worth of life left in them. Besides, these coilover dampers are rebuildable so no need to throw away when the seals are worn. 

Don't ask me how these shocks compare with the Nismo S-Tune, Titans,and other Boleh made shocks performance wise. There is NO comparison. These shocks are fully track day capable and will more than hold their own against the Tein Superstreet or Flex. Even Honda/Acura NSX owners have fitted the same shocks to their cars and have excellent feedback and review. You can read more here.

More details and extensive pictures of my BRs can be found @:

• http://www.then16files.com/2011/07/getting-busy-with-bc-racing-br-series.html
• http://www.then16files.com/2011/09/bc-racing-br-series-coilover-suspension.htm

I am asking RM 1.6K for my BRs. The manual, C spanners to adjust the ride height, etc are all available. A brand new set will cost approximately RM3.6K. This is just about enough to buy you a new sale promo price Nismo S-Tune  which the BC Racing BR will eat for lunch, breakfast and dinner with room to spare for tea, supper and snacks in between. Serious enquiries please contact me via email (LLSaw1@yahoo.com) or call 012-4990807. Per norm, please do me and yourself a favour by not contacting me offering some ridiculously low best price. 

And lastly the shocks are still on Sharkie and will only be available mid-July. Need some time for my new shocks to get manufactured :)

Stop Press! The BC BRs have been Reserved. Thanks for all the interest.  

Whiteline Front Lower Arm Bushes

Second part to arrive for my front lower arm upgrade are the Whiteline bushes. The N16/B15/G10 uses two different sets of bushes for the front lower arm. These are called the lower inner front and lower inner rear bushing. Whiteline specifies two types of lower inner rear bushes - the standard and one which gives increase positive caster (+0.5 degrees) in the suspension geometry. Positive caster helps stability by causing the tyre to lean into turns when the wheel is turned increasing traction. Part number for the Whiteline inner front bush is W52148 while the increased positive caster inner rear bush is W53427. The standard inner rear bush is W53430. Like my Whiteline front ARB link kit, the bushes were supplied by Simon Oh from SP Line Trading. Simon got my address spot on this time ;) Cost came up to slightly more than 650 moolahs. Simon tells me the bushes are 75 shore in regards to the durometer or hardness of the bush. This is probably >more than a 100% increase when compared to stock.

Picture below of me bushes still in its packaging. The bushes are made from Whiteline's proprietary Synthetic Elastomer material.

The inner front bush. Whiteline supplies whatever is necessary for the bush to be installed onto the front lower arm, a go faster decal and sachet of grease for each bush kit.

The inner rear bush with offset internal hole to give additional positive caster. The provided sachet of grease also seems to have a leak but it's contents also seem more or less intact.

I now need to get a set of new front lower arms to complete the puzzle.

New Camera

Just got myself a new camera to take over the main picture taking duties for this blog. Wanted something easy to use but with decent picture quality rather than extensive features and/or compact size. I'm no camera/photo taking enthusiast and likewise budget did not stretch to a DSLR. Settled for the Nikon Coolpix P310 upon recommendation from shop. Picture below of the camera courtesy of my HTC h/phone. Cost came up to bout 800 bucks which actually was over my budget by about RM200 but what the heck, I only ever buy a camera every decade or so :P

Pictures from my last two posts and especially my WPC'ed oil pump were taken via this camera.

Toyo Proxes R1Rs Installed

Installed my R1Rs a couple weeks ago. Bought from and installed the tyres at SSR Racing in Bukit Tengah. I actually found this shop from Toyo Malaysia's website after looking all over Penang island to no luck. Best of all SSR Racing are just a couple km from my house. They also gave me a good deal on the R1Rs (RM 520 per tyre) and good trade in for my Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TTs. Took just bout a week or so to order and for the tyres to arrive at the shop. These are apparently the last set of 215-45 17" in Bolehland. I confirmed on the year of manufacture which was late 2012 just to ensure it wasn't old stock. Picture of me tyres as I arrive at SSR Racing for the install. Pardon the lousy picture quality from my phone's camera.

Look at the retail price!

Mounted on two of me Work rims and waiting to go on the car.

Picture of the Shark post install awaiting alignment.

SSR Racing are pretty basic when it comes to installation. They did a fairly decent job but do not offer the newer bells and whistle like nitrogen and on-wheel/car high speed balancing. They don't even shine me brand new tyres. Did that myself. Picture below of front RHS rim + tyre after some TLC. I know this is purely personal preference but I really like the tyre sidewall design and graphics. No need for flashy stuff like fire graphics.

The serious stuff. All R1Rs I have seen including mine are made in Japan btw.

Straight away the R1R exhibited more mechanical grip than my SP Sport Maxx TTs. Wheelspin is reduced as expected but not eliminated. To further reduce wheelspin will mean 225 or even better 235 wide tyres. To do this means I will need to go to at least an 8" wide rim. No money lar Bro! The stiffer sidewall and increased grip also results in a better steering feel and sharper more precise corner turn in. Tyres work from cold and I did not noticed any decreased grip during early morning sprints to work. Wet weather performance is pretty decent so long as you don't go drive like a WRC stage during a heavy downpour. I am currently running 240 kPa for both front and rear and will further experiment with different tyre pressures to see if this improves performance.

Tyre noise is also as expected more given the aggressiveness of the thread pattern. If you already find something like the Michelin Pilot Sport 3 on 17" tyres a tad noisy don't bother with the R1R. These tyres will sing their own tune/noise at all speeds even when new and one would expect the noise to increase as the tyres wear. Don't say I didn't warn ya. A stiffer sidewall also results in a stiffer ride like one has increased the damping stiffness or gone for firmer shocks. Also given the stickiness of the compound, these tyres are a sand magnet and will pick up all sorts of sand, etc on its surface. I have currently used the R1Rs for more than 400 km and will report on the performance and wear after further use.