1991 Nissan 240SX LE Power Pages- Import Tuner Magazine

Installation: Steven RHIM OF G-Dimension
Dynamometer and testing: Robert Ting & Ultimate Tuning's dynojet dynamometer

Pros
Now, before you drop a line to mail@importtuner.com telling us how we're about five years too late on the whole drift craze, take another look at this month's Power Pages test pig; it's not a drifter, dragger, or a circuit car. It's a daily driver. When an automotive magazine editor who already holds titles to a JGTC Supra and an R33 Skyline GT-R needs to find a beater during his afore-mentioned rides' never-ending "downtime", a stock '92 Tercel just isn't an option. That's why our own Carter Jung chose to hit the bricks in style with this SR20DET-powered '91 240SX. The SR has proven its ability to endure repeated beatings on the track, which makes it the engine of choice to replace a street-driven 240's gas-guzzling KA; but can it be done so in a low-key, emissions-passing, stock-appearing fashion, while still making decent power? Retaining the stock side-mount intercooler, catalytic converter and 7psi wastegate, our test car will try to prove that it can.

Cons
No matter how closely we adhere to OEM specifications in retaining the SR's emissions compliance and stock componentry, the fact that it powers a USDM chassis makes the whole car illegal as per California's wonderfully open-minded CARB and Smog regulations. And since most referees can spot an SR conversion a mile away, some Californians may argue this test is a complete exercise in futility. But alas, Californians! Ours is not the only state in the country! SR swaps easily go unnoticed in states less hip to the game than Cali, and may be completely legal in others, provided they meet emissions regulations (something the SR can do easily). However, as much as we'd like to think tests like this might work to reverse backwards laws that prohibit the conversion to an engine a car was originally designed to use, they probably won't.

Notes
The car was taken to Robert Ting of Ultimate Tuning in the City of Industry, Calif., for installation and testing. G-Dimension's Steven Rhim made sure to check compression and ignition timing and give Carter's SR a full Mobil 1 synthetic oil change prior to establishing a baseline and installing any parts. Coming into testing, the SR had already been upgraded from stock in several ways; the OEM cast manifold was junked in favor of a less restrictive tubular one, and an aluminum Koyo radiator took the place of the original plastic and copper unit. SRs shipped to the states rarely include factory airboxes; this one had already added an A'PEXi power intake from the get-go. The SR does, however, retain factory power steering and air conditioning-two musts for a California daily driver. In this form, the 240 managed to transfer an average 152 whp and 150 lb-ft of torque, or about 74 percent of its claimed flywheel figures, to the roller of Ultimate Tuning's Dynojet dynamometer.