So first a bit of history: my old man had a hobby farm in the Blue Mountains, which he visited a couple of times per week (around 2.5hrs drive each way: hairpin turns, steep hills, slippery roads etc). He had a 1st generation Nissan XTrail that he purchased when they first came out, and we spent a fair amount of time and effort turbocharging the petrol 2.4l engine: the car was quick, but the braking and handling were scary, verging on hazardous.

He approached me asking what he could replace the car with, with the requirements that the new car be AWD, have plenty of cargo space, and vast potential for performance: he wanted something fun and safe as a daily driver, but it had to be quick - his weekend car was a gorgeous E39 M5 that he had supercharged...

Being the JDM fan that I am, my suggestion was a Nissan Stagea, as there are innumerable options for engine swaps, and they are easily modified in all the important areas (power, handling and braking). Fast forward a couple of weeks and the deal was done: he bought a '97 Stagea RSFOUR- bog stock 2.5l turbo automatic. It wasn't long before the car copped a full suspension upgrade, Porsche Brembo front brakes, R33 GTR rear brakes, and a mildly modified R32 GTR RB26DETT engine and manual gearbox: the car made 300kw at the wheels, and was a beast to drive...

He decided to take one last trip to the farm in the XTrail, as he needed to collect my brothers dirt bike for servicing in Sydney.

I got the dreaded call the next morning: apparently he had hit a patch of black ice on the return trip, slid off the road and hit a tree stump: losing consciousness when his head hit the drivers window. The XTrail turned into a fireball, the dirt bike had a full of fuel in it, and he was identified by his wedding ring, and dental records...

I ended up buying the Stagea out of his estate, and as a tribute to our shared love of cars, decided to run with the original modification plans for the car, and finish it. 9 years later, I think I'm just about done. I'll post later on the list of mods and the numerous issues, but for now, here's a few teaser pics...

Edited 11 November, 201510 yr by MickeyB

So sorry about your dad, what a tragic story.

 

Stagea looks cool. My work colleague in NZ just scrapped his because it was rusting and beyond economical repair.

They're rare in the UK as they were never sold there officially as far as I know.

Sorry about your father mate.

Stagea are awesome motors, skyline estate basically if memory serves me well.

That's correct! With a little bit of S13/14 Silva thrown in the mix: the intercompatibility is awesome between Nissan cars

Tragic story,

 

but one hell of a car, especially with manual R26 in it

 

There was a dark red stagea knocking around round wakefield for a while but not seen it for a while

They are a surprisingly agile package for such a large car... If I were going to go to the track, I would transfer all the important parts into a R32 shell, but this one is all street car, and nobody ever suspects the white "Volvo" wagon!

It makes around 470hp at all 4 wheels, that's running around 22psi, and with cams dialed way back: I basically went for reliability and as much midrange power and torque as we could tune into it: peak power has never been the goal, as the car was initially built to tackle the hills, so that's how I use it.