Full Races Project R14

[greenmonster80]

I drooled over the MODIFIED magazine coverage of this car last month. I am sold. Think it is a wonderful idea. Hope a bunch of these kits make it out there so later I can afford one...

[vashonz]

AWD S13 at least a year before I heard about the Full Race car. This video is a couple weeks old (when it snowed in washington in november)

 

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v42/driftin_180sx/?action=view&current=100_7509.flv

[JustinOlson]

This isn't a kit per say. You have to take your car to full race so they can put it on their frame jig and get everything in the correct spot.

 

Justin

[Bob_H]

So I was trying to find a copy of the modified mag article - of course January's issue is on the stands now... Can anyone scan a copy in so I can read it?

I see their pricing is on the website and they are taking orders come Jan 1st.

$12,800 for a rolling chassis with steel driveshaft, steel parts. I'm guessing that with a full clip at ~$4500-6000, you are looking at high $20's for a turn-key car. I am replacing my Miata for my daily driver with an S2000, and I was seriously considering this car... however, I think I need to get mine working and running first,(my RB26). I want to see these cars on the track - I may seriously consider one in a year or so, esp. if they can make it work in the lighter S13 chassis w/o any real compromises.

-Bob

[JustinOlson]

Here you are Bob

 

" Full-Race FrankenSkyline:

The World's First Sport Compact Kit Car

 

Story by David Pratte Photos by Mike Maez

 

Do a quick Google search using the term “kit car” and you’ll find yourself browsing websites peddling all sorts of interesting replicas, mostly of vintage or exotic machines like Cobras, Super Sevens and old Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches. What you’re not likely to find is anything resembling a sport compact. Sure you can tear a Miata apart and use the bits and pieces to build a Super Seven, but there has never been a kit car designed to convert a readily available and affordable Japanese chassis into

a classic and highly sought-after Japanese supercar. That is, until now.

 

You may be thinking to yourself: “Isn’t that just a pimped out S14 240SX?” but you’d be wrong. The Nissan seen before you is in fact a full-on Skyline GT-R under the skin, completely converted by the engineering mad scientists at Full-Race. From the double wishbone suspension and multi-piston brakes, to the all-wheel-drive power delivery, to the legendary RB26DET, this vehicle is 100% GTR. So complete is the transformation that it is fair to refer to this machine as a Skyline GT-R kit car (or R14 as Full-Race has named it) rather than an S14 with some GT-R parts bolted to it. Sure it may still look like a S14 on the outside, but it’s all GT-R where it counts.

 

The creation of this one-of-a-kind Nissan, soon to be made possible for any S13 or S14 240SX owners via a chassis conversion kit (check out ProjectR14.com for more details), was inspired by the dreams of Full-Race owner and Head Engineer Geoff Raicer. As you may recall from our ŒMad Scientist¹ feature story (June 2006) on Raicer’s 800whp Honda Civic, we’re talking about a man who dreams big and has the skills and the shop to fulfill them. As Raicer himself put it, “I was looking for a car that would smoke a single turbo Supra, destroy a Viper or Z06, and embarass just about any car it might come across, yet do it on street tires and pump gas. I wanted something that would win a time attack, then go to a drag strip and run 9’s and then drive home with the stereo blasting. My 800whp civic was not doing this anytime soon and while I’ve had huge fun with my Honda and will always have my roots in the Honda camp, I needed something new. It was time to step up to a supercar.”

 

But being the mad scientist that he is, you know Raicer and his top-notch crew at Full-Race were not going to be satisfied with some sort of garden-variety tuner car project. What Raicer really wanted, what he dreamt about (like so many of us in the spo com scene in America) was a Nissan Skyline GT-R. On the other hand, Raicer’s dislike for right-hand-drive cars and all the hassles owning one entails, not to mention the outrageous price genuine GT-R’s fetch on this side of the Pacific, as well as the impossibilities involved with making a GTR street legal meant that some other solution was needed. As fate would have it, Raicer had picked up a 1995 240SX with a blown motor for $1000 three years ago with the idea of swapping a Honda S2000 engine into it. Having been unable to find an affordable F20C1, the S14 was stored in his parents’ driveway and forgotten. Then while flying to SEMA IAS during the spring of ‘06, Raicer got a voicemail from a friend who had a complete R32 Skyline GT-R front clip for sale for $3500. After seeing how pristine the clip was, and despite being extremely hesitant about buying it (particularly because everyone he asked told him it would be impossible to do a proper GT-R AWD conversion on his S14 to go along with the RB26 engine swap) Raicer decided that his highly capable team of engineers, mechanics and machinists could do anything they set their minds to, and that this was a project that would allow him to realize his spo com supercar dream.

