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July 2010 - DaMasterPNut (P11)

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    Posted: 17 Jun 2010 at 2:29am

Congratulations on winning July 2010 COTM Laurens! Our very first winner from the Netherlands and featured SR20VE powered Nissan Primera too!! How does it feel bagging this exclusive award and not forgetting an awesome club trophy as well?

 

 
 

I’m very proud that NPOC appreciates me and my car by giving this award. You won’t be surprised if I tell you this is the first foreign award. At Japest Shaun "essNchill", pulled me in his car to tell me I had won July 2010 COTM, I was stunned!

 

Of course it’s something you hope to win but I never expected to actually receive it. I don’t modify the car just to win prizes, so these kind of surprises are always really great.

 

Before we talk cars, modifications and mechanics, we’d love to find out about you the owner. Please tell us about yourself and what you get up to, away from the NPOC.

 

 

Well, my real name is Laurens (Lawrence) Nijssen. I’m 23 years old and live in Zwolle which is in the east of the Netherlands. Just check out Google Maps, when you type in 8014ZT Zwolle you can see the car on the driveway LOL.

 

Currently I live with my parents but I hope to move out next year, so I started saving more.

 

I have one younger brother who is 20 years old and drives a ’90 Sunny Coupe B12.

 

I work as an IT support guy so I’m always friendly and helpful! I’m not the type of person that wants to be in a dark cellar strangling in cables. I like the personal contact.

 
I am a very active member of the Nissan Club Nederland (NCN). I joined 5 years ago and became a moderator after 2.5 years and then moved up to the Staff Team. At the end of June I will be replacing Lucas as the 'CEO'.

 

My other hobbies are travelling (I’ve seen big parts of Europe, went to the USA and Canada), good food, music (I have played keyboard for 7 years and appreciate all sorts of music styles), having a beer or cider with friends, stand-up comedy, going to comedy festivals and off course track days.

 

We also had a dog which passed away 1 year ago. She was only 7 years old and died after one month of suffering from cancer in the liver.

 

 

How did you find the NPOC forums and are we any good? Would you happily recommend the club to other Nissan Primera owners?

 

In my never ending search for more helpful Nissan related sites it’s hard not to find NPOC. Needless to say NPOC rules big time, it’s a great community, nice projects and good technical info. I already recommend NPOC on my own club forum.

 

 

You’ve been an NPOC member for over 3 years now but we know you’re more active with your home club, the Nissan Club Nederland (NCN), which covers all Nissan models – How different are the 2 clubs?

 

Probably the biggest different is the fact that the UK is a much bigger country with more people interested in cars or motorsport related things. That’s why a “Primera only” club can exist in the UK but not in the Netherlands. We simply wouldn’t have enough cars to make it work. For the most part we are quite similar I think. The friendships, or ‘club life’ as we call it, is just the same and people can mostly get along really well or even become best friends over the years and join in on birthday parties and BBQ’s. NCN has a general club statement: “Shift_Clublife”, taken from the official Nissan ads. This is printed on NCN t-shirts as well.

 
 

Do the NCN guys show respect to the Nissan Primera as a car?

 

Yeah, they definitely do. That’s a nice thing about being a club member of a relatively unpopular brand. You discover the quality of the cars by exploring the brand and the technique behind it. For example the strength of the SR20 engines, the engineering of the multi-link suspension and more of those details nobody else cares about. The Primera is one of the most popular cars in our club so I think that says it all.

 
 

Is this the 1st Nissan Primera you have owned? Have you modified any previous cars?

 

Yes, this is my first Primera. Before the Primera I owned a red Sunny N14 1.4 saloon. This was my first car which I bought when I was 18 after having my drivers license for about a month. I went on holiday with it and that car started the whole Nissan hobby. I didn’t do much to it because of lack of tools, knowledge and funds but I fitted some second hand wheels, basic audio and stupid neons in the interior - Oh and a pair of fluffy dice, rather pimp isn’t LOL? But my modifying techniques have changed since then obviously!  

 

 

So moving onto the rather tasty SR20VE engine you have in your P11… First question, if most people wanted a fast Nissan Primera P11, they usually start with buying a GT and then modifying that, so why did you start with a P11 2.0 SLX as the base?

 

I never bought the car with the intention of making it faster. There weren’t a lot of GT’s for sale when I was looking for a Primera. I was coming from a whopping 87 BHP from the GA14DE power plant and was very satisfied with the SR20De’s 131 BHP. In the beginning, that was.

 

Also it was much more luxurious then the N14 and then the desire to customise a car that was worth it came around, mainly due to the fact that I was going to more meetings and saw what you can do with cars in general.

 

The P11 was also a low mileage car with good a maintenance history so that was a big plus too.

 
 

Was it always your intention from day 1 to make this a special car, or did you just wake up one day and think “It needs more power, I’m going to swap the engine!”?

