Weekend warrior: 1991 Nissan Silvia (S13)

Name: Chevenne Hassan // Age: 23
Location: Christchurch // Occupation: Workshop coordinator

NZ Performance Car: Hi, Chevenne. Sweet S13 — have you always been into Silvias?
Chevenne: Hey, team. I was brought up around American muscle cars, but my interest in Japanese cars started when my brother let me drive his R33 GT-R. It was from there [that] I discovered Silvias, and the more I saw of them, the more I liked them.

We know you already have an S15 (NZ Performance Car Issue No. 230), so why was it that you built this car?
Yeah, I took my S15 to a local track day and tried drifting for the first time. I was hooked. But I knew I couldn’t risk taking my daily-driver to any more track days, plus, it wasn’t set up for it, so I started looking for an S13. I hated the idea of having a cool car in the garage and only being able to use it once a month at the track, so it was an easy decision to make it road legal, too.

Was it a lot of fuss to get it road legal with the cage and other track car mods?
I bought it deregistered, which meant having to go through compliance again. Then, with the roll cage, hydraulic handbrake, bucket seats, etc., it had to be certified and scrutineered for an authority card through MSNZ [MotorSport New Zealand]. That meant a lot of checks to make sure all the work was within the rules, and it flew through at every stage. Hard work, all worth it though!

Nothing like street sharking the track car. Why’d you go with an RB over an SR?
Well, my S15 has an SR20DET in it, and even with how reliable that has been for me, I just wanted something different to the daily-driver. Plus, they do sound good.

Fair call. Now that it’s done and looks so good, are you OK about damaging it while drifting?
Thank you! When I take it on the track now, I change the wheels and take the kit off so there isn’t too much left to damage. Nothing that some fibreglass and paint can’t fix exterior-wise, anyway.

Wise move. Thanks for sharing her with us, Chevenne!

Engine: Nissan RB25DET, 2500cc, six-cylinder; T3T4 turbo, Sinco top-mount manifold, Turbosmart 45 wastegate, Turbosmart blow-off valve, Turbosmart fuel-pressure regulator, Bosch 440cc injectors, Walbro 500lph fuel pump, Nistune ECU
Drivetrain: Nissan RB20DET five-speed, Exedy heavy-duty five-puck clutch, locked diff
Interior: Six-point roll cage by Nick at Motorsport Fabrications, Racetech RT1000 bucket seats, Grip Royal steering wheel, custom hydraulic handbrake, Cardwells four-point pink harnesses, Fusion subwoofer
Exterior: Origin Labo Type 3 +55mm front and rear widebody guards, Vertex bodykit, resprayed in gunmetal grey by James Martin at S&S Panel and Paint
Wheels/tyres: (F) 18x10-inch (+0) Work Emotion CR2P, (R) 18x11-inch (+2) Work Emotion CR2P, resprayed glitter pink
Suspension: BC Gold coilovers; Hardrace adjustable camber, toe, traction, and caster arms
Power: 212kW
Fuel type: 98 octane
Tuner: Reuben at Rapid Performance