KA engine, Was: Found my dream Nissan

[Alex C. Chang]

.From: Jon Pennington <cowboydren@yahoo.com>
.they were made for.  KAs were made to grunt, i.e. pulling a load in a
.truck or hauling the heft of an Altima or 240SX without boosting.  You
.can make a KA do about the same thing as an SR, but it costs just as
.much money as getting an SR.

I don't want to get into an argument about Nissan's past failed policies,
but think about it this way:

If the SR20DE was offered in the Altima or 240SX, the car would've been a
super-pig.  Back in 1989, if the home-market CA18DE was offered, the 240SX
would've been even slower than the hardbody truck!

A turbo option was never offered b/c 1) insurance costs, 2) lack of interest
in turbocharged cars in the late 80's, and 3) rising emissions requirements.
It was a stupid mistake, but there were some real reasons behind the stupid
mistake...

.That's *REALLY* interesting.  Do you think the Miata transmission would
.bolt to the SR20DET's bellhousing?  By SR20DET, I mean on that you'd buy
.from a JDM engine importer to put in an S-car.

I doubt it.  I do know that the internals of the tranny are made by the same
contractor and that the gear ratios are really close, but IIRC the
bellhousing is different.  It's the same as swapping the internal gears of a
KA24DE and a RWD SR20DE(T).  The gears are interchangeable between the two
engines, the bellhousing is not.

.Compared to what else is available on the same platform, yes they are.
.;)

I'm not going to get into an argument with you about the 180SX, but the car
itself is not a whimpy car at all, especially when you consider where the
car is placed in the JDM market.  The only "whimpy" part of the car is that
it does not have as much practicality as an SUV or a compact van/hatchback.

-alex