NISSAN MOTORSPORT PULSAR "EXA" GROUP C

As driven by Christine Gibson and Glen Seton during 1984/85

Overview of the car including original photos taken in it's day.

As original and in "as raced" condition. The only one of it's type raced in Australia making it extremely unique.

Copy of Logbook included. Some spare parts included (body parts) and full Homologation papers. 

Once Nissan Motorsport had the bluebird Turbo up and running competitively, Howard Marsden, Fred Gibson and the team decided to turn their hand to another of Nissan's turbo cars. The good thing in this case was that the Exa Turbo was available to the public through Nissan Australia. What the team didn't realise at the time was what an animal it would turn out to be.

It's the most unusual of all the Gibson collection cars and the term animal is quite apt. It's an ornery little bugger and from reports of the driving experience, it bites too. Christine Gibson, the cars chief steerer has a legacy of it in the form of a dicky wrist from when it spun the wheel out of her hands and broke her wrist and dislocated her thumb.

Most of the nastiness can be put down to three things: 330 horsepower (246kw), front wheel drive and a locked diff. Couple that with an all up weight of 750kg and it starts to make some kind of sense...sort of. Fred Gibson tells the tale of following Christine down the mountain at Bathurst in the Bluebird. Once past Forrest's Elbow, he pulled out of the slipstream to pass the Exa and proceeded to sit on it's rear quarter for the entire length of Conrod Straight. That gives you some idea of how much squirt this little monster has.

The question is: How did they get that kind of power from a 1.5 litre four? Oddly enough, from a typographical error. When the homologation papers came out, someone had inadvertently hit the '3' key instead of the '2' in a fortuitous part. Homolgated turbo size now read 'T03' instead of 'T02'. Fred and the team went "you beauty" and a T03 was fitted. Now 1.5 litres and an old school T03, as anyone would guess, add up to a pretty savage power delivery. This thing would literally change lanes at the merest sniff of boost, and it runs a fair bit of boost too - 23psi (1.6bar ) to be exact.

Now, down to the nitty gritty. Pop the stumpy bonnet by removing bonnet pins and pulling the drivers side one to release the catch and there you have the Z15 Turbo donk. It runs a standard crank and rods with Cosworth pistons, a dry sump setup and solid engine mounts turned up from what looks like nylon bar stock. The three stage oil pump is run via a Gilmer belt off the crank, and it has two scavenging and one pressure setup. The turbo is mounted right down at sump level, hanging off 1 1/4 inch (32mm) diameter extractors. The exhaust system is 3 inch (75mm) diameter from the turbo, running down the centre of the car before turning 45 degrees and flattening out to exit three quarters of the way down the passengers side door. Notice there is no mention of a muffler? This is a Group C car, mufflers were for wusses. Along with that, the 1 1/4 inch (32mm) external wastegate exits straight down to atmosphere. Yes, an Exa with a screamer pipe. When the car is fired up, the resultant sound is startling.

Intake for the turbo is via 2 1/2 inch (62mm) pipe from a fabricated airbox and foam Unifilter and a flap type air flow meter. The compressor outlet runs virtually straight into the almost flat mounted intercooler. It is 430mm long, 150mm wide and 95mm thick with a scoop above it to direct airflow through it and under the car. From the intercooler, 60mm pipe runs through a few bends to the standard throttle and a tiny plenum. The radiator is a substantial 715mm wide, 440mm high and 60mm thick unit and no fans are used. A fabricated oil catch can is mounted on the passengers side firewall.

The fuel system starts in the boot with a big alloy tank and twin dry break fillers underneath flaps in the bootlid. The swirl pot protrudes through the bottom of the tank and fuel is fed from there. It's a good setup that ensures no surge problems. The fuel pump is mounted under the floor below the drivers seat and feeds a custom fuel rail and the injectors.

Power is fed through a Holinger gear filled standard cased gearbox. Gearbox and differential oil cooling lines run through the chassis rail to a pump mounted under the passengers side headlight and thence to an upright mounted 250mm high, 85mm wide and 50mm thick oil cooler to the right of the radiator. From the locked diff, twist is transmitted to the driving wheels through custom 28mm driveshafts. The wheels themsleves are Simmons 3 piece alloys, 11 inches (280mm) wide and 16 inches in diameter. Tyres are 270mm wide Avon slicks all round. To slow this little sucker down, on the front are 280mm diameter, 25mm thick, vented, slotted and cross drilled discs, clamped by 4 piston calipers. The rear brakes are not nearly so chunky, the discs are 265mm diameter and 15mm thick, also cross drilled, vented and slotted and are given the squeeze by 2 piston calipers. The suspension consists of Tokico coilovers all round with chrome moly, rose jointed, adjustable blade type roll bars front and rear. The rear is 16mm while the front is a much more substantial 35mm.

To the interior : A 6 point roll cage ties everything together, mostly made from 45mm tube with 38mm cross bracing. The drivers seat is an ASS racing bucket fitted with a Simpson 3 inch four point harness. The steering wheel is standard. Above the console a boost gauge sits atop the dash, with 160kPa tagged with a spot of paint. Under that is a battery charge gauge and gearbox temperature. In front of the driver to the left is the mixture adjustment dial which alters injector pulse width, with a diff pump switch below that. Next across is a digital turbo temperature gauge, then the tachometer, coolant temperature and fuel pressure. Idiot lights are battery charge and oil pressure.

The gearstick is long with predictably long throws, topped by a wooden knob. The clutch is heavy  for a pulsar and an alloy dead pedal has been bolted in. A CAMS sticker on the drivers door notes that the car was last raced in 1989, though it starts easily and idles beautifully.  The Nissan computer is mounted at a 45 degree angle, protuding into the passengers side door opening for easy access. The drivers side window front quarter is covered by a perspex sheet and the standard windows, door trims and back seat are still fitted, although the back seat has the roll cage going straight through it.

Old Group C cars are some of the coolest looking racecars around because of the flares and wings they were allowed, and this car is no different. Starting with the flares, they are 100mm wide on the front and 90mm wide on the rear. The rear wing is fairly futuristic for an early eighties car. It is 435mm wide, 165mm high and protrudes 170mm past the trailing edge of the boot. The front airdam is 420mm deep and sits just 55mmm above terra firma. It is this kit more than anything that gives the car its character. It looks sensational, chunky and angular, but with a fairly obvious mean streak.

The last word goes to Christine Gibson of course, who says this is one of the most exhilarating cars she has ever driven.