ok here's my deal. I have a year and a half before i get 18,000US and i want to drop it all into a sport compact. I was thinking about getting a civic but it doesn't look like its gonna be worth it plus its fwd and i need over 300whp without a whole lot of hassle. So I figure why not a 240sx I figure I can get one for a decent price and its rwd.

So here's my question. Can I get over 300whp on my budget keeping in mind the cost of the car is coming out of the 18,000. And what kinda parts and labor am i looking at.
now im pretty good with a wrench but im use to building hot rods and muscle cars so when it comes to tuning ill have to find a mechanic who has some experience with that sort of thing.

As far as body kits and flashy paint im just gonna worry about that later.

thanks for any help and suggestions.

its going to cost close to $30,000 to get 300whp out of an sr20det.

i'd stick with the honda.

Huh you got the cash and I have the plans...

Want some truth... your looking for an import huh, well this is what you are really looking at..

Rx-7 300zx 240sx Supra ( trying to keep this rwd goodness)

These are the cars to look at for the power. Now with your cash this is what you have to decide. (note im a fan of all of them) The Rx-7 non fd3s... so from 85 to 92 i believe is going to be a fun chore to do engine work on. More so due to the rotery motor. If you can get passed that you looking at some good power and great sound. However you looking at 140 to 180 starting hp. Check here for some good info http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Mazda_RX-7

Now the 300zx... Man that car was sooo cool looking on the inside on the 85 model. For this car your looking at 160 to 300 starting hp depending on what model and year car you get, and yes that ends up in 93 with the Fairlady Z twin turbo. The 80's versions of these cars are great and are fast to say the least. If you looking for a fun, sex, and workable car then this is a good choice over the rx7...at least till the FLz TT's cus man that is a beast of an engine and you want someone who knows thier shit when working on that.

The 240sx is the most versitile however. If you looking for a car with speed and with some style options this one takes the cake so far. While you can pick them up cheap, you will be looking to do the engine swap for real power. Now this can be some what of a hassle and something you really want to read up on before you jump into it. However there are plenty of people out there who have done it and are pretty good about giving help with what they know. Down side to the 240 is finding them in not shittastic shape.... local or otherwise. Most people didn't know what they had if it was a late 80's early 90's... even more so with the fast back models. The good thing about them is though in the States thanks to the recent movies and craze for street racing there are tons of information and parts.

The jza70 Toyota Supra MKIII....my favorite car of all time but don't take my opinion to heart. Compared to the rest except the 90's 300zx this care is the heavy one. This one from 86.5 to 92 is the base 240hp turbo 5speed power house. Have the second best motor that toyota ever made the 7m-Gte was a glory. The problem with the car is the parts. About the only good parts to get for it are the TRD (Toyota Racing Devleopment) parts which can be non cheep and hard to come by. However if you want it I can get you the guy on Cardomain who has his running over 500hp with the dino vids to prove it.

Really your looking for abou 3 to 4k start up for just about all of the cars. I have heard you can find 240's pretty cheap but I have never seen stable cars for under 2k.

Need anymore infor just ask and we will see what we can do.

Umm...

The Turbo IIs had 205HP and an Exhaust adds 50. Its easy as balls to work on and as long as your not incompetent the 13B will last 60,000+ miles. For 18,000 you could get an FD with Power FC, Exhaust, and Downpipe.

The 300ZX is Cramped as hell inside the engine compartment and its and overweight beast. plus when evre you want to upgrade your buying 2x the parts.

With 18,000 to spend the only way to go is the FD or a downpayment on an Evo or STI.

Yea, buying a 240sx, then getting an SR20DET put in, then tryin to hit 300 hp, your going to need more than 18,000. Your going to need all the computer managmement, intake to exhaust and everything in between. Drivetrain, new wheels, paint unless the stock is decent, interior (with 300hp you might want some "Oh Shit" insurance). I would buy a 240 and do what I could, then keep adding. Thats me, you do what you want.