 

Knowing full well that stuffing all of Godzilla’s running gear into a Godzilla Jr. sized package like an S14 chassis wouldn’t be a simple task, the Full-Race engineers started by making complete 3D computer models for every aspect of the GT-R’s suspension and powertrain. They also completely modeled the S14 chassis and engine bay, at which point they could digitally overlay the GT-R components onto the S14 chassis to see how everything lined up. This four-month process was exhausting and exhaustive, but Raicer and the Full-Race gang knew it would pay dividends in the long run. After that it was “simply” a matter of putting in 16-hour days, engineering and fabricating all the custom pieces needed to make the GT-R drivetrain, double wishbone suspension, and AWD system bolt up to the S14 sheet metal.

 

Honoring the JDM tuner philosophy that intelligent performance modifications should allow the original sheet metal to remain unmolested (inspired by our recent Midori Skyline feature story) was another goal for Raicer. This meant that the boy geniuses at Full-Race had to come up with some seriously innovative solutions, especially in areas like the front suspension and driveline. The S14 is a RWD platform, for example, so the stock front frame rails do not have any clearances built into them for the front driveshafts. The Skyline GT-R, on the other hand, is AWD and therefore has notched front frame rails. Rather than notching and welding the S14 rails, which would go against the Midori philosophy and Full-Race’s desire to keep the installation as OEM as possible, they designed custom frame rails that lower the front subframe and in the process locate the engine and driveline such that the front driveshafts clear the unmolested S14 frame rails, and the engine/trans fit like stock. The Full-Race frame rails also provide significant reinforcement to the relatively puny S14 rails, which were not designed to withstand the forces that an AWD RB26 turbocharged engine places on the chassis. The Full-Race R14 front-end conversion also has the added benefit of lowering the car’s center of gravity, while still allowing the original Skyline GT-R forged aluminum engine mounts to be used. We think Midori would approve.

 

A huge amount of design work was also done in the front strut tower area, where the MacPherson strut design of the S14 suspension did not make it easy for the GT-R double wishbone setup to make its home there. Having been inspired by Total Chaos’ desert racing suspension conversion kits, Full-Race’s engineers cooked up an ingenious system for mounting the GT-R upper control arms using the existing strut tower bolt holes for positioning. Given the unique R14 configuration, Full-Race contracted KONI to build custom shock absorbers using their double adjustable race dampers specifically for use on this project and future R14 conversions. Full-Race also added adjustable TC rods that help locate the front lower control arms and allow for adjustment of front wheel caster. Completing the suspension makeover is a Full-Race HICAS (four-wheel-steering) eliminator that also functions as a tie rod brace, as well as a custom LHD steering rack that duplicates the quick 2.6 turns lock-to-lock rack found in the GT-R. In addition, Full-Race chose to retain (again, in the Midori tradition) 100% stock rear links, a technique which has proven itself on Full-Races time-attack winning S14.

 

With the front end thoroughly transformed to GT-R specs, including hubs and brakes, custom transmission mounts were required to locate the hulking RB gearbox and transfer case so that the shift lever, equipped with a GT-R shift knob, is perfectly centered in the S14 tunnel opening. Next Full-Race put a call in to the drivetrain pros at The Driveshaft Shop for a custom one-piece 4” 6061 driveshaft with a slip-yoke eliminator. This design saved over 20 lbs compared to a stock GT-R driveshaft, and does away with the vibration inducing rubber mounted carrier bearing. In the rear end department, the Full-Race brainiacs again had to bust out their slide rules when fabricating a custom R14 rear subframe, allowing the bulletproof GT-R rear differential (2way clutch type) and BEEFY 6 bolt axles to be used, as well as the GT-R rear suspension links and 2 piston 11.7” brakes mounted.

 

With the all-wheel-drive system fully in place (but with ATESSA deleted), the final challenge for the Full-Race squad was to figure out how to design a torque split controller that allows the amount of power being sent to the front wheels to be adjusted. If you take a careful look at the interior of this very special Nissan, you’ll notice that there are two emergency brake handles. This isn’t some sort of super freaky drift setup, rather if you pull the second handle you’ll start to send more and more power to the front wheels the further up you go. In other words, when this “e-brake” handle is all the way down, the R14 is 100% RWD. If you lift it all the way up, power delivery is split 50/50 to the front and rear wheels. Half way up? 25% front, 75% rear. In fact, with the lever all the way down, this car can be dyno’d on a 2WD dyno without pulling driveshafts, a practice common on AWD vehicles. Helping transfer all this adjustable 4WD power to the ground is a Competition Clutch twin disc setup and Quaife limited slip differentials. Full-Race is currently working on finalizing a design for a remote mounted electronically controlled Torque Split setup which will allow for the elimination of the lever, being replaced by an electronic dial.

