Nissan S15 (Silvia) tuning tips.

"Every cloud has a Silvia lining"

  The S15 has become a popular drift car with its good weight distribution and large array of cheap performance tuning parts.

It shares many components with other Nissans notably the S13,200sx, R33 skyline and the S16.

 Drift tuning and fast road tuning will have similar aims with the main difference being mainly drivetrain and suspension related.

If you are pushing more air into the engine then you will need to match this with more fuel.One of the first mods will be to uprate the injectors. The big daddys are the Nismo 550cc injectors which will need a R33 fuel pump from the GT-R to deliver the fuel needed.

OEM replacement turbos will give better power and performance characteristics. We recommend a ball bearing based turbo for their resilience and fast spooling nature. Another option is to go with a conversion to a larger turbo. The GT-RS turbo is a start performer with  a Garrett GT28 compressor.

Breathing mods should also be high up on your list of modifications. We would suggest a BOSS stainless steel manifold and a HKS muffler on the rear. (The Dragger makes a good sound but we have seen the best power gains from a HKS hyper muffler.)

Addition of a fast road cams, say 250-260 degrees (not a race spec one) will lift power even further and it is entirely possible to hit 400bhp with this selection of modifications.

Uprating the clutch becomes vital as soon as power rises above 250-300 bhp.

An intercooler will increase the efficiency of the forced induction side of the engine.  

You will also benefit from a boost controller and turbo actuator. For competition use heat can be a problem so get a good quality oil cool such as the Blitz oil coolers.

 A remap will help to lift power to much higher levels but this is best left to last and we would certainly recommend a custom remap.

Please join us in our forum to discuss the S15 tuning options in more detail with our S15 owners. We also have quite a few drifters, so you will be able to discuss technique and drift specific mods in our drift forum. It would also be worth reading our tuning articles to get a full grasp of the pros and cons of each type of modification.