 

Well, obviously I did more to the car before the engine was swapped. Some of my first posts at the Dutch Nissanclub forum were about how to mount speakers.

 

Over time I got more knowledge and became handy with things. I decided to buy a Nissan Primera with the goal of making it to my taste. I refuse to use words like ‘styling’ or ‘tuning’. I prefer the word ‘customizing’ because that says it all without looking like a ricer or boy racer.

 

The engine was something that annoyed me much later. So in short: Yes, the intention was to make it a special car but after 2.5 years I did wake up and think, more power!!

 
 

On to the modifications, now would be a great time to tell us all about your Nissan Primera P11 SLX with SR20VE power plant! So please list your full spec and all modifications, inside and out:

 

Looks:

 

P11 GT front bumper

Safrane splitter

P11 GT rear bumper

Aerotech end caps

AutoR Satori skirts

Stock SLX spoiler

55 watt 4300K HID

Bonnet lifters

HEKO wind deflectors

R34 clear side repeaters

P11 SE chrome handles

Team Dynamics Drifz (18”, 7,5J, ET37) + Falken FK452 215/35/18, soon replaced by Kumho LeSport KU39 225/35/18)

Short stick antenna

“Primera” BTCC style windscreen sticker

NPOC air freshener

P11 Si sport seats

4 point harness camlock seatbelts

 
 

Handling:

 

Intrax RS height adjustable coilovers

Made by Nissan JDM front strut bar

Progress rear sway bar

 

Performance:

 

SR20VE NeoVVL engine, 5W40 Motul 300V oil

SR20VE ECU optimized with mappings from Powerland-tuning.com

NGK BKR7E spark plugs

Apexi Super Intake air filter

2.5” SS header

2.5” piping

2.5” Magnaflow Hi-flow cat

2.5” Magnaflow resonator (22 inch long)

2.5” Magnaflow Street 14832 backbox

Castrol TAF-X gearbox oil

ATE Blue Racing brake fluid

Energy Suspension shifter bushing

 

Brakes:

 

S14 4-pot caliper swap (rebuild)

280 x 30mm rotors

Front Carbotech XP10 ceramic track pads

Rear EBC Greenstuff pads

Goodridge braided brake lines

 

Soon to be installed: Franklin 118d stage 3 cams + ECU re mapping

 

ICE:

 

Focal Polyglass 165V2 compo

JVC KD-BT1 HU

2x Audio System X-ION 10” subs, closed enclosure

Soundstream XTA180.2 compo amplifier

Power Akoustic A1000DB subwoofer amplifier

 
 

What’s the most enjoyable change you’ve made so far?

 

You’ve probably guessed it by now, the engine is something that really makes the car stand out from the crowd. Over time I had some moments with ‘most enjoyable changes’. The first one was the 18” alloys. The second one was the Intrax RS coilovers and now the VE engine.

 
 

What was the hardest modification you’ve taken on?

 

The hardest modification… Well, the engine swap was done by a friend, who is also a Nissan mechanic, who did the swap in 4 nights after his regular job at the Nissan dealership.

 

So I can’t really say what was the hardest because everything else was pretty straight forward for me. Installing the coilovers took a whole Saturday of work but that was fun to do. I almost feel embarrassed to say that I can’t recall any mods that I found really hard to do… Sorry guys ‘n gals.

 
 
 

Did you think about going turbo before you went for the NA VVL?

 

Yes, it was something that crossed my mind but I had a few reasons not to go turbo.

 

1.)   I’m not skilled enough to do turbo trouble shooting

2.)   It usually means more maintenance

3.)   NA VVL has a higher uniqueness factor

4.)   I like the 8000 rpm experience

 

Mainly the first 2 things were the most important reasons not to go turbo.

 

I had some discussions about the pro’s and con’s with some NCN friends and then we decided that NA VVL would fit me the most. I didn’t have any regrets so far and in the meantime I’ve seen several SR20DE+T’s breaking down.

 
 

Us Nissan Primera owners over in the UK, get a pretty shitty deal on what aftermarket parts are available “off the shelf” for our cars. How does this compare with the Netherlands?

 

Just the same I’m afraid. That’s what makes it fun and a challenge to work on a Primera. If you want easy stuff from a catalogue buy a VW Golf or a Honda Civic.

 

We have to search and investigate to find the right parts, which makes our cars unique. Only replacement parts for brakes, engine maintenance and body parts can be found in the Netherlands. For Primera specific engine upgrades or handling parts you have to look overseas or spend time on eBay, NPOC, G20.net and the SR20-forums.

 

But I discovered that a lot of the big companies are willing to produce to order. That’s how I managed to get EBC make the Yellowstuff brakes available for the P11 rear calipers which makes them the first track suited rear brake pads for the Primera.

 
 

If I gave 600 Euros (£500) right now and told you it had to be spent on the car, what would you buy?

