THE

CARBON KING WITH MUCH OF THE CAR’S ELIMINATOR BODYWORK NOW RESIDING IN THE BIN AFTER BEING SWAPPED FOR RIPPING APART A GT-R AND BINNING THE LIGHTWEIGHT CARBON PANELS FROM MILTON KEYNES-BASED VR38 MOTOR SOUNDS MENTAL, BUT AFTER KNIGHT RACER, THE GT-R IS MUCH LIGHTER THAN STANDARD, REBUILDING THE BODYWORK IN CARBON FIBRE ESPECIALLY AFTER JON WEBSTER OF WEBSTER RACE ENGINEERING AND INSTALLING A 2000BHP TWIN TURBO V8, GUTTED THE METAL CHASSIS AND ADDED A TUBULAR SPACEFRAME MARTIN SMITH’S R35 MAKES FOR A KILLER COMBINATION… THAT’S STILL ROAD LEGAL TOO! WORDS: DAN SHERWOOD PICS: MATT WOODS

ver since Nissan six and in came an apparently tuning – and we started to see possesses a man to buy a mint E developed the package of untunable – according to what the R35 could really do. example of Nissan’s latest Skyline body and RB26 Nissan – 3.8-litre VR38 V6. Even Month after month, reports of performance flagship and powerplant, petrolheads have the Skyline moniker had been ever increasing power figures proceed to rip it apart, bin-off been onto a winner. In standard dropped. Things were not came in as tuners pushed the the engine and technologically- trim it’s a potent combination, looking good for Nissan’s unknown engine to see how advanced transmission and but add a few well-chosen flagship – even though the base much it could take. In no time start a new project where only modifications and, whether it be car was a stonkingly handsome at all, four figure outputs the barest trace of GT-R DNA for fast road use, circuit racing beast with OEM credentials to seemed (relatively) easily remains? or blasting up the quarter mile wipe the floor with a similarly achievable, although expensive, Enter Martin Smith, the strip, the pairing of the Skyline stock Skyline – as with the new and the R35 won back a lot of madman, or possible genius chassis and RB motor has been car, the tuning potential seemed Skyline fans that were behind said creation. unstoppable. With such a to have been lost in translation. wondering if the new car was ‘I’ve liked the R35 ever since revered and proven format it Nissan fans didn’t have to worry justified in wearing the GT-R they came out,’ says the 43- was with some trepidation that for long though, as soon a new badge. And as we all know year-old shipping and logistics Nissan fans greeted the arrival breed of geeky techno tuners today, it truly is justified and in magnate. ‘In fact I bought one of the R35. Gone was the managed to unlock the VR38’s tuned form is actually one of the before this one, which I was legendary and 1000bhp+ potential – largely due to most potent cars on the road. planning on building into a drag proven 2.6-litre RB26 straight- modern advancements in ECU So with this in mind, what car, but I liked it so much I’ve

58 www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk 59 good £40k car,’ he laughs. ‘But I relatively unknown to be capable Martin with the body of the car chassis in place. The only thing had a vision of the finished of over 1,000bhp back then. as he part exchanged the VR38 that’s left of the GT-R is the article and I knew it would be the During the build I did read about for all the carbon panels that the original tub, which is painted perfect car for my plans.’ others making 1,500bhp, but car now wears, not only making Panther Black but has carbon Martin’s masterplan involved never saw them run or was able it looks as hard as nails, but also bumpers, wings, bonnet, doors, gutting the R35, creating a full to identify how reliable they greatly lightening the chassis. boot lid, spoilers, splitters and chromoly 25.2 SFI certified were. So combine the unknown ‘With the engine removed, side skirts.’ chassis and dropping in a with wanting more than Jon went to work on the shell, With the strong yet Chevrolet V8 with twin turbos. 1,500bhp, plus the cost – tuning cutting out all the floor pan and lightweight shell sorted, Jon ‘So many people ask me why an VR to four figures is very the chassis rails and putting the moved on to the engine, which I went down the V8 route,’ Martin expensive – and I made the car on a jig,’ explains Martin. ‘He Martin says is making over says. ‘And the simple answer is decision to go with the twin then lightened the shell further 2000bhp! PARATROOPER STOPPING THE GT-R ON THE STRIP that, when the build commenced turbo V8, and I must say, I have by removing as much of the A super-tough Dart ‘Little M’ FROM SPEEDS OF UP TO 180MPH IS around two years ago I initially no regrets.’ unnecessary metal as he could, block was used to get the 427 MORE THAN IS SAFE TO BE LEFT TO wanted to develop and use the In fact getting rid of the which on a GT-R is actually quite cubic inch (7.0-litre) capacity. It MERE DISC BRAKES ALONE. TO SOLVE THE RE-OCCURING PROBLEM Nissan VR38 motor, but it was original OEM motor helped a lot once you put a full tubular was fitted with a Bryant crank, OF RETARDATION, MARTIN HAS EQUIPPED THE GT-R WITH A PARACHUTE WHICH IS DEPLOYED AFTER HE CROSSES THE LINE VIA A TEAM EXTREME RACING RELEASE HANDLE IN THE COCKPIT MARTIN SMITH RUNS WITH TEAM EXTREME RACING: ‘WE ARE A CLOSE GROUP OF FRIENDS WITH A COMMON INTEREST (DRAG RACING),’ SAYS MARTIN. ‘THE TEAM CONSISTS OF VARIOUS TYPES OF CARS; GTR’S 2 X R35’S (650 BHP TO 2000BHP), 4 X R32’S (600BHP TO 1200BHP) AND 1 X R33 (THE TOP SECRET DRAG R2) 2 X RX7’S (550BHP & 750BHP), ESCORT COSWORTH V8 TWIN TURBO (1200BHP), CAMARO PRO STREET (750BHP) AND THE RAGING BULL RACING MUSTANG 05 PRO STREET (1200BHP). TRANSPORTATION IS LOOKED AFTER BY AN EX F1 TRANSPORTER, VARIOUS TRAILERS AND AMERICAN MOTORHOMES, SO WE HAVE A GOOD TIME, FOR SURE!’

