nissan 200sx s14a
Discussion
AdamD said:
plus tune to stage 1 with detcatted exhaust and apexi intake (with remap and 1 bar boost) for a healthy increase in power ~260bhp.
Stage 1? What is this? Need for speed underground?S14's are ok, but S13's are tougher, S15's are more refined.
Get a JDM S13 not a 200SX or 180SX hatch.
A slammed S13 with a good body kit is very cool and tough. Stick an RB in it and you are rockin'.
If you come across Y224 JAD avoid it - it's been clocked.
I gave it back to the lease firm with 157,000 on the dial, and no service history (it had been serviced religiously by Guildford Nissan, but I never bothered getting the book stamped)... it popped up in Reading a couple of months later at a small trader with 91,000 on the clock and 'all the stamps from Nissan Reading'...
It should also, I must say, be utterly fecked mechanically - 157,000 miles of abuse, including over 200 trackday laps of Goodwood, Castle Doom, and Snotterton.
Oh, and the small matter of the experimental 'redline in 4th then change down to 3rd' thing I did, just to see if it would kill it. It didn't, so I tried again, and again, and again, and again...
Utterly unbreakable, but that old crate really should have been scrapped. It was akin to the bit in Days of Thunder where they give the hire cars back
I gave it back to the lease firm with 157,000 on the dial, and no service history (it had been serviced religiously by Guildford Nissan, but I never bothered getting the book stamped)... it popped up in Reading a couple of months later at a small trader with 91,000 on the clock and 'all the stamps from Nissan Reading'...
It should also, I must say, be utterly fecked mechanically - 157,000 miles of abuse, including over 200 trackday laps of Goodwood, Castle Doom, and Snotterton.
Oh, and the small matter of the experimental 'redline in 4th then change down to 3rd' thing I did, just to see if it would kill it. It didn't, so I tried again, and again, and again, and again...
Utterly unbreakable, but that old crate really should have been scrapped. It was akin to the bit in Days of Thunder where they give the hire cars back
Dunk76 said:
If you come across Y224 JAD avoid it - it's been clocked.
I gave it back to the lease firm with 157,000 on the dial, and no service history (it had been serviced religiously by Guildford Nissan, but I never bothered getting the book stamped)... it popped up in Reading a couple of months later at a small trader with 91,000 on the clock and 'all the stamps from Nissan Reading'...
It should also, I must say, be utterly fecked mechanically - 157,000 miles of abuse,
How long did you own it to do 157k miles?I gave it back to the lease firm with 157,000 on the dial, and no service history (it had been serviced religiously by Guildford Nissan, but I never bothered getting the book stamped)... it popped up in Reading a couple of months later at a small trader with 91,000 on the clock and 'all the stamps from Nissan Reading'...
It should also, I must say, be utterly fecked mechanically - 157,000 miles of abuse,
Neil G60 said:
I had a pretty standard S14A. It was a great car but front callipers seize (Nissan sell rebuild kits) and the turbo gaskets go at about 60k (DIY job but takes ages). A GT28RS blower fits straight on – this was standard fit on the S15.
The OE viscous LSD is barely ‘LS’ even if it’s brand new so don’t expect it to lock at all. It was designed as a touring car so Nissan would have never specified an aggressive diff which made it hard to drive slowly round tight corners.
Don’t worry about VVT rattle – it’s normal and due to narrow oilways on the pulley. Once the oil gets up there it’s fine but you’ll hear a nasty noise on start up which might make you think there’s a problem.
Even if you buy a lightly ‘tuned’ one make sure it’s been fuelled properly with a decent uprated fuel pump, gated boost valve (at a minimum) and bigger injectors if it’s running more than about 260bhp. If the guy doesn’t know about this kind of stuff I’d walk away.
In standard form they’re very able mile munchers. They’re getting cheap now which means pikies can afford them who think they can drive. And they can, into low walls and hedgerows mostly.
I’d buy a nerd-owner forum car who’s spent money where it counts – on branded tuning parts which have been set up properly. There are lots of far-eastern junk tuning parts about – like the tubular manifolds for £150 which look like the £900 HKS ones but crack all the time. And the dreadful cheap coilovers which clonk. There’s one particular popular 200SX tuning shop which loves group buys on SXOC which I had problems with – in my opinion the parts were of very low quality.
Think about what you’re going to use the car for – you can buy cheap rose jointed control arms and camber arms and things like pillowball top mounts but in this country you’ll end up with a compressed spine unless you’re willing to accept this for the 1% of time you spend on an airfield going beserk.
I always thought that the start up rattle was the chain tensioner? Or is that different on the DET's rather then the DE's and VE's?The OE viscous LSD is barely ‘LS’ even if it’s brand new so don’t expect it to lock at all. It was designed as a touring car so Nissan would have never specified an aggressive diff which made it hard to drive slowly round tight corners.
Don’t worry about VVT rattle – it’s normal and due to narrow oilways on the pulley. Once the oil gets up there it’s fine but you’ll hear a nasty noise on start up which might make you think there’s a problem.
