Nissan Micra K11 SR+T

[Stani1029]

I only have minor things to do like ecu wire swaps for the knock/O2 and tacho. Fit my new sabelt harness fully and check the car over before i decide wether to take it for mapping (its already paid for) or an MOT. Im thinking mapping to iron out any running issues so that i dont encounter any emissions issues again

This is how the car currently sits

 

[Stani1029]

Mapping booked in april, fingers crossed it comes off alive and well ??

 

[slj_2003]

I only have minor things to do like ecu wire swaps for the knock/O2 and tacho. Fit my new sabelt harness fully and check the car over before i decide wether to take it for mapping (its already paid for) or an MOT. Im thinking mapping to iron out any running issues so that i dont encounter any emissions issues again

This is how the car currently sits

Blimey, how have I only just seen this now?!
She looks amazing mate!! Wheels suit her so well, bet she'll f***ing fly once the map's sorted

 

[Stani1029]

Blimey, how have I only just seen this now?!
She looks amazing mate!! Wheels suit her so well, bet she'll f***ing fly once the map's sorted

ive just recently revived the thread and i guess you are new to micra scene, it should fly but whatever comes out of the mapping session i just want to be able to enjoy the car on the road when i have time then concentrate on any sort of drag/track sessions maybe the following year

 

[slj_2003]

ive just recently revived the thread and i guess you are new to micra scene, it should fly but whatever comes out of the mapping session i just want to be able to enjoy the car on the road when i have time then concentrate on any sort of drag/track sessions maybe the following year

Haha yeah you'd be right, only passed about 6 months ago, I've got quite a bit to learn lol
I can see now you're a pretty OG member, I bow to you sir!
Cannot wait to read up on this though and see how it goes in the future ?

 

[Stani1029]

Managed to fix the wiring issue with the o2 sensor so its now running alot better. Couldnt find any issues with the knock sensor wiring and never had time to get round to fixing the tacho.

i did have time for a quick test drive along the farm road and it doesnt half want to take you for a drive ?

 

[Stani1029]

Dyno and mapping was today, to start off they did a smoke test which showed up various leaks.

There were a couple of leaks on the boost pipes (which sorted with a tighten up) and then there was one on the inlet manifold. This was due to a snapped bolt that i never noticed where the manifold can split into 2. It was going to be too time consuming to do it there and then so we got around it by clamping it with some mole grips ?

Next they did a pressure test up to 1 bar which then showed a leak at my cheapy fuel pressure regulator, there was a burst o-ring. Fixed that and the mapping begun

Mid way through their AFR probe broke, the sensor and the plug needed swapped so there was about an hours delay before it was back up and running.

After this everything went smooth and we managed to pull 301hp and 274ft-lb with just under 1 bar of boost. Huge moment of relief afterwards and the car is so good to drive.

 

[Skinner_87]

Thats mega Stani you must be chuffed to bits with that!

 

[Stani1029]

Thats mega Stani you must be chuffed to bits with that!

Yeah over the moon! I would have taken 250, he did say there could be 30-50hp more if i upped the fuel pressure and maybe injectors but not going to get greedy as 300 is a very decent figure

 

[Stani1029]

 

[Stani1029]

 

[Stani1029]

Decided to call this project the SR+T so created this badge for it (inspired from the SR font) badges were photoshopped and then cut out on my wifes cricut machine.

I have also applied one of my personal plates to this car and have ordered a jap sized plate for the front bumper which will allow me to mount the reg plate to the side and get full airflow going through the intercooler

 

[Stani1029]

The downpipe i made was hitting the front corner of the exhuast tunnel and was getting increasingly more annoying! It was also too close to the turbo oil return for my liking so off it come to have adjustments. I had to chop it in like 5 areas to get it where i wanted it and also extend it by roughly 50mm! The future plan is to have a professional make me one but this will do for now

Whilst this was off i fitted a short shifter as the gear changes felt a bit loose, also one of my new rear wheel bearings was droning badly and flagged up as an advisory on my recent MOT so i fitted 2 replacements.

Next up was the engine mounts, as you can see from my dyno run above the engine moves alot. I ordered these mounts from G-Spec peformance in the states and thankfully got the correct ones with advice from my go to Almera man Joe.

 

[Stani1029]

I also copied Paul Li with buying some heavy duty digital scales with plans to even out the car a little and maybe do a bit of weight shredding!

