Drifting isn’t a hobby or a past time for Brendon Greaves, it is a lifestyle. Whether it is hitting the corner with an insane angle or pulling a motor out at 3am in the morning, it is all about drifting. He lives and breathes the sport.
If you have been following my blog recently, you would have seen some news relating to Brendon’s new car – an amazing, LS powered BMW M3. That post was part one of the story, I am currently working on the new photos from the recent shoot. So, whilst I am working on those images, I thought it was a great opportunity for me to feature, the first car I photographed with him and his extra-supportive partner Amy.
I have spoken to a lot car owners and builders over the years and it is hard to find a bloke as passionate about what he does as much as Brendon. From the humble beginnings of belting around in an LS powered VK Commodore 7 years ago, to just a few months ago, being crowned the winner of an international competition in Jakarta, it has been success driven through effort and toil.
Before he made it into the driver’s seat of this 2001 Nissan S15, he cut his teeth on another LS powered ride – an R32 to be exact. “After having the VK for a while and then getting the chance to drive some Jap cars I soon realised where I was going wrong – the Japanese cars handle so well and you can put them wherever you want on the track,” said Brendon. He wasn’t too keen on the Japanese running gear though so his ride was always going to be V8 powered. After two seasons of campaigning that rig, Brendon thought it was time for another upgrade – enter one new Nissan.
“The car came from Japan as a shell so it was the perfect platform to start with – I didn’t need anything else but the bare bones.” Of course the suspension was the first thing that crossed Brendon’s mind. “The Wisefab kit in the front of the allows us to get up to 65 degrees of lock in the front wheels which helps us maintain good angle while drifting and helps with achieving and maintaining good angle on big entries. The Wisefab kit in the rear gives more grip as there is no camber change or squat. This superior grip helps us to control the speed of the car better whilst chasing and putting in fast lead laps,” explained Brendon.
When the car was first prepped, it featured a supercharger but it really wasn’t to Brendon’s liking. “Look blowers are great, but for me, reliability is the key factor. The blower just put too much strain on the motor and then there was the added heat created by it too. After experimenting with the blower, I decided to get my good mate Scott from Scott’s Performance Engines to build me a tough N/A combo instead,” said Brendon.
The six-litre motor features CNC-ported Higgins heads and a decent-sized hydraulic roller cam to boot. A Meziere electric water pump does its bit to help with cooling the donk down as does a decent sized radiator. Brendon does have a trick up his sleeve though and if you have seen him at the track you can tell something is up. “After leaving the blown motor I decided to add a dry shot nitrous system. It works by using a NOS controller TPS signal and RPM signal. The nitrous is setup on an arming switch and comes on at 3200rpm and off at 7000rpm when you are at 100% throttle. It is currently running a 150 shot but can be upped to a 250 shot if required.”
A TTI 4-speed sequential box makes killing tyres easier than ever and besides being as sexy as all hell; the Winters quick change rear end does serve a purpose. “The Winters rear has so many gear ratios available; so depending on the type of track we are running on, I can gear the car to suit. It really does help.”
K-sport 6-pot front brakes slow the car down during critical chasing moments and the 18-inch Enkei wheels are there for only one reason, to mount the tyres that get slaughtered.
Brendon reckoned that he would give the panel and paint thing a go, so the body was hit with the Ford Focus RS Ultimate Green with a custom silver pearl. The doors are ridgy-didge carbon fibre items as is the bonnet. The Origin 50mm over fenders gives the S15 a phat look for sure. The air holes in the car are not just for aesthetics – they serve a purpose too. “One afternoon the car just kept filling up with smoke so I rolled into the pits, grabbed a hole saw and started cutting. That solved the problem!” laughed Brendon.
The inside of the car is all business – handles and levers dominate, along with the 6-point weld in cage with dual side intrusion bars. Brendon sits firmly in his Sparco Circuit race seat and from there, can view his Racepak dash perfectly.
With a few seasons under his belt racing this car, Brendon set about building the new car – the BMW M3, which is on a whole other level, check it out here:
https://jordanleist.com/2018/09/21/life-on-the-edge-e92-bmw-m3-part-1/
jordanleist.com 
One thought on “MAKING MOVES – 2001 Nissan S15”