What do you think is the cheapest way to 200WHP?

[StricNyne]

LOL, nitrous is very reliable a decent kit will arm only when you tell it and only on WOT with it shoot, he has like a 75shot on a wet kit and got like 100hp from it. just getting it filled can get expensive. i got a buddy on the bottle with a nitrous nano on his 2008 350z with like 30k miles.

in long term i would by a ebay manifold, sr20 turbo kit, chipped ecu, ebay intercooler. but thats for a cheapo setup and like 3 times the cost on initial nitrous setup

[CRyan]

LOL, nitrous is very reliable a decent kit will arm only when you tell it and only on WOT with it shoot, he has like a 75shot on a wet kit and got like 100hp from it. just getting it filled can get expensive. i got a buddy on the bottle with a nitrous nano on his 2008 350z with like 30k miles.

in long term i would by a ebay manifold, sr20 turbo kit, chipped ecu, ebay intercooler. but thats for a cheapo setup and like 3 times the cost on initial nitrous setup

Meh, I have had my tries with nitrous on primarily stock cars (I.E. dry/wet kits). Honestly, unless you have some way to tune, don't do this.

75 shot may not be much, but if you rig it up with a WAO throttle switch, you run the risk of nitrous pop. You don't want that.

Furthermore, when you state "200 whp isn't very much/fast", it is when your attempting it with your stock KA24DE. Your "cheap" idea goes out the window when you attempt fixing your HP problem, as so with any engine swap, or modifying an over the hill truck engine.

So, again, resting my case. If you are attempting to have 200 WHP, go SR20DET. But it isn't cheap.

If you are wanting something reliable, go with a Nissan rebuild kit. Therefore giving you the "reliable" satisfaction.

If your wanting either of these 2 with "cheap"(which you haven't stated what "cheap" is), you will have to give us more information as to if you want a turbocharged car, supercharged car, nitrous car, etc.

[Lonismos14]

"See we can race for cash, when i step on the gas my nitrous go blast leave your a** in the past. Hey tej your about to lose your garage, im a low budget mechanic but i overcharge."

[Gabes13]

K20

such a good motor.

[s14derrick]

Come on guys. He said cheapest. Not cheap
The cheapest would be an sr ka-t and an oem rebuild. you could break 200 whp for under a thpusand. If you get an sr it will cost twice that and still might not even break 200whp.

I would never do nitrous. It still needs a tune. And its not constant power. In the long run its not worth it unless its a drag car

[CRyan]

I have come to this conclusion.

Cheap and fast(er). KA-T. Buy an EBay kit and MAYBE a rebuild kit, but I don't know if that falls out of the "cheap" range. Reliability has dropped dramatically to your KA, for it was not built to handle pressurized air.

Reliable, fast(er), kind of cheap - Redtop SR20DET. Built to handle a turbo, and with a FMIC and full exhaust, you might could kiss 200 HP.

Cheap, Reliable - Rebuild your stock KA. These engines ARE good, under the circumstances they don't see nitrous, boost. Or any kind of air it can not make up for via the fuel system. I will add here that, with a mild cam, a rebuild to the head (i.e. valve retainers, springs, etc), full exhaust, intake, and maybe a retune from some company, you could reach 175-180 HP.

I keep forgeting about that damn CA engine! Those are relatively cheap, and would give you a lot more to work with than that of what a KA can provide. I would definitely look into that, also.

[Lonismos14]

^^ Dang dude you just dont like ka do you? Ka-t are very reliable stock head and bottom for 7 psi. What it comes down to is the tune and how healthy the motor is.

[CRyan]

Oh no, its not that I don't like them - I just hate it when people assume throwing a turbo on "X" engine will make it reliable and such. I agree, with a tune and the corresponding parts, you could have yourself a great engine.

But low and behold - You are still having to replace parts with aftermarket parts, key word "after". If you want to keep something reliable, keep it near OEM, unless you are REALLY good with engines.

[thomasjamal]

Come on guys. He said cheapest. Not cheap
The cheapest would be an sr ka-t and an oem rebuild. you could break 200 whp for under a thpusand. If you get an sr it will cost twice that and still might not even break 200whp.

Thank you. It's seemed like I was pretty clear when I restated that I was looking for the cheapEST way to get a reliable 200whp car, not for a magical, nonexistent way to have a 400hp reliable engine for $500.

[TheRealNap0le0n]

IMO, KA-T is almost always worth it, considering the strength of the OEM internals and the low price for spare motors. An OEM overhaul with a metal headgasket and ARP headstuds should be good for anywhere between 350 to 400hp depending on your tuning and the turbo you pick. Your 200hp goal is a walk in the park for a properly maintained KA...

seems that you forget that the oem piston ring lands tend to break around the 300hp mark

[TheRealNap0le0n]

^^ Dang dude you just dont like ka do you? Ka-t are very reliable stock head and bottom for 7 psi. What it comes down to is the tune and how healthy the motor is.

why did your KA-T blow??

[TheRealNap0le0n]

Come on guys. He said cheapest. Not cheap
The cheapest would be an sr ka-t and an oem rebuild. you could break 200 whp for under a thpusand. If you get an sr it will cost twice that and still might not even break 200whp.

I would never do nitrous. It still needs a tune. And its not constant power. In the long run its not worth it unless its a drag car

a wet kit doesnt need a tune at all.. it supplies the correct fuel along with the nitrous. you only need to retard timing

[TheRealNap0le0n]

Come on guys. He said cheapest. Not cheap
The cheapest would be an sr ka-t and an oem rebuild. you could break 200 whp for under a thpusand. If you get an sr it will cost twice that and still might not even break 200whp.

Thank you. It's seemed like I was pretty clear when I restated that I was looking for the cheapEST way to get a reliable 200whp car, not for a magical, nonexistent way to have a 400hp reliable engine for $500.

Gen 1 SBC 350 swap... just sayin

[Lonismos14]

[/quote]why did your KA-T blow??[/quote]
Mine blew because boost was at 10 and everywhere i drove the car i was smashing it. Not to mention that i had rebuilt/upgraded the head and ignored the pistons they had 200+ on them. And i wasnt useing my efi tune i was using the emanage i think everything was maxing out. And i didnt know.

[Lonismos14]

And when i first started off i was having boost spike and was detonating one to many times.

[CRyan]

Come on guys. He said cheapest. Not cheap
The cheapest would be an sr ka-t and an oem rebuild. you could break 200 whp for under a thpusand. If you get an sr it will cost twice that and still might not even break 200whp.

I would never do nitrous. It still needs a tune. And its not constant power. In the long run its not worth it unless its a drag car

a wet kit doesnt need a tune at all.. it supplies the correct fuel along with the nitrous. you only need to retard timing

I've seen wet kits swallow MAF screens through the intake.

And lets just "hope" the guy who sold us the system gave us the right jets, or pills, or whatever the "in" crowd is calling nitrous now. Too many times have I seen someone misread the small print on the jets and put in too large of a nitrous, or too small of a fuel one.

Besides which, who wants nitrous oxide when you can't inhale it We were running dental grade on our drag boats, this was also through a direct injection. And tune. Tune. TUNE.

[Flicktitty]

three words.

SMALL BLOCK CHEVY.

if it's a carb'd motor even better. only takes like 3 wires to make the motor run, shouldn't be hard. they make mount kits for a few hundred bucks, plus motors are cheap, do a carb intake and cam your well past 200whp. and still overly reliable.

[nifares240]

you can't put the word "cheap" on the equation of making a car go faster.

[Onizuka]

Wait, are you looking for "just a fun daily driver" or do you specifically want a turbo car. If you really just want a fun car to drive, start somewhere other than the motor. Tires, suspension, then driving skill, then motor. I love NICO to death, but in my experience 97% of the people have way more motor than skills. For example, nicofest 2010 at Carlisle, I was the fastest nissan there in autocross. What do I have in my car? A completely stock s14 non-turbo SR, 165hp tops. Everyone else showed up with KAT's, turbo SR's, Corvette LS3's etc... but no investment in driving skill. Go to some autocross training events if you want to learn to have fun in a car.

Turbo cars are fun, I daily drove my other 240sx with a turbo for 4 years with zero problems, but its not cheap. There are ALWAYS extra costs, even if you buy a kit. Heck, even the cost of putting premium gas in your car vs regular is going to be a BIG yearly expense. Realize that now-a-days, even with 200-hp you are going to get out-gunned on a highway by a soccer mom with a 300hp minivan. There is nothing wrong with wanting a turbo car, I'd say just take more time considering what you really want.

And good luck with whatever route you go

[bersh240]

300hp minivan=milf.
just sayyinnnn

[numbnuts240]

or a complete whale that needs that power to lug her fat a** around.

[bersh240]

thanks for that image...

[numbnuts240]

i do what i can.

[CRyan]

or a complete whale that needs that power to lug her fat a** around.

That made my day in the most obscene way possible.

[thomasjamal]

you can't put the word "cheap" on the equation of making a car go faster.

You can't be serious. Read the thread. We've been over this 4 or 5 times. I asked about the cheapEST way to the specific goal of a reliable 200whp engine.

Why do people have such a hard time with this concept?!