I was being curious the other night so had a quick check on how the car was sitting and it does need work



As you can see the front drivers side is over the 300kg limit of the scale, i think i might have to remove the drivers seat/rail to try and get it within the limits since there is no current passenger seat fitted and the plan is buy new ones anyway.

Here are the notes of each corners weight and their percentage. I also make that 67% of weight over the front wheels

The aim is to have a good balance across each axle without my weight added in and hopefully a 60/40 front/rear difference

Front axle difference is approx 45kg without a passenger seat/rail and thats if the overloaded scale is around 310kg like ive noted.

Rear axle difference is 57kg, this weight is a little confusing as that seems like quite a big difference!

 

[frank]

maybe the anti-roll bars are reacting to the engine weight ?
praps remove a droplink front and rear, then retest, then fit custom length droplinks ?

 

[Stani1029]

maybe the anti-roll bars are reacting to the engine weight ?
praps remove a droplink front and rear, then retest, then fit custom length droplinks ?

I dont have any roll bars mate, would be a struggle to fit one on the front to be honest!

Maybe the panhard? i guess ill figure it out when i begin to muck about with it all for real ??

 

[Stani1029]

Have taken a few more notes of the cars weight,

passenger side: 435kg
Drivers side: 423kg

So we have a decent left/right weight distribution

Diagonally is where there is a huge difference

Left front/Right rear: 378kg
Left rear/Front right: 480kg

After watching a few videos weight can only be moved from one diagonal to the other which means i have to shorten the suspension on the heavier diagonal and raise the suspension on the lighter diagonal, how much i do not know!

 

[Stani1029]

Few updates on some recent changes:

The exhaust changes i made seems to have done the job upfront but has now caused the rear backbox area to knock. Thing is when i grab the exhaust move it back and forth i cant seem to get it to hit anything ?

The short shifter, i wasnt thinking i wouldnt like it as i had one before and didnt like it but it actually feels much better than better and more solid

The solid engine mounts are just crazy, i expected vibration from them but nothing like this! I will have to spend some time making sure everything is secure and get used to the new way the car feels. Apart from the vibrations and rattling i would definitely recommend these, the car just feels so solid upon acceleration and through the gears and i used to get some traction in 3rd gear which i now dont ?

 

[Stani1029]

Few pics of how the car is looking after a drive last night...

 

[Stani1029]

So with the traction issues i looked into my boost controller and found out i could fit switches/buttons for boost by gear (pretty complicated to get working) So instead i opted for a high boost button instead, next was to figure out the best location

I did think about fitting it under the accelerator pedal or on the steering wheel (its too deep dish) but i went for this! ?

And here is a link to how it works



i still have to dial the boost down for the lower setting

 

[Stani1029]

I managed to sneak along to crail yesterday for a few runs and post some times. Afterwards i really wasnt happy with myself or the car!

My best time was a 13.906 at 111.7mph as you can see from my slip

i managed to take a couple of videos and after watching them back ive realised i was too careful off the line, just far too slow. In my first 2 runs i even put it into 5th gear!! This stems from my rev counter not working at all, never really thought anything about it but it was needed yesterday because im still learning with this car so its something i must get sorted soon

Another issue i had was gear selection, 3 out of my 5 runs i could not put it straight into 2nd from 1st and selecting 1st gear was getting harder as the runs went on, with this particular issue i will be looking into my clutch cable as the bite is pretty low, ill have to make sure the cable is pulling the arm all the way and hope its only needing an adjustment

I will also be looking into a diff and maybe a spare gearbox that i can build over the winter period, its definitely needed when you see my 60ft times above

Here is a video from my final run which ended up being my fastest terminal of 115.7mph! The corsa is a c20let with the same hp as me, whilst he is doing a burnout i am SERIOUSLY struggling to select first gear (hence me not moving to the line) he also does a jump start ?



Overall i am happy, there are plenty improvements i can do without going for more power, the aim is to get into the 12 seconds bracket wether that be this or next year i am not really in a rush ?

 

[Stani1029]

Ok ive gotten over the gear selector issue, i just had to adjust the clutch cable!

I had a nice 70 mile drive yesterday where i played with the boost setting for everyday driving. It used to be around 12.5psi but is now at 9psi but the plan is buy a new steering wheel (something like this)

With these buttons

And use the red button for wastegate pressure which is 7psi (press and hold) for the lower gears, then when i let go it will raise to 9psi which will be the standard pressure.

