Hello from Greater Twickenham (Feltham, but shhhh) :)

[TomK]

The sound gets through fine. The loud exhaust was one of the main reasons for upgrading the stereo, so on long motorway cruises I could drown it out.
I've got aa cover and I could always get my old man to bring me down a wheel from home if I'm not too far away.
I can safely say I noticed a much larger increase in rattles going from springs and dampers to coilovers than I did from adding the sub.
This is my daily, not some stripped out track car, I would take the weight penalty for the increase in sound quality on long journeys, and it didn't hurt that I already had the equipment in my loft from my old s13, before I turned it to a stripped out lightweight.

 

[sibbers]

Ha! I did the same. Going without soundproofing for the sake of shaving a few lbs really ain't worth it. Sounds like we have similar stories

 

[sibbers]

Thought I'd update with a pic and a list of things I've done (for reference)

-switched wheels to Rota grid 17x9's
-New tyres fitted (235/45/17 & 245/45/17 Goodyear Eagle F1 AS2's & Hankook V12 EVO's respectively)
-fitted HSD monopros
-switched springs to 5/4kg
-fitted whiteline ARBs
-fitted a cheap stereo
-fitted defi guage using oem wiring
-fitted gizzmo EBC
-changed engine and gearbox oil (Millers Oils NANODRIVE CFS 5w-40 NT Full Synthetic Engine Oil & Silkolene Comp Gear 80w-90 Semi-Synthetic Ester Racing Gear Oil)
-fitted Nismo clocks
-changed interior gear stick
-changed gear stick gaitor
-changed center dash surround
-added silencer to exhaust

See attachments for current progress including driver view complete with S13 wheel and LBC on the radio for street creds init bruv!

next things to do:

-double din OEM look stereo from Qashqai
-subframe bush replacement
-turbo oil and water feeds/drains replace with braided hoses
-dash replace
-interior steering wheel retrim (received today, but sent back to be re-done sadly)
-switch seats for minty ones
-sound proof the whole thing so it doesn't squeak and road/exhaust noise doesn't drive me wild.
-find driver side undertray piece and fit
-add mesh to holes where fog lights would go
-walbro
-maaaaaybe FMIC

 

[TomK]

What was wrong with your old centre dash surround? and do you still have it?

 

[sibbers]

It was purple. Looked a bit out of place that's all and yep, still have it. It's in better condition than this one tbh.

 

[TomK]

Be willing to sell?

Mine got broke when the car was broken into years back, then i had to 'modify' it when i fitted my current double din sat nav. Am now looking at changing sat nav unit so a replacement would be nice.

 

[sibbers]

Yeah, sure. It has a hole drilled into the bottom left corner for the alarm led which might be a problem..? If you are interested you can have it. Spirit of the club and all that.

 

[TomK]

I would have to respray it anyway, so nothing a bit of fibreglass and filler cant fix.
That would be great mate. If you find out the postage costs i will pay pal that over and some money for a pint on me. :thumbs:

 

[sibbers]

Yep, pm your address and I'll do the rest

 

[SK-R]

What about this: http://www.alpine.co.uk/p/Products/dab3842/ine-w925r

The last picture has a graph of all their available models but that one looks pretty decent. Pricey at £700ish but it seems quite good.

Pioneer make a few nice ones too, had a look at this myself: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pioneer-A...416?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item51cd9bdef8

 

[sibbers]

That alpine unit looks beautiful.... But so expensive. I'm sure it'll work better too, but an audiophile setup in an s15 is probably a false economy so I'll go after the Qashqai system, complete with misdirecting GPS and lacking RCA outs and let you know how I get on. Main thing is ease of use and how it looks. Fingers crossed, and thanks for the links dude. If I was a bit more flush I'd probably go for the INE-925R tbh.

 

[SK-R]

No problem mate, let us know how it goes. At the end of the day if you don't like the Qashqai one you can always sell it on and buy yourself something uprated as such.

I don't personally go for expensive sound systems, I just want something that has a good sound quality, and a deep/bassy tone. Main reason for liking that Alpine unit is because it has DAB, very good SatNav system and a few other features that allow my phone to fully integrate/sync with it.

