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May 2005 - Jasha (P11 144)

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    Posted: 16 Jun 2007 at 12:54am

Congratulations go to James Sharman (Jasha) for winning Car of the Month for May 2005.

The gorgeous silver P11-144 Sport + VT6-A is a pristine example of a model which is becoming ever more popular amongst the club.

Well done James, are you pleased with your honour?

I'm well chuffed, it's not something I thought I would be in with a shout for, so I'm all the more pleased really.

Can you tell us all a bit about yourself before we discuss the car?

Well, I'm 30 years old, married to Sharon and have a wonderful 2 year old, Sam. (Not that Sharon isn't wonderful too, digs hole slightly deeper lol) I also have a mental Border Collie called Stan and a black cat called Holly. I've been working in computers for the NHS for the last eight years or so and it is quite the most boring job imaginable! My other interests include keeping tropical fish, my beloved Liverpool FC, Film & DVD and the occasional Video Game. I do have a passion for old computers too.

Is this your first Primera and what drew you to the 144 in particular? Were you browsing or hunting for one specifically?

This is actually my third Primera. My first one was a lovely P10 2.0 SLX saloon, then I had an eGT saloon for a while. I needed something cheaper to run so I bought a Punto Sporting 16v which was fun for a while but with Sam on the way we needed a bigger family car. I definitely wanted another Primera so we had a hunt round for a P11 GT. I looked at a few but couldn't find one I really liked. We had pretty much given up on finding one and I had just seen a BMW 328 Coupe which was very tasty, but we popped into Nissan on the way home just on the off chance and saw the car I have now. It just looked spot on and I had to have it, so I slapped down a grand there and then without even driving it! I hadn't actually considered the 144 previously as it always looked a bit 'barge like' to me, but this one just cried 'buy me' when I saw it was fully loaded up, and I've come round to the shape since.

How did you come to find your way onto NPOC and is this your first modded car?

No, it's not my first modded car, I've done a few before. My first car ended up being shaken to bits by the insane modding, it was a 1981 Fiesta Popular 957cc!! The engine was truly asthmatic so we dumped that and dropped in a 1.4 Astra engine, surprisingly easy actually! Only trouble was the car was that old that the sills had to be welded every month because of the engine. Next up was probably my fave car of all time, an MG Maestro Turbo. Got it for a song from a woman who had no idea what it was. Did very little to it actually, just uprated parts as I went along. That succumbed to the usual MG rust problems and I didn't have the money to keep up with it so it went on it's way to a good home. After that was the mighty Bluebird ZX Turbo. The only mods on that were the sound system and an AP Clutch. Had it about 18 months and sold it for what I paid. Then was my mecca, the best car I ever had - 96 P10 2.0 SLX Saloon in gunmetal, clear rears, spoiler, Scorpion System, K&N, etc, the car got more care than any other. It was great. At the time, there was very little info around on upgrading the Primera, I didn't have regular internet access and in my quest for more power I mistakenly swapped it for an almost identical eGT. I was most disappointed really, as the power gain was negligible. (Now there's an argument!). Then came the Punto, I really went to town on this one, full Supersprint system, K&N, mucho head work, plugs, leads, clutch etc. If I remember correctly it was 108bhp, not bad at all for a 1.2 litre engine?

After getting the Sport+ I decided to have a look around again for some sort of club to belong to where I could share my ideas and learn more about my fave car. I was lucky to get in on the action very early on in the Club's life. Kev had just started it off really and there were only a few members at the time, the usual suspects really! I felt at home.

Now seems a good time to ask what changes have been made to your motor.

I haven't actually done all that much to the car, but here we go:

Powerflow Cat-back exhaust system with 5.2" slash cut jap can.
Apexi Dual Funnel Air Cleaner Cone
Nismo Hi-pressure rad cap
Dark smoke tints pro fitted by Cappuccino + Custom silver Nismo logo
MGZS Hatch spoiler
RGM Eyelashes
R34 Skyline clear side repeaters
Debadged rear replaced with P12 Primera logo
Embroidered Nissan logos on front seats
Richbrook Alloy Tax holder and stubby aeria
Recaro Racing Babyseat!
Apline 9851R MP3 HU in Black Chrome

It sure looks mean with those tints and that big can! How does the exhaust sound?

I think the tints were the first thing I had done to the car. I think they look great on silver motors. As for the exhaust, it's fairly loud but not lairy or raspy. I had a small silencer put in the centre section so not to make it ridiculous. It is very quiet on tickover but once it's heated up nicely and you give it some it really roars, it has a very deep note which I like a lot. It did increase in volume due to the extra air after fitting the Apexi funnel. It does turn a lot of heads.

Must ask about that spoiler too, how did that one come about, using the MG spoiler is a club first!?

That is the single most satisfying mod I've done to the car. I can't believe the fit, it looks almost a standard part which is what I wanted all along. Credit must go to Mr. Fairburn for the discovery as it was originally intended for the GTIR race car although the footprint was going to be a tight squeeze on the hatchback. After the demise of that car I decided to give it a whirl after a quick test fit looked very promising. I can see a few other people going along this route now although I can claim to be number one!

Anything up your sleeve that you care to share with us, future plans?

Well, there are always things that I'd like to do with the car but every time I talk about them, things change and I end up doing something else. Everything got put back after having the engine rebuilt after the 'chain incident' lol. I'll just say that the car will never be finished and I hope to have a few more bits done before JAE!

Are you still happy with the car, does it still fulfil your driving needs!?

It does exactly what it says on the tin! Yeah, I'm still loving it. Because it's never finished, I'm still finding things to change and the car is growing with me. I'm more than happy with the CVT box as I'm generally a lazy git. The thing is, people don't know what they're like to drive, it really is an exciting drive if you want it to be, if you don't, you can happily tootle about all day. That's what I love, it's more like owning two cars with very little compromise.

Many thanks for the interview and we wish you many more happy miles of motoring! Now it?s time for you to make any shameless plugs and thank anyone who has helped you reach the stage you are at today.

Big thanks to NPOC especially Kev Fairburn, Andy Batchelor, The Mighty 'G', Darren Bell, Craig Denton, Kev Shek and all my other good mates at the club.

Stephen Haigh - the body and paint maestro.
Pepe at Cappuccino.
Audio66.
SignArt.
Harrats Nissan @ Wakefield
Reg Vardy Nissan @ Leeds
Imogen for looking after Sam
Sam for putting up with my incessant car jibberings
TropicalHeff for dancing like Carlton Banks

Car of the Month May 2005 - James Sharman (Jasha) P11-144 Sport + VT6-A

Written by Stevie-Boy

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