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How To Super Tourer, The Nissan Way

admin by admin
March 18, 2023
in News


If Mark’s recent story on three race replicas hitting the streets of Japan doesn’t prove that the BTCC Super Tourer era truly transcends language and distance barriers, nothing else will.

The late-1990s Super Tourer race series was designed to push sales of everyman four-door saloons. But while the cars loosely resembled their road-going counterparts, under the skin they couldn’t be more different.

Budgets stretched well into seven figures for each car, with top-tier motorsport teams more commonly associated with Formula 1 and the World Rally Championship all vying for the Super Tourer podium.

Seeing one of the cars from that era at Race Retro a few weeks ago only reaffirmed my obsession with these amazing machines.

  • BTCC Primera SH 004
  • BTCC Primera SH 014

The car in question was a Nissan Primera from the 1998 BTCC Super Tourer season, as driven by David Leslie and built by RML (Ray Mallock Limited).

RML, having achieved plenty of success across numerous motorsport categories since its inception in 1984, were tasked by Nissan to produce a competitive Super Tourer from the humble front-wheel drive, second-gen P11 Primera GT sedan.

BTCC Primera SH 021

First campaigned in 1997, the Primera Super Tourer retained the electric folding mirrors of the road-going car, which provided a genuine high speed advantage by reducing drag. This was unsurprisingly outlawed for 1998. Revised aero packages, larger flared front wings and an upgraded dash and ECU were also added to the 1998 car.

  • BTCC Primera SH 006
  • BTCC Primera SH 010

These changes helped, and this same year the Primera became the first Japanese car to win a BTCC championship. The team won the 1998 manufacturer and team championship, and in 1999 also took home the most important accolade with Laurent Aïello winning the drivers championship.

BTCC Primera SH 020
  • BTCC Primera SH 019
  • BTCC Primera SH 022

The Primera’s SR20DE engine was fitted with a reversed cylinder head, along with a dry sump to allow it sit as low and far back as possible.

When RML was done, the engine made a healthy 326 horsepower from 2.0 litres, but this highly-strung powerplant came with some drawbacks. The engines required preheated oil to be pumped through their veins before start up, and sitting so low in the bay also meant that the steering column wouldn’t fit, hence the bevel-drive gearbox mounted on the driver’s side wheel tub.

BTCC Primera SH 008

Externally, the car sits on 19×9-inch centre-lock RAYS Volk Racing Touring Evolution Fortesst magnesium wheels. They’re tucked at the rear, with the radiused front arches allowing for a bit more clearance through the 1.25 turns of lock-to-lock steering.

BTCC Primera SH 016
  • BTCC Primera SH 015
  • BTCC Primera SH 011
BTCC Primera SH 012

The only noticeable other changes from stock are the front air dam and rear wing.

  • BTCC Primera SH 027
  • BTCC Primera SH 028
BTCC Primera SH 029

The interior is much like the Prodrive BTCC Mondeo we previously featured on Speedhunters, with the driving position moved further to the rear and slightly inwards to improve weight balance.

BTCC Primera SH 002

While the sheer audacity of the late-’90s Super Tourers are no less crazy today, the ingenuity and creativity their monumental budgets afforded are something we’re unlikely to see in production-car-based motorsport ever again. The cost-cutting measures nowadays have meant less opportunity for this sort of thinking to take place, but was a necessary evil to keep the racing close and entice teams to enter.

BTCC Primera SH 013

Thankfully, someone has brought this particular car back into the competitive fold. The Classic Touring Car Racing Championship (CTCRC) may not have the cachet of the BTCC, but the Primera’s owner is not alone, with over a dozen Super Tourers competing in the 2023 race season.

So if the next generation hybrid cars aren’t for you, being able to watch some the older generation of cars duking it out on the track at least eases the blow a little.

Chaydon Ford
Instagram: chaycore

BTCC related stories on Speedhunters





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