Congratulations
on winning September 2011 COTM Colin! Great to see a track car winning this one
and also a super rare “X” Plate Nissan Primera P11 GT too! How does it feel
bagging this exclusive award and the awesome COTM trophy as well?
I am or was lost for words, the moment
“essNchill” slipped it into my hands, the COTM trophy I mean.
Like fellow NPOCers before me, I am
very honored for my car to have been chosen for such an award.
We all have our ideas on how our cars
look or perform, so to receive such an award is awesome, brill, great and I’m
over the moon.
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 over the last 3 years not a lot
due, to the big C. I am just starting to get back to what we call normal life? So
at the moment work is taking most of my time up, apart from meeting fellow NPOCers.
I like nothing more than to spend time
with my dad, he means so much to me; my wife Jan and son Joe take up the rest
of my time, along with Sam the dog.
As for the future WATCH THIS SPACE!
How did you
find the NPOC forums and are we any good? Would you happily recommend the club
to other Nissan Primera owners?
Dad found you guys first and passed
the forum site on to me and as they say, the rest is history.
Recommend it? Well shit YES! The club
and cars go together and it is spot on, well I think so.
You’re an Elite Member
here (our highest level of paying membership), are you getting value for money
with that? And please sell us the reason, why everyone should become Elite.
Two simple answers to this - Access to
all the threads on the forum and the amount of pennies it saves you (and I
don’t just mean by the events I go to, which
the club gives me huge discounts as an Elite Members), it’s mainly the pennies
you save on parts and insurance - The list is endless.
On a personal level (and if you don’t
mind), you have recovered from and beaten cancer - RESPECT! You have a cracking
outlook on life and truly embrace everything about life, sum up (for all the
moaners out there) what life should really be about…
Life is hard but it’s only as hard as
you make it?
Get out and about, enjoy and live
every day as it comes.
You never know what surprises are around
the corner, good and BAD.
Listen and feel to your own body, if
there are any signs at all that something is not right, then seek help ASAP - DO NOT LEAVE IT, TIME IS SO IMPORTANT.
I’ve already
mentioned the registration rarity in the introduction and people reading this
will notice from the photos, that your car is on a “P” Plate (this is off
course a personalized registration) – However it was originally on an X Reg and
is the 1st X Reg P11 I believe any of us have ever seen! Do you
think there are any others stashed away out there, or have you seen any others (other
than your own)?
For a living I am a taxi driver, so I
do between 50 and 80 thousand miles a year, so the answer to this question is
NO, I haven’t seen another yet but surely it can’t be the only one, CAN IT?
I also check Autotrader, eBay and
PistonHeads on a regular basis but the only X Reg ones I see are the later
Nissan Primera P11 144’s.
You lovingly refer
to your car as “Japsniper” (it’s also your username on here too), explain
what’s behind the name?
Well that’s easy just blame pops “tickermetcalfe”,
he called my first Nissan Primera SRi “Japsniper”. Simple really, Jap because
it’s Japanese made and Sniper was just a bit of fun - When we passed a faster
car we used to say, you have been “Japsnipered”.
We know that
this Nissan Primera P11 GT is not the only Primera you currently own, please
tell us about the others, having an uber rare JDM VVL gives us a semi!
Yes I own a few more Primeras!
They are:
P10 track car
P11 silver hatch
P11 red hatch
And the only JDM
P11 VVL in the club at the moment.
So all in all I have 5 LOL!
You have to blame “Primera Dave” for
the JDM (although he doesn’t know it), it’s due to him spending so much on his
SR20DE and getting a whopping 177bhp from a non GT (for which I have respect),
it was a no brainer. Why spend that much money when you can buy a true JDM VVL
with more BHP at half the price and have less hassle too - Need I say more?
“P11 GTX” is setup (very nicely too)
for the track but is also a daily driver, was it your intentions from day 1 to
create a track based Primera?
No not at all, I bought a Nissan
Primera P10 from eBay for tracking but the more I drove sniper, the more
convinced I was that I should use him for track and as a daily drive.
Then I saw “DaMasterPNut” go round
Castle Combe in his P11 and that finally made my mind up, so thanks to Laurens
I am spending my money on trying to keep in front of his SR20VE, with an SR20DE.
On to the modifications,
now would be a great time to tell us all about your Nissan Primera P11 GT Track
Slag! So please list your full spec and all modifications, inside and out:
Ok here goes from memory..
Quick shift gear lever
BC coilovers
Pro Race 1.2 lightweight alloy wheels
Lightweight wheel nuts
Yokohama 888 tyres
Stainless decat pipe
K&N 57i air filter
JWT S3R camshafts
JDM headlights
Clear rear corners
Plasma dials
Nissan 300zx alloy front calipers with
milled discs
EBC front yellow pads
EBC rear yellow pads
Goodridge braided front and rear brake
pipes
5.1 brake fluid
Addco rear sway bar
FSE fuel regulator
Battery relocated in boot
Skyline R32 gear knob
Iridium spark plugs
Magnecor plug leads
Autogauge oil pressure gauge
What’s the
most enjoyable change you’ve made so far?