Even if you buy a lightly ‘tuned’ one make sure it’s been fuelled properly with a decent uprated fuel pump, gated boost valve (at a minimum) and bigger injectors if it’s running more than about 260bhp. If the guy doesn’t know about this kind of stuff I’d walk away.
In standard form they’re very able mile munchers. They’re getting cheap now which means pikies can afford them who think they can drive. And they can, into low walls and hedgerows mostly.
I’d buy a nerd-owner forum car who’s spent money where it counts – on branded tuning parts which have been set up properly. There are lots of far-eastern junk tuning parts about – like the tubular manifolds for £150 which look like the £900 HKS ones but crack all the time. And the dreadful cheap coilovers which clonk. There’s one particular popular 200SX tuning shop which loves group buys on SXOC which I had problems with – in my opinion the parts were of very low quality.
Think about what you’re going to use the car for – you can buy cheap rose jointed control arms and camber arms and things like pillowball top mounts but in this country you’ll end up with a compressed spine unless you’re willing to accept this for the 1% of time you spend on an airfield going beserk.
Dave
Neil G60 said:
Even if you buy a lightly ‘tuned’ one make sure it’s been fuelled properly with a decent uprated fuel pump, gated boost valve (at a minimum) and bigger injectors if it’s running more than about 260bhp. If the guy doesn’t know about this kind of stuff I’d walk away.
You can get upto 290BHP out of them with standard injectors with the right setup.Mine was great, they are very good value for money and parts are cheap thanks to Apex and their like. Worst thing about the handling is the way the rear subframe is mounted to the shell. They are mounted on soft silicone filled bushes that move around a lot, even in good condition which most wont be now. Buy a subframe lockdown kit from whiteline and it transforms the stability of the car.
johnfelstead said:
Worst thing about the handling is the way the rear subframe is mounted to the shell. They are mounted on soft silicone filled bushes that move around a lot, even in good condition which most wont be now. Buy a subframe lockdown kit from whiteline and it transforms the stability of the car.
I must admit John, that's the thing I noticed even in a brand new car - very soft at back. There's so many bits you can get for them though - good choice to modify.Did you ever get the diff light on?
Shropshiremike said:
johnfelstead said:
Worst thing about the handling is the way the rear subframe is mounted to the shell. They are mounted on soft silicone filled bushes that move around a lot, even in good condition which most wont be now. Buy a subframe lockdown kit from whiteline and it transforms the stability of the car.
I must admit John, that's the thing I noticed even in a brand new car - very soft at back. There's so many bits you can get for them though - good choice to modify.Did you ever get the diff light on?
i had one for 2 years, was running a fully forged engine and 400hp/380ft lbs of torque it was SCARY fast, even with 10 inch wide back wheels it struggled for grip in anything but ideal conditions
very fun to drive sideways, actually feel very well put together from the inside, the steering is FAR too light, the brakes are good except the calipers do bugger up and can be a pain to put right.
had mine nearly 2 years was great fun, only thing that went wrong was a dis pack crapped out, 40 quid for a 2nd hand replacement job done!
I wouldn't buy one with 400hp after owning one, 300hp is probably the most the chassis would handle and be drivable, although torque was probably the issue with mine
Go for it, its a lotta bang for your buck!
very fun to drive sideways, actually feel very well put together from the inside, the steering is FAR too light, the brakes are good except the calipers do bugger up and can be a pain to put right.
had mine nearly 2 years was great fun, only thing that went wrong was a dis pack crapped out, 40 quid for a 2nd hand replacement job done!
I wouldn't buy one with 400hp after owning one, 300hp is probably the most the chassis would handle and be drivable, although torque was probably the issue with mine
Go for it, its a lotta bang for your buck!
Shropshiremike said:
johnfelstead said:
Worst thing about the handling is the way the rear subframe is mounted to the shell. They are mounted on soft silicone filled bushes that move around a lot, even in good condition which most wont be now. Buy a subframe lockdown kit from whiteline and it transforms the stability of the car.
I must admit John, that's the thing I noticed even in a brand new car - very soft at back. There's so many bits you can get for them though - good choice to modify.Did you ever get the diff light on?
I didn't ever get the diff light on, i did make sure the diff oil cooler pump was working properly and flushed the system through with some good stuff though. It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the cars now don't have working diff cooler systems, the service oil change on the rear diff needs the pump switching on manually via some connectors hidden away in the back, i wonder how many garages bother to do that?
The other common issue i remember was the wing mounted intercooler used to split and leak a little, which killed response. A FMIC is cheap as chips for a 200SX and well worth fitting, even in mild tuned form.
Shropshiremike said:
Followed a nice dark blue one - S367 RAG - down the road tonight.
Friend had a press demo not long after they were launched - N345 DBW - a burgundy shade early non-a type. Quite soft at the back but nice and progressive - good fun!
Quite a few of them had RAG number plates, i had S389 RAG! Friend had a press demo not long after they were launched - N345 DBW - a burgundy shade early non-a type. Quite soft at the back but nice and progressive - good fun!
Great car. OEM intercoolers have a habit of leaking and are £1000+ from nissan, so if you look at one that has a front mount then dont be too put off.
