NAME: ALEX PETERS AGE: 25 LOCATION: AUCKLAND OCCUPATION: STEEL/PIPE FABRICATOR

NZ Performance Car: Hi, Alex. Tell us about how you came to own this S14.

Alex: Hey, NZPC. I’ve owned a bunch of Silvias in the past, and they have been proven as a good, easy car to set up, and even easier to get parts for, so it just made sense to me to stick with them. The S14 has always been the easiest to source bits for out of the Silvia range, and it was the logical model to jump to when I was having trouble getting what I wanted [from] … an S15 I had beforehand.

And what was it that made you want to modify it in the first place?

After building a street and track car, I found that all I was ever using it for was to go drifting. This build was meant to be something built for track use only, which let me do a number of modifications and [make] aesthetic choices that otherwise wouldn’t be allowed under our road laws.

Being a drift car, were you worried about making it look so mint only to go and break it?

Not at all. I had always wanted to own a good-looking car, and that meant that I never focused heavily on power. As long as it went sideways and looked good doing it, then the rest is history. The way I see it, I don’t plan on crashing it, but I also don’t plan on driving it carefully either — so, whatever happens, happens, and it’s a good thing that looks are only cosmetic and can be fixed up easily.

It’s common to switch out for bigger capacity and more cylinders; what made you stick with the humble SR?

I’ve never been a fan of big power or V8s in drift cars — I can understand them being more reliable and less work, but, to me, nothing is more fun than having to beat on a car, smashing the clutch, and hitting the limiter to make it all happen. Japan has always been a big influence here, too, as you still see some of the top-tier drivers pedalling lower horsepower SR-powered cars yet keeping up with the big dogs.

If it works, it works, right? What benefits have you seen since fitting all the steering and suspension components?

The steering components make the car 100-per-cent easier to control, in my opinion. Not even from having more lock; it just provides more control over how the car behaves while it’s sideways. And having decent suspension now helps put the grip to the ground and feels much different to any other car that I have drifted before. Decent suspension and car set-up makes a huge difference over factory parts, that’s for sure.

And if you were to do it all again, would you change anything?

Only to keep the car in a semi-road-legal state — even though I never intended to with this car, I do miss driving it up the road when I feel like [it]. And if I had known [that] I was going to go this far with the motor, I would have with one that I’ve always wanted: a 13B turbo. Can’t beat the sound of a rotary on song. Who knows, that could still be on the cards for the future.

We wouldn’t say no to that, Alex. Thanks for the yarn.