i think this is the right place to post, but anyway i just bought 93 240sx and im looking for around 400+rwhp. ive never owned or done any work on a nissan so im pretty clueless. So im asking, what motor RB, CA18?, turbo size?, piston size? anything will help- thanks
#1
- jonny dank
help with my 240sx!!!!
Firstly what do you plan to do with the car and why does it need 400+bhp at the wheels? Given the vagueness and apparent lack of understanding I'd assume you're wanting it as a road/drift car.
In a typical road car with helical gears you'll be looking at a genuine engine output the far side of 500bhp, so well over 500bhp from the typical rolling road figure. Whilst you could get that kind of power output from a turbocharged road engine without necessarily making it too impractical for everyday use you'll still run into issues with the rest of the drivetrain not being built for the extra power. Unless you intend to use it solely for track use I see no reason why you should need more than half your desired figure, work on everything else first before you even touch the engine.
In a typical road car with helical gears you'll be looking at a genuine engine output the far side of 500bhp, so well over 500bhp from the typical rolling road figure. Whilst you could get that kind of power output from a turbocharged road engine without necessarily making it too impractical for everyday use you'll still run into issues with the rest of the drivetrain not being built for the extra power. Unless you intend to use it solely for track use I see no reason why you should need more than half your desired figure, work on everything else first before you even touch the engine.
#4
- Töki (HUN)
If I had a lot of money I would put rb26dett into that 240sx. But I don't have 
I agree with AJP, althought it IS possible to have a car with 400-500hp that is reliable. My dads Sapphire Cosworth is putting out 486hp and we have never had any major problems with it. The only problem we had was one of the turbo hose's decided to pop off. Putting on some better hose clips sorted it.
I would suggest sorting out any bodywork marks on the car first (if there is any) and then going on to handling and brakes, so that means upgraded brakes, tyres, suspension parts and others, THEN go onto the engine.
Without sounding rude, what is your estimated budget, because it is possible to put a RB24 engine and drivetrain in them, but it takes alot of hard work to get it to that stage.
Although, it would be more practical to just stick a new engine in there that can fit the current drivetrain. Also, with the kind of power figure you want, i would advise fitting a stronger diff and driveshaft so it can handle the power, and also a new/stronger gearbox, and engine mounts.
I would suggest sorting out any bodywork marks on the car first (if there is any) and then going on to handling and brakes, so that means upgraded brakes, tyres, suspension parts and others, THEN go onto the engine.
Without sounding rude, what is your estimated budget, because it is possible to put a RB24 engine and drivetrain in them, but it takes alot of hard work to get it to that stage.
Although, it would be more practical to just stick a new engine in there that can fit the current drivetrain. Also, with the kind of power figure you want, i would advise fitting a stronger diff and driveshaft so it can handle the power, and also a new/stronger gearbox, and engine mounts.
LS1 swap..
Ditch the KA, get a SR20DET, don't get an RB, first of all, it's overkill for you, second - I'd hate to see a skyline lose an engine, third - It's an expensive transplant.
SR20DET (along with the gearbox) will give you enough tuning potential to get to 400 rwhp easily
work with swapping the turbo for a bigger unit, and replacing the internals, fuel pump, exhaust, and injectors.
Don't forget to have a sports clucth (carbon ceramic would do) and a differential that can actually take 400 bhp.
You also would need an intercooler installation
also, you will probably need (read : definetly) major handling modifications.
why would you want to make the car slower than it can be?
Get brakes first
Do some research on your own- asking internet forum users will get you opinions from idiots while looking up your own info will get you facts (hopefully from smart people)
Honestly, I don't think you should be doing this. From what I can gather about the questions you asked (feel free to prove me wrong), you lack the knowledge required to do something like this.
Wow......this really puts us in our place......
He does that and he will probably ask the same question on another forum and probably get the same answers. Even on an official 240sx forum or such, they'd still give sensible answers like that have been given here.
What gives you the impression everyone on this forum are idiots with an opinion? Of course theres some but not all, theres some very knowlegdable people on here, hence people asking different things.
