Chris Roaden’s AWD Nissan Altima
Back in the spring Khris H. took these photos of Chris’s Altima after the Southrnfresh Welcome To Atlanta event. The photos and post had been forgotten until last week. But it was not on purpose, just a honest mistake we were really busy this spring and summer setting up and planning Southrnfresh 3 that we held back in August. So finally we have gotten these photos up for you all.
I first saw this car at Import Alliance Summer in 2010 at Nashville Motor Speedway. The car went unnoticed by most,as it was parked slightly outside the main parking area. Chris had a display setup that told everyone what it was, and what had been done to it, but I not many people noticed what the Altima was truly about. Up until that point I never even knew our US Altima had a AWD counterpart called the Bluebird SSS.
I have always been a bit more open to all makes and models. To me it does not matter what it is there is some sort of potential deep down inside of it. The Altima was never a ugly car to me personally, and I knew it was a great candidate for the FWD SR20DET power plant in replacement of the KA24. But I never knew this level of transformation was possible.
The owner Chris Roaden is a rare breed, as owner of Precision Motoring in Nashville, Tennessee he still manages to put time into something less popular and continues to try and make it better and better. At Precision Motoring Chris and his team build cars from all over the spectrum. Whether its a Nissan, Honda, Porsche, or Chevrolet they can handle it all. But with all that knowledge Chris remains true to his love of Nissans, and the Altima especially.
The 300hp AWD machine is a terror on the track he says. Chris says the seat time he has put into the car gives him the ability to push the car to the absolute limit on the road course. He told me that every time he comes to the track no one pays the Altima any attention, but after a few laps everyone wants to know all about it.
The AWD Sr20DET drivetrain is from the U13 Nissan Bluebird ATTESA found across the pond. And it has been transplanted onto the Altima’s FWD chassis seamlessly. The fuel pump in the trunk to make room for the rear differential. I really appreciate what Chris did with this car, taking a different path and sticking to what he likes and putting real time into making it into what he wanted.
I would have loved to get Chris’s words on the Altima, but he is a really busy guy. We spent a good bit of time talking about the car and his cars of his past during this photo session. The white Altima in the background is one of the cars that people know him for back in the prime of the car show scene. Its been a while since I have spoken to Chris, so I am not sure on the status of the Altima. We hope to see Chris again this year at Welcome To Atlanta in the spring.
Thanks for looking!
this is the sexiest U13 i’ve ever seen!
Cool car, but terrible writing. Run-on sentences, gratuitous commas, wandering tense, confusing “it’s” and “its” – this is some high school-level work here. I know anyone with an email address can write a blog these days, but the florid, floundering prose on display here belies an author trying to punch way above his weight class.
High school is correct, that is as far as my education went!
Well, at least you own-up to it. Keep on keepin’ on, amigo.