Engine choices

[rwc1984]

this is not a post that ask which engine is better. here in the next few months i am going to buy a S14 and turn that into a drift car. what i want to know is what are the pros and cons of these engines.. SR20, KA24, RB26....from what you guys say and my opinion i will determine which engine to use..

[bige240]

Okay here it is....KA- easy and cheap to build can do all types of bolt ons for a decent amount of horse power SR20- easy to install but expensive and get about the same amount of horse power as a KA with a nice turbo and a good tune RB anything- very expensive, and a pain in da *** to install, have to get custom mounts, custom shaft and with the 25, or 26 you'll have to do some body work to the trans tunnel

Basically, if you're doing an install on a budget, build up a ka, it's already in there, and if you spend the $2500 on building it instead of paying for an engine swap, you'll get more HP out of it than you'll know what to do with.

If you've got some cash to throw around do an RB swap, cause it's just plain cool as hell to have a skyline in your driveway...

That's just my $.02...Good luck

[theother1wstolen]

I smell smoke

[rotorimp]

Come out to Nopi here in a few weeks and see one bad *** S13 with a KA-t you will also see allot of swaps in person and be able to talk to the owners. You can also go out to PIR this weekend and see some swaps (4th of Mar)

[rwc1984]

yeah i plan to go to the races this weekend and i am also gonna go to NOPI.....it is gonna be sweet

[rwc1984]

well i want to have about 400 whp to 550 whp when i am totally done....i know doin a swap will cost extra money but lets say i bought the car with the a SR20 or a RB26 already there.....are parts for the RB26 and SR20 expensive compared to the KA24?? basically i want an engine that gives me great and quick response when i want it and can withstand weekends at the track....i know the SR20 and the RB26 have turbos what if a KA24 had a turbo or would it be better to keep it NA?? right now i am just gettin as much info as i can before i make the investment

[bardabe]

well i want to have about 400 whp to 550 whp when i am totally done....i know doin a swap will cost extra money but lets say i bought the car with the a SR20 or a RB26 already there.....are parts for the RB26 and SR20 expensive compared to the KA24?? basically i want an engine that gives me great and quick response when i want it and can withstand weekends at the track....i know the SR20 and the RB26 have turbos what if a KA24 had a turbo or would it be better to keep it NA?? right now i am just gettin as much info as i can before i make the investment

if this is your goal I would choose RB. don;t listen to people that "say" or "have heard" about how a big of a paint he RB is. I have an RB20 as a daily driver. and I'm planing on an RB25 for the track car. the 400 - 500WHP goal on the RB is alot more reliable than on an SR or KA. if U need more infor or details on thie hit me up on AIM. don;t be discouraged by people that aren;t RB owners. the KA and the SR are also great motors. buit they require more money and more mods to reach the 500WHP goal. not to say they might be less reliable and not exactly streetable (daily atleast)

[rwc1984]

i was kinda thinkin the same thing...i don't have AIM but i do have MSN....i guess if i went the RB26 route it would be nice to buy a car that already has one in it...do you know anyone that would have a 1995 or newer 240SX with the RB26??

[homeslicej2]

Check out the Nissan Cars F/S (For Sale) forum. You should find a couple of RB26 240's on there.

[Tech12]

this is not a post that ask which engine is better.

Uh, yeah it is. Why don't you go to the engine forums we have here and browse around instead of starting a fight?

[chester_ff7]

well i want to have about 400 whp to 550 whp when i am totally done....i know doin a swap will cost extra money but lets say i bought the car with the a SR20 or a RB26 already there.....are parts for the RB26 and SR20 expensive compared to the KA24?? basically i want an engine that gives me great and quick response when i want it and can withstand weekends at the track....i know the SR20 and the RB26 have turbos what if a KA24 had a turbo or would it be better to keep it NA?? right now i am just gettin as much info as i can before i make the investment

so you wanna build a drift car... thats great man!! ok... you want 400-500whp.... ok you can get that with all three engines. ok... SR20DET has a lot of parts you can buy for this engine, most people that drift use this engine, but you have to pay for the swap and it only comes with 220 hp. so on top of the swap you are going to have to buy a lot of upgrades to get 400-550whp. the KA24DE-T the ka is a kick *** engine. i am running this engine in my S14 and i was doing some math and you can buy a greedy turbo kit for like 3000 (with an SR20 swap is still going to cost you more), and get stage 2 cams, valve/retainer kit, intake, and exhaust valves, forged low compression pistons, and forged conneting rods from brian crower for like 2700... thats 5700.... with that you will be going really really really fast! i dont know what the dyno will be but you will be smashing.(oh and for the record KA24DET is my choice) and last but not least.... the beast the RB26DETT... WOW that is all i could say... 280hp .... sweet i lovew this engine. but it is a pain to get it swapped, you have to custom a lot. the rb26 is AWD and the S14 is RWD.... you have to get theh rb25 transmission and oil pan, and do a lot of custom work. but the RB26 is the most powerful engine out of the 3. you will have no problem getting 400-550whp with the rb26. dude if i had the money i would go RB26. but in the end its up to you man. oh and always remember.... you need more then just a good engine to drift. i have seen stock KA's drift. what you really need is great suspension, good brake(for the lock) and LSD!! get these three things and your engine and man you are going to be going sideways in no time! have fun with your project. keep us posted on your progress. peace!

[rwc1984]

this is not a post to see which engine is better i just want everyone's OPINION on each engine so that i can make the choice for myself

[DriftingisLame]

What do you drive currently?

