srdodet or ka24, that is the question

Information on the naturally-aspirated KA24E and KA24DE engines.
blown-S13
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hey guys, im purchasing an s13. need some opinions on a motor swap. what are the benefits of an sr20 swap ? or should i turbo my ka24?:help


SpeedFreak
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Now b4 you guys jump up and down on this noob plz remember that we all at one time didnt know. To answer your question all you have to do, my friend, is read what is already posted. My humble thoughts on this matter are this.

I think for the amount of money you end up spending on a turbo for the ka, which is about 4000 for a kit, you can darn near get a s-13 sr20det, fmic, clutch, and fuel pump. Not to mention that this motor was built for a turbo and loves it! So if you truly have the option of which I would strongly suggest the Sr route. That is just my thoughts on this. I respect all the turbo ka's out there as well but I also think that from a money/time standpoint the Sr wins.:icesangel

ADAMHU
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turbo KAT all the way.... IMO

blown-S13
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GEE, THANKS FOR YOUR HELP:chainsaw :chainsaw

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GodDrivesA240sx
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SpeedFreak wrote:Now b4 you guys jump up and down on this noob plz remember that we all at one time didnt know. To answer your question all you have to do, my friend, is read what is already posted. My humble thoughts on this matter are this.

I think for the amount of money you end up spending on a turbo for the ka, which is about 4000 for a kit, you can darn near get a s-13 sr20det, fmic, clutch, and fuel pump. Not to mention that this motor was built for a turbo and loves it! So if you truly have the option of which I would strongly suggest the Sr route. That is just my thoughts on this. I respect all the turbo ka's out there as well but I also think that from a money/time standpoint the Sr wins.:icesangel
The only prob I see with the SR is that if something breaks (water pump, etc) you might have to wait a while to get one in, which can really suck if it's your only car. So I think the time thing is not a positive to the sr in the long run :)

Movingviolation did point out that with the ca there are oem parts available at the dealership (thanks to the ca18de I suppose)

Damn still trying to decide myself. And now hopefully I can get all the parts at cost with my new job. And get a hookup on the install.

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FrEaK
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LOL adam...

tell them what happened with your car recently...

red98s14
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FrEaK wrote:LOL adam...

tell them what happened with your car recently...
Racing a car produces a lot more potential issues than street driving. Having a gasket blow on the track is no reason not to support KA-T.

Daunttless
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Heh, like SRs and CAs and everything don't blow up either..... : )

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FrEaK
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I know red i was simpley asking him to tell his little story about his day on the track... dont take anything personally on this board.. especially with people like Deesballs :)

Turbo_Ka24
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Ok here it goes...

The problem with the SR is that if u do import 1 and u break something then u have to wait a while to import it.. (thats a drag) and ur only importing because it comes turbocharged.. (50 hp difference) not worth it because u can just drop a turbo on the KA and get more hp then a stock SR. Plus the KA is .4 liters bigger (SR=2.0 KA=2.4) which obviously means more potential not to metion that an SR doesnt come close torque wise..

Well thats the way i see it and around my town fastest 240sx is a KA turbo 400+ hp

Nismo_Freak
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Turbo_Ka24 wrote:Ok here it goes...

The problem with the SR is that if u do import 1 and u break something then u have to wait a while to import it.. (thats a drag) and ur only importing because it comes turbocharged.. (50 hp difference) not worth it because u can just drop a turbo on the KA and get more hp then a stock SR. Plus the KA is .4 liters bigger (SR=2.0 KA=2.4) which obviously means more potential not to metion that an SR doesnt come close torque wise..

Well thats the way i see it and around my town fastest 240sx is a KA turbo 400+ hp


You seem to be missing a few components in this arguement. A KA-T will be pushing the limits of its internals at 7 psi. A SR-T will be pushing its limits on the turbo/fuel system at 15 psi. The SR will be more reliable than the KA-T because they are built for a turbo and the internals will not be under stress as much as the KAs. Reliability is worth more than a small amount of power in my book.

