The Day With Nissan Silvia - Day 5

Damn, the week is over already. We're beyond sad; we are heartbroken. For a week the JDM EvolutionSilvia has been our car. Yeah, we've tested the vehicle and we've taken lotsa notes, but more than anything this has been like driving and temporarily owning our contemporary dream car. Oh well, we take satisfaction in knowing that there is a company that legally imports the lovely Silvia. That means, someday in the not-so-distant future, we'll, too, will own our own RHD Silvia.

Styling
The Silvia is a looker, period. If you missed our first day, we cited that, "Subtle design makes for a car that has an extremely pleasing exterior. From a front three-quarter view we can see the Silvia's downward-sloping character line that also wraps around the rear window. A secondary character line might not work on other cars, creating a busy profile, but seems to work well here. " We still stand by that statement and think the last generation Silvia is a billion times better looking than the previous generations.

An excellent exterior design is only complimented by the equally impressive interior design. It's fairly simplistic within the confines, but what there is, we like a whole lot. Nissan has done much to change the otherwise pedestrian looks of the Silvia into a car that has tons of appeal, inside and out.

Performance
Like some of the new cars on the market, the Silvia gets its power from a 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder engine. In comparison to the Evo VIII and (Japanese) WRX STi, the Silvia doesn't see as much power; it outputs 247 horsepower @ 6,600 rpm. Then again, the Silvia doesn't boost nearly as much as the AWD duo. The factory setting is barely past 7 lbs and a simple intake, downpipe, exhaust and boost controller could leave the Silvia pumping out easily over 300 horsies.

On the handling side of things this Nissan doesn't benefit from the fancy all-wheel drive like the Skyline GT-R, a Getrag tranny or even traction control (like the Z). But the Silvia does manage to hold its on when in road holding. Since this is a front-engine, rear-wheel drive vehicle it can get a little crazy under hard turning acceleration. But with that said, it's also the ideal car for anyone interested in the art of drift.

Comfort
It's no less or no more comfy than the WRX or 350Z. And that's pretty damn good for a car that has the above mentioned performance. Front passenger legroom is fine, but headroom could use a few more inches, especially if you're a taller guy or girl. Getting in and out of the Nissan is a bit of work as it's a really low-slung vehicle. Another price we pay for a vehicle of this type.

Trunk space is also suspect as we really couldn't shove much back there. But, aside from the '89-94 240SX, the Silvia has always suffered from a smaller-than-normal caboose. For all intents and purposes, the Silvia is really a two-seater. Those small back seats work for insurance purposes and as a place to put your crap.

The Competition
Once again the competition for the Silvia is fairly sparse. We can say 350Z, RX-8, Evolution VIII and WRX STi. But the real competition is none other than the Skyline GT-R. Pricing is likely to be in the same realm--maybe a tad cheaper than the famous GT-R. But for right now part of the appeal of the Silvia isn't just its deadly good looks, it's also the fact that the car, at this point in time, is rarer than the GT-R and is the perfect drift-mobile.

The Day With Nissan Silvia - Day 3

Driving Impressions
It's really amazing how something as simple as driving on the right side of the car can really throw people off. Then again, the fact that we're on the "wrong side" might not be the only reason people stare, point and stop us on the street. The Silvia is a dead sexy two-door and there hasn't been a single person whom we've spoken to that didn't like the JDM Evolution-legalized Nissan.

We were stopped by a bus driver off Market today, "It's a damn shame. Why don't Nissan release that car here? It's beautiful." We nodded in agreement and shot off looking for the 101 south, but his words are shared by many people.

The Figures
Fuel economy numbers on the 2.0L powerplant are comparable to the Lancer Evolution VIII and WRX STi. The Evo gets about 18 miles to the gallon on street and 26 on the highway; the Sub sees two more on the street and two less on the highway. Based on the numbers thus far, our JDM Evolution Silvia seems to hit about 19 on the street and roughly 28 miles to the gallon on the highway.

We did take it fairly easy on the way up to the bay area; we almost made it to the city without having to re-fuel. The 2.0L turbocharged engine seems to have a good balance of everyday drivability and go-fast power when you need it. With gas being as much as it is now, the Silvia will run a pretty penny at the pump. The fuel tank seems slightly smaller than the 240SX's 17.2 gallon one, but ran us over $30 for 91 octane.

