Feature: That Works 9 s14 - Juiceboxforyou

Sometimes it’s a little overwhelming when you think back at all the cars that were bought through auction from one small enough country and sent to another little country. The fact that Japan still has enough of its own cars to enjoy and smash makes you wonder just how many cars they really have. From roughly around the start of the millennium right up until about two years ago the Japanese import business was booming in Ireland. So many snippets of Japanese culture flooded the docks of Dublin. Pieces of someone else life their history, something they had worked hard on and shared memories in right across the other side of the world. So much of what came into Ireland was shrouded with mystery, where I would often finding myself sitting with friends and someone will say ” you would really wonder what happened in this car back in Japan, where it went, what it done” its a piece of conversation that comes up at least once a month.

We headed for cork after finding out the location of this car, it has been in the country for awhile and was one of the last cars to have come off of the boat and left pretty much untouched. As yo can see it’s a pretty eye catching car. As we followed it out to the location for a photo shoot I couldn’t get over how insane a full drift style car looks on the street, especially around the north countryside of cork. The back Origin wing manages to creep out past the entire car and it’s something you would take for granted on a track but there was just something so awesome about this going down a back road. The navy and loud works 9 liveries is something I never would have thought I would see a backdrop of Irish farmland! When we found an ideal location to shoot I started to lurk around the car and it was evident this was no show queen. The car has signs of use and was left pretty much the way it came off of the boat.

The s14a was wrapped in the very sexy and very rare works 9 body kit which included the front and back bumper over fenders riveted at the read non moulded front FR fenders and side skirts. I have to admit its a shame the company is now gone because this kit really looked good against the design of the facelift 14 with its aggressive lines almost matching the front lights. The car has been covered in the complete Works9 livery which also adds to the appeal of the car. There is so much mystery to what this car was built for and that’s leaves you wanting to know more. A nugget of car culture from the Niigata prefecture in Japan now rolls around the Irish countryside.

The car has the classic Japanese drift car look, the over fenders are riveted on which over the years was done for a purely functional reason but has become another addition to the  style of many rear wheel sliders. I was very impressed to see the car had almost every piece of the vinyl snickering retained. It was almost like a slice of car tuning history from Japan as quite a few of the company on the car appear to be now defunct. The back lights have been left standard but judging by the Besiege Wise square stickers on the back it may have had a set of those lights. Most of you should know the Besiege lights which came in on many of the 180sx and 14’s but most of the time aren’t the most appealing light , probably just a solution back in Japan as a cheap alternative to replace a broken factory set but it too appears to be another company that went under in Japan.

Under the bonnet lays the sr20 power plant. A few things jump out at you instantly like the Trust oil cooler and its braided hoses or the Splitfire Coil Earthing. The motor has been fitted with a Garrett T28 s15 ball bearing turbo with a HKS actuator which sends adequate boost to the Tomei Aftermarket cams. A Nismo fuel pressure regulator allows fuel control with the turn of a screw.  Bringing in air from the outside is left to an Apexi Power intake and Apexi Metal suction pipe. Cooling is done by a Twin core radiator with braided Greddy hoses. The rocker cover has been finished in anodized grey with a personal touch in Japanese. We will leave that up to whoever can translate it as to what it says. There is a custom heat shield which has been made for the Greddy manifold and down pipe which is mated to a Kakimoto cat back exhaust. The engine is controlled by a Tomei Reytec Airflowless Computer.

The inside is a very different story to the outside, it’s almost been left as standard which was very unexpected and adds another slice of mystery as to what this car was built for. Inside al that has been changed in terms of creature comforts is the steering wheel and driver’s seat. The seat has been swapped out for a Bride Exas 3 with added Williams Harness whilst the standard wheel has been switched for a much nicer Momo Tuner wheel.

Other then the slight interior modifications the car dash is not shy of a few tasty gauges. A HKS boost gauge site close to the driver and two Defi gauges for both oil water temperature site side by side worked by a Defi link controller. Under the under the steering column hides a Greddy Profec B Spec 2 Boost Controller and a Pioneer CD player and old set of gauges sit in the center of the dash.

The wheel choice for this car was a set of 18x10j Work VS-XX wheels finished in gold with a polished Barrel sitting on Michelin Sport rubber. The gold looks awesome against the blue and its one of the nicest wheels to come out of Japan.

Handling wise this car has some nice goodies. A set of  Kei Office full tap coilovers with Camber adjustable Pillow ball top mounts to ensure an awesome suspension set up designed by the drift king himself. Accompanying the front suspension is JIC front tension rods and a Cusco front strut brace.  At the back of the 14 some JIC rear adjustable upper camber arms and traction rods make for better handling with the help of Jasma Subframe Member Collars. The addition of Nismo reinforced Differential mounts which hold aid in the position the Cusco 2 way LSD sits, limits the amount of play in the back end under acceleration or in a slide.

This car has quite the mystery surrounding it just like many other imports that have come in over the last 9 years. Even though importing of cars has died down quite significantly in the last two years it’s cool being a Japanese car enthusiast there is quite a few more cars out there like this floating around Ireland. Japanese cars have definitely left a massive impact on the car culture here in Ireland as well as the rest of the world, for us it was almost an instant flood of new ideas and cars and parts from another part of the world which aided in the change of how we looked at a Japanese car and other cars for that matter. It’s a culture that worldwide has influenced entire car scenes and will continue to do so for a long time to come. Even though this Wosk9 s14 is not a milestone in the great Japanese car tuning story, I kept thinking to myself throughout this shoot that cars like this should at least be sorted or saved just like race cars are to other people as they have helped influence most of the world of JDM enthusiasts. Already in the last 6 years some of the company’s on the car have died out and the styling and parts of the car though might be around for awhile yet will someday be a thing of the past just like the companies and that when you think about it is sort of sad.