[thomasjamal]

Wait, are you looking for "just a fun daily driver" or do you specifically want a turbo car. If you really just want a fun car to drive, start somewhere other than the motor. Tires, suspension, then driving skill, then motor. I love NICO to death, but in my experience 97% of the people have way more motor than skills. For example, nicofest 2010 at Carlisle, I was the fastest nissan there in autocross. What do I have in my car? A completely stock s14 non-turbo SR, 165hp tops. Everyone else showed up with KAT's, turbo SR's, Corvette LS3's etc... but no investment in driving skill. Go to some autocross training events if you want to learn to have fun in a car.

Turbo cars are fun, I daily drove my other 240sx with a turbo for 4 years with zero problems, but its not cheap. There are ALWAYS extra costs, even if you buy a kit. Heck, even the cost of putting premium gas in your car vs regular is going to be a BIG yearly expense. Realize that now-a-days, even with 200-hp you are going to get out-gunned on a highway by a soccer mom with a 300hp minivan. There is nothing wrong with wanting a turbo car, I'd say just take more time considering what you really want.

And good luck with whatever route you go

I'm not looking specifically for a turbo car and I totally agree with what you're saying. This is why I have a very modest hp goal and why I'm looking to spend as little as I can while keeping it reliable. My goal is to have a balanced, fun to drive car. So I'll be upgrading the suspension and brakes and such. But since my motor needs a rebuild anyway and I'll have to spend money fixing it I might as well go for a modest increase in power while I'm at it. But I know I don't need tons of power to have a fun car so getting tons of power isn't my primary goal.

This is also why I'm not interested in nos. My goal isn't the occasional burst of power so I can crush the soccer mom in her minivan or even the redneck in his camaro (though I might enjoy that one) off the line. I'm looking for something more like a solid autocross car.

[TheRealNap0le0n]

I'm not looking specifically for a turbo car and I totally agree with what you're saying. This is why I have a very modest hp goal and why I'm looking to spend as little as I can while keeping it reliable. My goal is to have a balanced, fun to drive car. So I'll be upgrading the suspension and brakes and such. But since my motor needs a rebuild anyway and I'll have to spend money fixing it I might as well go for a modest increase in power while I'm at it. But I know I don't need tons of power to have a fun car so getting tons of power isn't my primary goal.

This is also why I'm not interested in nos. My goal isn't the occasional burst of power so I can crush the soccer mom in her minivan or even the redneck in his camaro (though I might enjoy that one) off the line. I'm looking for something more like a solid autocross car.

i used to drive a camaro and im not a redneck

[thomasjamal]

i used to drive a camaro and im not a redneck

touché

My experience with camaro drivers is based on living in Georgia, though, so that could be a factor in my stereotype...

[CRyan]

Now that I am set in a better perspective, knowing what your goal with the car is (fun, autocross vehicle), is there a way you could help us out with some kind of set limit? Its really hard to distinguish cheapest when trying to make 200 HP with the KA engine.

I'm not sure if I've already mentioned this, but for a naturally aspirated to make 200 WHP, its saying a lot as far as your tuning abilites. With that said, I will try to comprehend the most reliable way to reach the obtainable horsepower, in a less expensive manner.

Well firstly, you know the basics. An intake, a full exhaust (header, catback, 2.5 preferably in the case you are keeping it N/A. But I guess that can also come with personal preference). This should really cover the "everyone does it" bolt on set up. I am just going to go on a limb and say that at that point you'll probably make 160(W)HP.

You said you want a fun autocross car. So why not give it a little more powerband, with some low end. If I'm not mistaken the 240/248 set up is good, but honestly, that could be completely off.

Look into getting the newer (95 and up) intake manifold. It doesn't have the butterfly valves, which can restrict some air, and various other reasons.

Someone add to this - I've gotta go.

[CRyan]

Seeing as no one hasn't added to it yet - I will continue seeing as I'm done shooting pool for the night.

Uh, if your looking into a little more of the internals, you could go with the SOHC pistons, giving you a comp. ratio of 11:1 IIRC. I will now suggest don't go turbo on these pistons.

To get a little further into some tuning, you could always go with some Deusthworks (sp?) injectors, a different MAF, fuel pump, and a custom rail for a relatively good price. Find yourself a decent "used" stand alone system, and play around with some numbers. . .Or have someone help you tune it.

I'm sorry I haven't really priced all this, but if I were to do a naturally aspirated build, and was on a relatively tight budget, I would do this. Your biggest "umph" would be the tune, of course - But know that I didn't list any of this in any kind of order, too. I will also go ahead and apologize for not really "listing" any horsepower gains, for I'm not good at guestimations.