I think that this forum in particular is not the place to ask that question- mainly because a lower % of the userbase here will have experience with the engines. Most of the users here are actually MUCH smarter than those on 240sx forums (I assumed the OP'd end up going there, so I was talking about those users).
From my experience, 240sx forums are good for general knowledge that one could get just looking at the specs of two engines. Beyond that, however, information is rarely found on said forums and is sometimes wrong. Hence, why I said to look it up instead of asking.
I'm not saying this to be a jackass. This is simply what I've seen and so I thought I'd try to spare him the headache of dealing with 240sx forums.
From my experience, 240sx forums are good for general knowledge that one could get just looking at the specs of two engines. Beyond that, however, information is rarely found on said forums and is sometimes wrong. Hence, why I said to look it up instead of asking.
I'm not saying this to be a jackass. This is simply what I've seen and so I thought I'd try to spare him the headache of dealing with 240sx forums.
Well that is wonderful information and all, but there is no such thing as a SR20DET sold in North America.
Now, listen to a person who works for Nissan North America, and more importantly, works in a parts department for Nissan. Stay with the KA24. Don't be a sheep and do what everyone else is doing, who says their method is right? Let us run down the virtues of the KA24DE:
- It appeared in a million plus cars and trucks.
- Parts are very cheap and plentiful.
- Used engines are very cheap.
- The engine was made to be abused.
- Gobs of usable torque.
- Practical for everyday use.
Nope. You have to wait, and you will pay. Oh yes, you will pay.
Check it out: I sell parts to a major, nationally known Nissan/Mitsubishi tuning shop, and they buy enough parts in a month to beef up 5-6 KA24's. Every month. What do you think they tell their customers; do you think they lie to them, tell them to drop in a SR20, and magically their car will be a monster, or are they honest with their customers (like I am with you right now), and tell them use what they already have?
With a little work, you can have 300 real world horsepower out that KA24, and be able to live with it everyday. Yes 300, not 400 like you want. But think of this in straight line performance: a 240SX with that kind of power will do 12's all day long, and get you home with no problems.
Am I saying that the SR20DET is a bad engine? Oh, hell no! It is a wonderfully over engineered piece of kit. But you live in America, where they sold a sum total of zero here. You need to think in practical terms.
well... sucks to be in North America then...
Why don't you get used to the handling of the car before putting in a sUpEr l333t 400HP engine? Learn how to drive the car when it is stock so that you know it's limits first.
Agreed, although I don't think that getting JDM parts is as hard as you're making it out to be.
Also, there's no replacement for displacement
thanks for the posts so quick, but first of all i want 400+ solely because i love 240's and would not have it any other way. this car isn't going to be driven everyday, i want a track/ road car brought out on the weekends. I know i have to get used to it and what not but it''s gonna be a long project and it's gonna be sitting in my friends shop for a while before it's sitting in my driveway. i got bodywork covered, i just want to get info on what i should do as far as internals go, drivetrain, turbo, i want to know what brands i should look at, good applications that people have done successfully, ext...and please make sure the info you give me isn't just what you would like to see, i want to make sure i encounter the least amount of problems. thanks-keep posting im taking notes
thanks for being honest jayhawk, i'm definitally in love japan's inline power and o how i love the sound... but you make some good points +1
thanks for being honest jayhawk, i'm definitally in love japan's inline power and o how i love the sound... but you make some good points +1
If you want a serious high performance track car then before you do anything else you want to make sure everything is in good safe working order, suspension, brakes and tires (that doesn't mean you have to fit low profile super sticky tires).
Once you're sure you don't have any issues with the car you probably want to pay attention to the suspension and tires. After that you may wish to move onto brakes, an LSD, a lower final drive ratio and weight reduction. If you're still hell bent on spending money and reckon you still need too much power to use on the road to have fun on a track then look at replacing the clutch, drive shafts, propshaft and if you're adding silly power you'll need to watch the speed rating of your tires and wheel bearings, upgrade the brakes (again) and work on chassis stiffness (a rollcage is helpful for this).
Using any kind of logical upgrade path you end up with a car verging on a pure track car before you ever get to serious engine modifications.
