– Words: Ryan Lewis. Photos: Kory Leung.
Ask any race driver who is worth their salt and they’ll tell you the same thing: what happens on race day is only a fraction of the full story. Whether your car is a fresh build or a seasoned veteran, there is a process to adhere to before every major event. For most it’s a sequence of late nights, early mornings, energy drinks and problem-solving. At the end of all that there’s still a good chance that something will go wrong with the car you’re loading up, but that’s all part of what makes racing such an adventure. Between the expert techs at Heasman Steering they have spent years at the track, so it’s safe to say they arrived a little more prepared than most. Now that the World Time Attack Challenge has wrapped up we thought we’d speak with Brad from Heasman’s to see how things panned out with their S14 Silvia.
TLD: So Brad, overall how did the car perform at WTAC?
Brad: It surprised me. To be honest, I was not expecting it to live through the weekend. I definitely did not think it would get under a 1:38 but somehow it did both so I was very happy on Saturday afternoon. The engine has two-years of track days on it now and it has had a beating, but it just keeps chugging along without issue. To see it live through the WTAC weekend and to then do two days at Phillip Island the following weekend and still come back working was a shock.
TLD: What were the cars strengths and what would you have liked to improve?
Brad: The car’s biggest strength is its handling. You can run it over any ripple strip, any bump, and it just will not upset the car. I think this was big advantage for us, because there were a lot of cars out there that couldn’t touch the ripple strips whereas we were launching straight over them. The car’s biggest disadvantage is its lack of power.; it only has 280rwkW, which put us a long way under the other cars competing in our class. Our highest speed down the straight was only 233km/h, so I think there is a lot of time to be found when we get a bit more power.
TLD: What sort of lap times were you aiming for? Did you hit your target?
Brad: We were aiming for a mid 1:38 and we got a 1:37.2. So I was stoked, and I think that time surprised a lot of people!
TLD: How did the competition stack up this year? Were you expecting Open Class to be that quick and competitive?
Brad: We knew we did not have a competitive car so we weren’t really there to compete for a podium finish, more so just to be a part of the event. We spent a lot of time in other people’s garages helping them out. A lot of our customers were competing in the event so it was good to be there alongside them. I was amazed at the time the BC Automotive Skyline did, I hadn’t seen the car before and didn’t really get to see it during the event, but I had a good chat with the driver down at Phillip Island the following weekend, it’s a very impressive car, and congratulations to him as well, I cant imagine doing 300km/h down the Sydney Motorsport Park straight!
TLD: What changes do you have planned for upcoming events?
Brad: Nothing major, we’ve already got a new splitter on it and I’m in the middle of figuring out which direction we are going to go in for more power. But I don’t want to do anything major yet, I just want to drive the car and get a lot more time behind the wheel.
TLD: Are you planning to compete again at WTAC in 2014?
Brad: I would definitely like to, again not to go for position but just to be a part of it. The car was built to compete in the NSW Super Sprint series, so it gets a lot of use during the year. Hopefully by this time next year we’ll have more power. I would like to see the car get under a 1:35 next year.
Passion is a huge driving force behind the work done by Heasman Steering, they put even more effort into their customers cars than their own. With a strong objective set ahead of them for next year we can’t wait to see the machine they bring back in 2014 and what it’s capable of.
Check out the epic Scott Mitchell Media video below for the team’s wrap-up coverage and in-car footage from WTAC this year.
SPECIFICATIONS
OWNER:
– Brad Heasman
ENGINE:
– 2.0L SR20DET four-cylinder turbo
HARDWARE:
– Tomei pistons
– HKS camshafts
– Tomei rockers/stoppers
– Cylinder head ported and polished
– Tomei sump
– Oil filter relocation kit
– Trust oil cooler
– Sard injectors
– Koyo radiatior
– Trust intercooler
– GT2871R turbo
– Haltech Platinum Sport ECU
– HKS Evo 6 boost controller
– E85 tune
– 6L surge tank
– Twin fuel pumps in rear wheel well
– Side exhaust
DRIVELINE:
– PPG gear set
– Excedy twin plate clutch
– One piece tail shaft
– Cusco 1.5 way LSD
SUSPENSION:
– Bilstein Clubsport coilovers
– White line swaybars front and rear
– Adjustable arms
BRAKES:
– Front:
– R34 GT-R Brembos
– DBA 5000 rotors
– APP brake pads
– Rear:
– R33 GTS-T calipers
– Standard discs
– Bendix pads
– Handbrake deleted
– Wilwood brake bias controller
WHEELS & TYRES:
– Volk TE37 SL 18×10.5″
– 295/30/18 Hankook semi-slick tyres
INTERIOR:
– Racetech carbon seat
– Haltech GPS logger dash
– Nardi steering wheel
– Defilink digital display
– Push button start
– Battery relocation
– Full re-wire
– Custom roll cage
– Lexan windows
– Aluminium door trims.
BODYWORK:
– Ultrasonic Blue
– Custom made front splitter
– Side mounted exhaust cut-out
– Bolt-on flares
– AeroMotions static R wing (12″ uprights)
PERFORMANCE:
– 283rwkW