Take a look at Signal Auto. They do sr20det swaps and build motors. Their website is www.signalauto.com. It shouldn't be hard to build a 300hp or close to 300 hp s13 for under 18,000. The s13 is your best bet. I got mine in near perfect shape for $1700. Give Signal a call, they are reasonably priced and have a great reputation.

you dont need 30000 dollars to make 300 hp out of sr20det, all you need to do is replace the turbo, exhaust, fuel modifications, intercooler, all this will bring you up to 300hp, jgycustoms have a lot of parts for sr20s and if you buy everything from them you need about 5000 plus engine cost to have 300hp. If you search internet you will find all the parts needed for cheaper. But with 18000 i would get something better like STi, evo or r32 gt-t or gt-r skyline downpayment.

to answer your quesion yes u can get 300hp out of a 240sx, but since u got 18k to spend you might also want to check out other cars FC rx7, 300zTT, or a 2nd gen MR2.

why is everyone overlooking the ka-t?

you can get over 300hp on a fastback ka-t for less than $18000
might even be able to get a zenki S14(not enuff to buy a kouki) to 300hp with that money and a good setup...

correct me if im wrong

its going to cost close to $30,000 to get 300whp out of an sr20det.

i'd stick with the honda.

First of all who said hes getting a SR20DET engine, he only said 240sx he said nothing about DET... and $30,000 to get 300whp? is that with diamonds and gold parts?

I say buy a 240 with KA24DET engine

low compression forged pistons $400
Greddy Metal head gasket $200
Greddy turbo $2500
Intercooler $600
550cc injectors $400
255 lph fuel pump $100
Electric fan, free power $100
3"inch down pipe $100
Cat converter pipe $50
Cat back exhaust $500

total $4950

My prices were just estimates, so dont get all excited, but for $5k you can get your 240 to be a beast.

If you run that turbo at 15psi with this set up you will be hitting 12s in 1/4 and 350whp

Now since you asked for labor, im guessing you wont do all of this yourself. I suggest you do all the bolt on yourself and get a shop to change the internals for you, im not sure how much they charge for that kinda work because i never took any of my cars in and just manage to do it myself, but id guess about $1500 with the gasket install, also i suggest you port and polish the head, thats about $500, so see if you can find the shop that can do both install the pistons and port polish.

Then go home install everything from injectors to exhaust and get a shop to tune it for you, and you will be good to go...

^ a ka24det? and then buy a greddy turbo? hmmm

Take a look at Signal Auto. They do sr20det swaps and build motors. Their website is www.signalauto.com. It shouldn't be hard to build a 300hp or close to 300 hp s13 for under 18,000. The s13 is your best bet. I got mine in near perfect shape for $1700. Give Signal a call, they are reasonably priced and have a great reputation.

Ring Ring

2spoon: y0! I n33dz a fast car 4 18Gz
Signal: what are you going to use it for?
2spoon: 2 B F45T y0!!
Signal: Uhh... what kind of car
2spoon: Damnz y0 dont youz know n0t1ng 1 w/ a SPOON eng1ne!
Signal: .....
2spoon: and itz got 2 B JDM TYtE, DRFT, W@Ngan!!11one!!
Signal: click
2spoon: 0h Snap

^ a ka24det? and then buy a greddy turbo? hmmm

hahaha... DE!!! but after that set up it will be KA24DET!!! :iceslolan

lol thats what i thought you meant...

You guys are way more help than the honda guys were.
my first choice was to go for the rx-7 or even a miata but after a few calls i learned no one around here knows enough about rotory engines. Turbo 300zx's are kinda hard to come by around here. As for making payments on a car well lets just leave that to those people with credit. so the 240 it is! i can handle the bolt on stuff and some of the internals as for head work and most fabrication if any is needed i know a few people who can get me some really good deals.

as for the exhaust system i know a guy who owes me a favor so i can get that done cheaper than buying a kit. Has anyone ever hollowed out a cat? i did it on an 86 el camino once and it did make more power but that had a 350 so i dont know if it will hurt performance on a turbo 4cyl.

A few points to yet to be made:

To half the posters up there: 300hp at the flywheel with a SR20 is a damnsite far off from 300rwhp (somewhere in the 350-375 flywheel hp area) with an SR20. When you're getting to the 300rwhp level you'll want to do some engine building not to mentition a wide host of supporting upgrades to the cooling system, fuel, ECU and etc. That adds alot of money the final bill, especially if you can't do the work yourself.

Take a stock 240SX and drop a 300rwhp engine in: Now you got a bomb in a wobbly chassis with squishy suspension and good-but-not-great brakes. Plan additional upgrades accordingly. The price tag on the upgrades you'll need to make any use of your powerful new car could be as much as you spent on the engine.

A well built, fully capable 300rwhp 240SX could legitamitely cost $18,000. Whether or not its worth it to you is your call to make.

and its and overweight beast.