And finally when i press the green button (press and hold) the boost will raise to the 12.5psi that the car was mapped too which ill use mostly for 4th and 5th gear

I will have to relocate the red button to sit below the green button as i wont be able to operate anything with my left hand

 

[fuzzy-hair-man]

Is it the SR ECU + nistune? aftermarket ECUs do boost by gear then you could use your buttons as push to pass, ie ignore the boost restrictions.
Even without it some clever bugger (more than me) would be able to make a box to determine the gear by comparing wheel speed to rpm and restricting boost appropriately.
Sounds messy trying to hold buttons down even if they are on the wheel. You'd be better imo having green raise boost level and red lower it.

 

[Stani1029]

Is it the SR ECU + nistune? aftermarket ECUs do boost by gear then you could use your buttons as push to pass, ie ignore the boost restrictions.
Even without it some clever bugger (more than me) would be able to make a box to determine the gear by comparing wheel speed to rpm and restricting boost appropriately.
Sounds messy trying to hold buttons down even if they are on the wheel. You'd be better imo having green raise boost level and red lower it.

Basically yeah, Its a pulsar gtir ecu with nistune and im basically using the boost by gear function on the eboost 2 apart from not having individual switches fitted at the gear selector to change the boost levels for me.

I dont think having 2 buttons will be messy and its like anything you learn to use it. I did say that the red will be lowest level (7psi) and green will be the highest (12psi) ??

 

[Stani1029]

So got my new steering wheel with buttons but turns out using the button plate as standard means i cant reach them whilst trying to control the steering! I would need rather large thumbs so had to modify them:

Temporarily taped into position until i receive specific screws/washers for bolting it up.

I also have the coiled cable which will allow me to wire the boost buttons and be able to hang the wheel up on a rollcage hook when removed

 

[Stani1029]

Found some original photos of the car from a few months before i bought it?

Ive also completed my steering wheel with an extra boost button so i can now run 3 different settings for drag racing.

PollyP 3D printed me this steering wheel hanger bracket for my rollcage so i have somewhere to hang it now that its wired ??

Buttons mounted to the wheel which gives me 8psi when i press the red, 10psi when no buttons are pressed and then 13psi when i press the green

 

[Stani1029]

Was interested to see what sort of mpg the car gets, mixed driving…

——————————————————————

I would like to think 40mpg is easily reachable without any spirited driving which is just incredible for what the car is!

Just before i had to tuck her away ?

 

[Stani1029]

Hey guys, had another trip to crail dragstrip and ive left leaving much happier than the last time! I managed to do 4 runs like the last time and out of the 4 i only managed 1 decent run.

First run i lowered tyre pressures to 20psi and although i got a good launch i crunched 2nd gear leaving me with a 14.2 sec run.

Second run i reduced the tyre pressures further, this time to 15psi hoping i could perfect each gear change. This time i did and it ended up being my new PB of 13.648 @ 115.1mph. The new steering wheel boost settings worked great!

Third run (my planned final run) i lowered the tyres to 10psi and decided to do my first tyre warmup ? survived the tyre warmup and ready for the launch, launch was good and the whole run was good until i realised i never used the low/high boost settings ??‍ Told the wife and kids i needed to go once more as im sure i have a little more in it…

Fourth run kept tyre pressures at 10psi, tyre warmup good and launch was really good! I had no issues with the gearshift but as i crossed the line i realised my speed was at around 110mph ? thats when i released my thumb from the low boost button that i had pressed the whole way down ? OK convince the wife and kids i need to go again and this time i WILL remember

But they had closed any new cars entering as it was late in the day ? missed by about 5 minutes! So here is a small compilation of some videos i managed to get from various people

hope you enjoy ?

 

[James]

What a beauty, good to see you still around Stani! Shame you're so far away as I'd love to see this in the flesh!

 

[Stani1029]

What a beauty, good to see you still around Stani! Shame you're so far away as I'd love to see this in the flesh!

Cheers james, hopefully the car will be around for much longer than its taken me to get to this stage (8 years almost) so plenty opportunities ??

 

[Stani1029]

6th in class and 4th fastest at crossing the line, happy with that until next time ?

 

[Stani1029]

Eventually ordered and fitted 2 new bucket seats, these are sabelt racer duo. Much comfier than the previous cobra monaco but not as spacious at the hips.

Then the wife convinced me to upgrade the brakes for an upcoming track session instead of buying a diff that would sit until winter. So i took her advice and its been a bit of a nightmare!!

Mitsubishi FTO twin pot calipers
Renault Clio 280mm discs
EBC Yellowstuff pads
Goodridge hoses

With these calipers you need to drill out the caliper mounting holes to around 13-14mm, once i done this and the disc and calipers were fitted it was clear spacing would be required

You can see there is a 2mm shift needed but with my trackday looming i opted for spacers instead of trying to get the caliper carrier machined. The next problem being that the minimum spacer you get is 3mm!

So i ordered the 3mm spacer and had a workmate turn them down so that they fit on the inside of the disc. With this in mind i fitted a 1mm washer between the caliper carrier and its mount (similar to whats needed for the almera gti caliper upgrade)

Wheel on but that is where the next problem occurred! There wasnt any clearance from the inside of the wheel against the caliper ??‍

Sorted this by taking a few mm off the edge of the caliper with a flappy disc on a grinder.

Whilst thinking about the bigger brakes i thought i should really look at upgrading the master cylinder. Called matt humphris who supplied a 25.4mm MC v stock 19mm. However the brake servo needs took apart and rotated as the bolts on the new MC are at a different angle.

Thought i would just redo all the front brake pipes whilst i was there so stripped them and the old MC out, then realised the brake servo couldnt be removed from the engine bay as it hits the inlet manifold!!!

Time was already getting tight for the track session and i didnt want to be removing everything from the inlet down so decided to open up the servo within the little space it sat and it was just the most frustrating job ive ever done!

I really struggled being alone doing this as the spring is very strong inside. I eventually managed to get it opened, rotated and back together and the new MC fitted. I made up all new brake pipes and i was beginning to think i might just make this track session!

Brake pipes all done, a struggle with the larger engine in the way! Fluid in and ready to bleed, unfortunately this is where i hit a brick wall….

The system just would not bleed!!! Its like there was no pressure from the pedal and i could hear air whooshing near the servo. Not what i needed with only 3 days until the car was meant to be on track.

 

[Stani1029]

Diagnosed it as me possibly wrecking the seal on the servo or not getting it back together properly as i did struggle quite bad in such a tight space. My good mate Glen had a spare servo handy so i made the decision to strip off the back of the engine and do all i can to get the car ready.

I took apart the replacement servo and got it back together much faster with it being off the car then started to take everything off

Everything off, replacement servo fitted and the new MC and pipes back on. I decided not to refit the inlet manifold until i knew there were no more issues….

Shock again i had issues, exactly the same as before unable to bleed the system!! At this point i knew i couldnt make knockhill so left everything as is and went home feeling drained for possibly the first time since building this car

Glen wanted to help me solve the problem that nobody could give me an explanation for so we returned the following night and it took a bit of time to figure it out.

Now ive always used 4 ports from the original MC, 2 of which would feed the fronts and the other 2 would go into a TEE piece at the bulkhead. A single pipe from this TEE runs through the inside of the car to a TEE piece near the fuel tank which then splits to each rear.

The car would gravity bleed no problem, but simply would not bleed using a one man bleed kit or doing it manually. Glen suggested blanking the rears off at the TEE piece near the bulkhead and at first pump of the brake pedal i seen a change in the fluid! After that nothing so we decided to blank these ports off at the MC

As soon as we done this it was like night and day, every pump of the pedal we got air and fluid out the bleed nipple, i dont know if there was an airlock when all the pipes were fitted but i was so glad to see a massive change.

I called matt humphris the next day just to get a bit of advice and even he doesnt see why ive had the problems ive had but he suggests using a single pipe from the MC (blank the other) and to run it through a bias valve inside the car.

Although i missed the knockhill track session i was just glad to get over this hurdle, ive not had time to get any further with it but ive got all the parts i need to get the car back together and have book another session at knockhill for the 9th of october!


Hopefully make it this time ??

 

[Stani1029]

Brakes are eventually completed, and so is the knockhill track session! couldnt have done it all without my mate Glen

Checking the weather for the days leading up to knockhill it was forecast rain that morning so i was expecting a damp but hopefully drying track as the 3 hours went on.

