Jonathon Stark’s 10-second S14
Popular as a street-sifter, the Silvia isn’t often the first choice of chassis in the drag scene among the amateur ranks — perhaps as its little SR20 heart needs a bit of coin thrown at it to run decent times. However, Jonathon Stark didn’t give two tosses about such thoughts, and, already knowing his way around the four-cylinder after owning multiple Silvias and getting hooked on the rush of drag racing, he knew exactly what chassis he would go with.
His current S14 has been brought to life by an angry SR20DET running CP 8.5:1 pistons atop Manley H-beam rods that attach to the factory crank via ACL Race Series bearings. Up top, the heads sport Franklin Cams 272 camshafts along with Tomei valve springs and rocker-arm stoppers. “I went with the dual-rocker-guide conversion to stop the common rocker issues SR20s are known for,” said Jonathon. He used the standard plenum and a ported DE throttle body, measuring in at 68mm, with a plenum spacer to allow for a custom top-feed fuel rail. The rail contains X-Pert 1560cc fuel injectors that feed E85 into the mix, while, on the other side of the engine, you’ll find a Holset HX35 II bolted to a Sinco twin-scroll large-runner manifold with a Turbosmart 45-millimetre V-band wastegate. Having chewed his way through a few standard engines with melted pistons and, on the same card, blowing multiple SR boxes, he wanted to build a stronger, more reliable combo, so you’ll now find an RB25DET bolted to the back with an Exedy five-puck solid-centre clutch hidden inside.
Straight away, you’ll notice the jacked rear, which is courtesy of a US-built Import Drag Solutions S14 Pro rear drag kit and the 16x9-inch FD RX-7 wheels that are shod in 26x10.5 Mickey Thompson ET Streets. With all that power, slowing down after a run ain’t an easy task, so the 14 has been equipped with GT-R calipers and 320-millimetre two-piece slotted rotors to get the job done.
Running E85, it’s currently producing 350kW on 25psi, and Jonathon has run a personal best of 10.9s at 131mph (211kph).