Gary’s S15: This Silvia Stays

As the owner of Bains Tuning, Gary Bains was already familiar with the Nissan S-chassis. While he had owned several Silvias before, most were project cars that held no sentimental value — cars which could fund the next venture. However, the simple, brilliant formula of the Silvia is hard to resist, and Gary needed one to keep.

The Perfect Foundation

His latest acquisition is a Nissan Silvia Spec R imported directly from a Japanese auction house with an enviable grade of 4.5, making it exceptionally clean by any standard. This particular example also featured the sought-after factory aero kit, plus a few choice aftermarket parts. "This particular bumper alone retails for around $8,000," Gary notes, "making this car a bargain even by today's silly standards."

To ensure the chassis matched its pristine looks, Gary upgraded key components. The stance and control were dialed in using off-brand Japanese coilovers with Swift spring upgrades, and Cusco control arms for precise alignment. EBC yellow pads help with braking confidence — being light it requires little in the way of brakes, while carbon-backed Bride seats provide security and stability.

Boost-Up Simplicity

The heart of the S15, the SR20DET, remains fundamentally stock, yet Gary understands its potential. "It doesn’t take much to extract a lot from an SR20DET," he explains. Key breathing and cooling modifications were implemented: a Greddy intercooler, a Koyo dualcore radiator, full turbo-back 3” exhaust system, and an HKS drop-in camshaft set.

Fueling is handled by ID1050 injectors and a Radium flexfuel setup, all governed by a Link G4X ECU. Custom built sensor wiring to add all the safety sensors into the car. Combined with a safe in house tune on the Dyno, this optimized combination yielded over 320 horsepower at the tires. "Boost-up is more than enough for stock head gasket limits" Gary asserts. To handle the elevated output, the transmission will soon be upgraded with a necessary twin-plate clutch.

Weighing in at 2,700 pounds, the S15 doesn’t need much more than an increase in boost to really move.

Stress Tested

Gary sums up the experience, “It’s a fun all-rounder. It has no vices and it’s easy to drive fast, but it’s too nice to put into a wall,” he laughs. "Thankfully, Speed SF days are a great opportunity to get to know this car’s limits in a safe environment.”

Despite being too mint to road race regularly, Gary is keen to better understand the S15's chassis dynamics as well as well as its mechanical limitations. "I’ve got a set of Kelford 264 cams to try – I’d like to see how they stack up against the HKS," he says.

The car will be used as a research and development car; to stress test driveline components on occasional drift days and lapping events. When he’s able to determine its weak points, he aims to build a line of stouter parts to appeal to the S-chassis fan who enjoys going fast as much as they do going sideways. “When it comes to abusing S-chassis on track, I’d like to be able to speak with confidence."

Let’s hope this car gets him the certainty he’s after.