200sx - S12

I was wondering if anyone here owns an S12 200SX or knows a lot about them. I recently bought an '87 200SX SE and I'm looking for some help and/or advice on this car. Any input is appreciated, thanks!

there is a guy on carolinanissans.com that owns one he may be able to help. what do you need to know?

I just need some general information about the car. Do you know much about them?

maybe you should try the other 200sx forum, they might help ya out.

btw, the 200sx in the title of this forum is refering to the Euro/Australian version of the Silvia, just a little FYI.

btw, the 200sx in the title of this forum is refering to the Euro/Australian version of the Silvia, just a little FYI.

btw, this forum says 200SX (RWD). The other one says 200SX (USDM FWD) Mine is RWD, just a little FYI.

lol, just making sure man. i havent heard of anyone with a S12 anymore

hey man, you pretty close to me, spokane and im vancouver!...anyways..how did you get a 200sx since we dont have them here in the states?

He has an S12. http://co.dsm.org/users/rigby/images/85Nissan1w.jpg

Yeah, it's an S12. Nissan only manufactured about 5000 in 1987 that have the 3.0 litre V6 in them. (the same engine as the 300ZX). I've only seen one in Spokane which is mine of course! I was just wondering if anyone else has one, I mean there can't be that many still driving around.

man thats ugly, not trying to be mean(mayb its the red)

Give me a minute and I'll find a better pic. (Mine's white by the way.)

Check out this site if you want: www.v6-s12.com
The "SE V6 Registry/Gallery" has two pictures of '87 white ones. Mine looks like those. This vehicle definitely has some power potential; 160hp and 174lb/ft of torque. Not bad for stock specs.

those rally S12's are pretty hardcore.LOL.

lol, yeah the rally S12's are pretty...cool? I'm just gonna fix mine up and make it a clean car, nothing too fancy.

Whatever You Do Don't Rice It.lol

they really look like eight-six's. what'd you want to know about it?

Trust me, this car will absolutely NOT be riced out. And yes, it is very, very similar to the eight-six. I was curious if anyone else out there owned one of these, number one, and number two I was wondering where to look for parts for the vehicle. I'm also having some brake problems that I'm not sure what to do about...

I'm also having problems with the starter...I think.

look in the junk yards. I heard some where that it shares the same drive line and suspension as the 300zx. how does it handle? any where close to a eight-six?

any where close to a eight-six?

What the fuck does that mean?

Lol, dude my last post on this topic was a month ago! The battery needed to be charged. I'm working on the parking brake problem now, but it's really confusing. I know it's not in the cables, it's gotta be some internal thing...anyway, www.clubs12forums is great! Lots of s12 owners!

Sigh...

The NA 200sx's had a VG30E (V6). Same engine as the NA 300ZX Z31. They were great rally cars. The Turbo 200sx had a CA18ET (I4). Nice ol' school drift-cars. It's a nice car that is way overlooked...

kinda reminds me of the celica-supra combined with the looks of a probe.. cool car though.. as it is, i'd say its a sleeper.. doesn't look like its got anything but the vg is a good motor

Nice ol' school drift-cars. It's a nice car that is way overlooked...
Thanks! It's hard to find people that actually appreciate this car! Sure it's not perfect, but I think it's better than people think it is. I've got to get mine running in good condition before any mods, though...

the vg30e was still a good motor, 165 hp. you can n/a tune it, or swap a setup from the 86-87 z31's (t3 turbo). the ca18 single cammer wasnt the best, but had a strong block and a turbo... they look good 2-toned, and yours is white, so you could make it a panda :) tune it, swap the lsd, and drift away!!1 im not sure which lsd will bolt up, but the turbos and non-turbo Z31's rear ends had the same fit, so you could probably get an 87 turbo Z rear end and swap it right in. 87 was teh first year that the turbo Z had a vlsd. some other diffs might fit, and be easier to find, but im not sure.

good luck

the vg30e was still a good motor, 165 hp.
The '88 had 165hp, mine's an '87 and should only have 160hp. 174lb/ft of torque, though. Not a bad motor! I am gonna keep working on it and look for z31 parts.

i don't know if you've been to www.z31.com or not but i'm sure they'll help you out a lot there.. and 160hp stock isn't bad at all.. pretty much just like the kade except it was a 6cyl

I haven't been there. I'll check it out, though.

