I like cars. Over the past few years, I have had several, all for different purposes and with different capabilities.
2001 Nissan Silvia Spec-R
My first car was a S15 Silvia, which I owned in New Zealand. I took delivery on March 21, 2001. The car had a 250hp turbocharged SR20DET (2.0 liter I4) driving the rear wheels through a 6-speed transmission and a helical limited slip differential.
The Silvia was sold in New Zealand as the “200SX” but the badging campaign was limited to just replacing the lightning bolt “S” logo on hood with a Nissan logo, and replacing the “Silvia” script on the trunk lid with “200SX”. The Silvia script on the dashboard and inside each of the headlight clusters was retained, as was the “S” lightning bolt on the steering wheel cap and shift knob.
My car was yellow (”Lightning Yellow” in the Japanese catalog, or “Sunstruck” in the NZ one). I had a bit of difficulty driving it at first since the transmission was unlike most cars I’d driven before, very notchy, and very stiff through second and third gears. My favorite aspects of this car was its incredible performance - it was very fast and remains to this day the one I think that had the best driving position/steering/feedback of any I’ve driven. The steering was a lot more direct and heavy than pretty much anything else, even the STis that I’ve driven. The steering was similar to that in the un-assisted NSX while driving, but with some power boost at slow speeds.
Aside from just pure performance, the car was classically styled with GT proportions. A lot of people stick stupid wings on these things, but my opinion is that almost any modification to this car visually ruins the style. It was IMO one of the few truly beautiful cars that have been made by the Japanese.
The equipment was bare bones, but just enough - power windows, climate AC. The interior was simple and reminded me of a classic sports car with few controls, round air vents, a small leather steering wheel and a well placed shifter. The gauge pack was filled with a huge tach in the middle. A boost gauge on the A-pillar let you know the forced induction was working. Detail touches were good - the S logos mentioned above and the chromed script on the left side of the dashboard made the car feel classy.
The Silvia was the first car I owned that had the vanity plate, “XUL”. The plate (now scuffed and scratched) is now on display in my office at Google.
I put about 18,000 miles on this car in the two years I owned it. I had to sell it before moving to the states. In the old version of this site, I had a page that talked more about the car.
Photos below:
