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I am not hoarding all of the Infiniti G20 transmissions that I find. Of the four that I have, one is in the car, one I destroyed after two years of track use, one I got with a damaged case but with a good gearset, and the other is a spare. Then I bought a Sentra B15 transmission.So I was in a quandary. Did I go to a six speed setup and change virtually everything in the front end? Stick with what I had and endure being fast on the straights and painfully slow in the corners? Go with a Phantom Grip and see if that would help? An email to Phantom Grip gave me a response that they could not support my Infiniti transmission. While I thought it might work, that was enough to stop me moving further down this path. Then on May 30, 2013 I sent a seemingly random email inquiring about the used Nismo LSD. Obviously, to the person with the used Nismo LSD that I had contacted a year and a half earlier. I had not heard a thing about it from him, the forums, or from my network of friends. June 3, 2014 I got an email with a phone number. Shortly after Chris Scarpulla and I were chatting about the Nismo LSD that was now out of the car and ready for a new home. There were a few discussions that I had to have with another good Nissan friend, who was also interested in this product. And then on July 1, 2014 I had possession of a Nismo LSD!
I love the blue, orange and black packaging. Chris taught me a great lesson in shipping. Make it visible. Make it stand out. And use so much tape that no one can get anywhere near the inside!Then on FaceBook I saw that my buddy, Terry Martin, who has bought parts from me and I have returned the favour, was posting that he had a B15 transmission for sale. I jumped at the chance and picked up this beast. Common thought is that the Infiniti G20's taller gearing is better for a turbo car. I do not question this thinking, however, even though the G20's first gear vanishes before you can blink – I have an idea. That is to have an awesome track car. If the car’s major usage was stop and go traffic, the G20 would be the transmission of choice. However, my car is a dual purpose street and track car. Apart from my very first session with my SR20DET on the back straight at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (aka Mosport) where I had to lift at Turn Seven because I was surprised at the speed the car was attaining (remember, I went from 88 whp to probably 200 whp to the current 300 whp), I have been looking for more speed. On the uphill Andretti Straight at CTMP my data indicates consistent top speed of 205 KPH with a few 206 KPH thrown in. That is 128 MPH for my American friends. It still pulls in fifth gear, but I have always wondered what would happen if I had the shorter gearing of the B15 transmission. Soon I will know. More aggressive gearing in third, fourth, and fifth should be inspiring!
Here my backyard patio furniture is serving as a table to showcase the 'new to me' Nismo LSD. Still well covered in lube, it will be at home in a transmission as soon as I can make this happen.As I am far from the MotoIQ headquarters I will not be able to take advantage of their new facilities. My task for the summer is to replace the turbo which lost a bearing, install the Nismo LSD in the B15 transmission and then install that in the NX, and then upgrade the first generation Go Fast Bits electronic Boost Controller with their GFB G-Force II model. Most of this will likely take place in my garage which, while cramped and somewhat uncomfortable, has been the home of many projects for my 1992 Nissan NX1600. Stay tuned. I found the proverbial needle in a haystack – now to make effective use of it. Hopefully the next article about the car will be to report on the success of the upgrades!
You may not be able to see it past the Tonka Toys, but there's a spare GTi-R engine waiting for a rebuild. Quite possible that in the future it may have a VE head. I will miss the individual throttle bodies, but everything I have read says that this is worth doing. The VE head, it is just out of sight on a shelf to the upper right. But that's going to happen after I cut out the wheel wells, add some aero, and … , well, the list is simply endless.Sources:
