DRAG CHALLENGE
WITH AN ALL-WHEEL-DRIVE TRANSPLANT TO GRAB SOME TRACTION, DRAG CHALLENGE FIRST-TIMER JASON RUBY HAS HIGH HOPES FOR HIS HOME-BUILT EIGHT-SECOND NISSAN SILVIA
THE lingering memory of Nissan’s category-dominating GT-R race cars more than 25 years ago still pisses some people off. But look, rather than sook about the high-performance full-time allwheel-drive bits under those all-conquering ‘Godzilla’ Nissans, why not utilise them for a quick street car build – like, maybe, something that could do well at Street Machine Drag Challenge?
That’s more or less where Albury’s Jason Ruby is at. He’s shoved a stack of EX-GT-R bits under his Nissan Silvia, powering it with a pumped and stroked 3.2-litre twin-cam Nissan RB30 six to create an all-wheel-drive missile that’s run 8.20@166mph.
Actually, ‘shoved’ is selling Jason’s driveline conversion – and his skills – short. He’s a fitter/machinist and has done just about every aspect of the conversion – plus the general build of the car – himself over the six years he’s owned it. He’s put lots of research and development (read: plenty of time and money after breaking stuff) into his build. “I couldn’t afford to build this if I had to pay someone else!” he says.
The beginnings of this car are in his old one: a boxy late-80s Aussie-made R31-series Nissan Skyline sedan. “The coppers put a red defect on that,” Jason laughs. “So I went looking for an S13 to put my engine in. I chose an S13 as they are a popular drift car; that’s what I was going to use it for. But I ended up catching the drag racing bug and straightlining it instead.”
The RB30 mill, lifted from that old Skyline, was built by Matt Sims Performance, local to Jason in Lavington. The 3.0-litre block runs a Nitto stroker crank (for 3.2 litres) and same
WITH 40PSI OF BOOST FROM THE BIG PRECISION TURBO, THE HALTECHMANAGED MISSILE MOTOR PRODUCES 1140HP ON THE HUB DYNO
brand pistons and rods. The RB25 head’s hydraulic lash adjustment has been converted to solid over each cylinder’s four valves. With 40psi of boost from the big Precision turbo, the Haltech-managed missile motor produces 1140hp on the hub dyno.
The gearbox is a beefed-up Powerglide hung from the rear of the RB30 block with an engineered adapter plate. The transfer case isn’t integral to the gearbox like it would be for, say, a Hilux, so it’s turned by a manufactured shaft. The forward propshaft is made for the job, too.
“I’ve spent plenty of hours looking at stuff to figure out how it’s all going to work,” Jason says.
Thankfully, the EX-GT-R diff bolted straight into the Silvia’s independent rear suspension cradle. There have been a few broken driveshafts along the way, but off-the-shelf billet upgrades seem to have cured that. Pulling it up from near 270km/h – and even faster at longer-than-400m airport sprints such as Cootamundra – are big GT-R clampers within 255wide Mickey T ET Streets all ’round.
Being AWD and force-fed, the Silva will be running in Turbosmart Outlaw Blown.
Unlike many other Drag Challenge participants, Jason is locked into using E85 for the entirety of this year’s event. “I thought about fitting flex-fuel, but I never run it on petrol so I’ll spend that money on the extra fuel,” he says. He’s tested the Silvia on-road, towing a trailer, so he’s confident of the car’s capability and performance, even after hearing the horror stories of 40°C in blistering sun and 10°C in torrential rain in the one week!
I’VE SPENT PLENTY OF HOURS LOOKING AT STUFF TO FIGURE OUT HOW IT’S ALL GOING TO WORK