Drifters, you gotta love them! If it wasn’t for these bunch of guys and gals I don’t think half of the cool and crazy front and rear end swaps out there would ever have materialised. But, the reality of drifting is that sooner or later – no matter how good you are or how well your car is prepared – you will crash. And as Yuuya Yoneda tells us, if you’re not doing that, then you probably aren’t driving hard enough!
The fact that Yuuya’s Silvia S15 looks somewhat different than the day it rolled off Nissan’s production line should give you some idea of how hard he pushes it at the local drift track. It was a pretty hard head-on collision that led to the transformation – something that can be credited to Nagahama-san at N-Style.
Grafting a BMW E46 front end onto the car was not an easy feat. It took months of work – adapting the bumper, fitting and aligning the lights and blending the kidney grilles onto the Silvia’s vented hood. But it was all worth it as Yuuya is now the proud owner of one of the most unique S15s in the world.
The SR20DET received some attention too, and is now fitted with a Trust T518Z turbo, big intercooler, and a pair of hotter cams. Tuning through an A’PEXi Power FC engine management system has netted a nice and reliable 400hp.
The car sits on a set of GP Sports adjustable coilovers and there are modified knuckles in the mix to give it the sort of steering lock you need on a proper drift car. I’m sure you’ll recognise the wheels – RAYS Volk Racing TE37SLs measuring 18×9.5J up front and 18x10J at the rear with stretched 215-section rubber all round.
Simple mods follow in the interior with a Bride Brix II half-leather bucket seat, and the must-have Nardi steering wheel. Like most of N-Style’s cars, the S15 is driven daily so there was no need to fit a roll cage or strip the trim.
On top of the front end conversion, Nagahama worked his magic by blistering the fenders for added aggression and finishing off the exterior with a two-tone paint job: N-Style gold up top and a Honda white for the lower section.
All the cars we’ve seen from N-Style have ticked the right boxes, and for this reason it really makes me wonder what these guys will come up with next. Whatever it is, I’m sure it won’t disappoint!
Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: speedhunters_dino
dino@speedhunters.com
Pictures: Larry Chen
Instagram: larry_chen_photo