Owww...just look at this Nissan S15, this is better than ice cream. I got this from a website called azines.com which is obviously stated on the pictures. They have a write up on it...here it goes...dont sue me for copyright matters, i just love this drift machine!



WORD: H. MICHAEL CHEUNG / EDIT: ANNY DOUGHERTY / PICTURES: H. MICHAEL CHEUNG
My fellowship group once told me that God gives everyone equal talents to make us unique individuals. I truefully believe that and try to apply that to my everyday life. Take automobile for example, some cars are made to show, some cars are made to race, and some cars are made to drift. Well… that’s what I thought until I saw this Swift S15. It is a natural born drift car with a killer look and it kicks ass on the race circuits! It has just a little more juice than its opponents in every category.I am pretty sure you have seen the “Swift” logos in many show and race cars, but who exactly are they? Swift Springs was founded in Tokyo in 1997, the motorsports division of the Tohatsu Spring Corporation of Japan. The company’s goal is to develop the next generation of motorsports coil springs by first-hand involvement. Swift springs are lightweight, durable, and exhibit the most linear characteristics while being cost effective. Sounds simple huh?! It is rocket science!The S15 Silvia is always a top choice for JDM tuners since it popped out from Nissan’s virg… I mean production line in 1998 to succeed the S14. With the passing of the then new emission law in Japan, the Silvia production was axed in 2002. (The Skyline GT-R soon followed) But it didn’t decrease the valve of the car; on the other hand, the price sky rocketed and the S15 became a collectable item. People always want what they can’t get.Swift Springs USA president Yashio Uchida and his crew bought this supped-up drift machine from the land of the rising sun late last year. It was then newly painted with new graphics, and was given a light performance upgrade; just barely in time to make it to last year’s SEMA Show. Its pure JDM DNA, slick body style, gutted interior, well hidden roll cage, extended e-bake handle, and other professional drift car characteristics earned the Swift S15 an “Instant Show Stopper” title on its American debut.There are three reasons for the hardcore drift car appearance of this Swift S15. The first reason is in the previous life, this S15 was a regular in professional and parking lot drift events. The second reason is of course to carry out the image reflected by Swift’s short but impressive history in the world of drifting. The third reason is, well it doesn’t matter because it looks so fine! The Nissan Silvia is wearing a Wise Square Besiege D1GP Spec Pro full body kit with smoke grey body paint. There are carbon fiber aero parts all around the car, Tenijin Technora yellow carbon fiber hood, Tenijin carbon fiber front and rear diffusers, and Besiege carbon fiber GT wing. Once again, it is simple, eye catching, and JDM all the way!The engine is built by Yashio Factory, along with the performance upgrades and tuning. During the photoshoot, Uchida San and his crew never mentioned how many horses they have under the hood. Then a week later, Uchida sent me the specs with an email starting with “As you see, we did only minimum modification to motor……” So I opened the attachment and went through the performance specs slowly: SR20DET power plant, NISMO head gasket, Garret turbo upgrade, secret brand blow off valve, Yashio Special header, Blitz / URAS boost controller, HKS Power Flow air filter, HKS front mount intercooler, HKS oil cooler, Wise Square Besiege’s exhaust, and 400bhp…… Wow, hold your horses! Minimum modification to motor with that much power?! Uchida San really taught me how to be humble! Or maybe it is just one of the habits he developed from the world of professional racing, as all the numbers are always close guarded secrets.To efficiently transfer the power to the wheels, the Swift crew upgraded the drive train with an Ogura Clutch, NISMO transmission, and NISMO LSD differential. Talk about the wheels, The Swift S15 is equipped with Rays Daytona Racing DR505; a very rare item in the market. The 18x9 +25 front wheels are wrapped with 225/40/18 Toyo RA-1 and the 18x10 +5 rear wheels are wrapped with 245/40/18.So Uchida’s email continued, “…Our intension is to beat other cars with suspension technology, since we are spring manufacture……” I should point out that I was one of the lucky people to witness this S15 in action in the Modified REDLINE time attack, and that was what Uchida San meant by “to beat other cars”. On that day, before the actual event, the Swift crew was working nonstop around the clock, brought the car out on the track, and then went straight to the paddock to swap suspensions and reset tire pressure, just to get the perfect lap time on that day on that track. This is what separates a race car from a sports car. For a race car, everything is changeable (or adjustable) to suit the perfect formula for the race. That is the spirit of Swift Springs, as the motorsports division of a Japanese giant.Of course you should already know, the best part of the Swift S15 is its chassis setup. The suspension system is made up with Kei-Office made Swift Special DG5 shock absorbers, Swift ID60mm 7” 10kg springs in the front and 9” 9kg at the rear. A pair of Swift ID60mm 1.5kg rear helper springs was added, and the frame was tightened by Swift stabilizer bars.On the time attack event, this S15 was piloted by well known Japanese super endurance driver Yasushi Kikuchi. At the end of the day, with almost 400 horses shy, it captured the second overall less than half a second following Kim Johnson’s XS Engineering R34 piloted by Formula D favorite judge Tarzan Yamada. Uchida San’s email ended with “…we need good brake, which we did not have time to install”, and a big smile!!

Since SEMA, this S15 had been attended a number of shows and some of you may already have had the chance to meet it in person. But with first hand experience, I have to tell you there is NOTHING that comes close to seeing it in action! Don’t be jealous, we have just confirmed with Swift that they will be competing in the D1 season opener on March 4th at Irwindale Speedway! So make sure you go check it out in their booth and on the track!!