Scylla

So this summer, I am going to be making incredibly good money. Originally, I was planning on turboing my teg for about $6000, including the kit, exhaust, clutch, Hondata, tuning, etc. But I am beginning to have afterthoughts...I don't know if I want to dump that much money into the car and still not be sure whether it would be reliable (it is my daily driver). I have come up with three options, because I still want a fast car, but I don't want to have to always be worrying about it's reliability:

1)Keep the teg and turbo it (it's a B18B, so N/A is not an option, IMHO)

2)Sell the teg and get an S13/S14/S15 and get an SR20DET swap

I am leaning towards 2 right now...I love my LS, but it is not as fast as I would like, and every turbo owner I have talked to has invested about $6000 or more into their car to make it reliable and complete. I am thinking that factory-turboed cars would be better than adding it to a car designed for N/A (although yes, I have heard of turbo working well on Hondas). The Silvia/240SX has great handling and a lot of parts available. If I don't make a truckload of money this summer, I could get an S13 and swap in the motor. If I make a lot, late S14 or S15, here I come!
Basically, I want a quick, 200-250hp car that will still be reliable enough to be a daily driver, and the 240 is looking like that.

TurboSohc

#2 all the way

BoM

SR20's

just need a turbo upgrade
RWD!!!

voltronR34

I was thinking of doing the EXACT same thing. Selling my LS and getting an S14 with an sr20det. Think about how much you want to spend. Then do some research and get an estimate for what your plans are gonna cost. Then add a grand or two and a few more months. Me personally, I like Hondas. I like Nissans too, but I had already put alot of $$$ and love into my Integra. Me and my girl have a bond, ya know? So thats really why I didn't get a 240. But a 240sx with 250-300hp at the wheels would be so much fun!

DIRep972

iTrader: (1)

If u put 6k into your integra LS it will be very fast and very reliable. IMO.. ive got a turbo LS w/ about 4500 in it so far.. thats full turbo kit, boost control, greddy gauges, ACT clutch, 3" custom downpipe w/ thermal 3" exhaust.. in all honesty the car is reliable, Only problems i ever had after the install were because of things i did wrong on the install.. since then, the car has run like a champ and ive put about 9k trouble free miles on it.

the thing about the silvia motors having lots of parts available is far from true.. Ive got a friend who has an SR20DET w/ turbo and he is always complaining about how hard it is to find parts, everything has to come from japan..

but I think either route u will be happy, but i think the SR20DET is gonna be alot more work then u think.

D-Man

i vote for #1..besides the acura being a better car and larger aftermarket for parts here in US...just think,there aint a Nissan board out there that's as good as honda-tech to help ya out

Muad'Dib

SR20. **** the teg!

cyan1de

some of the sentras that are in the U.S. have n/a sr20de motors so the SR20DET motors use pretty much most of the same parts, except for drivetrain...

Honda Hick

I'd go with the silvia man. Although i've never driven in a turboed honda, i helped build a s13 w/ sr20det and its a cool *** project. The power steering and a/c can be a bitch with the hoses and whatnot but the car has alot of potential. I don't know about being hard to get parts for. Alot of places stock 3" downpipes for them and there are places you can get manifolds. What else do you need performance wise? Turbos are turbos, you don't need JDM that. Those 240's handle ungodly. I can't believe how they hold even on stock suspension. And brakes are easy as hell, just buy some 300zx brakes and you got insane braking. Personally i'd build a silvia myself but i already got too much $$$ into my teg.

inspyral

S13

turbopanda

I just had this decision a few days ago, amazingly.. but mine was whether to buy a fully built turbo teg, MR2 turbo (stock), or buy a 200SX (stock) with SR20DET S14 engine inside. I've driven Silvia's and 200SXs before, and although the engine may produce *okay* power (don't expect skyline snapping power, the SR20 isn't *all* that..) the car itself feels like a limousine. Its big bulky and fat. And another thing that sucks about the SR20 is that your blow-off valve has to be redirected back into the intake piping because of that damn airflow sensor. No loud whoosh sounds allowed.

The way I see it, my turbo teg will kill a 200SX easy. Its already killed an Impreza and an Evo 6. Also there are heaps of 200SXs/Silvias on the roads here, but not a lot of Tegs.... especially turbo ones.. hehe

I'd probably go with the teg if I were you, since parts are easily available and would probably be cheaper to maintain than the SR20.. gotta keep up with the Honda pride too ya know

tonydatyga

[QUOTE]The way I see it, my turbo teg will kill a 200SX easy. Its already killed an Impreza and an Evo 6. Also there are heaps of 200SXs/Silvias on the roads here, but not a lot of Tegs.... especially turbo ones.. hehe QUOTE]

heaps in thailand, very rare in the states . evo VI, nice kill. My vote goes sr20det. Jim Wolf Tech does some of the best work on any cars I've seen, you definetly get what you pay for. Got my *** kicked by a usdm 200sx running the stock sr20de w/ jwt turbo and electronics package. He ran something around 12.3 (G-tech is never completely right). You can get reasonable power for a bit less than the same on a b18b and you get to **** around w/ RWD .

Holden

Blatent Plug Warning!!!

My brother sells/installs SR20DET engines and parts and what not.

If you're interested, http://www.heavythrottle.com

BTW: I'd go Nissan.

Scylla

Well, the thing is, recently some threads on here, including one about the first time they drov etheir turbo car, talked about all these problems they had with it. I don't want my car to no longer be unreliable because of this. Yeah, I'm aware of the problem getting SR20 parts in from Japan, but aftermarket support for Nissan seems to be good.

I was wondering why I can't find good Nissan boards out there. In fact, there are very few Nissans around here. I've seen ONE 240SX, and there are heaps of Acuras/Hondas. And I have not heard anything about the reliability of Nissans. I know my Acura has a good fanbase and is very reliable. The thing that I love about the mature majority of the Honda front is the knowledge and "bond". *tear*

Honda Hick, did you work on an S13? My cousin has an 97 S14 (with the front end I love ), and he wants my teg, so we might just trade. Is the S14 just as good at handling?

Holden, that's your bro's site? That the first site that I found on SR20's, EXCELLENT site! Been reading it over, and over. Why would you go with the Nissan?

vtecvoodoo

Friend built an "s13". I wasn`t really impressed. It looked cool, but really wasn`t that fast. Turbo`d Hondas would rape him. He ended up cracking a piston and it was actually cheaper to buy a new motor than fix it

SIK IN DA HED

tegs are dope, especially turbocharged. my friend has a 97 240 and those things are sweet. droppin in a sr20det would be alot sweeter.

go for option #2. there are shops out there that can get the parts you need. lots of specialty jdm shops these days. plus, its not like u cant replace any of the other parts with OEM US parts. only your motor will be JDM.


[Modified by dlplayboy, 4:09 PM 5/8/2002]

vtecvoodoo

For the Cali folk, it`s getting tougher and tougher to get illegal smogs. There is noooo way option #2 will pass. At least with a Honda you can pull the kit off when it`s time to smog or if you get sent to the ref.

Turbo200

F$@k the teg!! I drive a turbo sr20de 200sx, and i hate dealing with a high horsepower frontwheel drive car. Rear wheel drive all the way.

F#@K FRONT WHEEL DRIVE!!!! Go with the RWD 240!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mike2016

SR all the way.
i personally owned a 97 prelude with f-max turbo kit, and a 98 240 with S14 SR20DET. needless to say, 240 with SR hauls a$$. RWD has much much better handling and traction. $6000 is more than enough to do a SR swap on a S14 with all the bolt on upgrades and good for 250+rwhp, and it's very reliable.

PrecisionH23a

if you are looking for reliability, i would go for the sr20DET. b18's are not made for turbo's, and despite what anyone says, turbo's require maintenance. period. there is not one person that bolted on a turbo on a honda and had absolutely ZERO problems, if i am wrong, well just give them time. dont get me wrong, i have a turbo prelude and i LOVE IT and i LOVE turbo honda's, but my buddy has a sr20det and that **** is just baaaaaaaad. i can still wax his *** and all, but your talking about dropping a stock turbo motor into a car and running 13's without having to guy anything, etc etc... that is very appealing to me, plus youll have RWD, time for some drifting! hehe, good luck. whichever route you go im sure youll be happy.

Holden

If I had a budget of 6000-8000, I'd rather end up with a mid-90's rear wheel drive coupe with 200+whp than a early 90's Civic with an under-funded turbo setup.

$4000 for a decent 1994-1995 240SX and $4000 for an SR20DET plus a big-*** front mount intercooler. Ready to rock and roll with no fears of engine problems.

Go the Civic route and you're looking at $3000-$4000 for a 1992-1993 (non-Si) Civic and then you don't have enough money in your budget to do a turbo properly (i.e. Good engine management, fueling capacity and safety equipment). And still I'd be more afraid to beat on the Honda than the Nissan. Plus you'd have little room for future power increases while the Nissan can safely take another 2-4psi boost with a cheapo MBC.

Scylla

I'm prolly gonna go with the 240. I'm thinking 95 240SX for $4-5K, then swapping in the SR20DET. Total cost should be about $9-10K, including an almost complete turbo setup and the car, compared to $13-14k for the turbo teg, including car.

The base thing I've been hearing is that the SR20DET=reliability, in general. That's a big factor.

Thanks for all the help guys. Holden, I'll probably get some stuff from your bro's site this summer, and I might post the pics when it's done! Of course, I will always