It'll have a small battery in the bay or a normal one in the boot too, if it has a front mount intercooler.
As mentioned quite soft as standard, but chuckable and have LSD's as standard. which can be handy!
Touring will have leather although dont expect saab levels of leather comfort, more "daves discount cows" than connely leather...
Theyre turbocharged and rear wheel drive so look for any wanabee driftuu type damage. You can get a lot out of them with a little love.
johnfelstead said:
Shropshiremike said:
johnfelstead said:
Worst thing about the handling is the way the rear subframe is mounted to the shell. They are mounted on soft silicone filled bushes that move around a lot, even in good condition which most wont be now. Buy a subframe lockdown kit from whiteline and it transforms the stability of the car.
I must admit John, that's the thing I noticed even in a brand new car - very soft at back. There's so many bits you can get for them though - good choice to modify.Did you ever get the diff light on?
I didn't ever get the diff light on, i did make sure the diff oil cooler pump was working properly and flushed the system through with some good stuff though. It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the cars now don't have working diff cooler systems, the service oil change on the rear diff needs the pump switching on manually via some connectors hidden away in the back, i wonder how many garages bother to do that?
Know what you mean about the Sierra!
Still got the Scoob?
I had one for about 10 months, it was an ex Nissan car, 18 months old and 7k on the clock when I got it. It had a load of flat spots in the power delivery above 4k rpm. The dealers would admit there was a problem but they never could fix it despite countless visits and a new ECU. Sold it before it came out of warranty, but seems to be an isolated case. Black T230 something.
Even with the problem I loved it, was my first RWD car and found it very controlable but then I wasn't trying to be drifto kingo.
Even with the problem I loved it, was my first RWD car and found it very controlable but then I wasn't trying to be drifto kingo.
Had mine before the tuscan, well actually a s13 then s13 the s14a. Liked them, all good cheap rwd fun, tuning to stg 1/2 with fmic, chip, decat and a nice 280 bhp. Clutches start to slip is std above that, the gearbox can cope upto 350 bhp and sometimes more. Good bunch over on SXOC, and loads of parts, and brakes from 350z and gtr's are a good upgrade.
I sold mine with FSH, stage 2, 110k and three years ago for £3750
can be a little light on the back end, I had nismo s tune supension, but needed pineapples I think...
I sold mine with FSH, stage 2, 110k and three years ago for £3750
can be a little light on the back end, I had nismo s tune supension, but needed pineapples I think...
tuscan_al said:
Had mine before the tuscan, well actually a s13 then s13 the s14a. Liked them, all good cheap rwd fun, tuning to stg 1/2 with fmic, chip, decat and a nice 280 bhp. Clutches start to slip is std above that, the gearbox can cope upto 350 bhp and sometimes more. Good bunch over on SXOC, and loads of parts, and brakes from 350z and gtr's are a good upgrade.
I sold mine with FSH, stage 2, 110k and three years ago for £3750
can be a little light on the back end, I had nismo s tune supension, but needed pineapples I think...
very nice I sold mine with FSH, stage 2, 110k and three years ago for £3750
can be a little light on the back end, I had nismo s tune supension, but needed pineapples I think...
Spitbarnatt said:
I had one for about 10 months, it was an ex Nissan car, 18 months old and 7k on the clock when I got it. It had a load of flat spots in the power delivery above 4k rpm. The dealers would admit there was a problem but they never could fix it despite countless visits and a new ECU. Sold it before it came out of warranty, but seems to be an isolated case. Black T230 something.
Even with the problem I loved it, was my first RWD car and found it very controlable but then I wasn't trying to be drifto kingo.
They go very rich as the variable valve timing kicks in, you can map it out by altering the fueling and boost. Mine had a very smooth power/torque curve after we spent a while working on that area with Apexi boost and fuel controllers.Even with the problem I loved it, was my first RWD car and found it very controlable but then I wasn't trying to be drifto kingo.
I had one for around 3 years and went from this :
To This:
A standard one is pretty flat (boring) in its power delivery and the rear subframe has a bit of movement by design... you can lock the rear up with locking collars which only cost £40 and transforms the mid-corner feel.
I haven't got a bad thing to say about them other than watch the rust like a hawk, check inside the boot lining at the rear quarters and make sure they are straight and make sure you have evidence of regular oil changes and servicing. There isnt much else to worry about If the boost has been raised make sure its had the supporting mods like a walbro fuel pump, boost guage an boost controller...
Unless its a track car or you are prepared to spend decent money walk away from any rust - especially on the sills and rear arches.
To This:
A standard one is pretty flat (boring) in its power delivery and the rear subframe has a bit of movement by design... you can lock the rear up with locking collars which only cost £40 and transforms the mid-corner feel.
I haven't got a bad thing to say about them other than watch the rust like a hawk, check inside the boot lining at the rear quarters and make sure they are straight and make sure you have evidence of regular oil changes and servicing. There isnt much else to worry about
If the boost has been raised make sure its had the supporting mods like a walbro fuel pump, boost guage an boost controller...Unless its a track car or you are prepared to spend decent money walk away from any rust - especially on the sills and rear arches.
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