Tapped as the savior of the brand, the seventh-generation Silvia made its debut in January 1999 amidst the S14’s struggle in the marketplace. Returning to basics, the S15 came with a more compact body, one more akin to the popular S13. This was Nissan’s way of saying that the new Silvia wasn’t intended to be luxurious, but very sports minded.
Under the hood was the same SR20 2.0-litre DOHC inline-4 that powered both the S13 and S14, only it was more refined than ever. The naturally-aspirated variants produced 163 HP and 141.7 ft-lb of torque while the turbocharged version pumped out 247 HP and 202.5 ft-lb of torque. The S15 was offered in two main trim levels; the naturally-aspirated Spec S and the turbocharged Spec R that boasted a power-to-weight ratio of 0.20 HP/kg.
Retaining key components of the S13 and S14 chassis, Nissan drastically increased body rigidity, which improved handling. The S15’s also received a helical LSD.