Right, the 300ZX is overweight because it weighs 150lbs more than an aluminum chassis NSX. Its huge because it weighs 200lbs less than a Supra and 500lbs less than a 3000GT VR4. Yeah its really overweight. Probably has something to do with that big twin turbo engine under the hood. Guess what 300rwhp or better is on VG30DETT? Cone filter, cat-back and ECU. Total cost: $1500~ plus the $10,000 the average a good condition 300ZX Twin Turbo runs. Hell for $18,000 you could upgrade the turbos and be well into the 11s in the 1/4 mile. **** you don't even have to upgrade the turbos to do that.

You were right about one thing, Nissan guys are better than Honda guys.

Theres something no ones mentioned though. You can get a 240sx, swap an RB26DETT or another motor from the RB series. You would be gettin right under 300 horsepower. A little upgrades and you can get your 300hp or more. If you really want it, and are willing to spend the time to get it, you will enjoy it.

The only problem with the RB26 is one you'll have to modify the turbo setup (you can upgrade at the same time so its not really all that bad) but you can easily drop half your $18,000 budget just buying the engine and getting it running in the car. And thats assuming you can do alot of the work yourself.

I was going to mention the RB25, which is around 250hp at the engine if I remember correctly, which would be a better fit to this situation in my mind, but I could just see this going downhill into a SR vs RB25 debate...then someone would come along and start yellin about how we should all drop V8s in and anarchy ensues.

30 gs for 300whp.......i laugh at you hahahhahaha.....no way!!!!! shoot 18gs is more than enough.....buy a junker non running 240 for like 800 bux...sr is what 2500, or go ka for like 600. So take out the 1400 dollars for car and KA. that leaves what 16,600 left. That is more than enough for internals and 400 hps in a ka..... www.phatka-t.com .....wait are you mechanically disfunctional??? doing your own labor would be a key to having more cash to spend. If you are well then labor is going to eat you up.

I will admit when it comes to the engine swaps on the Nissans I fall short. But I fully agree with Broke on this one. If the Kid has the 18k to play around with... might as well stick with the Fairlady. Sure the Supra is hitting 240hp but you need to lighten it up a bit and as I said its not a good car to pick up for parts ( :disappoin but i still love them )

But like I said I have to support Broke here. Spoon just pay attention to ebay and wait for one with a strong motor if your just planing on doing body work later. Personally there are only a few cars that are just sex on wheels when done right.. Supra, Fairlady Z, Rx7, Skyline, and the 3000gt vr4.

I fucking wish you would have posted this 3 months ago... I could have gotten you a 90 300zx for $2,500. It only had body damage of which 90% would have been taken care of with a body kit for replacement.

The Turbo IIs had 205HP and an Exhaust adds 50

Go back to honda land. No exhaust system adds 50hp, an RX7 is not easy to work on. Nor will a TII with mainly stock parts be reliable at 300+whp. You must be dreaming.

SR20DET is a great engine, lots of potential. But expensive once you get into it. Id say go for it if you plan on modding the car up as you go. But if you want instant power, get a Greddy turbo kit for the KA. Its a great option. Im currently running one right now. Not quite how greddy had it setup but i dont care :P. The engine is built to the balls. I hit 510 on the dyno at 31psi. So if built right then your good.

After that dyno run i had MANY problems :P

NEVER going to do that again. LOL.

Im thinking of going to the SR as it has ALOT more aftermarket for it. It was designed for turboing, its lighter, and just o so nice.

soon2Bspoon please leave all the engine work to someone who knows how to build it. Dont even open the engine up. Bolt ons go for it, but unless you have built an engine before then dont even bother.
If most of your experance is wither american cars you will notice that imports have alot less tolerance for clearances and such.

Yes, gutting a cat will allow exhaust to flow faster and reduce restriction.
That is the hole idea of making power, to overcum the friction (restrictions). Take a turbo for example, the idea is to make pressure to overcome the restrictions and make more power.

It does not cost 30g to get 300whp IF you can do work yourself. To get it to 300whp and be totaly reliable with all suporting mods then mabe yes.

I hit over 500 with under 35k to spend (CDN $)

18G's to hit 300hp?! WTF are you all smokin??I bet I can hit that with my stock block KA24DE and 5G's...maybe less;D

[QUOTE=FDTT]Go back to honda land. No exhaust system adds 50hp, an RX7 is not easy to work on. Nor will a TII with mainly stock parts be reliable at 300+whp. You must be dreaming.
[QUOTE]

FDTT: It sure does. having an open exhaust on a Turbo II raises boost pressure. hence the huge power gains. rotary engines arnt the pandoras box everyone thinks thy are. and require pretty much the same mods to hit 300whp as a SR20... my friend has one with well over 250whp, he races it every wedsday and saturday and its still going strong at just over a 15000 miles.

