Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

"Case Modding" a Nissan Sentra

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the rice-rocket dept.

Lawrence Person writes "Given all the interest Slashdot has shown in casemodding as of late, I thought they might be interested in an extreme "casemod" of a Nissan Sentra, turning it into a lean, mean race machine! Emphasis on the lean part..."

10 of 383 comments (clear)

  1. I case modded my sports car too. by jerryasher · · Score: 5, Funny

    But I had to tell the insurance company a different story.

  2. Umm... by deadsaijinx* · · Score: 5, Funny

    where's the computer? Oh... no computer :( ...

    let's see .... Does it run Linux? (obligatory joke) ... ok ... kinda reminds me of the golf cart the school monitor used to chase me in when I ditched class. Seriously, this guy would chase you around campus with a damned golf cart. Once, I got him to chase me all the way to McDonalds (about a mile away on foot for me - funny as hell though, cuz he got busted for driving his golf cart on the street)

    --
    YOU SUCK BALLS!
  3. Old News If You're Into Imports.... by owlicks58 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would take a wild guess, and say not many slashdotters are into imports, but that was an article from Sport Compact Car from 2 years ago. It was actually supposed to be a joke, but a good amount of people took it seriously at the time. Sport Compact Car got a lot of hate mail the month after that was published, hah.

    --
    -Alex
  4. DUCT TAPE by mesach · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am sooo glad that the only thing that they seem to have ADDED for some stability somewhere on the car, was done with DUCT TAPE!

    --
    moo.
  5. What an overweight turd by Snarfvs+Maximvs · · Score: 5, Funny

    They ripped all that off the car and it still tips the scales at over 1700 lbs??? That engine must have a cast lead block or something.

    --
    -----------------------

    To understand recursion, one must first understand recursion.

  6. Re:nice magazine, throwaway article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    the sherman tank also does 0-60 only when falling out of a plane.

  7. Can't believe it took this long... by Shant3030 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Interesting that one of the hottest hobbies, took this long to make a slashdot discussion. Modding cars is become such a big thing amongst people with all types of cars. From Neon's to bimmers, people do pretty cool thing to enhance the appearance and performance of their cars. Not all look, perform or sound too hot, but some can be better than any factory car you can get.

    Its also a great way to actually learn about how cars are made and produced.

    --
    100% Insightful
    1. Re:Can't believe it took this long... by Osty · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Actually, slightly lowering your car by cutting off a half-coil is recommended by some respected motorsports books because it not only reduces the center of gravity but slightly increases the effective spring-rate as well. I also know people who've bent their front struts to gain some negative camber, but that seems a little sketchy to me...

      I guess it really depends on the goal, but if I were trying to lower my car for better handling, I'd do it by replacing the springs rather than cutting the springs I already have. Sure, it costs more money, but then I have springs that were designed for lowering the car rather than springs that have been cut. Same with bending struts for cambe. If I can't get enough camber out of the suspension components I have, I'll replace them with more adjustable components. Once you start bending and cutting stuff, I'm loathe to assume that those components are still structurally sound, and that's the last thing I want to worry about out on the track.


      I agree, though, that most of these modded cars are slower than stock, although if I see one with big floppy drag tires on the front wheels I have to allow for the possibility of it being fast.

      Personally, I wouldn't worry about cars with drag tires on them, because I don't drag race (my car is not a drag racer, even if I wanted it to be). As well, the car may be fast, but if the guy is challenging me on the street I just shake my head and ignore him (like some jackhole in a MB C35 AMG tried to do today on the interstate -- he was driving like a maniac, and tried to race me and an S2000; we both ignored him, so he sped off like a moron, endangering the lives of everybody on the road).


      My other favorite is the cars whose main modification seems to be sticking the wheels out an extra six inches or so--the thought of all that shearing force on the bearings makes me cringe...

      When I see that, I usually assume the goal was to fit wider wheels on the car than stock. Useful in a RWD car to help reduce understeer/increase oversteer, since most cars have understeer dialed in from the factory. Pretty useless on a FWD car except for the larger patch of rubber, but then it's usually the rear tires these guys do, anyway, which gives absolutely no benefit. Personally, I might be tempted to put 10" or 10.5" wheels on my car (my rears right now are 8.5" fronts and 9.5" rears, with 205/17s on the front and 255/17s on the rear), but most likely I'll stick with the wheels I have and put 225/17s on the front when it comes time to change the rubber (soon). I certainly wouldn't go any larger than that, especially since I'm in a rainy area, and wider tires lead to more pronounced hyrdoplanning.

  8. Better with a beetle by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I did this about 10 years ago with an old VW Beetle that a friend and I bought for $250. Here's the only picture that I have of it:

    http://www.michaelchaney.com/beetle/beetle.jpg

    We removed the body, then welded a small frame for the steering column, and used duct tape to attach the speedometer. We welded on a battery holder, and I screwed the voltage regulator, an on/off switch, and a start button to another plate. The gas tank was simply a two gallon plastic tank that we ran the hose into. (not recommended) The last mod was welding the seat to the bottom of the unibody, we didn't bother to add a back, a fact which made driving it a bit more difficult.

    Anyway, it's the same idea as this article. My friend and I were going to build a really fast go-kart, and we actually started welding one together. We had an engine, but when we started to buy parts to finish it out, we realized that it was going to cost another few hundred dollars. I decided that it was worthless, since we could buy an old Beetle for less and just remove the extraneous parts.

    I personally topped the speedometer out (85MPH) with this configuration, the wind was difficult to deal with since I had no seat back. The acceleration was great, with the extra weight gone it was incredible. Dumb as hell, but incredible. Funny thing was, when my friend and I finished, his father admitted that he'd done the same thing 20 years earlier.

    Michael

    --
    Do you have ESP?
  9. Had to be done anyways by strider3700 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Before anyone gets too mad about them hacking up a perfectly usable car, this car had to be destroyed anyways. It was a preproduction vehicle. After one year they all must be crushed due to regulations. I personally think this is a pretty cool way to finish one off. I also would like to see a demo derby of them. You can't tell me you wouldn't love to see what happens when a viper hits a vette on purpose.