reason for KA's in your S-Chassis
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reason for KA's in your S-Chassis
Why is it a 240SX in North America?
This is a pretty vexing question, especially if you happen to live there. When the S13 was introduced to the North American Market, Nissan North America chose not to import cars with the turbocharged engines (CA18DET or SR20DET).
Still needing good performance they selected the KA24E 2.4 litre engine used in the Bluebird (Altima) and a couple of commercial vehicles. At 130HP it was not slow, and when updated to the 155HP KA24DE engine performance improved even further.
Having driven a 240SX, they are quite well balanced, and the large (compared to the 2.0 litre cars) amount of torque at low revs means they are quite a lot of fun when stirred along.
But the question remains, why? Several reasons have surfaced, and the truth is that it is probably a combination of these and other factors which led to the birth of the 240SX:
This is a pretty vexing question, especially if you happen to live there. When the S13 was introduced to the North American Market, Nissan North America chose not to import cars with the turbocharged engines (CA18DET or SR20DET).
Still needing good performance they selected the KA24E 2.4 litre engine used in the Bluebird (Altima) and a couple of commercial vehicles. At 130HP it was not slow, and when updated to the 155HP KA24DE engine performance improved even further.
Having driven a 240SX, they are quite well balanced, and the large (compared to the 2.0 litre cars) amount of torque at low revs means they are quite a lot of fun when stirred along.
But the question remains, why? Several reasons have surfaced, and the truth is that it is probably a combination of these and other factors which led to the birth of the 240SX:
- The KA24E engine costs less that the CA18DET and produced similar power. This is not quite as compelling when looking at the SR20DET.
- A 200SX with similar performance to a normally aspirated 300ZX but at a much lower price would have cannibalised sales of both 300ZX variations. The Twin-Turbo was sold only in Japan and North America, so elsewhere this was not a concern.
- At the time of introduction, "Premium" (RON higher than 93) was rare in North America. California and Florida were key markets, and with the high temperatures, detonation would be a real problem, not to mention poor performance.
- In the later years, common parts with the Altima (Bluebird) kept spares pricing down for this low-volume car.
if some of you all don't know...200sx is what they call silvias down-under
if nissan gave us SR's..i dont think Z's would have sold at all
and Z's are a were a big market back then
STANZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
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I'll tell you why. Nissan didn't know their ass from a hole in the ground back in the 90's. They couldn't run a business if they tried, which is why they went bankrupt later than decade. There was no reason to leave the SR or CA out of the S13 (or S14 for that matter). You're talking about a company who's Japanese line-up in 1996 contained 2 versions of the 180sx, 3 Silvia versions plus the 270R, 2 300ZXs, something like 8 Skyline versions, Turbo Bluebird, Turbo Avenir, Stagea, Cefiro, etc. You know what we got in 1996? non-turbo Z, 2 NA versions of the S14, and 400 turbo Z's. It is obvious that Nissan of Japan did not care about North America. I think that war and those 2 nukes 50 years earlier might have been effecting their plans.
And to address the bullet points above:
1. Of course the KA24E is cheaper than the CA18DET. There's no turbo, IC, coil on plug, etc. And the E's 140HP is no where near the 180ish that the CA makes.
2. Japan was not worried about canibalization. Just look at their Japanese model line up above.
3. The gas thing is wrong on 2 counts. Everyone who's ever stolen a "93" sticker knows that we use RON+MON/2. So, 93 RON is something like what we call 89. 98 RON is roughly the equivalent of our 93. Secondly, there was no rareity to premium fuels. My Dad had no problem putting 93 in his 87 Turbo Z every week from 1987 to 1998 over the course of 130k miles.
4. Spares pricing? Don't forget about spares from the B14 SE-R. The CA18DET is almost the same motor as the CA18DE in the Pulsar that we had. "spares" is a pretty weak argument.
In conclusion, I believe the reason that we never saw "the good stuff" was a mix of political reasons, Japan's lack of understanding about the American market, and Nissan's inability to run a business properly in that time period.
*edit*
<---- that's a humdinger of a 2000's post!
And to address the bullet points above:
1. Of course the KA24E is cheaper than the CA18DET. There's no turbo, IC, coil on plug, etc. And the E's 140HP is no where near the 180ish that the CA makes.
