You might know him as “that drifter guy” that we love to hate on in drivers’ briefing but the truth is Benrys has been around the traps with us for years, sometimes drifting off into the skid kids’ wilderness but always coming back for some good ole’ fashion time attack.
As part of our current Nissan-themed week, we caught up with Benrys to chat about his S14 “Snot Box”.
Q: What cars did you have before you bought the S14 and why did you decide to buy the S14?
List is long so here goes; 1990 Nissan Exa Solaire. 1997 Nissan Pulsar. 1990 Subaru Liberty. 1989 Nissan R32 SkylineGTS-T. 2000 Mazda MX-5. 1995 Nissan 180sx Type-X. 1999 Nissan Silvia JDM s15. 1983 Mitsubishi Sigma. 2003 Toyota JZX110. 1995 nissan silvia (jdm model)s14.(Race car.)1995 Nissan Pathfinder TI. 2016 Nissan Navara D22. (Then about 30 company cars.) 1996 Nissan S14 200SX. 2012 Nissan Vagary Six 550. I’m certain I’m missing some but buying the S14 was something I decided to do because at the time police were hounding imports and drifting your daily wasn’t something I was keen on doing either any more.
Q: Was it always your plan to do a V8 swap or did fate intervene and you decided to go down that route?
Basically when my s15 was written off I was convinced by Ying to go track spec, so I bought a shell and built it up. I Wanted to do something different so it was straight to a V8 Nissan motor. At the time drifting was my focus and whispers were that the rules were about to change to same manufacturer for motor and chassis; hence the Nissan V8 idea was formed. V8 swaps back then weren’t popular either, so a lot of custom fab work was needed.
Q: Your car is set up for drift and track, did you have to make any compromises to be able to do both, do you need to do anything with the alignment between drift and track sessions?
In the early days it was more a drift pig, but I slowly got over drifting as the cars that were going to the days were beaten up sh*t boxes and to be honest I loved (and still do) the car too much for some busted R31 or KE70 to drive into me. Today it’s 85% set up as a circuit car and this actually helps more with drifting than people understand. Having a car that can correct itself in a sticky situation is far better than a really loose rear end. I do remove the rear wing for drift days as I burn through about seven pairs of tyres a day of drifting and try minimize that downforce a little. The only things that may be seen as a specific drift mod are the front Gktech drop knuckles (albeit a grip version) and a 2-way Nismo diff.
Q: Most people that do circuit only will generally opt for 1.5-way, how does the car handle differently with a 2-way?
Well when i go to circuit days…. usually at the briefing I’m singled out to not drift ( or catch on fire, crash or a million other things I’ve done whilst racing). This here is part of the reason the car is very unstable at low speed. However, hard braking is where you really need to watch it. When you’re chasing tenths on your PB times, the slightest error under brakes will throw the lap. Sadly the difference is large enough to note. Have I thought about swapping diffs for events? Sure I have, but i also remember this is a weekend hobby and not prancing horse racing, so the budget needs to be kept in mind to a degree.
Q: You originally swapped a Nissan V8 into the car for something different, would you do it again or go straight to an LS?
Don’t get me wrong the VH45 motor was amazing and I actually loved the sound too. I abused that poor thing for 4 years without an issue. Only major thing letting go was power steering pumps, which I found out later SR20 ones bolt up and then that issue was sorted. The car itself had a handful of problems, however when I went supercharged the car lasted a couple of laps before blowing rings at DECA. Going towards the LS platform was simply a decision of simplicity of obtaining parts. VH45 motors were only sold here in the Infinity Q45 and as a result are extremely hard to find. LS motors are in 70% of Commodores on the road. So really moving forward, #lsswapallthings!
What future plans have you got for the car?
To be honest, I can comfortably say thanks to Andy and Randy at Nissco. The car is at the perfect (don’t say it….. you’ll jinx it) reliable stage of oil changes and add fuel and I really just want to enjoy the car, take it to events and simply just drive it on the trailer at the end of the day. Going to Summernats is one of my highlights and up there it is lacking power compared to a lot of other cars. Do I want turbos or a supercharger? Absolutely! will I do it? Probably not at this stage. I need to continue the driver mod first. Actually, I think it needs a clean at the moment.
Q: What’s your favourite aspect of your S14?
I love the fact the car is a multi use car. I have literally done all forms of motor sport in it apart from rally. Its safe as houses now with the comprehensive roll cage. But if I really needed to pick something it’d be the motor. The ls motor is hated by so many in the JDM car scene and the fact it’s punching out 300 rwkw with a simple cam and tune set up is something a lot of fan boys hate. I don’t need more power in the s14 as 300 rwkw is probably even too much to control comfortably at Winton.
Q: What are your favourite memories with the S14?
I had a rough break up with my ex about 8 years ago and selling the car to my brother for $1 so that she wasn’t entitled to anything more than 50c is still something I find hilarious. But from a race point of view, I started circuit racing at a 1.46 lap time at Winton and now achieving a 1.31.1 Natsoft time (and slightly quicker non Natsoft) shows how far the car has come in the 14-odd years I’ve owned it. Meeting so may people because of it and even my best mates today is something i’ll treasure for the rest of my life. Until you’re in the race community the above won’t make much sense, however I’m genuinely grateful to those that have helped over the years including Billy who supplied the mighty LS motor.
EXE-Crew 