kept it for road use, running a the standing quarter changed cemented my love for to use an R35 as a base for a ‘mild’ 650R package.’ dramatically and he was Japanese cars, unfortunately I drag project, but had ended up No stranger to ballistic hooked. ‘I went out and bought managed to break that one falling for the car’s all round machinery, Martin was initially a an old Sierra full tube chassis most weekends too, so abilities as a road car, so biker, however, too many close V8 powered machine which I decided to speak to renowned shelved the idea. It wasn’t until calls called time on his two shared with my brother,’ laughs drag car builder Jon Webster of an opportunity to buy another wheeled fun and he made the Martin. ‘It was great, although I Webster Race Engineering in R35 – for a relatively bargain swap to four wheels instead. probably spent more time Rushden, Northamptonshire price – came up, that Martin’s ‘Around five years ago, pushing it than driving it, as it about a purpose built car for dream could become a reality. when I stopped riding bikes, a broke down so often.’ the Street Eliminator series.’ ‘I bought what was to few mates asked if I fancied In a search for something With a love of Japanese become the basis for this car in going down to Santa Pod to more reliable, Martin decided to cars and a desire to do October 2011 and did a couple watch the car drag racing,’ give Jap machinery a go and something unique, building a of trackdays in it before taking it recalls Martin. ‘At the time, I dived straight in the deep end. Skyline or Supra was not an to Webster’s in December for wasn’t into drag racing at all ‘I bought the Top Secret option as both have been done the drag build to begin,’ Martin and felt that just planting the Drag R2, the 1000bhp gold R33 to the highest level already, says. ‘Even though I got it for a throttle for a quarter of a mile from the famous Japanese meaning Martin had to look good price, the car was mint wasn’t much of a challenge.’ tuning firm,’ says the Ipswich- elsewhere for a base car. As and people couldn’t get their But after that first experience at based racer. ‘That was a mentioned previously, Martin head around the fact that we the Pod, Martin’s perceptions of serious piece of kit and had already pondered whether were going to cut up a perfectly