If you insist on being a speed demon the Silvia will gladly go from 0-60 in about the same time as a Nissan 350Z. That's about 5.5 seconds if you haven't been paying attention to the performance numbers.

Comfort
Ride comfort in the Silvia is not much different than the 350Z. Actually, we take that back, the ride is a bit softer and it shows in the turns when the four-seater's body displays a bit of roll. For a vehicle with so much power we're wondering why the suspension is so soft. We can't say it doesn't help ride comfort. Even the awful streets of San Francisco don't do much to detract from the ride.

Legroom up front is almost identical to that of the previous generation Silvia/240SX. That also means that rear passengers won't be too happy with the accommodations--not if they're any taller than, say, 5'2''. In the name of design, we'll deal with some cramped interior dimensions. Ditto goes for the tiny trunk that is barely large enough to shove a bag with a week's-worth of clothing.

The Day With Nissan Silvia - Day 2

The Competition
It's a wee bit difficult comparing the JDM Evolution Silvia to anything on the market. Most buyers looking into a U.S.-legal Silvia won't be looking at just any vehicle. Sure, we can compare it to the Acura RSX (just in price), Honda S2000, Mazda RX-8, Nissan 350Z and even the Motorex-legalized R32 Skyline GT-R (also based on price).

The Silvia is a front-engine, rear-wheel drive platform just like the S2000, Mazda RX-8 and Nissan 350Z--even though Mazda and Nissan consider the latter both mid-engine, whatever.

There's going to be a learning curve for any U.S. driver who has never tried the world of right-hand drive. Aside from simple things we take for granted like shifting gears and turn signals, driving a RHD car in a LHD world has some downsides to it.

We're introduced into a world of blind spots and logistical issues we never thought of. Think about going through your local drive-thru with the Silvia, let alone trying to everyday left turns.

But driving on the "wrong side" of the car also has its benefits. First, it's the never-ending setup for jokes ending with the punchline, "Actually, I'm driving on the right side." Second, it's a very easy way to get attention. Just in our second day with the beautiful silver Silvia we've been asked to roll down the window over a dozen times and counting.

Aside from the novelty factor, the last reason might be the best one, being on the right side of the car makes it easy to hit on women driving left-hand drive cars. Oh yeah, there's some definite pimp factor here.

Performance
Nissan rates its retired yet mighty 2.0L turbocharged powerplant 250 metric horsepower. To Americans that translates to 247 hp @ 6,600 rpm and 246 lb-ft torque @ 4,800 rpm. To the body that translates to a whole lotta fun. And to think that this power is achieved from an engine that has a maximum boost of about 8lbs. In contrast, the previous generation Silvia only made roughly 217 horsepower using a similar turbocharger and less free-flowing injectors.

Twist on the Silvia is almost a perfect 1:1 match to the horsepower making the car as fun from the get-go as it is on high speed runs. While other higher revving cars like the Toyota Celica GT-S and Honda S2000 need to hit about 5,000 rpm to really wake up the low-boosting Nissan engine feels strong as early as 2,500 rpm.

All that tasty power in the last generation Silvia wouldn't be any good if it was mated to a lackluster drivetrain. Good thing that Nissan decided not to cut any corners add mated the four-cylinder to a close-ratio, six-speed manual transmission versus the five-speed used in the preceding generation.

In a way, first gear is fairly useless for everyday street driving. Top speed on this gear is no more than about 20 mph, but what we give up in that gear we gain in devilishly quick standstill acceleration. The remaining gears all feel just right and each consecutive throw is accompanying with that "I'm sinking into my seat" sensation.

No traction control is offered on the Silvia and we wouldn't have it any other way. Yeah, the car can definitely get squirrely, but this is, after all, the car of choice for Japanese drifters. A slight front weight-bias makes kicking out the ass end under heavy lateral acceleration easy, very easy.

Precise steering makes it almost as easy to bring it all back, smoothly. Of course, the Helical-type limited slip differential does its part to give a helping hand.