Nissan 200SX

[Mac]

Somebody, by accident, has just reminded me of what a stonking car these fellas are

I went into a whole blurb about my experiences with them and then didn't keep a copy

Anyway - this one was one of my favorites:

I had a fair few of these although this is the only one I have pictures of - digitally. Without other embarrassing bits

This one was chipped to 200 and odd, automatic - tourer spec. Fantastic to drive and be in.

A few times it nearly put me through a hedge backwards but I suspect I'd been neglecting it and not giving her enough Love.

A beautiful car - fantastic piece of Japanese engineering

[sayerbloke]

For anyone wondering, it was me who asked

I'd been discussing a change of cars recently with A_S so I asked him what he thought of them. I noticed bazza online so then I asked him and then I saw Mac online and knowing he'd owned fast Nissans in the past I thought I'd ask him, too. Thanks again for the review, mate [see below]

[ QUOTE ]

I went into a whole blurb about my experiences with them and then didn't keep a copy

[/ QUOTE ]

For those of you interested, here is what he said

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Don't get me started mate! I've had 5 of these fellas right back from the original 1.8 180BHP flippy headlight model!!

The one you've attached is the slanty eyed version of the S14/15 running 200BHP rear wheel drive! So much fun it'll make you cry.

The manual box ones can easily be chipped to 250BHP plus... and the chassis is so sweet!

These are fantastic cars and even more so now for the money.

In terms of servicing well my first one was a bit pricey but then again it did end up with 120k plus on the clock - that needed a new (manual) gear box and a turbo. Turbo was the fault of the previous owner however.

The S14 was a sweet one - had it for about 50k miles and it was fine. Servicing was 2-300 pounds a shot. Tires could hurt a bit and it got through a fair few rears.

In terms of laughs per pound you'll be right in the lead with one of these!

The cockpit is a nice place to be if a bit dark. The seating position is great - hard to explain but your feet are higher than normal and you're sat back a bit. Takes a bit of getting use to but so damm comfortable. Well it was for me at 5'8".

Electrics were reliable - had a problem a couple of times with the pop-headlights but you won't get that on this model. Obviously.

Also, on the model you've pictured, the front spoiler is easy to ground and it 'splits' from the fixing just in front of the wheels. That's a pain - 4-500 pounds to fix. To be honest though I only ever fixed that when I was selling them!

In terms of enjoyment I'd put these up with my S3 - only with more 'fun' in terms of feedback

I quite liked them.

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I do think the slightly later shape looked a bit better:

Anyone else got any thoughts on them?

£5k now buys you a T-plate with 50k on the clock. For a car sending 200bhp to the rear wheels [and, in my opinion, which looks great], that's a very tempting price.

Hmm...

[Mac]

Aha!

Now, the 'split' I was talking about. It tends to happen here - I had it happen on all of mine bar the original S13 flippy light model. It basically pulled the spoiler away from the body work but the fitting caused the spoiler to split.

Never bothered me but worth getting fixed before selling.

By the way - notes above are based on my last one being circa 2000/2001 ish I think? Before the Scooby/Skyline? Had the scooby for about 3 months, skyline about 6 months followed by the S3 - sounds about right.

[shao_khan]

www.sxoc.co.uk is also a pretty good site - loads of good info and i found a very helpful and good bunch of owners

[5to1]

I used to get them as rentals from Budget around 2000-2001.

They were always alot of fun. And they felt quite solid and well put together, no interior creeks either. Considering the abuse they got as hire cars, thats saying something.

At that point they were starting to look a bit dated. Especially the black plastic, albeit well put together interior.

However, they're a totally different proposition at 5k.

[Wallachie]

These would make a fantastic track day toy!

[howardjpartridge]

I've had an S14a (touring spec, manual) for almost five years. It certainly is the 200 of joy. It's been lots of fun and very reliable for 78,000 miles! It's a very underated car, overshaddowed by the 300ZX but far truer to the original 240Z than to the fat 260Z, and fatter 280Z's. It's even overlooked in the 'Nissan GTR & Z' forums: http://www.tyresmoke.net/ubbthreads/postlist.php/Cat/0/Board/Nissan

The Bison was asking for advice on buying an S15 so forgive me if I just repeat my previous ramblings.....

They started in 80 something with the S13 1.8T pop up lights and a hatch back. I had one of those and it

was great too. Favourably compared to 924's and lotus excels at the time.

That was replaced in 92 with the S14 2.0T which has fixed lights and a boot - much stiffer. That was

facelifted in 96 to S14a which has the sharper 'skyline' style lights like mine. The only UK options were manual or auto and the Touring spec, which has leather, air, side skirts, deeper spoiler with

fogs and a 10 cd changer. All worth getting if you can. I think that sold here til 2004 but I believe there

was overlap with the S15 which came next but was never sold in the UK. What I've seen of it looks good though.

Now, here's where it gets complicated. The UK only had the 1.8 or 2.0 turbos (type S), but other markets have had larger NA engines (type R). I've got no idea about them, clearly differnet power delivery but clearly no oportunity for turbo tweaking.

Mine's been very reliable and the warranty took care of most niggles for several years. The worst problem has been a main dealer [Glyn Hokin, Watford penfire: ] who once diagnosed £2k turbo failure when the problem was diagnosed by a specialist as a cracked casting that was welded for £50!! The alarm started playing up and had to be replaced so I could get back in the car. What to look for? Turbos aren't supposed to last as long as mine has. 6000 mile oil changes and

always letting it cool before switching off seem to have done the trick. Touch wood! My 1.8 needed top and bottom end oil seals replacing at arround 100k. You could get yourself embroiled in here for more http://www.sxoc.com/ If you're looking for something to beef up then even a knackered turbo isn't necessarilly the end of the world as you can replace / upgrade.

All I've done to mine is fit a K&N element in the filter box, a 3" cat-back exhaust and a boost

upgrade which is a change to how much boost is allowed rather than a 'chip'. The brakes are uprated but not upsized. (Brembo discs and Ferodo DS2500 pads.) The standard brakes are from the 300ZX which is heavier so pretty good. I've put a front strut brace on but I'm not sure that I can tell the difference! I haven't tested the output but it's certainly helped and is plenty of fun! Limited Slip diffs are standard. There are plenty of tasty replacement parts available.

So my advice is do it but, as I'd say about any interesting car, try to find someone who knows about them to look after it. If you can find them first they might help you find the right car. The best guys I found were SE Nistec in Malden, Essex but they've dissapeared. (If anyone knows if they've set up elsewhere I'd be very interested to hear. They really knew their stuff.)

[garcon magnifique]

I had a 1993 UK model S13, in red with aircon. Absolutely FANBLOODYTASTIC car! 1.8 Turbo, 170-ish BHP, turbo just laggy enough to make wet roundabouts exciting!