 

As for power, there’s plenty of it, as you’d expect from a RB26DETT and Full-Race. The R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R drivetrain is renowned for its ability to make pavement-shattering amounts of grunt on completely stock internals, a reputation Full-Race plans on fully exploring by leaving their RB unopened, for now. However, the stock GT-R twin turbo setup was dropped in favor of a complete Full-Race spec GT42102R kit including Full-Race’s R14 twin scroll dual wastegate exhaust manifold, 4-inch Vband downpipe, S14 front-mount intercooler, 3-inch piping, and (2) TiAL 44mm Wastegates + 50mm blow-off valve. Handling the fuel load are dual Walbro in-tank pumps, a Full-Race fuel rail, and RC Engineering 1000cc injectors. Controlling the carefully timed commingling of fuel and spark is an Apex’i Power FC standalone engine management system, an easy-to-use and precise tuning tool. On the R14 the Power FC is equipped to read two MAP sensors, one signal from cylinder 3 and one from cylinder 4, in order to

allow Evans Tuning to more effectively deal with the RB’s individual throttle bodies.

 

Even the interior of this engineering marvel of a Nissan is stuffed full of Skyline DNA. Just take a gander at the R33 GTS-T gauge cluster and the R32 GT-R steering wheel, though the stock S14 seats remain in place with the front passengers being secured to them by Simpson racing harnesses. To entertain Raicer while he commutes to the track there¹s an Eclipse 5303R head unit and CDT 6.5¹¹ coaxial speakers, powered by a PPI 5 channel amp. Beyond that, a Full-Race roll cage dominates the interior, a safety addition this monstrously quick FrankenSkyline definitely needs given the kind of speed it’s capable of.

 

As for the exterior, Full-Race had their homeboys Brandon Perry and Cesar D’Castro lay down a unique shade of paint called ŒBattleship Grey since, as Raicer pointed out, “this thing was built to destroy the competition.”Enhancing the Destroyer theme is a gorgeous set of gloss black Volk GT-U 18x9.5” forged wheels, wrapped in Dunlop Direzza 275/35-18’s on all four corners. That’s a lot of rubber to fit on a S14, but the Origin Labs Zenki Stylish body kit, carbon hood, carbon door skins and 20mm over fenders (with rears further pulled and flared by Champa) house the supermodel sexy Volks perfectly. Completing the exterior enhancements is a set of JDM black housing Zenki headlights and orange corner lights as well B&M power steering and oil coolers cleverly tucked behind the side vents on the front bumper.

 

With the goal of building a car that is roughly the weight of a Prelude, with an engine as strong as a twin turbo Supra, is LHD, AWD, has power steering and is easy to register and cheap to insure, Raicer and his band of wrench-wielding madmen have succeeded in building what is quite possibly the first ever sport compact kit car. One-off show cars are impressive in their

own right, but building a machine like the Full-Race R14 such that everything required to replicate this dream machine is an

accomplishment on a whole other level. All we can say is, thank you Full-Race♥ we¹re shopping for a clean S13/S14 chassis already!"

[FR Javier]

i haven't posted here in a while...thanks for the interest if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[wigenOut-S30]

Yeah this car looks great for sure!!.. I actually got to hang out and have dinner with Mike Maez the photographer. My next door neighbor is going to be on the cover for the Feb edition of modified( be in stores in January) He has a turbocharged S2000. Mike came down to Mobile a couple of weekends ago for the shoot.He had great things to say about the R14 and the people over at Full Race. I have some hours in the S2000 turbo myself.. I cannot wait to get the mag. I have the one of the R14 as well great write up.

[Bob_H]

i haven't posted here in a while...thanks for the interest if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

 

Javier,

Thanks for stopping back in!

I have a few questions:

What is the expected timeline for the S-13 conversion availability? I know Full Race has had tremendous interest, about how many are putting their money where their mouth is and dropping a deposit? I saw the turn-around time on the site, are you setting a limit on how many you will accept if you have a long line of actual deposits or is that still hypothetical?

I have a serious interest in the setup as you can tell from my current project:

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=115751

The second page starts to show the engine setup, etc..,(RB26).

And last, what are the compromises expected with the S-13 setup? Well, not quite last, I saw FR is developing an electronic control for the AWD, vs the current mechanical setup, (parking brake type lever - if I understand the current setup correctly).

