The car originally had problems with the factory transmission, as well as the clutch setup and driveshafts so AEBS decided to scrap all that was used in the past for aftermarket models that are much stronger. Luckily, Quaife had a used bolt-on replacement sequential transmission for sale that AEBS quickly snatched up. With this transmission, miss shifting was virtually impossible since the trans requires dumping the clutch pedal only in first gear. Although the trans bolts to the SR20 trans bolt pattern, the clutch and half shafts were another dilemma. The Quaife input shaft uses a different spline pattern when compared to the OE inputshaft so this resulted in using a clutch that was designed for the transmission which happen to be an AP triple disc. Axle King modified the OE models to suit the needs of the sequential unit.
All the necessary chassis modifications were in the hands of chassis builder RJ Simrock of RJ's Racecars. The first step was to fabricate a roll cage worthy of nine-second certification, so now the Sentra utilizes a chrome-moly eight-point cage. Not stopping at the cage, RJ decided to prep the car with a parachute in case the Nissan runs passed the 136-mph minimum requirement and added custom wheelie bars for additional traction control. Sheetmetal fabrication was also handled by Simrock. This included new inner quarter and door panels along with an aluminum cowl.
A pair of 14-inch Bogart Pro...
A pair of 14-inch Bogart Pro Fours mounted to a set of M&H 26x8-inch tires are used to propel the Nissan down the 1320.
The key to 9s not only lies in making a gang of power, but also in having the correct set of tires and suspension mods to use it effectively. Ground Control specifically designed custom components for the AEBS Sentra. The wheel and tire combination consists of 26x8-inch Mickey Thompson tires in the front with 22.5x4.5 skinnies in the rear. Bogart provided a set of 14-inch Pro Fours in the front and a set of 22.5x3s in the rear.
It's easy to point out that with the arsenal that this Nissan packs, it should be nine-second ready. The craftsmanship involved in this project made the vehicle worthy enough to feature; if our prediction is correct, the vehicle should be in the 9s in the 2001 season. A few years back this car was a streetable 12.1-second weekend warrior that hit the traps at 122 mph. (Just for the record, your favorite tech editor, Gary Castillo, was at the wheel when the Sentra ran its quickest time of 12.1.) The question is, what can it do as a Serious Strip Sentra?
Paulus Le handled the task...
Paulus Le handled the task of making this custom ceramic-coated turbo exhaust manifold.