Skunkworks Nissan

Trois-Rivières, QC resident Sylvain Toupin started out in motorsport as a drifter in 2009 with a self-built Nissan 240SX S13. Initially it was just for fun but after some local events he decided to compete in a full pro-am season of the Drift Mania Canadian Championship in 2011. But that year at Autodrome Ste-Eustache he destroyed his precious S13 after a steering rack failure. “It was one of the saddest days of my life,” he said,

“I loved my S13 drift car, it was so clean unlike many of the other drift cars you see. After the crash I sold the S13 chassis and decided to start a new project with a Nissan Z32 but this time my focus would be lapping as during all my years in drifting I saw guys lapping and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. I had always wanted to try lapping and didn’t have the chance, now with the new project I would.”

The project was started in 2012 after Sylvain found a very special Nissan 300ZX 1993 in Ottawa, ON. It was the base 300ZX 2+0 model with NA engine and with the very rare slicktop: only some US models came without the T-top so it was the perfect base to turn into a race car. Sylvain noted, “ I purchased the car for only 2500$ and considering the engine was leaking oil, the body had some dents but the most importantly it had no rust because it was a US car.” The plan was to put the SR20DET engine from my S13 in the 300ZX to create a light and slick race car. He would also reuse a lot of parts from my drift car like: rear suspension arms, Rotora front brake, seats, mirrors, wing, wheels, etc He did the engine swap by himself including building the cage. The engine was mated to the Z32 transmission with a Mazworx adaptor plate. By 2014 the car was ready and it was time to hit the track and some lapping days. The car was already pretty fast right out the gate so in 2015 he decided to run some Time Attack events. After winning some Track & Time Time Attack events in Quebec, Toupin was ready to see if he could compete with the best Time Attackers in Canada at the Canadian Sport Compact Series. His first event was Shannonville in 2018 and all day long he was the fastest Unlimited RWD on track but just before the final I broke my shifter so the car was stuck in third gear. He noted, “I was very sad but I knew now than I could run with the best in Time Attack. These guys are fast, they get more track time than me and have a lot more experience than I have. I was down in the dumps but the positives put a smile on my face.” One of the things anyone following the build of the SR71 would have noticed would be the changes in aerodynamic aids over the years. With the advent of the Internet there is so much information online that he researched carbon fiber manufacturing and he taught himself how to do it. All of the the aero you see in the lead photo has been designed and built by Toupin in his small garage. When we asked him about the design of

the aero he noted, “I just went online and just took inspiration from CFD images, there are plenty to view and it is quite easy when you recognize the car, you know that some of them just work.” when asked if the changes worked he said, “Yes it’s a great feeling when upgrades work as expected, like last winter, I made some modifications to my splitter like 7mm lower and 65mm longer and feel more downforce at the front so I had to add more downforce at the rear with the rear wing to balance it. I can balance understeer and oversteer with the aero so it works, I’m very happy with it.”

The Future

With the extended off season in Canada compared to some southern States Sylvain plans on making some upgrades to the car over the winter. They include a Garrett G25-660 from Turbo Parts Canada Inc. and equal length turbo manifold from Spectrum Motorsports Solutions. In an effort to maximise the gains he will also be adding a bigger fuel pump, a titanium exhaust, twin disc clutch and larger tires, probably going with 295 front and 315 rear. He ran a 1.13.2 at TMP in 2021 and is aiming for a 1.12 next year with his future upgrades.

Sylvain tends to make an annual trip to Toronto Motorsport Park for the Canadian Sport Compact Series season finale. “I’d love to come to the CSCS more often.” he said before continuing, “It is over a nine hour trip from my home in Trois-Rivières and without any sponsors to pick up the tab is would be difficult to follow the whole series. But we make this one trip the highlight of our year; head West and see how the car has improved since the previous year.”

The Build List

1993 Z32 Nissan 300ZX

Engine: - SR20DET engine - CP piston 86.5 mm 8.5/1 - Manley rods - Cometic head gasket - BC valves and springs with double guide shims - Tomei cams 256/260 - Ported ebay intake and 75 mm throttle body Mishimoto radiator and intercooler Greddy oil cooler Garrett GTX2867 gen 2 turbo Turbosmart blowoff valve ATI crank pulley Walbro 255 fuel pump

Drivetrain: - Samsonas 6 speed dogbox - ACT clutch and XACT flywheel - Custom aluminum driveshaft - Carbonetic carbon differential - Greddy oversize diff cover

Brakes: - Rotora 4 piston front calipers - Hawk rear rotors - Hawk brake pads DTC60 front /DTC30 rear - Chase Bay master cylinder

Suspension: - GK tech front control arms - Voodoo13 rear control arms - CX Racing coilovers - Swift springs 14kg/mm front and 12kg/mm rear

Aero / Body: - Self built Aero

- Weight approx 10330kgs (2272 lbs)

Interior/Safety: - Self built custom cage - Sparco PRO ADV QRT seat - 6 point harness - Lifeline Zero 360 fire system

Electrical: - Apex i Power FC ECU - 850cc injectors

Wheels / Tires: - Hoosier A7, 285-30-18 front/ 295-30-18 rear - Konig Hypergram 18X 10.5 wheels

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