JDM cars are surrounded by one of the biggest car communities there is and for good reason. Despite currently being in a not-very-enviable state, Nissan is the car manufacturer responsible for many of the JDM legends. While we can endlessly talk about the Skyline, GT-R, and various generations of the Fairlady Z, the Nissan Silvia is just as significant as the aforementioned models.

Although it was always an entry model to Nissan’s high-performance lineup, the Silvia has its own fan base. Moreover, the name dates back to 1965, which makes it even older than the Z and GT-R designations. The Silvia was made over seven generations, with the first one also called the Datsun 1600 Coupe.

However, the Silvia’s peak came in 1999, in the form of the S15 – the most sophisticated, most powerful, and stylish of all Silvia generations. More importantly, the S15 has managed to retain everything that makes a 1990s Japanese sports car a desired enthusiast model. While this has resulted in the Silvia becoming an expensive car to buy and own, like any other JDM legend, the car certainly has good arguments to back up the hype. Here are 10 of them.

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10 The SR20 DET Engine

Osaka_Auto_Messe_2018_(53)_-_Nissan_Sunny_Coupe_(B10)_tuned_by_NISSAN_KYOTO_AUTOMOBILE_TECHNICAL_COLLEGE-2
Tokumeigakarinoaoshima via Wikimedia commons

Under the hood of the Nissan S15 beats one of the most well-known, Japanese inline-four engines. Much like the Nissan Silvia, the SR20 engine evolved over time. It can be had in a naturally aspirated, turbocharged SOHC, or DOHC form with or without variable valve timing. In the S15 Silvia, there were two versions of the engine. The base S15 came with a non-turbocharged, SR20 DE version that produced 163 horsepower (121 kilowatts).

The SR20 DET is the one you want, as in the S15, it came with 247 horsepower (184 kilowatts) at 6,400 RPM and 203 pound-feet (275 Nm) at 4,800 RPM. Even more impressive is the tuning potential of the engine. If built correctly, a reliable, 700-wheel-horsepower figure is achievable, and the fact it comes turbocharged from the factory only adds to the engine’s appeal.

9 One Of The Best Transmissions Of The Era

Nissan Silvia S15 dashboard
Nissan

The Nissan Silvia has always had a manual transmission option. While the base S15 came with a five-speed manual, the more powerful, turbocharged models received a six-speed manual. Naturally, there was a four-speed automatic also on offer, but you had to be mad to opt for it as it hurt the car’s performance and fuel economy, not to mention the overall joy from the drive.

While the S15 Silvia comes from a time, long before refined and quick-shifting automatics were around, its manual transmission complements the SR20 DET engine. This is especially true for the Spec R’s close-ratio six-speed. The same transmission is the basis for a reinforced transmission, which NISMO would gladly sell you.

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8 The Lightweight, Nimble Chassis

The entire S-chassis family, especially the S13, S14, and S15, are praised by enthusiasts for their impeccable balance. The Nissan S15 has a near-perfect 50:50 weight distribution, making it the most balanced Nissan sports car of the time. Half the engine sits behind the front axle while the driver sits exactly in the middle.

Combining all that with a low curb weight of 2,646 pounds to 3,197 pounds (1,200 to 1,450 kg) makes the Nissan Silvia S15 one of the most fun driver’s cars of the time. The Spec R Aero, in particular, which sits at the top of the S15 range, boasts a curb weight of 2,756 pounds (1,250 kg), and is the one to have.

7 Able To Keep Up With Modern Sports Cars

A White Nissan Silvia Spec R 
crash71100 via WikiMedia Commons

The Nissan Silvia may have been devised as the Japanese brand’s entry-level sports car, but that doesn’t mean it lacks the power to keep up with other enthusiast models. The S15, in particular, with its SR20 DET, is capable of sprinting to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 5.2 seconds, making it quicker than most modern hot hatchbacks and not much slower than some V-8 propositions, currently on the market.

No S-chassis Nissan was developed for sheer straight-line performance as the top priority. While still capable of great pace, it is in the corners that the S15 shines the most. The aforementioned lightweight, nimble chassis, couple to one of the best four-bangers allows the Silvia to leave much more powerful and modern competitors in the dust.

