Nissan Stagea Autech 260RS:
Introduced to compete with the Subaru Legacy Touring wagon, the Nissan Stagea was launched in 1996 and featured a 2.5-litre inline-six engine. It was good for a claimed output of 276 horsepower, however the real ratings would have been closer to 293. Sending power to all four wheels, that model was good for a 0-60 mph time of 6.4 seconds and a 1/4 mile time of 14.5. Enter Autech and the Stagea 260RS. Using the Skyline GTR R33 engine and four-wheel-drive, 5-speed manual driveline, the stated output remained at 276 but in reality that figure was now closer to 310.
Besides a small increase in displacement from 2.5 to 2.6 litres, the Stagea Autech also employs a beefier rear anti-roll bar and a strut brace linking the front suspension towers, a mechanical limited slip differential for the rear axle, Brembo disc brakes with ABS all around and forged BBS alloys. The straight line performance, braking and handling is improved dramatically over the base model. If this is still not enough though, a Nismo tuned version is available whose 0-60 and 1/4 mile times are somewhere in the neighbourhood of 5.1 and 13.6 seconds, respectively.