So with the air filter being so exposed and possibly having to drive the car in the rain i decided to plate off the front bumper, it got sprayed black but dont have photos of it and it is only a temporary measure

On the morning of the trackday i checked the car over, topped up fluids, bled the brakes for a final time and filled glens boot up with tonnes of stuff ? we set off to the petrol station for some v-power and already the rain was quite heavy! With having no heating in the car the windows were steaming up and water was splashing inside as i dont exactly have all the holes plugged in the floor or in the wheel arches

I stopped by halfords for some rain-x anti-fog and was a little sceptical about it working. We decided to apply it at the track so continued on the way, the weather started to clear up on the way and it was looking positive! I signed on and we had a walk about the paddock looking at some very nice cars. About 15 before the 2pm start the rain come on and it just got very heavy for the next hour and a half. We applied the anti-fog to the driver and passenger window as it states not to apply it to plastics.

I headed out on track and i was slightly nervous not knowing what to expect, a few cars went by and i was released from the pits with the green light. First corner is duffus dip and immediately i realised watching those youtube videos means nothing, its so much steeper than expected! I completed a warmup lap and some cars were just far too close for comfort, about half way round my second lap i decided to give it a bit of beef and it was then i realised the car had some sort of hiccup ? i done a third lap just to see and the cut back when coming onto boost was just not worth trying to work through so i brought the car into the paddock in what i can only describe as torrential rain!

We all stood in a stand for maybe 20 minutes with no change to the weather so made our way to the restaurant for some brilliant chips and cheese. We watched the rain howl past the windows of the restaurant for a bit and by about 3.30pm it eventually stopped. First thing was to check water hasnt gotten into the air filter and beyond the turbo, checked at the throttle body and it was dry, checked the air filter pipe to the turbo and it was also dry. So ive put the problem down to maybe wet/damp electrics

Got back out on track and had plenty of fun, the hiccup eventually ironed itself out even with so much water being splashed up from the wet track. I recorded my laps using Harrys laptimer petrolhead edition and its such a good app, i managed 37 in total! my best being a 1:18.11 here is a video of this lap (you can see and hear the acceleration when i actually show some boost against the mini at the end) ??

I basically had no traction on the straight and corners and as you can see if i pushed slightly too hard around a corner there would be over and understeer due to the wet track. Overall i think that lap time is decent for a first timer and in those conditions, i reckon i can easily take 10 seconds off that! here is a 10 minute video of the last few laps before the session ended



The brakes held up really well in the end so upgrading has certainly put my mind at ease, enough of me blabbing on now…

 

[Stani1029]

Some great photos taken ?

 

[Stani1029]

Took the wheels off and gave them a wash, the fronts in particular were pretty filthy..

 

[Stani1029]

Managed to take the car to crail once more before the year ended, i did improve my time but only by a bawhair! Also met up with the legendary Dave Bull who originally sold me this shell back in 2013, would be rude not to race him aswell as take him for a blast down the strip!

Eventually bought the diff ive needed all year so im looking forward to having less traction issues! This is an Mfactory helical differential

I also purchased Gizfabs rear gearstick stabiliser mount and the front bushing. The improvements these have made are simply night and day! Coupled with the short shifter and stiff engine mounts its such a dream to change gears!

 

[Stani1029]

Fitted my rear stainless goodridge brake hoses and done a brake fluid swap

The plan was to have the car remapped for a bit more power and have the MOT done before taking it off the road to have the diff fitted and the engine tidied up but instead i booked another trackday and will get more power and the MOT at a later date!

I couldnt have asked for better weather considering in Scotland its never guaranteed! Since the last time it was torrential rain i obviously beat my time considerably, this time its a 1:02.92 and after watching my best lap back i know as the car stands i can get under the 60 seconds mark!

Here is my fastest lap


Here are some photos taken on the day

 

[James]

This car, just hnnnng. ?

 

[Stani1029]

Always felt the car has been kind of plain so a few subtle changes are being made. Thanks to glen for his idea of the front cut on the wing!

The current front bumper will be swapped so that the air filter will no longer be on show but i will drill the 4 air holes like above at each side for a bit or racecar looks ?

Also made some changes to the rear bumper which im over the moon with!

And lastly ive ordered an evo 4 bonnet vent grill and im hoping it doesnt look out of proportion. Out of all the new changes this is one that is needed to let heat out from the engine as i found the car was getting hot after 3-4 hot laps!

 

[LordJunk]

That rear bumper looks greaat!

How does the finished version look like now?

 

[Stani1029]

That rear bumper looks greaat!

How does the finished version look like now?