I think honda lands waitin for ya cockface.


Broke as ****: Internal work on an SR to hit 300whp? uhh... not if your tuner knows what hes doing, Enthralpy has hit 500+whp on the stock bottom end on 4 different cars.


To get the RB26DETT into the car you just need McKinney mounts and their Touge downpipe.

However i agree with broke as 300whp in a otherwise stock 240 is pretty dangerous.

Anyhoo I dont see the point of This thread. The Kid doesnt have money. and it will prbobly take him 2 days to wreck a 300rwhp car.



LOCK

Ya WTF is right 18g's into a 240 will make well over 400 whp and that is still with money left over for suspension and crap. go to this link and see how much power you can really make.

http://www.xatracing.com/RB_SWAP_info.html

Ya this is the 1379th person to say I'm a rich bitch tell me how to spend the money my mommy wommy gave me because I learned how to shit in a toilet, it only took 16 years. If you actually have the money go buy an FD baddest car in the world and 300 whp is absolute easy as Bullshit to get. and great handleing to go with. but wtf I dont give a shit. I'm building my own rb240 right now I should hit ATLEAST 250 whp for about 7 g's but that's because I'm not getting ripped off by a shop.

man its a shame this kid just going to throw all that money at a 240sx....

another 240sx bites the dust

get a fucking civic man


your just going to throw all these parts at the car trying to make a race car out of a street car, and in the end it is probably your daily driver..

it really is a fucking shame in my professional opinion, but its your money and your lessons to learn


now if I had all that money, I would buy a used car, use it as the down payment, and make payments

go get a new m3 or an evo....

First off, NO an exhaust does not add 50whp to a Turbo II. I know cause i had one.

And, NO a RX7 requires alot different work to get 300whp reliably. First off, need a better intercooler, top mount wont handle the power well. Need a new fuel pump, new fuel management, new injectors, to make the internals reliable, you need to use upgraded apex seals, ie. 3mm apex seals, race bearings, a fairly agressive street port, as well at a plethera of other things.

The exhaust does not create boost pressure. LOL. The exhaust simply reduces the restriction and increases the flow of exhaust gas. And leaving the stock down pipe in there is still a huge restriction, so like i said no exhaust adds 50hp. NONE.

"The bolt-on exhaust system increases horsepower approximately 32% - a 59 HP increase on a 1987 Turbo II RX-7! The Turbo II High Performance Exhaust system reduces exhaust gas back pressure significantly, thereby allowing the un-assisted turbo boost pressure to increase to 10-11 psi. A Fuel Cut Controller (part No. 11570 or 11571) is required to prevent fuel cutoff to the rear rotor above the factory pre-set limit."

my last post was pretty unclear, when the exhaust isnt flowing enough to allow enough of a pressure differental for the turbo to spin faster (ie make more boost) a free(er?) flowing exhaust will allow more boost. same thing happens on supras with downpipes.

either way, Its not worth getting in some huge internet drama just because some ricer asks how to speend 18K that he doesnt have.

An exhaust cannot add boost pressure. All that adding an exhaust and down pipe can do is free up the ehaust flow and allow for a faster spool. No extra boost is created. Its the same pressure, it can just kick in a couple hundred rpm's sooner. No exhaust alone can add 59hp. Sorry. If you get an exhaust and tuning, raising the boost, then 59hp can be more possible, but no exhaust alone would do that.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/188351untitled.JPG
here is a little thing i made for the cars mentioned in his thread, I would go with 240, its relieable with sr20 (see s14, s13) it has great weight distribution and can have some nice power on stock internals, by the way 300zx is NOT lighter that supra, do ur homework. Its 412 heavier than NSX, 21 heavier than supra and 309 lighter that vr4 (vr4 is the overweight beast) and with upgrades silvias will have better power to weight ratio and have almost perfect weight distribution due to 4 cylinders and aluminum block (rx 7 has perfect, making it a nice racing car)
:edit: ka24de T has greddy turbo and if anyone wants to add rb, ca specs in a 240 or other cars table pls do so cause im just too tired to do it right now.

Alright...

Turbochargers work off pressure differential. so say you have 15psi of pressure in the exhaust manifold before the turbo and 10psi after the turbine in the down pipe. the exhuast gas will only be able to spin the turbo to say 90,000RPM (made up number) but if you were able to decrease the pressure in the downpipe (or raise it before the turbo) you would have a greater pressure differential. allowing the turbo to spin faster.

