1989 Nissan Cefiro – Lemon Fresh – 188

 

The A31 Nissan Cefiro occupies a special place in the heart of New Zealand drifting. Right from the beginning, at the start of last decade, it has been a car that has dominated the scene at all levels of the sport. In fact, it was four years into the D1NZ championship before the mighty A31 Cefiro was toppled from the number one championship spot. Jairus Wharerau, Justin Rood and Adam Richards all claimed DK titles in Cefiros before Daniel Woolhouse eventually toppled the taxis behind the wheel of a Silvia. With that kind of history, it’s no real wonder that the A31 is still one of the most popular drift platforms across the country. But with that celebrity comes the inevitable horde of wannabe-drift Cefiros — you know the cars we mean — the automatic, naturally aspirated shitters rolling your main street banged down on choppies. This has given the Cef a somewhat tarnished rep as a hoodrat-mobile, and sometimes we tend to forget that they are still very capable drift cars, if, of course, they’ve been done right. D1LEMN, a 1989 example owned by Simon Paul, is exactly that.

Simon had been following drifting since those early Cefiro-dominated days and eventually, while all his friends were buying up Silvias and Skylines, Simon found himself the proud owner of a stock-standard auto RB20E-powered A31. “I bought it to use as a drift hack,” Simon tells us. “I just swapped in a RB20DET and a manual gearbox and began taking it to track days.” For the next year, Simon drove the car all over the North Island attending as many of those as he could — however all that stopped when the gearbox blew to pieces. “After the gearbox went, the car was stored for about a year until I decided to do a full rebuild and formulate a proper drifter,” says Simon.

With the intention of competing in D1NZ Pro-Am, Simon started with a full roll cage, painted in what is now his signature ‘Lemon Yellow’ colour. About the theme, Simon says: “I’ve actually always called my car ‘the lemon’ well before it had anything yellow on it. I just decided to go with the lemon theme once the build began, starting with the cage.”

The lemony-fresh accents carry on through to the engine bay, which now houses a much more serious 2500cc straight-six RB25DET. The internally stock motor makes 309 kilowatts at the wheels thanks to a GT3540R turbo, pushing 18psi through the system. For a stock motor, that’s a fairly impressive figure. “The RB25 can handle up to about 350 kilowatts at the wheels before it starts getting dodgy,” says Simon. “Carl [Ruiterman at E&H Motors, who tuned the car,] says the package could easily get to 350 kilowatts if it’s tuned on E85 gas, but it’s not really a priority at the moment.”

As anyone who has driven a high-powered drifter can tell you, anything over 300 kilowatts is more than enough power — perhaps not if you want to be on the podium of D1NZ, but for Pro-Am? Certainly. With the season ahead, Simon intends on competing in as many rounds as his funds will allow. “I figure, Why not? It’s a chance to get out on the track, but with the added bonus of being able to compete against your mates.”

With the addition of BC Gold coilovers, a myriad of adjustable arms and some decent brakes, the Nissan was ready for track work — it just needed a little flair to finish it off. Simon went with URAS bumpers and skirts with a D-MAX vented bonnet and front guards. For the rear guards, Simon wanted to keep it all steel, which, considering he was about to fit massive 18×12-inch Rota Grid rims to the S13 Silvia rear hubs, meant he was in for a bit of a fight. Explains Simon: “We did it all in the garage at home, slowly bringing the factory guards out bit by bit, then coming back the next night and going a little further again. Eventually we could fit the 12 [-inch-wide rim] in there fine. The massive, bright-yellow rims are certainly the main talking point of the car, and give it a far more aggressive look than any other Cefiro we’ve seen in New Zealand. After the guards were sorted, the car was taken down to Jeff at CRS in Newmarket, who got to work making sure everything looked good, then coated the car in a perfect, simple gloss white. The new look could almost be described as a nod to the early days of D1NZ here in New Zealand, but updated for the modern age.

While many Pro-Am cars are fairly rugged — and for good reason — Simon’s Cef will certainly be standing out from the crowd. Its bright colours, clean body and sparse graphics will be hard to miss come the new season. Although we’re not sure how long this beater-turned-beauty will be staying pristine once it’s out on the track, we’re looking forward to seeing it there nonetheless!

This article is from NZ Performance Car 188. Clickhere to check it out.

1989 Nissan Cefiro – Tuning Menu

Heart
ENGINE: Nissan RB25DET 2500cc 6-cylinder
BLOCK: Factory
HEAD: Factory
INTAKE: HKS pod filter, custom intake pipe, GReddy-style intake plenum, 90mm throttle body, IFR intercooler, 3-inch intercooler piping
TURBO: GT3540R
WASTEGATE: TiAL 38mm
BOV: TiAL 60mm
EXHAUST: Steam pipe manifold, 3-inch straight-through exhaust system
FUEL: Walbro pump, Tomei fuel pressure regulator, braided lines, anodised fittings, re-flowed 575cc injectors, Speedflow filter
ECU: Link G4
COOLING: Twin-core alloy radiator, 2x 12-inch fans, oil cooler
OTHER: Partially de-loomed engine bay

DRIVE
GEARBOX: R33 GTS-25t 5-speed
CLUTCH: Autoclutch 3800-pound single plate
DIFF: Factory locked

SUPPORT
STRUTS: BC Gold coilovers
OTHER: Adjustable camber, castor and toe arms, subframe lock bushes, R32 GTS-t front hubs, S13 rear hubs
BRAKES: (F) R32 GTS-t calipers and discs, (R) R32 GTS-t calipers and discs

SHOES
WHEELS: (F) 18×9.5-inch +12 Rota GTR-D, (R) 18×12-inch +17 Rota GTR-D
TYRES: (F) 225/40R18 Achilles, (R) 265/35R18 Achilles

EXTERIOR
PAINT: Gloss white respray by Jeff at CRS Newmarket
ENHANCEMENTS: Full URAS kit, D-MAX front guards, D-MAX bonnet, drag wing, custom rear guards

INTERIOR
SEATS: Luxury Sports
WHEEL: OMP
INSTRUMENTATION: Auto Gauge
OTHER: Custom alloy dash
CAGE: 8-point roll cage

PERFORMANCE
POWER: 309 kilowatts (414hp) at the wheels on 18psi

Simon Paul – Driver Profile

Age: 21
Location: Auckland
Occupation: Automation Technician
Owned: 4 years
Build time: 1.5 years
Thanks: Jeff at CRS Newmarket, Ph. 09 529 5099; Shane at SMS Industries; Ryan at Luxury Sports; Autodor Services; James at Rota Wheels; Matty at Koala Autos; Tommy at Redline Signwriters; all the boys helping out; my girlfriend and all the flatties for putting up with the late nights in the garage

Words: Peter Kelly    Photos: Adam Croy