I've had some cheaper ones before in previous cars, between £150-£300 and they have been terrible or complicated to use or just painfully slow. So If I get another one again, it will have to be a decent unit.

 

[sibbers]

Yeah, can totally sympathise with that. buy cheap buy twice and all that... But you're right, I'm pretty sure there'll be plenty of people wanting the system seeing seeing as how much Nissan charge for them new.... something like £1300+ iirc. shocking.

 

[sibbers]

Just managed to tick off another thing from my list. Took the whole day tho, even with a 20 ton press removing and refitting subframe bushes was a chore. Taking everything off was actually really easy. Surprising really, normally something unexpected gets in the way, but removing the old bushes wasn't very easy as putting the whole subframe in the press and getting a decent mount to press into was tricky and those bad boys didn't want to budge. When they were out though, cleaned up the while subframe and sanded it all down smooth again then repainted, greased up and pressed the new ones in. Whiteline does oversized bushings so I can't imagine anyone managing without a press, but the end result is bloody amazing handling and (from my 30 mins of driving so far with slightly blowing turbo gaskets) no extra noise what so ever. I'm pretty sure I am done for handling mods now. This thing feels about as good as it gets for the road.

Next... Stereo. Turbo gaskets and braided feeds. Walbro. Maybe a bit more boost (already have the gizzmo in, but only use it for gain in spooling for now) and hopefully a clutch LSD too.

 

[TomK]

Any particular reason your looking to upgrade the LSD?
Doing more track/drift work or do you just not like the standard helical?

Am looking forward to a write up on the qashqai stereo install and pictures.

 

[sibbers]

Ah, I just fancy something that locks predictably. I can see the appeal of the helical, but I prefer something that locks in any condition. It's wonderful when it's dry especially on smooth road with loads of grip you can really nail the corners with or without hanging the tail, but I don't want to win any races I just want to have a little fun from time to time and one thing I love about RWD is steering from the rear. My old S13 had the most amazing VLSD and I'd like a better one than that. The helical just doesn't suit my driving style.

Regarding the qashqai stereo, I'm looking forward to receiving it still! Speaking of which, I've still not posted the center console I promised you! I'll try and fix that tomorrow!

 

[sibbers]

Update:

Qashqai stereo bought and in. Required a 15mm piece of plastic to blank off the gap it left at the top. Needs a bit of fine tuning, but looks great and sound quality isn't so bad. GPS computer speed is totally fine and new maps appear ok too, I just need to find a better place to put the sensor (probably under the plastic of the speedo cluster).

Ive also sourced a brand new Nismo GT Pro 1.5 way diff to fit. Cost me and arm and a leg.

Ive now got a Frankenstein exhaust system and I couldn't be happier: 3" turbo elbow > silenced Downpipe and decat > 3" mid section with large backbox can (because original exhaust backbox can was about 1.5" bigger than the tube, so I went as big as I could fit) and I've now replaced the backbox with an HKS silent which has resulted in the perfect sounding SR. I think the mods up the front of the exhaust have given it a rumble that it never had before, and the rear has quietened it all down so it doesn't sound like I want anyone to hear with the result being it sounds like it has a much bigger engine like that of a fast jag. Once the exhaust is hot it pops on occasion too. Not often, but whenever I'm giving it welly for 5+ minutes it gets going. It's the first exhaust I've had that sounds this good. Also, it goes like stink. I did the elbow/frontpipe first and drive it, drifted it a bit, got to experience the gain in power then switched the backbox the following day and it doesn't feel like it's robbed an ounce of power at all. It just sounds amazing.

So now, aside from minor rattles, soundproofing, seats and maybe dashboard replace etc. I'm pretty much done. Driving is great. Loving this car.

 

[sibbers]

Nismo diff fitted now. Been a few days but haven't driven it much except to break it in, that said - even from brand new there was none of the aggressive feeling is set myself up for. I can get some inner wheel hopping at full lock with the right amount of throttle, but it sounds fine (read it might sound like popcorn) and its gradually fading so I'm thinking maybe other diffs behave worse, or I got lucky, or I broke it in properly where others might've drifted too soon (which was what I thought the break period was meant to be)....

Will update with my findings sooner or later but for now that's all I have. So far so good with backlash at 0.13 and preload at 60%. Let's see how this goes :thumbs: