reporting back with news from the "other side"

[SloS13]

Drove an SR yesterday. It was pretty fun. Way different than my KA-T. Seems to rev a lot more freely and it would be much easier to over-rev by mistake because the motor really doesnt sound like its ready to be shifted. Of course b/c of the small turbo the power is much more linear and predictable. Overall it was nice and I like it, but as far as stock SR vs. KA-T I'll take the KA-T

[D1SR240]

thnx for the opinion, it should help out because a lot of people don't know if they wanna go SR or KA-T

[Silent Drifter]

yea i rode in my friends SR which is in the high 12's an its very smooth. Havent rode in a KAT yet hopin soon though.

[JohnI3laze]

Has he cranked the boost up at all Slo? Is it redtop or blacktop? t25 or t28 turbo? VTC?

[SloS13]

s13 redtop. stock boost. still working out some problems. Im sure it'll feel a lot meaner at 10-12psi. (T25) Im gonna try to convince him to slap a T28 on there.

[Silent Drifter]

thats what my friend has is a t28 at 12 psi.

[bcuz]

yah I think Im going with a sr, gonna rebuild the head for sure so I can rev it just a lil higher and possibly build the block, up the displacement to 2.2 or so. If I went KA-T I would have to rebuild the he heaad for sure just to rev close to what a sr can rev up to

[chandler]

I think im just gonna build the block and head and then balance the crap out of it till I know it can rev, and with the flywheel and driveshaft, it should be a little better also

[HolyShiznit]

yah I think Im going with a sr, gonna rebuild the head for sure so I can rev it just a lil higher and possibly build the block, up the displacement to 2.2 or so. If I went KA-T I would have to rebuild the he heaad for sure just to rev close to what a sr can rev up to

Not to sound like a jerk dude but do you realize how expensive the kits are for a 2.2 liter SR are? Seriously think about it dude....

Second off why make the KA do something it was never designed to do: rev to what the SR can. They are different engines, one has more displacement and often more torque the other revs higher and has a different power curve. Build one or the other to the strengths inherent in it, don't build one to be like the other that's just dumb.

But boost the car either way dude! :ylsuper

[bcuz]

I dont find it dumb. But no I didnt know how much the kits cost. And why not rebuild a KA head? a b20 isnt made to be turboed or reved to 9k but if you build it right it can do it with no trouble. And it probably is cheaper to have your head rebuilt, and turbo the motor, then to buy an sr swap. But the down side is a lack of a large aftermarket support.

Dont knock my valid opinion just because yours is different. and in fact if anyones opinion is wrong its you, becuase the motor isnt built for that, thats why you REBUILD IT. And you suggest to go turbo either way, a motor that doesnt rev high is less inclined to see the same benefits from the same turbo set up as a motor that can rev high. And on top of all that, you act like building the head will make the motor lose its advantage of torque, it will still be a torquey motor, now it can just rev a lot higher. Please keep your comments to yourself if you are looking to put others down, espeacially when you are not right, or atleast the other person is not wrong. Now who's dumb?

[Nathan]

Why not? Because the bottom end of the KA will take a crap if you rev it too high. If you plan on revving a KA higher than 7-7.5k on a regular basis, it's going to take some serious work. Also, what you said about the non-revvy KA being less likely to see the same benefits to turbocharging just arent true. You have to consider that all revving higher does is shift where the powerband is, the displacement of the KA makes up the difference. Consider that a KA can spool up a pretty standard sized T3/T04e quite well by 3k rpms and hold it until 7k while an SR might take until 4k or more, if you can rev 1k higher in the SR, you haven't gained a darn thing except lag.

[bcuz]

very interesting, thanks a lot nathan, you told me facts and supported them. Instead of throwing a lot of opinion in there, and you didnt just call me dumb. Now I have learned something. But either way I like longer gears, since my car wont be a drag car, and Ill be driving on the street a lot. So I prefer the sr20, also I love the silvia front, and I would feel like such a dork with the silvia front and a KA heh

[Nathan]

Oh come on, you'd be mad tyte like that Yeah, the problem with the bottom end is just the piston speeds at higher rpms...they get ridiculously high and its extremely stressful on the internals.

[bcuz]

ah, so how would you get aroundt hat? gotta rebuild the block I guess eh? new sleeves and stuff? aftermarket pistons? crank rod?

[PacManVR4]

Nah, No sleeves on a KA since its an iron block. Just get some rods, pistons, good headgasket and some headstuds. All in all I think you will find that the KA would be a great street motor becouse of the low end tourqe and a great highway car for the same reason. There are sevral KAs that make great numbers and some that have made almost 500 whp on stock internals. Just keep the fuel and timing in check, dont over rev it and you will be fine with any nissan motor.

[whiterps13]

you guys really bring up some good points, and back them up with real info. thanks for the freindly debate...

[s13ofdoom]

i saw the 2.2k stroker kit the other day. for you bcuz i doubt a stroker kit would be ideal (wanting hi revs) and costing 4 grand. you may want to lean towards boring out and getting some bigger pistons i've seen 2.1 setup. And you guys already covered KA but i was wondering what would pricing be like to build it for 350-400 "reliable" hp

[Nathan]

The bad thing is that you dont have a whole lot of room to bore out either the KA, OR the SR...even if you resleeved it, you are limited by how close together each cylinder is. Check this out: See how little area is where two cylinders meet? That's going to limit the amount you can bore it to where it wont make a really big difference even if you do go with an overbore, you might gain .1 liter max or so. Really, your probably better off building up either motor and keeping a relatively stock displacement, I mean a .020 overbore is good just to clean up cylinder walls, but not to gain displacement Both motors have proven to be rather nasty when built up, even at stock displacement ya know.