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6 A Proper Driver’s Car

White Nissan Silvia Spec R
crash71100 via WikiMedia Commons

With modern cars becoming increasingly tech-heavy, lightness and driver connection are two phrases that are either forgotten or being redefined. The Nissan S15 Silvia harkens back to the good old days of pure and uncomplicated sports cars that required you to really drive them. Sure, we have coupes like the Nissan Z, Toyota GR Supra (manual), and GR86 today, but even those are to a degree, full of tech.

The S15 Silvia did not come with traction control and ABS was removed, post-purchase, on the vast majority of them. Forums like Driftworks explain that this is done because ABS intervenes too early, preventing hard braking when you want to shift the car’s weight more aggressively. Aside from that, the S15 is as analog as you could get in the 1990s.

5 The Sheer Versatility And Aftermarket Support

Any of the more modern S-chassis models (S13 and newer) benefit from immense aftermarket support. Various aftermarket brands like HKS, Tein, BC Racing, and many others develop whole kits that aim to enhance the S15’s performance even further. The engine can easily get up to 350 horsepower with simple mods and as we discussed earlier, a lot more if the pockets are deep enough.

If the SR20 is, for some reason, not enough for you or gives out, you can throw in anything from a Honda K-series, RB26, 2JZ, or even an LS V-8 unit under the hood, with various degrees of adaptation, of course. The chassis is just as capable as the engine and you can turn an S15 into a drift missile, autocross car, or a canyon carver.

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4 Timeless Design

Gray Nissan Silvia S15
Nissan

An often-overlooked aspect of the Nissan S15 is its design. Unlike most other Nissan S-chassis models before it, the last Silvia is a complete deviation from the boxy, angular styling, typical for many, old-school Japanese cars. There is very little about the Silvia S15’s sleek design that suggests it is a 1990s car. For a car to age well, its design needs to be as simple as possible, and the latest iteration of the Nissan Silvia delivers perfectly on that front.

The exterior and interior are as clean as possible unlike much of the modern stuff that’s desperately trying to look interesting. The S15 body is devoid of excessive creases and the dreaded fake vents we see now. Inside, you get a purposeful, driver-centric interior with a three-spoke steering wheel, clean dash, and two-plus-two seating.

3 A Quirky And Rare Japanese Version

Silver Nissan Silvia Varietta
Tokumeigakarinoaoshima via WikiMedia Commons

Since 1965, the Nissan Silvia has always been a compact, sports coupe with either a hatchback or a proper trunk. Nissan’s motorsport and customizing division, Autech, has done some work with various generations of the S-chassis and the S15 is no exception. The outfit made a limited number of S15 convertibles, dubbed the Silvia Varietta.

The model had a retractable hardtop and was based on the Spec S version. This meant a naturally-aspirated SR20 engine mated to a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic. With around 30,000 units built, the Nissan S15 Silvia isn’t a very common car to begin with. The Silvia Verietta is much rarer with just 1,143 examples built by Autech.

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2 Another Rare Autech Version

Nissan subsidiary, Autech, did not limit its work on the S15 to a drop-top conversion. The motorsport outfit did some magic on the naturally-aspirated SR20 DE engine, through increased compression, upgrading the camshafts, and installing a less-restrictive exhaust. This resulted in a bump from 163 to 200 horsepower.

The Nissan Silvia S15 Autech also received the Spec R’s six-speed manual and a limited-slip differential. According to Drifted.com, owners of the S15 Autech say the high-revving engine is more challenging, but also more rewarding on a track, compared to the turbocharged Spec R. The exact number of Autech-tuned S15s is unknown, but it is rarer even than the Varietta convertible.

1 You Can’t Have It…Just Yet

Gray Nissan Silvia S15
Nissan 

While previous iterations of the Nissan Silvia were sold in the U.S., albeit not always with a desired engine, the S15 was never sold in the land of the free. Any model that is forbidden fruit tends to be more desirable and the iconic, rear-wheel-drive Japanese coupe is no exception. The S15 Silvia was produced from 1999 to 2002, which means that in 2024, you will be able to import an early S15 under the 25-year rule.

Come 2027 and all S15 cars will be eligible to be imported into the US. This is a big deal since it is the first Nissan Silvia offered exclusively with the SR20 engine, in all markets. You can still get them relatively cheap, although according to Classic.com, prices are already in the $30,000 range.