Who daily drives their KA24DE-Ts? Who reliable/liveable is it?

[Bobby12many]

For those of you who have Turbo'd your DOHC KAs, how reliable has it been for you on a daily driven basis? Are there any mechanical/electrical areas which should be taken into deep consideration when converting to the darkside?

Due to unfortunate events I have to sell my Evo, So im looking to put around 300whp & tq in my S13 DE daily driver to make up for the loss of speed.

Im just now trying to sort out which engine and what specifics I will be doing it with.

Anyone care to comment on the driveability of a KA-T and it's overall reliablilty and ease of maintanence?

[virus77]

I drove mine daily driven for over 8000 miles at around 250whp with an full stock motor and it never gave any problems. The motor finally blew some rings at 12-13 psi but as fas as reliablity 250whp didnt make any differance, I drove it hard every day.

[S14tat]

i made 230whp for over a year and 30K miles on a bone stock KA and i just redid my compression test 2 months ago and its a perfect 180 across all 4 cylinders.

[Bobby12many]

i made 230whp for over a year and 30K miles on a bone stock KA and i just redid my compression test 2 months ago and its a perfect 180 across all 4 cylinders.

:

Very nice.

My only reservations at this point come from the fact that my block has over 165k on it (although it runs well, doing Comp test tommorow ) and im debating whether Boosting the stock block at 7-8psi and building another KA shortblock in the meantime will be a better option than doing it all at once.

I think as long as the compression is all good, boosting the block I have now would be nice, just to get a feel for the engine and working on it with FI in mind. I just cant wait to have some power in this thing

[virus77]

My motor had 160K on it.

[Bobby12many]

My motor had 160K on it.

perfect

[klattr1]

i have daily driven my car at 17-19 psi of boost with a built motor for more than a year and the only problem I really ever had was occasional blown headgaskets every 6 months. Most of the time they would blow after I would boost 20+ psi at dyno or drag strip.

you gotta pay to play but then again you need to play it safe by checking air fuel ratios in boost so you dont blow crap up.

200rwhp-330rwhp daily driven will be fine for a stock internalled KA as long as your air fuel ratios are optimal and your timing isnt too aggressive for pump gas.

[Bobby12many]

i have daily driven my car at 17-19 psi of boost with a built motor for more than a year and the only problem I really ever had was occasional blown headgaskets every 6 months. Most of the time they would blow after I would boost 20+ psi at dyno or drag strip.

you gotta pay to play but then again you need to play it safe by checking air fuel ratios in boost so you dont blow crap up.

200rwhp-330rwhp daily driven will be fine for a stock internalled KA as long as your air fuel ratios are optimal and your timing isnt too aggressive for pump gas.

Thanks for the input.

Im probably going to go with a SSautochrome Mani , TDO6 turbo, a JWT remapped ECU, Z32 maf, and 550s (just for the overhead) . I would like to push about 9psi for a whie.

ALl that with a Hallman MBC and a wideband 02 should be perfect for daily driving IMO.

Plus I am happy to be able to get 93 octane at most gas stations aroung me for about $1.90

[SoCalSilvia]

Plus I am happy to be able to get 93 octane at most gas stations aroung me for about $1.90

ugh... i get 91 octane for $2.15

[574-240sx]

140K and about 4K on it turboed now. I drive a few days out of the week. Definitely a fine daily driver. I wouldn't hesitate to take it on a road trip and I would drive it daily if I didn't have a 2nd or 3rd car.

[nissanfanatic]

135K and turboed at 134k. I run 6psi everyday and I occasionaly run it hard. 2-3 times a week I floor it. I love to drive it. I just check the compression again after 1k of boosting and it is still 180-190 on all four.

[MarkEmark]

I'd really like to know people's input about this as well, for those making 330 + rwhp...I love how driveable my KA-T is right now...while the turbo may be small the throttle response is simply amazing...and I can't stand lag. I only fear that once I upgrade my turbo and fuel system and run about 7 more psi of boost it's going to suck as a (more or less) fairweather daily driver. I don't want it to be a poor-mannered car that drives like a race car (that is, only well under WOT). Maybe I'll go and post on the KA-T.org forums...

[nissanfanatic]

My system is pretty laggy. But that is what I like in a turbo system. I love the sudden lunge at 3500. It drives like it did NA under 3500rpm and under 50% throttle above 3500rpm.
Modified by nissanfanatic at 9:35 PM 1/5/2005

[Zetec]

I'd really like to know people's input about this as well, for those making 330 + rwhp...I love how driveable my KA-T is right now...while the turbo may be small the throttle response is simply amazing...and I can't stand lag. I only fear that once I upgrade my turbo and fuel system and run about 7 more psi of boost it's going to suck as a (more or less) fairweather daily driver. I don't want it to be a poor-mannered car that drives like a race car (that is, only well under WOT). Maybe I'll go and post on the KA-T.org forums...

Get something from the GT28 family and you shouldnt have any problems.

[MarkEmark]

Get something from the GT28 family and you shouldnt have any problems.

Those are extremely pricey IIRC.

I was thinking a T3/T04E "50" trim...I hear they're one of the best sized turbos for the KA.

[Zetec]

just saying people hit full boost with the GT28RS at 3k on a 2.0L so i would imagine that it would be nearly instant boost with a 2.4L.

[Kr0n1k]

Hey, sorry to thread jack, I have to say, MarkEMark, that is the sickest avatar I've ever seen. I miss that damn commercial, it was hilarious. Don't know why, but it was.

[MarkEmark]

Hey, sorry to thread jack, I have to say, MarkEMark, that is the sickest avatar I've ever seen. I miss that damn commercial, it was hilarious. Don't know why, but it was.

lol, it is a sweet avatar...but I can't take credit for it...I got it off another forum that I don't frequent much Fresh alloy I think it was. Oh well, now my cover is blown!

[Structure240sx]

i sold my beater last may, after i stopped driving it last april. so i put a good 6 months of daily driving on my car. prolyl about 8000mi. this was all done at 13psi util the last month or two. at this boost level i was running 13.0's with street tires and 12.5's with slicks. ets. 300-320rwhp

i was down for 2 days total during this time. 1 day was for a bad starter (that will happen to any car) the other day was when i did my z32 brake swap and i made the mistake of putting the calipers on the wrong sides which trapped alot of air inside (my own mistake).

other than this i havent had any major issues. i dialy now on 15psi with very stiff suspension and lack of traction. the only things i worry about are my crap paint job with slighly torn up body kit and losing a race cuz of wheel spin.

theres no reason why a high power car wont last just as long as a normal car if you have it setup right and maintain everything