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FrEaK
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So then a change in pistons and getting the cylendar sleeved and reinforcing everything would be a side effect of getting a turbo... obvious but would it make sense just to run low boost?

technoman
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If you get a Sr20 your are importing a USED motor. Who knows what that engine has been through. Maybe you will get a good one and maybe you will get a bad one it's a gamble. i prefer a new not used turbo motor.

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C-Kwik
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Nismo_Freak wrote:You seem to be missing a few components in this arguement. A KA-T will be pushing the limits of its internals at 7 psi. A SR-T will be pushing its limits on the turbo/fuel system at 15 psi. The SR will be more reliable than the KA-T because they are built for a turbo and the internals will not be under stress as much as the KAs. Reliability is worth more than a small amount of power in my book.


How is that? We've seen KA's boost up to 15 psi so far on stock internals. The KA has a stout bottom end like most Nissan motors(as well as most import motors). The rods are plenty strong from the factory. The biggest limiting factor is the high compression. The ring lands are small too since it wasn't intended to be a turbo motor, but that's only an issue if you get detonation.

If you look at the difference between an NA SR and a turbo SR, there aren't any hugely significant differences other than lower compression.

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C-Kwik
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FrEaK wrote:So then a change in pistons and getting the cylendar sleeved and reinforcing everything would be a side effect of getting a turbo... obvious but would it make sense just to run low boost?


That's not a side effect. It's a safety measure. But it's not entirely necessary. And resleeving the cylinders may not be necessary at all on the KA since it's an iron block. Due to the loose tolerances associated with sand casting, some have seen too thin a wall for a larger bore on the KA. But I haven't heard of anyone who ran into any limits on the KA's cylinder walls being able to handle high amounts of power. The SR will need to be resleeved at some point...currently the consensus seems to be somewhere in the 400 - 450 HP range.

mainman
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I think SR20DET is a turbo engine so it has a much lower compression, hence stock wise, SR20DET would be able to take more boost and a big turbo.

I had a SR20DET with HKS2530 GT turbo, and Its doing about 300++ hp. pretty decent power, but torque is lower than the KA.

I think turboing the KA with 7psi boost will give less than 300hp, but it will feel like it has much more torque. KA is like a turck engine...

I've since sold my SR20DET, and I have my original KA installed, and I'm doing it up with forged pistons, conn rods, cams shafts, etc. to take pressure for a big turbo. It is probably going to cost as much as doing up my SR20DET, but I like having the same engine # the car originally came with.

KA-T vs SR20DET...Cost is about the same I think, and there seems to have more turbo parts for SR20DET though.. SR20DET is also lighter than the KA.

KA24DE however is a bigger engine, and has more torque and since its a bigger engine, it can give more power at low rpms, and hence cruising at 65 on the highways, before your turbo kicks in is much smoother on the KA.

On which engine is better is purely up to your own preference..

Robin

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FrEaK
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C-Kwik thanks for the info but i dont want to hear badgering on one or the other.... this is a fairly sane thread... dont mess it up by cutting up one engine and building up the other...

ka24de_510
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there really is no perfect answer to this, but check out this page on a guy who turboed his single-cam KA. the moral of the story is, don't get too boost happy. he also states that the stock pistons won't handle much more than 250hp, and I tend to believe him. he did have (supposedly) 330hp for a limited amount of time, but he never lowered his compression. with only some low-compression forged pistons you should be able to gain 300hp. that's what I see from what I've learned. people who have done it right, like PSI240SX, are approaching 400rwhp, with probably 7-10k invested (a guess). you could probably get similar results from a sr20det; I don't really know. the better part about it is, with the KA, you don't have to wait until 5000rpms to get moving. you can smoke someone without it sounding like you've got a b16a hiding in your car. and we all know how nice it is to win without trying.

and now to edit in the link:http://www.sdsefi.com/features/240sx.htm


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