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GoverningNick

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Location: United States
Occupation: Doing Virtual Speedhunters articles.
Age: 25
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#118272   2017-03-24 00:53          


There and Back Again: The 180 of Many Faces

Probably the most recognizable car in the import scene is a Nissan S-chassis. Literally most everyone I know has owned one at some point, and Ben, or Phoenexius, is no exception.

This, is his interpretation.

Unlike most S-chassis's with Japanese badging in the United States, this one is a legitimate import from the land of the Rising Sun, and arrived in the US only a few months ago.



Something I somewhat enjoy about this car, is that it doesn't belong to any specific style. Well yes, I do enjoy cars that adhere to certain styles as well, it's always nice to see someone say "Screw your rules! I do what I want!"



As the exhaust photo, and this one of course, demonstrate, the powerhouse under the Spirit Rei hood isn't the SR20 or CA18 this car may have left the factory with.



Under the hood is not a 2JZ, not a RB, not a LS, not a !JZ, but, rather, a bastard child of the two JZs.

Since the mod list is Super Smash Brothers fanfiction tiers of length, I'll just copy the mod list given to me.

Engine is a 1.5JZ-GTE; stock 2JZ engine block, crank,con-rods and pistons, 1JZ Cylinder head, 1JZ GReddy camshafts, 2JZ Twin turbo header modified to fit 1JZ head and factory 2JZ twin turbos.
WELD valve covers, HKS Fuel rail, EXEDY Clutch oil catch tank and hoses, Nissan FS5R30A Transmission, GReddy oil filer,cooler and turbo intercooler, GReddy crankshaft and alternator belt.
Displacement : 3500cc (3.5l),no tune, turbo pressure same as on a factory 2JZ-GTE, producing around 300hp.
A'PEX-i exhaust system, from the headers to the bumper.

While it's not the massive amounts of power you see in TX2K and the like, it's still respectable in it's own right.

And, in my own opinion, if it can do this:



Then it's alright in my book.



Even the biggest S-chassis fans may have difficulties putting a name to that body kit the car's wearing.

It's possibly because the kit is relatively rare in the States, or whatever reason.

Painted in a factory purple color meant for the TVR Cebera Speed 12, Benny's RPS13 wears a full Spirit Rei kit, the only exceptions on the frame being the Bundoki front lip, the roof spoiler, and the massive custom-moulded rear spoiler that comes close to the spoiler my FC had.



"Hey Nick, what brakes and such does Benny's 180 run?"

Glad you asked!

On the front and rear, the RPS13 runs OE 2000 Cobra R brakes, yes, the ones by Brembo.



330 millimeter discs in the front, paired with 295 millimeter discs in the back, is nothing to laugh at.

The wheels, of course, are SSR EX-C Meshes in 17 inches tall, wrapped in none other than Toyo Proxes R888s.

The interior has seen it's fair share of modifications as well, yet I neglected to take any photos of that, as I was more scared of getting caught when we were shooting our action shots.

Like this one.



Inside the former drift missle now resides front and rear Zenki seats, and a full LHD conversion similar to the one in Harrison's R33 Skyline, which you can read about here.

Additionally, the car had lost it's original rear lighting in various bangs and crashes in it's former life, and as such was given fully red Zenki rear lights, with a black Zenki center panel. Notable additions include the shaved trunk door, as well as the removal of the third brake light.



As a first with my run of Speedhunters features, I included a ten question Q & A session with the owner of this car, and this will be reoccurring in the future.

1. Of all the cars in the world, why a S13?

- Everybody asks me that, and I know that those cars are a money pit; had one in the past, but, still the car interests me. Best part about it is the tuning versatility, as you can try many, many, different styles. With this car you can never be truly satisfied with the cars look, you make changes as you go: today you see a nice spoiler for it, or you see some nice rims on sale, etc, the car's style changes over night and that's why I love them.

2. Why swap the engine?

- I love the SR20's but those are known to be a pain in the rear sometimes, and also known sometimes to be really unreliable so I decided on a swap. The hard part was to choose the engine that would be swapped in. After a long time, I decided that I should test my engine skills, and build a 1.5JZ-GTE. I am happy with the result, currently, I just need to finish the engine swap with changing from factory 2JZ-GTE ceramic turbines to something better.

3. Does the car have any significant meaning for you?

- Actually, it is one of those cars that you see in a video game and fall in love. My first encounter with an SX-Chassis was in 2002, or was it 2003? Not quite sure when I first played NFS Underground 2. Since then that car has a special place in my heart, the main reason I love that car is due to its unusual tail lights and pop up headlights on a nice shaped body, but one of the main reasons I love that car is its rarity. Well, someone will say "this guy is nuts, S-Chassis are common", yeah, it is true those cars are common everywhere except Bosnia (and maybe some other places too). That car is rare in Bosnia and so far never saw one running on the street; I saw two in a junkyard and one on a sale listing far away from my house and the car was illegally imported and a rusted out shell so yeah, the car is rare in Bosnia and that's why I love it so much.

