The Drift Project

The Drift Project is a sad story of a broke man seeking to build the car of his dreams. Like most things that he ventures into, this drift project is left only half done. And it's been this way for about the past year now.

The Car: Nissan's 1993 240SX
The Dream: 400 horses of SR20DET turbo-charged power.

The US Nissan 240SX is powered by the naturally aspirated 2.4 liter KA24DE which makes about a measely 155 ponies right out of the box. The Japanese counter-part ( Nissan 180SX ), however, is powered by a smaller 2.0 liter SR20DET, but turbo-charged to 205 horsepower from the factory. These 4 cylinder puppies are easily tunable to about 400 hp while keeping the stock bottom-end intact. With mere bolt-ons, the SR20DET can easily gain 50 to put you at about 255 horsies. Go with a slightly bigger turbo, such as the S15 ball-bearing turbo, coupled with bigger injectors, and some light tuning on the ECU ... And you've got yourself another 30 plus hp while modestly boosting stock boost at 7 psi. Round it up to 10 psi, and that will put you at right about 300 ponies.

This is at about the stage I am at this point. Although many of these upgrades are simple to physically do and install ... the price starts adding up to be quite expensive after the first few modifications. Aside from the car itself that I purchased a couple years ago for about 3k, I would say that I've put in another easy 6 or 7k into it. The car is again a 93 Nissan 240SX, the S13 model, hatchback with 5 speed tranny. It was pretty much bone stock when I aquired the car. The following is a list of mods that I've done along with the prices:

SR20DET redtop swap - $1500
Nismo Mounts - $125
Greddy front mount Intercooler with piping and BOV - $425
S15 T28 turbo and accessories - $1100
Blitz intake - Free
Z32 MAF - $100
Megan Headers - $140
Megan Downpipe - $80
Circuit Sports Downpipe - $300
Megan Test Pipe - $60
Apexi N1 exhaust $500
Deatschwerks 550cc injectors - $200
Top Mounts fuel rail - $100
Walbro fuel pump - $90
Retuned ECU - $200
Koyo Radiator - $300
Spec 2 Clutch - Free
Wesco small battery - $90
300ZX front brakes - $200
Tokico Blues, Eiback Sportlines, Tein camber plates - $300
ALT 17" rims & tires - $300
Momo steering wheel - $60
NRG quick release hub - $60
Autometer Boost & AFR gauges with A-Pillar mount - $130
Greddy turbo timer - $80
Newer dashboard - $40
Razo shift knob - Gift, haha
Cherry Picker - $160

...And I think that's pretty much it. Luckily I was able to install all this stuff on my own and save a couple grand on labor costs, so total is actually about 10k including the car...and I was out of cash. So now, married with children and different priorities, the project has come to a screeching holt. Even the sanding and primering job I started is literally half done with the front of the car primered black and the rear a bright yellow. Simply, as sorry sight. I will post some pics soon so you can empathize with me.

Although, I've never really drifted for myself, the sport really grabbed my attention. I was more into import drag racing before and have taken my previous car ( 93 Mazda Rx7 ) to the track before to check my quarter mile times. But, there's just something graceful about drifting that is hypnotizing. Until I get my drift project in gear again, I can only watch and drool.