Once you're sure you don't have any issues with the car you probably want to pay attention to the suspension and tires. After that you may wish to move onto brakes, an LSD, a lower final drive ratio and weight reduction. If you're still hell bent on spending money and reckon you still need too much power to use on the road to have fun on a track then look at replacing the clutch, drive shafts, propshaft and if you're adding silly power you'll need to watch the speed rating of your tires and wheel bearings, upgrade the brakes (again) and work on chassis stiffness (a rollcage is helpful for this).
Using any kind of logical upgrade path you end up with a car verging on a pure track car before you ever get to serious engine modifications.
Like everyone else has said, worry about the brakes, suspension, and tires. Engine mods won't do any good (especialy 400hp) if you don't have a way to put that power down properly.
one suggestion I give to everyone who upgrades there tires, DO NOT GO LOW PROFILE. No matter what anyone says to you, Low profile tires are NOT high performance tires. The side walls arn't tall enough to absorb the cornering forces like a good old 60-65 side wall will.
If anyone wants to argue this, just look at serious race cars, none of them use low profile tires. The lowest you should go is 50, anything lower isn't usefull for serious racing applications.
Low profile tires are for looks, nothing more.
one suggestion I give to everyone who upgrades there tires, DO NOT GO LOW PROFILE. No matter what anyone says to you, Low profile tires are NOT high performance tires. The side walls arn't tall enough to absorb the cornering forces like a good old 60-65 side wall will.
If anyone wants to argue this, just look at serious race cars, none of them use low profile tires. The lowest you should go is 50, anything lower isn't usefull for serious racing applications.
Low profile tires are for looks, nothing more.
50? are you kidding? Have you seen anything except tractor pull, and drag racing?
example 1
example 2
example 3
Classic steet legal example
are those xxx/65/xx tires? or maybe xxx/55/xxx?
The 962 is wearing
Tires Front:285/30ZR-18 Tires Back:335/30ZR-18
are those for looks in a car that can do 402 kph?
are those for looks in racecars?
I dont know whether your tyre measurements are different over in canada, but 65 is extremely high profile. Thats the kind of tyre wall size on 4x4's! I would reccomend some good, lightweight 16/17 inch wheels (spinwerkes are good) couple with tyre size of about 215/40/17. That would be a nice size to give the car some looks, but also does'nt ruin the cornering.
Just for reference, heres what a 215/40/17 looks like.
http://www.cyberous.net/images/so-3.JPG
Just for reference, heres what a 215/40/17 looks like.
http://www.cyberous.net/images/so-3.JPG
...and ride quality will be rubbish. That's not normally a major consideration for ultra stiff slick shod racing cars that is not what the OP seems to be wanting. We're talking about a heavy sloppy coupe for road use here. By going with slightly higher profile tires (not 65s but nothing bellow 40) you'll get greatly improved ride quality, reduced noise and in a standard heavy road car setup to run on higher profile tires no performance disadvantage.
One of us seems to need a new prescription
Just look at a Formula 1 car, if low profile tires where better, they'd use them.
Low profile tires are for looks.
going down to 40 is ok if you have wider tires, because it is a percentage of the width after all, so to get a good sidewall hight on a wide tire you need to go down a bit more. but generaly, 50 is good for normal width tires.
If you want a good performance tire, it needs to have a good sidewall, otherwhise you lose some of the tire's ability to handel cornering forces.
any car that goes 402km/h definately isn't going to be taking corners well unless it has some serious racing slicks fitted. Which will have higher sidewalls.
Low profile tires are for looks.
going down to 40 is ok if you have wider tires, because it is a percentage of the width after all, so to get a good sidewall hight on a wide tire you need to go down a bit more. but generaly, 50 is good for normal width tires.
If you want a good performance tire, it needs to have a good sidewall, otherwhise you lose some of the tire's ability to handel cornering forces.
any car that goes 402km/h definately isn't going to be taking corners well unless it has some serious racing slicks fitted. Which will have higher sidewalls.
I think you're lacking a lot of understanding. The reason why F1 cars and other modern single seaters have high profile tires is because they use the tires to do a lot of suspension and damping work. They also have extremely stiff sidewalls so you cannot compare high profile racing tires with anything else, nor can you make them work on a car without completely redesigning it.
help with my 240sx!!!!
(59 posts, started )
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