Rami Sasaki drives her favorite old car, the S30Z, for the first time

This is a project in which 20-year-old female racing driver Ms. Rami Sasaki, who loves old cars, is asked to test drive a variety of old cars to give her honest impressions from a young person’s point of view. This time, with the cooperation of Escort, a pro store in Saitama Prefecture, we took a ride in a 1971 Nissan first-generation S30 “Fairlady Z”.

High-tuned 350 HP version tailored by Escort

Ms. Rami Sasaki is a young female racing driver born in 2004 who made her 4-wheel racing debut in the 2023 season in the KYOJO CUP, a motorsports category for women only held at Fuji Speedway. In the opening round of the 2024 season, she finished 5th. This season, she also made a spot entry in the GR86/BRZ Cup Clubman Series, and at the Fuji round held on July 13-14, she qualified 44th and finished 37th in the race, winning the Rookie of the Year award despite competing in the series for the first time.

This time, with the cooperation of “Escort,” a specialist in L-type engine tuning founded in 1983 and celebrating its 41st anniversary this year, we were given a test drive of a 1971 Nissan first-generation S30 “Fairlady Z. This test vehicle was based on the L28 engine, and its displacement was increased to 3.3 liters by modifying the stroke and bore. It is a high-tuned version that produces approximately 350ps.

The wide fenders are very cool

Rami has always said, “Among old cars, I especially like the S30 FAIRLADY Z”. When asked about her favorite exterior features, her first response was, “I guess it’s all of them,” which was her quick response.

“I like the long-nosed short deck form, the roof line that flows beautifully to the tail, and the silhouette that is like the royal road of RWD sports cars. Also, the wide fenders, front bumper, and rear spoiler are my favorite specifications and are very cool. I also like the way the tires’ treads can be seen from the rear. Above all, the orange color, which I like, really attracts me!”

Next, we went to the actual driver’s seat. Rami was even more excited than usual on location that day, as she had a strong yearning for the S30Z.

“The interior has been removed to some extent, perhaps to reduce weight, but the visible parts of the body are painted the same orange as the exterior color, which is very nice because it looks like it has been meticulously crafted!”

The interior is equipped with standard Nissan items of this era, such as a Datsun Competition steering wheel, but it also has the current items, such as Recaro full bucket seats RMS and the latest Defi additional meters, giving the interior a “working” feel.

It feels like a modern tuning car!

After the test drive, Rami first commented, “It’s amazing! Very fast!” She was deeply impressed by the high tuning of Escort, as well as the fact that she was able to drive the car she had been longing for.

“It has torque from the bottom, and I am not worried at all about the torque aspect of city driving, but the power comes on strong from 6000 rpm, and it is like there is another step above 7000 rpm. Amazingly, there is so much upper-level feeling even though there is a good amount of torque at the bottom. It’s a feeling of acceleration that I’ve never experienced before, and it’s different from that of a turbo.

The footwork performance also seemed to satisfy Rami, who competed on the circuit.

“The suspension is stiff, but it doesn’t have the fluffy feeling characteristic of old cars, so I feel like I can step on it at high speeds with confidence. The brakes have been replaced with Brembo calipers in the front and Z31 calipers in the rear, and they feel solid. It has the feel of a modern tuning car!”

Struggled to handle carburetor car

However, the difficulty in handling the highly tuned old cars was something that even Rami, who has become accustomed to old cars through this project, could feel.

“Since it is a carburetor, there are times when I have to operate the throttle a little at traffic lights, and I have to be careful at low speeds. Also, it has a twin metal clutch made by OS Giken, and the half clutch is narrow, so it’s tough to handle. Also, in terms of the drivetrain, I was surprised that it has a 6-speed even though it is an S30Z!”

The identity of the 6-speed manual transmission is the 6-speed cross transmission for the “Silvia” made by Nismo. Escort manufactures a bell housing exclusively for the L-type engine and sells a complete bolt-on kit. From such a tuning menu, one can catch a glimpse of their goal of “making old cars run fast in service”.