What is S-Chassis?
Enthusiast shorthand for Nissan's rear-drive S platform, which underpinned the Silvia, 180SX, 200SX, and 240SX until 2002.
S-chassis refers to Nissan's S platform, its rear-wheel-drive sports car platform. It usually carried a four-cylinder engine and 2+2 seating, and it was sold in every major market where Nissan cars were available. Fans identify each generation by chassis code: S10, S110, S12, S13, S14, and S15. Most were called Silvia in Japan, while export versions wore names such as 200SX and 240SX.
The S13 Silvia arrived in May 1988 with multi-link rear suspension, and its hatchback sibling, the 180SX with pop-up headlights, was sold in North America as the 240SX. The S13 got the turbocharged SR20DET in January 1991. The S14 of October 1993 was lower and wider, and fans call the early car the zenki (前期, "prior period") and the 1996 facelift the kouki (後期, "later period"). The S15 of January 1999 made 250 PS from its SR20DET, and the Spec-R added a six-speed manual and a helical limited-slip differential. In May 1998 the tuner Kid's Heart built the Sileighty for Nissan, a 180SX body with the Silvia's front end, and about 500 were sold through Nissan dealers.
Nissan stopped producing the S platform in August 2002 as it cut back its number of platforms, and the S15 was the last car to wear the Silvia name. The S15 was only sold new in Japan, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand, but it has since reached the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries as a gray-market import. Its helical differential made the Spec-R safer and better suited to the track, a slightly odd fit for a car family so tied to drift culture.