Aaron LaBeau posted on April 26, 2009 21:46
It was time for a Dyno run. With 12 degrees base timing and the mentioned modifications,the car put down 135.8 hp to the wheels. We expected more, but the restrictive stock B-pipe, and less than optimal Nismo/Borla exhaust were culprit along with low base ignition timing.
We turned to JWT for their S-3 cams, and Unorthodox Racing for their crank and water pump pulleys. After initial installation we were unimpressed with the performance, but remembered how JWT said that the cams take time to break in, and how ECU learns and adjusts to the new cam profile. Sure enough, about a week later a stab of the throttle getting on the freeway caused the car to break traction, doing a rolling burnout in 1st gear. Once again this car brought a smile to our face like it had so many times before.
- JWT S3 camshafts
- Unorthodox Racing water pump and crank pulley
Another trip to the dyno netted 145.7 hp to the wheels. With this setup the car probably could have picked up another 5-10 peak horsepower with a 2.25/2.5" cat back exhaust, a cold air intake and JWT ECU program for S3 camshafts but soon we became tainted with the idea turbo charging this project.
In May 2000 we had an opportunity to drive Ryan Besterwitch's project Ultimate Se-r. We drove his car out to the Se-r national convention in Texas (from California), and it never failed to delight. We didn't really drive all that fast, what impressed us most was how easily this car made power. With a large turbo like it has, we expected a lot of turbo lag. This wasn't the case at all. At about 3200 RPM the car starting making power and by 4500 RPM it was kicking major ass. This car could do rolling burnouts in 3rd gear at 20 psi that laughed at the little barking our tires did in project Sentra Se-r. The idea of having the good handling characteristics that these car's already have on top of V8 crushing power was to tempting to resist.