That would be the BC coilovers, they
have transformed how sniper handles! A few clicks and you have a good handling
track car - Ask “Sluffer”, I didn’t realise sniper had two sets of brake
pedals.
Your father
Derek (who is also an Elite Member on NPOC) appears to be very spanner handy
(as you do), do you guys work on the cars together? Am I also right in thinking
that the pair of you were involved in motorsport at some level, in your younger
days?
It depends what needs doing, if it’s a
big job then we do it together at our work shop. From the age of 12 I started
grass tracking, then moved on to rally cross.. It was great times but I stopped
when I was 22.
Getting married and having kids etc
put paid to it all but since joining NPOC I have the motivation again, I may
try for my B license and do Time Attack?
Are you after
more power for the track car, or does it satisfy your needs as it is now?
Surely a turbo install, would stop some of those big blown Jap cars getting by
you on the straights?
More power would be nice but at the
moment sniper will do just fine, plus he is also a daily runner so he still as
full leather interior and air con that works, you know for them really hot summer
days LOL.
He as just had some JWT S3R cams put in,
so that might help and when the time comes I might lighten him at some point.
If I gave
£500 right now and told you it had to be spent on the car, what would you buy?
Give me the £500 and I will give you a
receipt for the Quaife ATB Q17L diff.
If money was
no object and you could do anything you wanted to “Japsniper”, what would you
do?
Well you all know I am a track slag so
would keep him SR20DE but add:
2.1 stroker kit
Full roll cage
Jenvey throttle bodies
Nistune ECU
And any more performance parts I could,
to make him go quicker! - The ultimate SR20DE.
Oh bollocks RML here we come!!!
And a respray LOL.
Time for the
quick fire question round!
Marmite or Bovril? – Bovril (if pushed)
Grass Track
or Stock Car Racing?
– Grass Track
Seaside or City? – Seaside
JAE or Japfast?
– Close call but Japfast due to track sessions
Whippet or Labrador?
– Labrador
Emmerdale or Eastenders?
– Emmerdale
Alfa Romeo or
Lancia? – Lancia
Tell us your favorite
NPOC car? –
“Mad Maru” and “Riggys99” both shit hot for different reasons.
You are
always a regular at our Club Meets, whether it be a national or a smaller
regional event (respect!) – Tell everyone why they should take the time to get
out to our meets.
Get your arses out and about and meet
fellow NPOCers. First try the small regular ones nearest to you, just to see
what it’s all about and then go for the big National ones (the discount you get
from the club on entrance tickets, if you are an Elite Member can go towards
your fuel so it’s well worth it) JUST DO IT!
I love Japfest 1 and Japfest 2 for the
track sessions but JAE has to be the 1 for getting to know peeps and have a few
tinnies under the stars.
These club meets big and small are
super, you get to see each others mods and so you’ll get ideas!
Looking
forward to JAE in September? Any idea which Nissan Primera you’ll be bringing
LOL?
Good question and not easy to answer,
so I am toying with the idea of Jan (Mrs Japsniper) driving one and me driving
the other.
If not I think I will bring the VVL
only because it isn’t British made but a true Jap motor.
NPOC for life
(regardless of what car you own and drive) or leg it when you change car?
No doubt about it I am a lifer, only time
will tell.
Tell Carlos Ghosn why he needs to bring back the Nissan Primera
brand:
Simple this answer, we need a Honda beater!
Why they never made the SR20VE VVL over here is beyond belief.
With the wealth of knowledge the club
has, I am sure we could help Carlos make one.
So Carlos get ya thinking cap on and
make a Primera GT VVL world beater. Why hell you could call it the NPOC ltd
edition!
Many thanks
for telling us all about yourself and your track car based Nissan Primera Colin,
seeing you and the car out on track representing the NPOC always puts a smile
on my face! Congratulations once again for winning Car Of The Month for
September 2011! Please end this feature, in your own words and feel free to
thank anyone who’s made this one possible.
First I would like to thank my wife
Janice for helping me recover from cancer, visiting me at hospital every day
without fail, for this I am truly grateful - Love you gorgeous x - I would also like to
thank Jan for putting up with me over my cars and NPOC. She deserves a medal?
My son Joe just for being my son, who
I am very proud of and love very dearly.
My dog Sam who we got when I was
feeling a bit down and proved to be that little extra tonic I needed, to get
through the last few years.
My pops Derek who for once in his life
was very worried about me (things you have to do to get attention?) and for
always helping out with sniper and other scrapes I have got into over the years,
cheers dad love ya very very much.
And last but not least, yes you guys
the NPOCers and sniper, between you both I have found strength and motivation
to attend meets and get sniper ready for track slagging.
NPOCERS ROCK!
Sniper you track slag, I can’t wait to
give you a thrashing.
Congratulations once again to Colin!
September 2011 COTM - Japsniper Written by essNchill
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