Thanks again for stopping in - I'm serious enough to consider dropping a deposit after mine gets running in a month or two.

-Bob

[FR Javier]

very nice project! i will check into the lead times for you.

[Full-Race Geoff]

hey bob -- thanks alot for the kind words. we have worked exceedingly hard to get this conversion working perfectly and are just about there.

 

Currently we only offer the GTR conversion for the S14 chassis, due to slightly different front susp geometry/sheet metal differences. The S13 will be coming next (we have received a lot of interest from S13 owners). I really recommend using an S14 due to increased transfer case clearance, stiffer chassis (rollcage is not mandatory unlike S13), slightly improved front suspension, and the fact that the R33 GTR suspension is virtually identical (and better than R32/S13) to the S14.

 

An R14 conversion will take about 6 weeks right now, whereas an R13 would take 8-12. The S13 requires quite a bit more front suspension fabrication (heavy modification to the uprights required, whereas with the S14 nothing needs to be changed).

 

The electronic 4wd controller is almost finished, we are simply waiting on some custom valves to come back for final testing. The handbrake is no longer.

 

any other questions, feel free to ask

[OlderThanMe]

WOW...that is just amazing...I want to see a 4x4 S30Z here in the states that is not a Z body on a truck frame...

Maybe it is time to get the ball rolling on an AWD S30 like what Veritech-Z posted...

[Bob_H]

....

Currently we only offer the GTR conversion for the S14 chassis, due to slightly different front susp geometry/sheet metal differences. The S13 will be coming next (we have received a lot of interest from S13 owners). I really recommend using an S14 due to increased transfer case clearance, stiffer chassis (rollcage is not mandatory unlike S13), slightly improved front suspension, and the fact that the R33 GTR suspension is virtually identical (and better than R32/S13) to the S14.

...

The electronic 4wd controller is almost finished, we are simply waiting on some custom valves to come back for final testing. The handbrake is no longer.

 

any other questions, feel free to ask

 

Geoff,

Thanks for the response from the front office!

Sorry I we couldn't work out the details for a swap for my front oil pan - fortunately I see you found someone else to send one off to Quaife.

As I understood the pictures, the front suspension was grafted, where the rear was left stock,(if you will). I was fairly sure the S14 front suspension didn't have that long upper arm similar to the Z32. (but rather had a mcphearson setup).

I'm interested in the details of the electronic controller - i.e. what inputs does it use to recognize yaw, etc..? Or is it just an electronic controller to vary torque by punching buttons? My question might not be clear - is it a replacement for the ATTESSA computer, or is it just an electronic control to replace the handbrake?

Last - how many people have stepped up to the plate? Do you have a waiting line yet? I understand if you would rather not comment on that publicly - but I would be interested via a PM, (my previously stated interest in the conversion is the reason).

Last, with you being in PHX, and say for example, with myself being in TX, are you setup to source clips? Its tough to pay shipping from Japan,(all total, my R33 motor/tranny/etc.. was about $800), and then to turn around and pay a freight company to ship it again to your shop for a few hundred again. A clean shell is easier to an extent. Just checking options.

After I get back from my honeymoon I may need to give you a call to discuss further details.

Thanks!

-Bob

[hotimport]

Its amazing!!!

 

The possibilities are endless....

[Full-Race Geoff]

the suspension changes we perform are the following:

 

front - we convert the front from a mac-strut to a double wishbone unequal length arm setup from the R32 GTR (sort of similar to the Z32 front susp). From there we modify things even further to accept a traditional road race shock absorber, opening up the shock tuning to real racing shock absorbers, not limiting you to the off-the-shelf JDM junk

 

rear - we convert the S14 rear suspension to a hicas eliminated R33/R34 rear suspension. On an S13, it becomes a hicas eliminated R32 rear, although 33/34 are possible

 

4wd controller -- its a very simple electronic system that is variable and based off of the setup many racers are using, which essentially overrides the ATTESSA to provide a constant tq split for part throttle, and a 30/70-50/50 lockup at wide open

 

customers -- we have a lot of people ready to step up, as soon as i get back to az i have to finish up the quotes. We do not start any jobs, without the quote being signed by the customer and sent back to us. Im away on the east coast visiting my family and will be back in AZ next week wrapping this stuff up.

 

clips can defiantely be sourced. right now it is hit and miss, some clips are in great shape others arent. We are going to get a container together in japan to send over, but that wont be ready ntil may/june. until then we are relying on our friends at the yards to call us and get us pics of every gtr clip that comes in

 

talk to you guys later, happy holidays