1998 Nissan 200SX Touring from UK and Ireland - Comments

The front tyres seem to wear on the inside edges, and there is a lot of road noise from the boot.

Standard wheels and tyres can make the car nervous when cornering due to a high profile tyre - I recommend upgrading to a 17" wheel with a 215ZR45 tyre to reduce tyre flex and improve grip.

Engine is beautiful, but might be better with a better air filter/induction kit and a free flowing exhaust (insurance allowing!)

Interior is as solid as a rock, bodywork is also very rust free.

Brakes are from the Nissan Skyline R33 and the Nissan 300ZX, so no problems stopping.

I would buy these cars forever if they still made them. Excellent performance and value. Cheap servicing costs, relatively cheap insurance.

The last decent rear wheel drive turbocharged car...?

Just make sure you let the engine idle for 30 seconds before turning it off - this will let the turbo live for much longer, also change your oil every 3000 miles, and the engine will last forever.

Another convert!

One question re: the oil changes;

Does a 3000 change REALLY make that much difference. I always have a 6000 and have recently switched to synthetic (Castrol) for better engine protection.

I have heard the 3k suggestion before but have been told by other sources that 6k is perfect.

???

It's never too late to buy a new 200SX.

The S15 is available from Charlesworths for £19K with del mileage.

Unfortunately it is badged Sylvia.

If you want the S15 export version badged 200SX you can get these from me.

Save approx £2K straight off the boat. Taxes paid. 50% deposit (sorry).

250 bhp, 6spd man, climate control, torsen LSD etc.

No leather and no sunroof. Selection of metallic colours straight from dealer.

Brochure available.

01457856184.

Ray.

You don't need to keep the engine running for 30 seconds before switching off - so as to allow the turbo to cool. The 200SX has an intercooler, so there is no reason to do this.

Also, you can change the oil at every 3k miles - but its not really necessary. Nissan recommend changing oil every 6k miles, but say that really you could stretch it out for 9k if necessary.

Does anyone else get the nasty noise when you engage gear and bring up to the biting point the first time after starting?

Other than that the car is brilliant. However I have a couple of groans about it - you don't get much MPG and it you really enjoy yourself then you'll be lucky to get more than 9 miles to the gallon (gulp!). Drive it like an old lady and you'll still never get more than 25-27 MPG. Handling is a little soft as well and the gearing is perhaps a little bit too long in 2nd and 3rd gear...

The fact that the 200SX has an intercooler is irrelevant to letting it idle before switching off. All the intercooler does is cool the intake charge - the air your engine sucks in. Cooler air contains more oxygen than hotter air and hence can be mixed with more fuel to make more power, plus it reduces the risk of detonation (pinking) which can hole pistons if it gets bad enough.

Anyway, you should let any turbo engine idle for at least 30 seconds (1 minute won't do any harm after a hard run) for two reasons:

Firstly, the turbo spins at around 10,000-15,000 RPM even at low engine speeds (some turbos nudge 100,000 RPM at high revs / full throttle). Anyway, something spinning at this speed takes a while to slow down and stop, and if you switch off the engine, the oil supply to the turbo bearings is cut. If the turbo is still doing 15,000 RPM +, you can imagine that letting it go from 15,000 to idle with no oil (apart from the stuff already in the bearings) won't do it any good at all. Yet this is exactly what you are doing to the turbo every time you just pull up and switch off.

Secondly, sitting in hot exhaust gas and spinning at six figure revs, a turbo can get up to approximately 800 degrees centigrade when working hard (lift the bonnet after a hard run at night and you will probably see the turbo and manifolds glowing). With the engine ticking over, the turbo cools significantly. Again, if the engine is switched off with the turbo at (or near) its 800 degree operating temperature, the oil that is being pumped through the turbo and carrying away some of the heat literally stops dead. The small amount of oil that happens to stop in the turbo bearings gets literally cooked by the heat, and leaves tiny deposits behind. If this happens repeatedly, these deposits eventually start to block the oil supply, starving the bearings and cause turbo failure. This is less of a problem with modern oils (and water-cooled turbos) but it hasn't been eradicated totally.

Of course, turbo failure can be nasty as well. If you're lucky it's a few hundred quid for an exchange turbo and away you go. Not always though. A garage I worked at a few years ago towed in a Sierra Cosworth which had suffered a sudden turbo bearing failure at high revs. The bearing collapsed, the shaft moved, and the tips of the intake compressor vanes hit the housing and smashed themselves to bits. All the shrapnel was then sucked down the intake ports and into the engine. It destroyed the engine. Once they had stripped it and inspected the damage, they removed the ancillary bits and literally chucked what was left in the skip.

An intercooler will not help prevent either of these potentially disastrous failures. Considerate use (and regular oil changes with good quality oil) will.

It has been proven through oil analysis that a 6k oil interval is more than acceptable with synthetic oil. 3k is just overkill and unnecessary. See SXOC.com for details.

Hi - just fit a turbo timer! £100 for the unit could save you thousands down the line!

I am thinking of buying a face-lift S14 lowish miles etc, is there anything I should look out for? All tips/ hints would be much appreciated.

Andy.

Andy,

First off get over to the SXOC. It's a great Owners club, and all the info you could need is there.

As for buying a car: Same as anything really, Full Service History is a must, avoid abused examples and don't be scared of miles. There are cars out there pushing 300bhp at 250K miles. They're unbelievably Strong! Don't be scared of a few simple modifications either, they'll save you money in the long run as these cars are pretty much impossible to own, but not tune. They like it! Good luck in the search, and you can always buy mine! (WeirdNeville on SXOC)