Nissan S13 vs. E30 325i

[ProjectXC]

i see your point about BMW's being better quality but if you run any car hard as it seems he is talking about in his post that its going to have things break. The SR20DET is between 202-247 stock HP range, then upgrades beyond that can give you in the range or scope of 350 without damage to the engine block and components beyond that you will need internal upgrades, yes the Dinan can make close to the SR20 but with upgrades beyond that the SR20 is a proven engine and is still being installed into newer cars for the tunablity of it. It's mainly a matter of what he is planning against what he can manage.

[christophv]

I'm sorry to say so, but forget about the SR20.

No problem to pick one up here, but the CA18 is more than a worthy enemy for it.
The CA18 has a cast iron block which is very durable and robust.
About the costs for a swap - same money invested in the CA18, and I have stable 300 WHP. With less sweat and blood.
Not to mention the TÜV (our MOT) that will make a lot of problems to make the car street-legal.

Maybe it's just me, I'm so much into forced induction, the whole BMW-6cyl-N/A-thing is still a bit alien to me

[fairladyz_gt-r]

i will say S13, i just love the timeless look of it...get the minor change body kit...as for the engine....if u are going to mod it...may i recommend you sending ur CA18DET to tomei? tomei is a firm that are specalise in tuning Nissan's engine...they have been tuning Nissan's engine since the L20 of the late 60's...and they take order for complete build engine. so u can send ur engine to Japan for a month or so and it will come back with all the after market part brand new with already tuned ECU. We have a Skyline GT-R R34 here with a complete build Tomei engine...900WHP+ (sorry for got the real number) but what i am saying is 300WHP for them is easy...and it will still be very reliable

[christophv]

well, sending it to tomei would be too expensive, but I know a lot of people/tuners which use the entire range of tomei parts, especially forged pistons/rods.

[fairladyz_gt-r]

if u can rebuild the engine urself, i see no reason why u shouldn't buy the S13

[christophv]

money

nr. 1 reason so far.

I never modded/rebuilt an engine, so I'm a bit anxious about that.
As I said, I have a lot of technical insight and I'm also capable of fast learning. Still, this would be the first time.

So if anything goes wrong, I might end up with a lot of junk.

I got my license for three years now, drove more than 40,000mls and want to learn drifting and basic racing techniques now.
That's why I don't want to spend all the time in garages (I don't even have one).


But hey, I'm a rationalist but also courageous

[ProjectXC]

CA18DE, turbo is a whole nother story, the us 240's don't come turbo so the CA18DET is out of the question unless you are going to buy a turbo kit for a couple grand...CA18DE would be all motor if you were looking to spend less that the SR20DET and would be a lot more technical because you are dealng with internals and such, too much work when you can swap it out and add bolt up upgrades for close to the price.

[fairladyz_gt-r]

Plz....He is from Germany...

[ProjectXC]

...damn germans always get the good shit...

[blakscorpion21]

the bmw is old and ugly, get the nissan.

[MuscleNRice]

I'm a huge BMW fan, but I cant imagine an E30 would be that unique in germany unless you gave it or found one with external modifications - they can look very sexy indeed.

My final decision is that if I were you, living in germany, i would take the s13. It's more unique and more versatile (and more popular in the drifting world, but that may just be because it's from japan). They may cost a little more for a good one, so i guess the financial issue is your call.

Its hard to find a good deal on a 3 series in the states, otherwise I'd probably have one.