4. How would you compare this car to your others?

- That is a tricky question, I don't like to compare my cars since they are all my babies. But since I have to, compared to my Audi A4, the ride isn't smooth like in it due to different suspension settings. Also the low RPM torque output feels weird since the Audi is a diesel powered car, while the 180 is a petrol car, meanwhile compared to the R33 while it was stock the difference was a bit more than with the Audi. When switching from one car to another you start to feel like a blade on your back due to a weight and length difference, also when you floor the pedal the acceleration is way different as you would expect, those are the facts but the main thing is those 3 cars are in different classes so a proper comparison can't be done.

5. You've moved all around the world in your time. May I ask why?

- Yes I did, I was in Bosnia but then I moved to Germany due to bigger car community and when I got there my R32 rolling shell arrived, and after I installed the engine and got it road legal, it felt weird to drive a RHD car in a LHD place, and as Japan was and still is my favorite place I moved there. Then, my good friend from Slovenia, Lagano, called me and asked if I would join him and couple other friends on a, lets call it a project. But after some time I decided to drop out of it and head to Los Angeles, where I currently am, and I don't feel any regrets, just after some time you start to wonder what are your folks at home doing and stuff, but dreams keep you moving forwards without regrets.

6. You don't see too many purple cars. Why this color?

- It is a weird choice of colors, first the car was green and it was nice until I looked it from a bit far away and the car that I was imagining disappeared. So, I made my mind to respray it. Also a key factor in choosing the paint was the thing that 90% of the parents make their children think green, blue, black, gray and so on are man colors, while pink, purple etc are female colors. And since I love the Midnight Purple paint that people around the globe spray, usually on Skylines, caught my eye 5-6 years ago, I wanted to try with purple, and we did a test coat, brought the car out in the sun, and I fell in love with it.

7. What got you into cars?

- Well I had a poor childhood and as a kid without any knowledge or guides about cars. And since me and my friends played NFS games a lot, you know: quad exhausts, big spoilers, body kits, neons, blah, blah, blah, that stuff was cool for us. In Bosnia, you don't see many sports cars and there are no car genes in you. But suddenly after I got my driving licence at the age of 18 and since I started to drive my fathers crappy old Mercedes, I fell in love with cars, and spent more and more time reading about cars, engines, suspensions, etc, on the internet and that's basically it, after I went on my first solo drive in the car it changed my life 180 degrees.

8. What got you into imports?

- Well "Imports" is a weird thing for me as a Bosnian since every car there is an import [chuckles]. But I know that you mean Japanese cars. Well at age of 5 in the spring of 1999, my mother took me to sign me in to school. But I wanted something for that, and I was crying until she took me to a toy store, and I saw a Sunset Blue Nissan Skyline GTR R34 and immediately I knew I had to have that toy. As years went on from a desire to own that toy, a desire to own that car came. And while every kid that I hung out with or kids in school dreamed about Lambos, Ferraris, and so on, my dream car was and still is a R34 Skyline.

9. Did you ever consider giving up on this car?

- Many people say "I wont sell my car" or "I will never give up on them" and so on, but sadly for everything there is an end eventually. Either it's financially, or car accident, or illness or anything else. But yes I will eventually give up on all 3 of my cars, just I don't know a reason yet, cause you never know what will happen in the future. So my advice to everyone is live in the present, don't think about the past or the future cause present matters most, and all car enthusiasts get emotionally attached to their cars; just remember, they are like your loved ones, they will be gone one day!

10. What's your best memory with this car, or, any car?

- Best memory with this or any other car well there are quite some memories. While we were making photos for the feature, I had a lot of fun hooning the car on the streets of LA, and this will be one of my best memories for a long time. But my best memory was with the R32 GTS, the car was a GTS and since it was a rolling shell I decided to put in an RB26 and at one point I had built it up to 1200HP and was cruising down the highway in Germany, when a Ferrari F12 approached me. I was driving 120 km/h in the no limit area, and the F12 owner wanted to pass me. He got to my car's driver door and started revving the car and then started accelerating, when I decided to let him know that his F12 is not a unbeatable car, floored my pedal and in a matter of moments I was going 300+ km/h and the F12 was left way behind. I eventually stopped on a gas station to smoke a cigarette since I don't smoke in any of my cars, when the F12 guy appeared and said that he never expected an R32 GTS could go that fast. I said it is a GTS shell with a GTR heart and spirit.

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# Bigg Boss93 : Ahahah that's sick, well done dude! :D