S13 Red-top SR20DET

[bennieboy]

alot of people have told me to go and get a S13 Red-top SR20DET  but that is like close to $2400-3000 there are no spec on it how much horse is it? can i get that kind of horse cheaper? where do they get those used engines from?

[bennieboy]

so yeah i found some Specifications Horsepower:  205hp at 6000rpm ok so is this not only like 50 more horse than the stock motor? of a 93? um but i still want to know where these engines come form and is there other ways to get that 50  horse other than spending close to $3000

[Yoshi]

50 ponies is quite a bit.

You could do it with bolt-ons and perhaps a turbo upgrade to a KA, but you have to measure out what you want to do with it, and where you want to go with the development of your car.

your car is a 93 yes? so that makes it 9 years old, I'm guessing your car probably has at least 100k on it. That's half the life of your engine (and that's being generous). Putting a turbo on it at this point will really degrade the life of your engine much faster (you'll drive it harder too). Putting enough mods on it will get you to 200 hp, maybe more... for probably about the same price in the end; maybe more, maybe less, depending on the kind of deals you get....

Now, with getting an SR, you get an engine with around 30k on in (ie. LOTS of life left) as well as an engine that already has a turbo, and was meant to have a turbo.

**now before your KA-T guys go off on me, u already know: the SR was the engine meant for the car (as well as the very nice CA18 from which the 180sx was originally named for), the SR is what we would have had if not for emmisions laws**

So with an SR you're getting those 205 ponies, but with the ability to build WAY beyond that. Don't just look at it as getting 50 more hp. Look at it as getting a whole new engine, plus the 50 hp. It doesn't seem like a worthwhile investment to me personally to dump all kinds of money into an engine that's far past it's prime... would you give grandpa uppers so he could regain some of his lost energy from his youth? Same principle.

I personally have a 91, and am getting my SR immediately following my wedding this coming august <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

[bennieboy]

Thanks for showing me a new idea about getting a new engine. That is a good point! Are there any other options available as far as engines on the market? Ones that the emission people will not have a COW about? But still would crank some major horse?...

with the SR engines where do they come form i know they come form jap but do they come form race cars or what? imean have those 30k been beaten out of them or are they out of normal cars and then souped up?

[Yoshi]

You have to understand the cultural lifestyle in japan is very different.

Over there, for an everyday person, just owning a car is a status symbol in itself. It costs thousands of dollars just to own a car, not counting the cost of the car itself. As a result, there are many japanese who change cars very often, after all, a newer car equates to higher status (supposedly) right?

The sr20det comes from both the 180sx (japanese version of the 240sx), and the silvia, where both cars exist in massive quantities as opposed to here in the USA where relatively few preside by comparison.

Many of the engines were from cars that have been wrecked (not to worry, there are some pretty strict laws that dictate resale of an engine from a wrecked car)... and all are supposed to be compression tested before leaving the country. Others are from sold off cars, parted cars, auctions, not unlike the US.

Your only other sensible choice is the CA18, the original engine the 180sx came with. There are many debates about whether this engine is superior to the SR, and most will agree it is, on a performance and buildability viewpoint. However the engine is old (ie hard to find in good condition), and out of production (hard to find parts).

I'm sure others would tell you to throw an RB of some type or another in there (the mighty engine that powers the Skyline series), and if you have the $$$ to put into it, go for it. You'll sacrifice some maneuverability, but woe to the ricer taht thinks your car is slow. However, from a $ standpoint, I hope you win the lotto to get that done <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

Hope that answers some of your questions.

[Yoshi]

I almost forgot about the emissions part of your question.

Emissions in japan are non existant (at least until next year), compared to say, California. &nbsp;That noted, they go nuts over there with horsepower as they don't have all the strict laws we do. &nbsp;Any engine you get imported is most likely going to have pollution issues here because they are racing engines. &nbsp;Pure and simple. &nbsp;A person over there is buying a Silvia or 180sx or Skyline for one of 2 reasons:

To race.

or to look like he/she races.

(I guess VIP tuners/showcar enthusiasts are a third category, but if they do that stuff, they have 2 much $ anyhow <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'> )