Apperently this works out on FCs to where the boost will rise to 11psi why the wastegate cant keep it down I dont know. maybe its too small? on STis this works out to them having boost creep issues from downpipes because the wastegate is only large enough to work if the flow from the wastegate is crashing back into the main flow stream - adding back pressure.

I know this also happens on Supras which is why a Downpipe for them adds 48HP and nessecitates a FCD.

Why has no one mentioned the rb25det? That is the engine I plan on putting into my 95 240sx. It won't cost nearly 30k to get 300hp out of an rb25. If you do all the labor yourself, I'm sure you can get more than 300hp with 18k.

Car (pretty good condition) : $3000
Rb25det clip: $3500-4500

Depending on what you can salvage from the clip that leaves you with over $10,000.

Spouting numbers

Hey maybe I will do some homework, like you know, actually weighing a car instead of searching around on the internet till you find some numbers that agree with what you want to believe.

Broke_as_****'s 95 300ZX Twin Turbo: 3286lbs with a full tank of gas.

NSX: ~3150lbs (coupe, T-top is ~100lbs less)
TT Supra: ~3450lbs
VR4: ~3800lbs

R.W.240, Boost creep is caused by faulty turbo exhaust manifolds. Not a downpipe. I really think you need to research a little more, or actually do the work. If you have a boost controller fine, but a wastegate isn't going to change boost because of an exhaust or downpipe. I am 90% sure of this. But I will go ahead and do some research myself, and talk directly to an R&D and tuner from a very reputable company to make sure of myself. Sorry if I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.

I checked NSX not t-top, and agree that 300zx is a really nice car, i would take it over VR4 or supra (too many pimped out) NSX has no room for twin turbo setup even though i think you can do it, out of the big guys I think 300zx, 350z, skyline and silvia with rb are the best. If you want a 4 cyl i like the s14.
Ohh yeah and I did not search until i found the biggest number i just checked google and the first website i found, i recorded one of the LOWEST weights, the rest were 3500 or so.

Hell, there all nice cars and htye all have alot of potnetial. Buy what you like, dont buy what others like.

In all honesty the quickest and cheapest way to hit 300 would be with a 92 Eclise or Talon Turbo. Pick up the car for $2,500 and but 800 in parts and hit the 300hp. Thats with 3 fuel managment parts and a down pipe. That kinda leaves you with a whole lotta fucking room to work with other parts.

As far as the NSX twin turbo set up. You can find a quite little niffty vid here http://www.racingflix.com/getvideo.asp?v=863&p=5 ...

Further more I say lets end this... I don't think that kid is for real since he hasn't posted in a while lets just drop this. I know we all have good ideas but we as a whole generally don't agree well. Which I will never understand.

300ZX twin turbo, exhaust, boost controller, bov, invest the rest

R.W.240, Boost creep is caused by faulty turbo exhaust manifolds. Not a downpipe. I really think you need to research a little more, or actually do the work. If you have a boost controller fine, but a wastegate isn't going to change boost because of an exhaust or downpipe. I am 90% sure of this. But I will go ahead and do some research myself, and talk directly to an R&D and tuner from a very reputable company to make sure of myself. Sorry if I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.

Boost creep is caused by the wastegate being to small. The STIs wastegate is only large enough to control boost if the exhaust gas is interupting the flow stream in the downpipe. hence why STIs with divorced downpipes need ported wastegates.

I dont want to come off as a a-hole but I know what im saying is right

i was joking about the 30k... it looked like he was a honda body kit freak heh.

anyways.. my car is 2700lbs and 300hp.... 9hp/lb. yes its fast :)


Boost creep is caused by the wastegate being to small. The STIs wastegate is only large enough to control boost if the exhaust gas is interupting the flow stream in the downpipe. hence why STIs with divorced downpipes need ported wastegates.

I dont want to come off as a a-hole but I know what im saying is right
you're right.

how about u spend that money on my car. i can really use that money.

i really dont see how it would take 18k to get 300hp to a 240. i bought my mine for $1,800, its a single cam and with a good turbo setup that is going to cost me around 3k i will be able to have 350hp easy, and it will be complitly drivable, so lets see im paying $4,800 for a 350hp car that handles awesome and is completly understated with a turbo. now i do also plan on coilovers and some other things to stiffen it up, but still, 18ks'? crazy.... how are you getting this money by the way, just out of curiousity.