2. Japan was not worried about canibalization. Just look at their Japanese model line up above.
3. The gas thing is wrong on 2 counts. Everyone who's ever stolen a "93" sticker knows that we use RON+MON/2. So, 93 RON is something like what we call 89. 98 RON is roughly the equivalent of our 93. Secondly, there was no rareity to premium fuels. My Dad had no problem putting 93 in his 87 Turbo Z every week from 1987 to 1998 over the course of 130k miles.
4. Spares pricing? Don't forget about spares from the B14 SE-R. The CA18DET is almost the same motor as the CA18DE in the Pulsar that we had. "spares" is a pretty weak argument.
In conclusion, I believe the reason that we never saw "the good stuff" was a mix of political reasons, Japan's lack of understanding about the American market, and Nissan's inability to run a business properly in that time period.
*edit*
<---- that's a humdinger of a 2000's post!
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Last edited by Epstein; Jan 22, 2006 at 05:02 AM.
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congrats epstein!
know that you say that...we did get fwd CA's and SR's which really wouldn't justify us getting rwd KA's just because the altima had one...
well..i dont think nissan will make another silvia again..although i did hear something awhile ago that nissan had some secret project of a 4cyl FR car...probably based on the QR series...although it just seems like speculation to me
know that you say that...we did get fwd CA's and SR's which really wouldn't justify us getting rwd KA's just because the altima had one...
well..i dont think nissan will make another silvia again..although i did hear something awhile ago that nissan had some secret project of a 4cyl FR car...probably based on the QR series...although it just seems like speculation to me
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I agree with Epstein here. They had a turbocharged (and/or AWD) version of damn near every car they made back then.(I guess this is why japenese people like nissan's so much?) I never really understood why japenese people love nissans more then any other japenese manufacture. Kind of like the way people used to like chevy's and fords over here.Chevy used to have a sporty version of nearly every car they sold as well , from the mid 50's right on upto the late 70s, but now they just have nothing besides bland/boring commuter cars and trucks (aside from the vette , hopefully the new camaro will fill in a void here) But is this the direction in wich nissan is choosing to go , or should i say Renault ? I mean , no more tubocharged Z , no more GTR's (who knows what they will be like when they come out , i certainly hope they won't be watered down). I never understood their late 80s and 90's buissness practices here , I honestly believe they would have better off financially if they would have bought over the S13/S14 closer to the way they where in japan (i.e. SR20DET,CA18DET's e.t.c.). Atleast they wouldn't have to make so many diffrent versions of the same car....
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Its because Americans would rather see a 2.4 liter than a 2 liter turbo. Americans love displacement, its the same reason the 4cyl turbo stang didnt sell as well as the 5.0 even though they were lighter and quicker.
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Originally Posted by RubberBerner
This thread should be closed, because epstien said everything that needed to be said. That Aussie doesn't know what he's talking about. Japan>America.
Originally Posted by tgm
Its because Americans would rather see a 2.4 liter than a 2 liter turbo. Americans love displacement, its the same reason the 4cyl turbo stang didnt sell as well as the 5.0 even though they were lighter and quicker.
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I wasn't saying you were an aussie, the dumb guy who OniS14 quoted is. I said Japan>America, because they shipped us shit engines in the early 90's. (because they were still mad about that whole Hiroshima, and Nagasaki thing.) This discussion has been held as many times as the "Which is better KA/SR?" discussion. If you wanna know why they sent us those engines...have somebody write nissan, and then we'll be able to get a real answer...we're all just guessing, and putting our oppinions and ideas of why they did it. they would give you the real and only reasons for the engine change.
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this isnt a KA vs SR thread...or a KA vs CA thread...
its just a discussion of reasons why we got the other motor
there had to be a legitimate for the change...all the engineering when they couldve used the same plans as international versions..
example: aussie s15's didnt get boost gauges on the a-pillar because of crash saftey issues.
the one thing i could think about is maybe american emission standards..[cali]
its just a discussion of reasons why we got the other motor
there had to be a legitimate for the change...all the engineering when they couldve used the same plans as international versions..
example: aussie s15's didnt get boost gauges on the a-pillar because of crash saftey issues.
the one thing i could think about is maybe american emission standards..[cali]
Last edited by OniS14; Jan 22, 2006 at 03:18 PM.
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Well here's something to consider as well (and also backs up my statement that the Japanese have no idea what's going on over here).... It's obvious that the Japanese weren't afraid to spend some engineering dollars on the US version because we're the only market (not even Canada) that got auto seatbelts. Thanks Nissan of Japan. I was really getting jelous of all those Chevy Beretta owners showing off.
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