Hammerhead

Way back in December 2007, I did a feature on the AGGRO Torana.  In that story I mentioned a bloke called Matt who got hit in the head with a hammer.  Well this is Matt and his Nissan 1998 180SX Type X.  We were lucky to even get any photos of Matt's car at all.  It started raining as soon as I pulled up for the photo shot, but we got through it ok without getting too wet.  Matt hasn't had a lot of luck with the car.  The car was all set to be part of the 2007 Cruising Brisbane Formal Cruise, taking some high school students to their formal, and on the day of the formal, Matt came out for lunch and hopped into his car, only to notice he couldn't see the front of it.  He got out for a look and found that a truck had backed into it, bending the entire front in and destroying the bonnet and guards.  He got it repaired and the replacement bonnet is a Blits DOT approved fibreglass bonnet.

The engine in the 180 is a Nissan SR20DET 2 litre with the standard T25 turbo and a slightly larger than normal intercooler.  He has a power FC, a SAAF pod filter, a custom full 3 inch mandrel bent exhaust by Exotic Exhaust.  It has a Turbosmart boost controller.  The battery has been relocated to the boot.  The relocation of the battery caused some dramas for Matt as well, with the car coming back from the Auto Electrician with bits hanging off the car everywhere.  A speaker was hanging out of the door and the boost gauge hanging out as well.  The power goes through an Exedy heavy duty clutch to the standard Nissan 5 speed gearbox and a standard Nissan diff.

The suspension is TN Super Street Coilovers and the brakes are standard Nissan 4 wheel disks.  The wheels are "Design" 17 inch rims with 235/45/17 and 215/45/17s up front.  The interior of the car is standard.  It is supposed to be Type X but is different to other Type X interiors Matt has seen so it may have been customised.  There is a boost gauge and an Apexi rev speed meter. 

The stereo consists of an Alpine CD/MP3 head unit, 6 inch splits, 2 x 800 watt Pioneer amps and an 800w Kenwood Kevlar sub woofer.  Matt would like to thank Carmen Autos for work done.  The 180 has had a trip to the drags running a 13.48 @ 104 mph with the old exhaust system on it, so for a true street car, it does get up and move.

All in all Matt's little 180 is a solid performer all round.  It is a nice looking machine, unique in design from Nissan, with Matt's few little touches to give it that extra something, and with a solid few hundred horsepower to push it so far into the low 13 second region at the drags.  As far as car blokes go, Matt seems to have his head screwed on right, even if he did get a hammer in the head from Rowan..................