Funny thing about the older Z31's is that they came with many options in Japan... a VG20ET, VG30E, VG30ET, and a RB20DET... if I had an NA S12 I would really think about swapping a VG30ET or RB20DET... sickness.

Funny thing about the older Z31's is that they came with many options in Japan... a VG20ET, VG30E, VG30ET, and a RB20DET... if I had an NA S12 I would really think about swapping a VG30ET or RB20DET... sickness.
That would be pretty sweet. I've got someone who might sell me a CA18et that I could swap. Would that be better than the VG30e? I know it's a smaller engine with less displacement, but would the turbo make a difference?

I think they have more or less the same HP... look into a CA18DET out of a SILVIA/180SX too.

if you were to swap it, be sure that everything is there, like the harness, ecu, etc. because their will be minimal gains right off teh bat, but with some parts, the ca would be much better than the n/a 6cyl. ca's had 175-180 hp depending on the year, and probably about the same torque wiht 6-7 psi of boost. An easier swap would probably be the vg30et like 1viadrift said, out of an 86-87 turbo 300zx, because its basically teh same motor wiht lower compression and a turbo. the 88-89 300zx's had a t25 turbo, which is kind of small for a 3.0 6-cylinder, but the 86-87 had a garret t3 turbo, which is good for about 15 psi daily. the 300z's before that didnt have a water-cooled turbo, so i dont know if i would mess with them, if you could avoid it. i am a member of z31, and was going to swap an rb20 into my Z for a 200zr conversion, until it got totalled by the gat-dam pizza guy, oh well, maybe someday.

Would the VG30DETT fit easily?

Screw the VG30DETT! I'd be happy if I could get the VG30DET in my car! So it looks like I should check out some Japanese engines then, huh?

It's VG30ET... not DET...

Trying to fit in a VG30DETT into anything other than a Z32 would be pretty tough... but not impossible. I would love to see that!

It's VG30ET... not DET...
I think the JDM 300ZR used the VG30DET engine with unique intake and exahust manifolds. Nissan used to make a car called the Leopard that was powered by a VG30DET. They had a single T03 turbo on them.

just wondering. why is 160Hp good for a 3.0 liter engine? is it cause its single OHC?

You mean, SOHC? Yeah it's SOHC and only a 12 valve, which kinda sucks...The actual specs are:

160hp@5200rpm ('87)
165hp@5200rpm ('88)

174ftlb@4000rpm ('87 and '88)

I think the JDM 300ZR used the VG30DET engine with unique intake and exahust manifolds. Nissan used to make a car called the Leopard that was powered by a VG30DET. They had a single T03 turbo on them.

No... the Z31 300ZR had a first generation VG30DE. It put out a little over 200HP.


just wondering. why is 160Hp good for a 3.0 liter engine? is it cause its single OHC?

That was not bad actually... back in the day that was decent power...

Because the VG30E is relatively old... Granted, it still utilizes ECCS (Electronic Concentrate Control System) and EFI System as well... But it is still an older engine.

Like someone said before, the valvetrain deffinately has an affect on the horsepower potential. And when Nissan stepped it up an notch with the VG30DE (the D in the code stands for DOHC, or Dual Over Head Camshafts) horsepower increased to 222bhp for the Naturally Aspirated version, and 300bhp for the Twin Turbocharged version.

Also, I cant remember off that top of my head, but I think the VG30E's compression ratio was awfully low for a Naturally Aspirated version... Where as the VG30DE's is at a nice 10.5:1.

(for those who dont know, 8.5:1 compression ratio of ideal for turbocharged vehicles... And whenever you have a car that has 8.5:1 ratio, and it not turbo... It tends to be very much slower, than if it was 10.5:1. Look at Honda's for example... That is why they are so easy to turbocharge)

So there are many factors that would promote lower horsepower out of a 3.0liter engine.

Dont let the low HorsePower fool you though, that engine can take some grunt :evillol:

-Wes

No... the Z31 300ZR had a first generation VG30DE. It put out a little over 200HP.
What about the leopard? Have you heard anything about that? I just read something a couple of days ago...I can't find it, though...

Oh yeah... it had a VG30DET... but I don't know much about those...

I don't know either...I'll try to find some more info on that motor.

Has anybody seen many of these cars around lately?

So there are many factors that would promote lower horsepower out of a 3.0liter engine.

Dont let the low HorsePower fool you though, that engine can take some grunt :evillol:

-Wes[/QUOTE]



what might those other factors be? and I was told that it was a botom end engine, is that because of a long stroke? j/w...