[rwc1984]

thanks for the great info...sounds like you know what you are talkin about....i have a good idea what engine i am going to choose...and i think i found a car in the for sale forum that comes with the swap already done and a few mods done to it already...but i will need to sell my car and take out a small loan...i also have been lookin around for some good suspension and lsd and i think i found the ones i am gonna use...what about tires and rim size...currently i live in Phoenix, AZ but here in about 1 year i am moving to California to get into drifting even more!!!!! and yeah i will keep all of you posted on my progress on the build

[rwc1984]

i currently drive a 1994 mitsubishi 3000GT and i want to get a s13 or s14

[DriftingisLame]

My roommates selling his s13, tein coilovers, LSD, clean body kit/wheels/paint..

[email protected]

[rwc1984]

well do you have any pics....and list of mods he has done...how much does he want for it??

[chester_ff7]

rims size.... you are going to have to get 18s with that much whp you can't drift with 16s or 17s. i have on my car 18 X 8.5 rear and 18X 7.5 front. but i want 18X9.5 rear and 18X8.5 front. tires...well you could get almost any tires. they are all going to burn the same. oh and remember you are going to be buying a lot of tires. they go fast when you are going sideways. but out of all the tires that i have used i like yokohama's the parada spec II's. but there are tons of really good brands out there. toyo, nitto, ...... and many many more. dude i hope this helped you out.

[tintingkc]

rims size.... you are going to have to get 18s with that much whp you can't drift with 16s or 17s. i have on my car 18 X 8.5 rear and 18X 7.5 front. but i want 18X9.5 rear and 18X8.5 front. tires...well you could get almost any tires. they are all going to burn the same. oh and remember you are going to be buying a lot of tires. they go fast when you are going sideways. but out of all the tires that i have used i like yokohama's the parada spec II's. but there are tons of really good brands out there. toyo, nitto, ...... and many many more. dude i hope this helped you out.

Your wheel diameter has nothing to do with power or being able to kick the rear end out. Not only that but why buy 18 inch tire to burn off when you can use 16 or 17 inch tires that are cheaper and come in a wider veriety of sizes.

[chester_ff7]

Your wheel diameter has nothing to do with power or being able to kick the rear end out. Not only that but why buy 18 inch tire to burn off when you can use 16 or 17 inch tires that are cheaper and come in a wider veriety of sizes.

ok ok ok ok.... do me a favor... go to the D1GP web site and tell me what size tires they us.... ?? 16'..... NO! ...... 17s.... NO!... they us 18s!! yeah you could us 16s, and 17s. rwc1984 asked what size tires i would recommend... why not us what the PROs us? look at all the high HP cars, the silvias (s13,s14,s15), RX-7s, skylines, STIs...etc. what tires do they us? 18s. only the hachis (AE86) run small tires. rwc1984 is planning to run over 400WHP... thats a lot of power...

[tintingkc]

ok ok ok ok.... do me a favor... go to the D1GP web site and tell me what size tires they us.... ?? 16'..... NO! ...... 17s.... NO!... they us 18s!! yeah you could us 16s, and 17s. rwc1984 asked what size tires i would recommend... why not us what the PROs us? look at all the high HP cars, the silvias (s13,s14,s15), RX-7s, skylines, STIs...etc. what tires do they us? 18s. only the hachis (AE86) run small tires. rwc1984 is planning to run over 400WHP... thats a lot of power...

The power he plans on running still doesnt matter. You make it sound like that is the only correct option and its not. That was the purpose of my post. If its going to be a weekend racer like what was mentioned than there are other options and some better.

[DriftingisLame]

I've heard for our size of car, 17" wheels are ideal.. Not only do I go by that... But 17" tires are not only more abundant in different width/height, there are more options of different brands and different compounds... Look at the price difference between 17" tires, and 18" tires... The choice was obvious for me.

[rwc1984]

sweet thanks.... of course when i get to the 400 whp mark i will probably have the money to afford 18's and all the rubber i want but in the begginning with low power and not that much money i will probably just use whatever i can get my hands on.....and yeah for now i will be just a weekend racer but my BIG goal is to get my Formula D and D1 license....and that is way down the road....i need a lot of practice and have my car setup exactly how i want it...also which LSD 1.5 or 2 way?? i see people using both ...thanks guys

[180fan]

to each their own. depends on how deep your pockets are. bottom line, to hit 400-500 reliably from any of them, will cost you $$$. Either it will be the initial cost of the swap and the few extra parts to take you over that 400 mark or the cost of the base engine which can be cheap and some other work to take you to 400+ safely.

I know plenty of KA guys that have said "oh yeah dude, 400+ is totally easier on the ka than the sr." After they blow their original, they buy another and build it. At the end of the day a 4 banger to 400+ will cost about the same as another 4 banger at 400+. I went with an SR a long time ago and haven't bothered to look back.

You figure out your budget at a reasonable and realistic view and deal with it from there. To take a loan on a used car, only to modify it further is pretty ridiculous. Get the base car first and go from there instead of thinking you're gonna get a mondo swap done right off the bat and going in deeper than you expected only to sell it for a huge loss.

[rwc1984]

well for me it won't be a big loss because when i buy the car and start building it i am gonna keep it and just keep building and practicing probably until the day i die ever since i heard about drift racing i have always wanted to do it but never had time and the money to do it until now

[chester_ff7]

true true true! to each his own! you do it with 16s, 17s. i do it with 18s. so on that note..... rwc1984 you have could get 2 way LSD.