Allow me to introduce Tom Kirby and his Flatout Factory 180sx drift car. Tom is a professional drift instructor for the Flatout Factory, a company that specialises in giving customers top notch drifting experiences throughout the UK. Tom has kindly shared his great looking 180sx with us.

This 1997 Nissan 180sx is not only Tom’s automotive office but also his daily driver. He picked the car up nine years ago in nearly stock tune, a set of aftermarket wheels and a rather interesting front bumper being the only aftermarket parts installed at the time. Tom has built up the car to a high specification using his skills that he honed working on commercial trucks.

These bolt on parts have risen the car’s stock power output of 200bhp to well over 370bhp at the flywheel

At the heart of the car is a high performing blacktop SR20DET coupled with a TD06SL2 20g turbo charger. The turbo is bolted onto a tubular manifold and fed by 550cc fuel injectors and a 255 LPH Walbro in tank fuel pump. The air charge is cooled by an upgraded intake kit and a front mounted intercooler. Engine tuning is taken care of with a Nistune replacement ECU which has been mapped by Greg from Pro Tuner. All of these bolt on parts have risen the car’s stock power output of 200bhp to well over 370bhp at the flywheel. The 388ft Lbs of torque now on offer ensures there is plenty of tyre smoke when required.

The exterior of the car sports a clean white paint job coupled with a black vented carbon bonnet. A complete aero kit from EP Racing adorns the car including +20mm wider front wings and +50mm wider rear over fenders. A D-MAX Silvia S15 rear spoiler sits on the boot lid and Nissan’s late model Type X rear lights complete the back end. Aftermarket wing mirrors are perched on the doors.

Inside the cabin Tom has kept things simple; boost pressure and oil pressure gauges mounted in a pillar pod, an OMP steering wheel, aftermarket shift knob and fly off handbrake.

The old aftermarket wheels have been replaced by ROTA Grids in 17″ diameter and nine inches in width. The car has adjustable suspension arms all around and a full coilover kit keeps the car planted on the tarmac.

Tom has taken a near stock 180sx and built it a into a great looking and high performance drift car that is built to last

Tom has taken a near stock 180sx and built it a into a great looking and high performance drift car that is built to last. If you are in the UK or Europe then I encourage you to look up the Flatout Factory, they offer a 15 step ‘Drift Ninja’ program to take you from a drift zero to a drift hero alongside offering great value experience days and corporate events – now that’s way cooler then a morning of paintball!

Nissan 180sx full specification

Make & model: Nissan 180sx Type-X

Model year: 1997

Engine: SR20DET

Turbo: TD06 20g

Engine Spec

SR20DET Blacktop

TD06 20g

Power output: 370bhp @ flywheel / 388ft Lbs of torque

Tubular exhaust manifold

Nistune ECU

550cc Fuel injectors

255 LPH Walbro in tank fuel pump

HKS Intake

Q45 MAF

Racing battery

Front mounted intercooler

3″ Straight through exhaust system

Oil filter relocation kit

Chassis, Transmission and Handling

Fully adjustable coilovers

Adjustable suspension arms all around

Cusco strut braces front and rear

Shimmed Nissan VLSD

Exterior

Black vented carbon bonnet

EP Racing front bumper

EP Racing rear bumper

EP Racing bumper

Kouki rear lights

S15 Dmax rear spoiler

EP Racing +20mm front fenders

EP Racing +50mm rear fenders

ROTA Grids 17″ 9j

Interior Spec

OMP steering wheel

Aftermarket shift knob

Fly off handbrake

Driftworks grip tape

Bolt-in Six point roll cage

Boost Pressure gauge

Oil Pressure gauge

Double DIN stereo

You can learn more about the SR20DET with our SR20DET Specs article. You can also learn how to properly tune your own SR20DET with our SR20 tuning guide.

Photographs provided by R-Five.

Written by Joe Terrell Drifted.com founder, motoring journalist and all-round car enthusiast. Read more about Joe and the Drifted team on our Drifted.com founder, motoring journalist and all-round car enthusiast. Read more about Joe and the Drifted team on our about us page.