Advice on Nissan 200SX?

cargrouch

Hi,
Maybe some people here can help me out or point me in the right direction to get good advice...

I have an obsession with the Nissan (S14a or S15) 200SX! It will be a year before I'll be able to get one, so I have time to research and find a good one etc. Touring spec (main feature being leather) and manual would be my choice. From searching this forum I gather that most touring models are auto.
http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/carreviews/review.aspx?model_id=594

Things that appeal to me:
I actually like that the shape isn't too agressive or sporty in standard form. I don't want it to attract attention - purely for my driving pleasure.
2L Turbo RWD, LSD, no traction control - sounds like fun :-)
Not very common, at least around Cork.

Things I would worry about:
2L Turbo RWD, LSD, no traction control - sounds like a handful on wet Irish roads - perhaps too much of a jump to make from 80bhp FWD? :-(
Not very common - problems sourcing parts? Especially if I import a jap Silvia?
Auto v manual - see below. There also appears to be a huge diff in prices, I presume the drift market is pushing up manual prices?

Any comments on the above points?

Five specific questions:
1) Has anyone had one of these? What was your experience?
2) Should I just make my life easy and go for a Celica instead? Not so keen on the shape of the last 2 models tbh, and 2L turbo RWD makes 2L NA FWD look a bit tame - may not be a bad thing!
3) I have no experience of auto gearboxes. In the wet, with a turbo and RWD, is there more risk with an auto of a sudden slide? That is, if you're making your way around a wet corner and the box decides to drop a gear will you a surge of power that will cause you to swap ends before you know what happened?
4) UK import 200SX or Jap Silvia? I presume there are practically no Irish 200sx's. I have no interest in buying one that's been in Ireland for a few years, probably ragged to bits by a wannabe pro drifter.
5) Any good garages around munster for servicing? Any specialists for performance jap imports?

I'd like to start with a car as close to factory as possible. I have no intention of tarting it up barryboys style or turning into a drift car. I appreciate any help on this, I think it's fairly obvious that I'm a complete newbie to performance cars!

natnif

just as a matter of interest,what are you driving now?

cargrouch

My stable of performance cars over the last 6 months has included a Fiat Bravo, Renault Clio and Nissan Sunny.
Fun but thirsty, not my thing, and reliable and frugal A-to-B car in that order.

I need a new car now but will probably just get another A-to-B machine. My SSIA matures next April and my money in the new job should increase about the same time.

zero19

nice car, u gonna use it for drifting?

colm_mcm

cargrouch wrote:

I'd like to start with a car as close to factory as possible. I have no intention of tarting it up barryboys style or turning into a drift car.

zero19 wrote:

nice car, u gonna use it for drifting?

.

Henry Ford III

1/. Don't buy an automatic.

2/. Insist on touring spec.
model
3/. 200 bhp with rwd and a fairly brutal power delivery means discretion in the wet.

4/. Buy a face lift version (post 1998).

5/. Check insurance.

kikel

They are a nice car. I remember seeing one a few years ago. It was an irish car. Orignal example. Leather seats and all. Not very popular though. But i'd still like to drive one. Just to see if it's as good as it looks.

fitz1979

cargrouch wrote:

1) Has anyone had one of these? What was your experience?

I have one an s14a. Like yourself I wanted a standard one. I went to liverpool to get mine and since then two of my friends have bought one from the UK after seeing mine. I've modified it a bit now but nothing too mad as it's my daily driver. www.apexperformance.co.uk is the place to go for Parts both standard and uprated they selling nothing but 200sx parts.

cargrouch wrote:

2) Should I just make my life easy and go for a Celica instead? Not so keen on the shape of the last 2 models tbh, and 2L turbo RWD makes 2L NA FWD look a bit tame - may not be a bad thing!

RWD isn't that scary I went from a 52Bhp Corsa straight to my 200 and I haven't had any problems. As long as you respect the car and don't drive like a Pro-Drifter it won't bite you. I find there is good feedback and it's easy to feel when your wheels start to slip and just let off the power the standard LSD isn't too agressive

cargrouch wrote:

3) I have no experience of auto gearboxes. In the wet, with a turbo and RWD, is there more risk with an auto of a sudden slide? That is, if you're making your way around a wet corner and the box decides to drop a gear will you a surge of power that will cause you to swap ends before you know what happened?

Not sure. Just buy a manual

cargrouch wrote:

4) UK import 200SX or Jap Silvia? I presume there are practically no Irish 200sx's. I have no interest in buying one that's been in Ireland for a few years, probably ragged to bits by a wannabe pro drifter.

If you want a touring model it'll have to be english or Irish, as that is a european spec. The japanese models never came with leather. Also you might want to note if importing that the VRT on a Japanese 200 is about three times more then the UK equivilent. The 14a's start from 97 not 98 as previously stated. My car is a November 1997 14a.

cargrouch wrote:

5) Any good garages around munster for servicing? Any specialists for performance jap imports?

The place to go is www.sxoc.com/vbb this is where I found my car and there is plenty of advice and buying guides to be found there. there's also at least four guys from Cork in the Irish section. Apex Performance are one of the traders on the site too and often have group buys on some nice parts.

hope that helps any more questions just ask.

cpoh1

Ive driven quite a few of these fellas, fabulous car with work done to them...in standard form it was highly dissapointing to be honest, slower than a teg R, quite simply if you plan on keeping it standard then you will have a dissapointing car for a 2L turbo engine, the sr20 engine is the most underrated car and can handle massive power over standard. Quite a few of these around cork now too...