RPS13 – MotorEx Demo’s

When Peter from DriftCadet asked me to be a part of the MotorEx drift demo team I quickly jumped at the offer, I was looking for a chance to drive both the Hilux and the 180SX but didn’t really want to head too far from home as the Hilux had a couple of changes that I needed to test.

The last time I drove the 180SX was at Wilby, it was faultless and I remember doing all the fixes it needed before putting it up on the stands in the shed. It’s something I have always done, get back from the event and then prep the car ready for the next, it’s good to get the fixes done while the stoke level is at an all time high.

So with nearly two years between drives did I still have what it takes?

Of course.

I teamed up with Matt Russell who bought along his two 86’s, Matt’s a talented driver and all round good guy, his 86 is powered by an SR20 and it just oozes style when Matt is behind the wheel.

I have had this car for ten years and it has remained relatively unchanged, it still has the stock Nissan bottom end that came from the factory 1992, the same RB25 gearbox I fitted 8 years ago, the same diff and the same interior as its always had.

The philosophy has always been the same with this car, fix what’s broken, maintain what isn’t and drive it when I get the chance.

It’s last tune was 7 years ago, it still runs strong and performs flawlessly with 255rwkw going to the rear wheels.

A few things are getting long in the tooth but overall its still in good shape.

I have been thinking about upgrading the aero to the HotRoad kit I have in storage, I delaminated a tyre pretty hard and it destroyed the rear quarter (that was already half destroyed anyway) so the time may have come for a refresh.

When that time comes I will be putting the chassis on a jig and straightening out the rear as its a little kinked and slightly shorter than stock.

To be able to rollout out of the garage, replace the battery and rip through 14 tyres in a weekend shows what this cars capable of.

I love driving it, I love seeing these images and I love hearing from people that they enjoy seeing what drifting once was.

It is a time capsule back to the years when competition budgets were small, you could build this car for the price of a current level competition engine.

With the Hilux complete, the PS13 nearing completion maybe its time to give the 180SX a little clean up, I would love to continue the style of this car and integrate some modern day performance into it. I have learnt a heap with the Hilux build, the PS13 build and I would love to add another chapter to the 180SX. But then again I could just fix whats broken and keep driving it, thats always been my mission.

Big thanks to Dean Walters for the photo set!

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