Car Review: WIDEBODY Nissan Pulsar

When I first saw this car at my local street sprint, I thought it was the coolest Pulsar I had ever seen. So when the opportunity came up to review Sebastian Frances' Widebody Pulsar, I was extremely happy.

The Widebody Pulsar started life as an N14 Nissan Pulsar X1R with an SR20DET out of a U13 Bluebird. Sebastian then started to modify the SR20 with a custom manifold and turbocharger which upped the power to around 300 BHP. Sebastian then used the car for sprints and hillclimbs around Christchurch before moving up to Wellington and joining the Hutt Valley Motorsport Club. The SR20DET motor lasted six years before destroying itself, then Sebastian swapped in an SR20DE he bought for $80 and utilised the same manifold and turbocharger setup from the turbo motor to create an SR20DE+T.

The SR20DE+T conversion was pretty straight forward according to Sebastian. Sebastian ran an oil line from the factory oil pressure switch to a relocated oil pressure switch and then another line to the turbo. The turbo is currently running 12.5 psi of boost which is a safe level as the engine still retains all the factory pistons and rods. The engine still runs factory injectors and uses a Nismotronic daughter board that is fitted to the ECU which ensures the car runs well. 

This setup produces 280 BHP and 255 lb/ft of torque, which is a lot for a front wheel drive car. The Pulsar's weight is down to about 1,120 KG which is incredibly light for a car that has close to 300 BHP! Strangely though, the Pulsar does not torque steer and has an odd driveshaft setup with two single piece driveshafts that are possibly from an N15 Pulsar. The gearbox is a close ratio, five speed Pulsar VZR item that features a factory viscous LSD and additional cooling fins on the casing. With all these goody bits, the car ran 1:21.3 around Manfeild on second hand tyre's that were a few years old.

Front Brakes are from an R33 Skyline with the rears from a Sentra SSS. This combination provides great braking power for the lightweight Pulsar. Suspension is BC adjustable's all round.

Sebastian made a full custom widebody which looks like it came off a time attack car. These photos were taken during the build and the widebody took Sebastian ages to construct and looks down right awesome. If I had a Pulsar, I would have a widebody made just like this.

The rear guards look like ones you would find on a Nissan Skyline GTR but are actually wider and fully custom made. 

Here is some photos of the finished widebody. The widebody pulsar is the most aggressive looking Pulsar I have ever seen and according to Sebastian, is possibly "the fastest front wheel drive black Pulsar". The Pulsar also features a "Carbon Plyber" front splitter that is made out of ply board but functions as well as a carbon one. It is also less expensive to replace than carbon fibre if you have an accident.

Sebastian painted the car matte black with orange as it looks awesome and is one of the paint schemes that just works. According to Sebastian, the black represents hacked to bits Nissan's and the orange just looks cool.

The Pulsar rides on 15 X 8 DTM GT37 wheels, shod with Toyo Proxes 4 tyre's that are 205/50/15. This wheel setup looks fantastic on the Pulsar and goes with the black and orange colour scheme with the bronze colouring on the wheels.

Inside, there is a custom made roll cage that is finished to perfection. The welds are smooth and the car is now significantly stiffer.

The cage looks awesome with the colour coded orange paint and makes the interior look race ready.

Also present in the interior are a racing steering wheel with appropriate Nissan badging, a custom gauge setup and a couple of racing bucket seats. 

Overall, the widebody Pulsar is an awesome little car that is probably the ultimate front wheel drive Pulsar around. I would like to thank Sebastian Frances for allowing me to review this beast and for all the photos he sent in to help write this review.

If you would like to read more about Sebastian's widebody Pulsar, you can:

• Check out his Facebook page by clicking here.
• Check out his website by clicking here.

Specifications

• Car: Widebody Nissan Pulsar X1R
• Engine: SR20DE+T
• Gearbox: 5 speed, close ratio VZR gearbox with factory viscous LSD
• Power: 280 BHP
• Torque: 255 lb/ft
• Weight: 1,120
• Interior: Racing steering wheel, Racetech drivers seat, KW passengers seat, full roll cage, custom dash and dials
• Suspension: BC gold coilover adjustable's, all round
• Brakes: Front= R33 calipers, Avenir discs Rear= Sentra SSS brakes
• Body: Full custom widebody, Carbon plyber front splitter, time attack wing

Thanks for reading!!! More awesome posts coming soon.