 

That's an easy one. I would probably buy an SR16VE N1 gearbox to have shorter ratios for better acceleration, also on track and with the LSD in it.

 
 

If money was no object and you could do anything you wanted to the SLX, what would you do?

 

I would turn it into a hardcore track tool, probably with P10 rear suspension and with an NA VE engine, stroked to 2.2 liters, aggressive cams made by Franklin cams, ASP header, 6 speed B15 gearbox, Nismo LSD, ProjectMU big brake kit all around, lightweight wheels with semi-slicks, carbon bonnet + boot and Ohlins suspension.

 
 

Can you see yourself keeping this car for a while yet, or do you want even more power and you might change car?

 

With the vision of moving out next year I don’t think a different car will be an option for me, because I will have to modify that one again HAHA! So for now I will be sticking to the P11 and continue to do little upgrades. I do have 2 options in case the Primera had to leave or when I want something different.

 

Option 1: Buy an Almera N15 GTi, put the VE into the N15 and the DE into the P11 so the P11 can be sold. The N15 GTi would become a track tool.

Option 2: Import an R33 from the UK. I regularly check Pistonheads and prices are f*ing CHEAP!

 
 

Time for the quick fire question round!

 

Germany or France?Germany, great food, Autobahn, Nordschleife, girls with names like ‘Heidi’.

FWD / RWD or 4WD? – FWD, don’t have experience with the rest yet.

English women or Dutch? – Swedish, you’ll know why when you go there.

Day or Night? Day, that’s the only time I can make money to spend on my hobbies.

Track or Drag? Track, driving straight is easy, I do it all the time when I go to work!

Gnet or NPOC? NPOC, my foreign friends.

Saloon or Hatchback? Saloon, us owners will never have a knackered boot fall down and hit us on the head!

Tell us your favourite NPOC car?That would be Rich’s car (JC#79), great all round street performer!

 
 

You’ve made the long drive (respect!) over to the UK now for the last 2 JAE’s (2008 & 2009) and you were our surprise guest at Japfest 2010? That’s some serious commitment!! When are you next over to join us?

 

It all depends if I can make it to JAE in 2011, I will join you again there. Or maybe Japfest2 is something to consider. Then I can add Rockingham to my list, if it is held there again.

 

Unfortunately I can’t make it to JAE this year, so that’s why I decided to go to Japfest. I couldn’t have a year without going to some sort of NPOC related thing. You guys are simply great to hang out with.

 
 

We all saw you out on the track at Castle Combe recently and we know you’re a regular at the Nurburgring in Germany. Do you ever worry about crashing the car and seeing all your hard work get destroyed?

 

I always keep my reserves when driving the Ring. It’s a costly thing when something goes wrong. I have done 60 laps on the Ring now and so far nothing has happened. I always make sure I have enough cash in my bank account in case something does go wrong! It’s always a risk but the experience is simply awesome.

 
 
 

What’s your fastest lap time at Ring so far?

 

Lap timing is a bit of a taboo on the Ring because pushing yourself often leads to accidents but with some traffic and no accidents (yellow flags etc) the Primera does it in under 10 minutes. Around 9:50 / 9:55 has been achieved. The tyres and brakes are the limiting factor. Stickier tyres are already laying in the garage and I might switch to Ferodo DS3000’s pads and upgrade the rear a bit.

 
 

Tell Carlos Ghosn why he needs to bring back the Nissan Primera brand:
 

The Nissan Primera was an incredible competitor at the time for the BMW 3 series, Ford Mondeo and Vauxhall Vectra. All with powerful 2 litre engines. Nissan has to bring the Primera back to have a luxurious, comfortable, fast and great handling car that can compete with the current BMW 3 series.

 
Also, they should make a World Touring Car Championship version of it, to get Nissan back in the picture of motorsports!

 
 

Many thanks for telling us all about yourself and your mighty SR20VE powered Nissan Primera Laurens, it’s certainly an awesome car! Congratulations once again for winning Car Of The Month for July 2010! Please end this feature, in your own words and feel free to thank anyone who’s made this one possible.

 

First of all I have to thank everybody from NPOC for giving me this award! I feel very very honoured.  

 

Some names:

 

Shaun, Caroline, all others from NPOC that know my name, Dutch Nissanclub that made me stick around, my parents for not arguing when the driveway is covered in tools again, my mate Michael for helping out when wrenching, Robert (Robi_One) for helping pick up the VE engine, Patrick (Mipa) for helping convince me to buy a VE, Jan (Janissan) for installing the engine, Albert Heijn for making delicious stroopwafels and Heineken for buying Strongbow. Special thanks to Patrick for his help with the photoshoot for this COTM feature.

 

I think that’s about it!

 

See you guys soon and again, many many thanks!!

 

 
 
  

Congratulations once again to Laurens!

 
July 2010 COTM - DaMasterPNut
 
Written by essNchill
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