#TougeCarChallenge The AE86 look-a-like

20 Aug 2017

Yup, I’ll take a Nissan Silvia S12, because it’s not really known and it looks like a AE86 Trueno

Engine

Since the stock engine isn’t powerful enough, we can better switch to a different engine. A SR20 would be a good engine to choose, since it’s a Nissan engine and used in RWD setups. On this engine, we’re going to swap in the head of the SR20VE engine, because the VE is a FWD engine, and the car is RWD. Since the engines are both from the same family they should share a lot of parts. Also, the VE comes with Nissans Neo VVT, which is similar to Vtec. Other mods include lighter, forged pistons, crankshaft, valves and piston rods, stronger valve springs and camshafts, ported intake and exhaust, individual throttle bodies, race exhaust manifold with cat-back exhaust and dual exhaust tips, a ECU remap, and a higher rev limit. The engine remains naturally aspirated to save weight

Gearbox and drive

A new 6-speed manual transmission with rally gears will be installed, together with a performance clutch kit, to cope with the extra power delivered by the engine. A limited slip differential will also be installed, and a stronger driveshaft

Suspension

The car will be lowered to lower the centre of gravity, and the springs and shocks will be set up as ideally as possible. Stronger anti-roll bars and new strut braces will further enhance cornering abilities, and some sports tires (I’m not a pro in tire brands) will increase grip for when it’s needed

Bodywork

To make the car faster it also needs to be lighter. This can be achieved by the application of carbon fibre. The hood is going to be made out of this material, together with the pop-up headlights. The rear side windows will be replaced by plastic ones, and the fenders, doors and bumpers will also be replaced by plastic ones. The bumpers however do receive a reinforcement to stop people like Shingo and Shinigami from breaking my car apart. A roll bar will also be installed for if a rollover crash may occur

Interior

For the interior, the front seats will be replaced by Bride bucket seats, which are going to be refurbished with black cloth and red stitching, and a red four point harness. A Momo steering wheel, a custom gauge dash (since the old one won’t go to 10k rpm) and a custom black dashboard with aluminium accent strips will transform the look of the interior a lot. Also, unnecessary trim parts will be removed, except for the climate control systems and the radio. A short shifter with an aluminium gear knob will also be installed. And some new aluminium pedals with an anti-slip surface.
For the back, the rear seats will be removed and the area will be made into a cargo bay, since I ain’t a taxi service and often would need to haul stuff around. Totally not something like tofu… Bonus is that removing the rear seats reduces weight so the car goes faster.

Exterior

Of course, the car still needs to look good. And since the car sorta looks like a AE86, why not make it externally look like one? Applying the same paint job as Takumis AE86 will confuse people at first. The rims are going to be black Watanabe RS, just like the ones on the AE86 of Takumi. Also, some yellow fog lights will be installed in the bottom part of the bumper
Since it’s likely there will also be raced at night, new LEDs will replace the old bulbs. These new ones would light up the road ahead way better than the old ones ever will