60 www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk 61 TECHSPEC If you fail any of the criteria then 2000bhp at your disposal, Martin still more yet to come. ‘AS SOON AS THE TURBOS HIT you won’t qualify for the racing.’ says you have to be careful with ‘We ran the 8.1 on medium ENGINE On the road, Martin says the the throttle. As soon as the huge boost, we’ve still not tried it on full 7.0-litre, Chevrolet V8, Dart ‘Little M’ BOOST THE WHEELS SPIN AND GT-R, which has been converted turbines hit boost the car spins its boost yet,’ he says with a grin. block, Bryant crank, Oliver conrods, to be left hand drive (a mod that’s wheels and launches you to the ‘We’ve got about another bar of Diamond pistons, AFR 18 degree LAUNCH YOU TO THE HORIZON’ true of practically all tube frame horizon with ballistic ferocity. boost we can run and predict heads with titanium/Inconel valves and drag cars as the driver’s weight ‘Stopping it isn’t easy either,’ that, cranked up to the max and T&D rockers, MSD coil packs, counterbalances the car’s torque he laughs. ‘On the strip the on a clean run, the car hit the Turbonetics 76mm turbos with 44mm Oliver conrods and Diamond booster – in this case we chose MoTeC, and all the power is it’s not only for giggles that twisting the chassis and lifting the parachute does most of the deep sevens easily.’ wastegates, custom chargecooler, pistons, then topped with AFR to go for turbos,’ says Martin. ‘If backed up by one of Andy Martin takes the GT-R onto the front left wheel), is actually quite braking, as the tiny drag brakes Low seven quarters will put Dart single plane intake, Holley throttle 18 degree heads with you’re under three-litres, then Frost’s Powerglide transmissions streets, it’s also part of the Street nice to drive, if noisy and pungent. are too small to be that effective, Martin’s terminal speeds up body, MoTeC ECU and ancillaries titanium/Inconel valves and T&D you get to use two boosters, with an indestructable Eliminator rules for qualifying. ‘The driving position is pretty so on the road you really have to around the 200mph mark, which rockers. Huge MSD coil packs such as turbos and nitrous to Dedenbear case. A fully braced ‘The car has to be fully road alien at first,’ he explains. ‘You sit plan ahead if you need to stop.’ just goes to show the benefits of TRANSMISSION supply the spark to ignite the even out the field.’ 9in rear diff with aluminum case, legal, including MoT and tax, run on the left hand side, nearer the But everything that makes that big Yankee V8. Sure we’ve Debenbear Powerglide 2-speed gallons of regular pump gas The huge 7.0-litre Chevy Detroit Locker, 3.50 gears and on road tyres and has to back seats than the front and are Martin’s GT-R so awkward on the seen GT-R’s hit 200mph+ quite drag gearbox with uprated which has the correct blend of block was equipped with a pair 35 spline axles sends the torrent complete a cruise of up to 26 almost lying down rather than road combines to make it the regularly, but that’s when they Frost Autos internals Power Pour fuel additive mixed of equally huge Turbonetics of torque onto a pair of Billet miles on the road and stop at a sitting. You have a safety cell perfect tool for the strip and even have around a mile of track or so in to protect the V8 from 76mm turbos with 44mm Specialties wheels wrapped in petrol station and fill up with at rollcage all around you and you on his very first full run on low to get up to speed, Martin has SUSPENSION detonation and takes the 99 wastegates, which flow the air Mickey Thompson 315/60/15 ET least eight litres of petrol,’ look out of the windscreen to see boost he achieved an 8.7 @ only a quarter of that. So whether Strange front MacPherson struts, octane pump fuel to just over through a huge chargecooler Street Radial tyres. These are explains Martin. ‘You also have the huge power bulge on the 168mph with the car running you line up next to him at the Strange double adjustable rear 103 octane that the V8 guzzles before feeding into the engine’s fully road legal tyres, but the to complete a ‘hot start’ whereby bonnet. The raw vibrations and arrow straight with no issues. track, or your rear view mirror coilovers, four link rear suspension, on full chat. central inlet. Induction is closest thing to a full race tyre, you stop the car for a few sound of the motor is immense Since then he’s upped the boost suddenly fills with an angry 3.5:1 rear differential ‘As the car is over three-litres, handled by a Dart single plane so great for racing, but no so minutes and restart it which, on and it also stinks of fuel, which slightly and got that time down to carbon black blur, you’d better in the Street Eliminator rules we intake and Holley throttle body. great out on the road in the wet! such highly tuned cars, isn’t you get to like after a while.’ a personal best of 8.1 @ act fast and get out of the way, or BRAKES are allowed to fit one power Electronics are courtesy of And talking about the road, always as easy as it sounds! As you’d expect with over 178mph, but he reckons there’s prepare to be eliminated. JP Strange 4-pot brakes at the front and rear, with 11in discs all round

WHEELS & TYRES 5x15in front and 12x15in rear Billet Specialties wheels wrapped in 175/50/15 and 315/60/15 Mickey Thompson ET frontrunner Street Radial tyres

EXTERIOR Full tube chassis with GT-R shell painted Panther Black with Knight Racer carbon bumpers, wings, bonnet, doors, boot lid, spoilers, splitters and skirts

INTERIOR Full FIA drag spec safety cell rollcage, custom dash, 2x Reverie carbon seats, custom switch panel, TRS 5-point harnesses and window net

THANKS I’d like to thank Jon Webster of Webster Race Engineering, Dave Rowe HITTING THE ROAD of EPS Motorsport, Andy Frost of Frost YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE IT TO Autos, all of my crew (Stuart Mail, Matt LOOK AT IT, BUT MARTIN’S GT-R IS STILL FULLY ROAD Smith, Gary Gooding, Matt Becker and LEGAL – A REQUIREMENT FOR Craig Monroe), my wife Jane and THE STREET ELIMINATOR SERIES IN WHICH THE CAR COMPETES. daughter Bethany. Phil Peck (Raging AS PART OF QUALIFICATION, Bull Racing) and Mark Moseley for THE CAR HAS TO DO A CRUISE introducing me to drag racing. Also a OF UP TO 26-MILES, FILL UP WITH REGULAR PUMP FUEL big thanks to milsom Hotels – AND DO A ‘HOT’ START TOO, www.milsomhotels.com – for the WHICH IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE IN SUCH HIGHLY TUNED indoor photoshoot location DRAG MACHINES

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