One thing that makes the car community such an amazing world to be in is the individuality factor of ever project or build. You can have 100 of the same car, same year, and never see the same one twice. No car captures this idea better than the Nissan 240sx. This car is the most universal car in the world, in light of the fact that LITERALLY every piece of this car can be swapped for an aftermarket equivalent. For the young boys and girls who are just getting in to the car scene and want to build a crazy or cool ride, this would be the perfect canvas to start on. Parts for this car range in price from very cheap to bank breaking, which means no matter your budget, you can have your very own build for not a lot of money. Some builds are as simple as a small body kit with wheels, while others completely transform the car from front to back. The car comes stock with a KA24E motor, which also has a nearly unlimited aftermarket selection, so you can fulfill your need for power and speed. The car's light weight coupled with it's moderate power also make it a very popular car for drifting, whether you need a cheap banger to learn on, or are competing with the pro's, the 240sx is a staple car on the track scene.
They also litter car shows for those who prefer beauty to brawn. There are an incredible amount of body kits, light kits, thousands of rim sets, and interior packages that you can put on your 240 that cover all price ranges as well. If the car show scene is where you want to be, buy a clean 240, put a nice little kit on it, have it painted if it doesn't match already, and boom, you're going to get several pictures of your car taken by anyone who passes by. The 240sx is a beloved car and will probably remain popular until they finally die out, either by being slammed against too many walls on the track, or by the unfortunate few who see no value in them and send them to junkyards. So get one while they're still relatively cheap, and let your ideas run wild! If you enjoyed the article, please follow my tribe JDM Icons for more posts and articles, and follow me too. I'll return the favor!
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Comments (4)
I thought this was a shout out to the sileighty
No it's just for the 180sx/240sx in general
Definitely agree - I had an S13 Silvia for 9 months, then a 180SX for 4 years. They are robust cars with little to go seriously wrong, and a good introduction to FR handling. I had the SR20DE and then DET, the latter is properly quick. I remember a 330i trying to race me off the lights - his engine sounded glorious as he slid back and finally merged in behind me ;-)
On the topic of customisation it's worth mentioning the engine swaps - while the KA24 was the North American spec, it came with CA18DE/T in Europe and Japan, the home market getting the upgrade to the legendary SR20DE/T 'red top' from '91. The RB25 and 26 are often seen, 1JZ and LS1s are also far from rare - there's plenty of space under there for almost any engine ever made.
The S13 came with two front ends - the pop-ups in your photo, and the fixed lights of the JDM Silvia, which are interchangeable. It also came in two-door notchback and three-door fastback (as your pic) forms, and was facelifted twice. So even just using original Nissan OEM parts, the number of different combinations you can come up with is pretty broad.
The S13 was so popular in Japan that people insisted on continuing to buy them after Nissan tried to replace it in 1994 with the S14; the 180SX ended up getting a second facelift, and continuing in production until 1998 in 'kouki' form. Beloved indeed, and definitely on the way to becoming a classic.
Yea definitely true. Here in America the Silvia was never brought here for production so it's still illegal for 3 or 4 more years, but we did have both the pig nose and shark nose 240s. It's also worth mentioning that the only reason it's called...
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