Crawling into the driver's seat of Jeremy Sakioka's S13 does little to ease my apprehensions. It's nice that there's a roll cage, but the exposed window mechanism in the door looks like a pile of forks aimed at my mid-section. The seat is mounted permanently in a forward position. With my knees up to my nipples, my feet can work the pedals, but a meter of some sort mounted to the bottom of the dash digs into my right shin. Gary Castillo of Design Craft Fabrication removes the obstruction. I ask him: "Don't you need to do something with the wires?" He replies: "That thing hasn't been hooked up since, like, two motors ago."
The underside of the roof has enough stickers to compromise the car's center of gravity. There's no interior to speak of; instead of a shift knob there's just a pipe sticking out from the tunnel. The front end has been replaced with an S13 Silvia conversion and, oh yes, cracks and scratches are on the bumpers. This is the jankey car I envision when I think of a typical 240. I want to know what it's like to drive a car like this on the track, but before I can truly get my hate on, I have to crank the ignition.
The roar that erupts is just awesome. Castillo has stuffed in a fresh VQ35DE motor from a 350Z. Combined with lumpy cams and custom headers, the sound is incredible. Everyone at the track immediately falls in love with the car.
Driving it is terrifyingly fun. The suspension is absolutely horrible. The rear sags and takes all the weight off the front tires. Getting them to bite requires ridiculous steering angles. Then when the rear shocks bottom out, the front tires grab and snap the whole car around. All this happens while never cracking the throttle open by more than half. Things really get ugly when the hammer drops.
Throttle response on Sakioka's S13 is absolutely instantaneous. Standing on the gas, even on the straightaways, is scary. It's half a second slower than the already skatey S14 in the transitions of section six. Then, with heavy front brake bias, it pushes wide entering section ten, costing even more time. I'm unable to control the car consistently, but on one lucky lap the torquey V6 powers the S13 off the corners to a low 1:30-dead even with the S14.
Back to the original question: are any 240SXs out there actually made to go fast around a track? Maybe one or two, but they're all too rare. The stock, underpowered KA24DE doesn't do the chassis justice and most modified, overpowered 240SXs can't put the power down. We've seen one or two kick-ass S-chassis (such as Dentice's S15), but are the masses going to fine-tune their set-ups for real speed? I don't think so. 240SX drivers, prove me wrong.
Jeremy Sakioka's
1991 NISSAN 240SX (S13)
Engine
Engine Code: VQ35DE
Type: 3498cc, V6, DOHC. Aluminum block and heads, variable valve timing
Internal Modifications: Brian Crower Stage III camshafts, valvesprings and titanium retainers, GReddy Iridium spark plugs, Okaida Project coils
External Modifications: Design Craft Fabrication custom motor mounts, intake, exhaust, and equal length headers, Setrab oil cooler, Walbro 255lph fuel pump, SX fuel pressure regulator,Engine Management: AEM EMS
Drivetrain
Layout: Longitudinal front engine, rear-wheel drive
Drivetrain Modifications: Six-speed 350Z transmission w/Tilton triple-disc clutch and flywheel, KAAZ R200 two-way limited-slip differential
Suspension
Front: JIC coilovers and tie-rods, stock anti-roll bar
Rear: JIC coilovers, toe link, lateral link and upper control arm, stock anti-roll bar
Brakes
Front: Rotora 13.5-in. rotors, six-piston fixed calipers and pads
Rear: Rotora 11-in. rotors, two-piston calipers and pads
External
Wheels: 18x9 (F) 18x9.5 (R) Enkei RPF1
Tires: Falken RT-615 235/40/18 (F) 265/40/18 (R)
Body: S13 Silvia front end conversion, Origin bumpers, fenders and side skirts, paint by MOB Works
Interior: Bride seats, Defi gages, Simpson harnesses, jankey shifter