V_TEK

I was wondering why people like the Nissan 240SX so much? I check the specs and it says it only have 155 horse.. That's slow, it's like a integra or so... But why a lot of people like that car so much? I know it's rear wheel drive but there are a lot of other cars that's rear wheel drive.. hmmm wat about the MR2 turbo? 200 stock, why don't people go crazy for that?

YBS1

Cheap, parts available, RWD, and seats 4 people.

YBS1

To be honest, I'm suprised the car didn't stay alive. It had a lot of desirable traits without much in the way of direct competition, and it probably would have been very easy for Nissan to make it into quite the performer with the right options.

Arashi

Initial D and the growing drift scene.

FC/FD RX-7, Toyota Trueno Sprinter (or Corolla, or AE86) and Silvia (240sx) seems like they are the top choices for drift cars.

Of course in the states it is very hard to find AE86 and a lot of parts (aftermarket or factory) you need to order directly from Japan in most cases.

FD's are expensive (compared to the others), and even more expensive to maintain. And the price premium is super high thanks to 'Fast and the Furious' as well as all the drift hype. FC's are also quite expensive for a 15-20 year old car and most require a lot of work.

So the 240sx seems like a perfect choice for drifters. They are common, cheap, reliable, easy to find one that is in great condition and a lot of the aftermarket support.

As you mentioned, the US version comes with a 2.4 liter 155hp truck engine. You don't need a whole lot of power to be able to drift given that you have the right car and right suspension set up, but it is always nice to have more power and the buyers usually dig JDM stuff. So it is very common they get the SR20DET swap or even Skyline's RB26DETT.

Some links that you might find interesting:

http://www.supercars.net/cars/2871.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Silvia

You'll see a lot of them in those Japanese racing video magazines such as Best Motoring.

prelupino

sr20det japanese engine swap.

aklucsarits

The 240sx was a pretty unpopular car back in the day. It never sold well in the US. Compared to it's contemporary competitors of the day (Honda Prelude, Mazda MX-6, Ford Probe GT, VR6 VWs, etc) The Nissan 240SX was slow, expensive, and did not handle particularly well in stock form. It was even outperformed by less expensive models sold by Nissan itself at the time such as the lowly Nissan NX2000 and Sentra SE-R twins.

Their unpopularly on the new car market also translated into unpopularity on the used car market as well, and it's resale value was quite poor for a sporty Japanese car through the end of the 90s.

Then a bizzare thing happened. The import tuner craze of the mid-to-late 90's that had been primarily Honda-centric started to branch out to other import brands and models. At the same time, increased interest in Japan's car culture introduced American enthusiasts to Japanese trends, including the popularity of the Nissan Silvia and drifting. Intrest in the largely ignored 240SX increased. Back then (98-00ish), the 240SXs were great buys, and parts from Japan were becoming more readily available. Prices on used 240SXs actually started RISING. Increasing demand, combined with low availability brought 240SX prices back UP to the almost unbeleivable levels they are at today. Many 240SX model prices today are at levels the same as or even higher than they would have 5-6 years ago.

Andrew

V_TEK

so if I buy like, let's say a 98 240sx, what kind of JDM swap can I do? and what it's horsepower?

pierceman

240 is light and very easy to mod. The motor swaps just jumped about $1500.00 due to the drift craze but you can have a hell of a great track car and daily driver that you do not have to worry to much about if you wreck it.

Here is what my friend has done to one of my 240's that I sold him.
Car 91 coupe $1100.00 in running condition
sr20det motor fresh rebuild with light internal upgrades (cams, springs, new turbo, arc oilpan, aem + tune $10,000 installed
suspension/ braces/lsd $5000.00
cage $1500.00
rims tires, bbk 5 lug, and misc. $5000.00++
total for a fairly well built
D1 ready car $23000.00

my parts list for my old 91 240 that was fun to pound on
Car $2000.00 with 120k stock motor
jicfla2 $1600.00
kaaz 2 way lsd $1000.00
race seat $400.00
stripped bare $0.00
180sx body kit $800.00

total for a weekend beater that drifts $6000.00-7000.00
MAtt

Christople

How many 240sx's were sold by year?

Tyler N

Click the link in my sig for my old 240 project...