Thread: RWD sr20de advices needed

Hey guys, i own a 180sx with a rwd sr20de highport engine.

I'll be keeping it DE rather than going the usual turbo route for quite a few reason(Reliability, fuel consumption, certification laws in nz, insurance etc). Its currently completely factory with a 5 speed gearbox and a 4.1 ratio diff. I'm wanting to squeeze abit more power out of it by adding the usual bolt ons and maybe some headwork along with some cams. I'm located in NZ so we have 95 and 98 octane readily available.

My plan at the moment is
Headwork
Jasma 4-1 headers
2.5inch straight exhaust
Cams (Not sure which)
SR16VE pistons
Headgasket
Lightweight pulleys
Lightweight flywheel
6 speed conversion
4.9 ratio diff

Just wanted to see what you guys would do if you were in my position? Which parts would you guys go for and why?
It will be a relatively cheap build and im not chasing monster figures.

Let me know what you guys think

Skip the 6 speed trans and keep the 4.1 diff gears. Don't bother doing any heavy porting work to that head. The rest of your list sounds good. If your hell bent on keep the stock head just install valve springs and retainers for a higher rev limit, porting does free up power but not much for its cost. If you skip a few items as stated above and sell your stock head you should be able to buy and fit a ve head. A high comp rwd ve setup will out perform the stock head by miles. You can expect 210-220hp from a well tuned high comp ve, while the de will require way more work and money.

I love the 6 spd

To be honest i wouldn't mind going the VE route, the car has its original engine from factory in at the moment which i can use to drive the car around. I have a spare engine on the side which i can build on the side slowly. The only reason why i wanted to stay DE head is because its just bolt on and very simple whereas VE needs quite a few modifications to make it work from what I've been told.

6 speed is necessary as i'm planning to drift & track the car and will need the correct gearing to fully utilise 2nd and 3rd.



This guy is running a Autech SR20DE with 270 tomei cams, 6speed and a 4.9 ratio diff making 200hp atw with 200lbs of torque. Unsure of further details but yeah i was thinking of making my setup very similar to this.

Keep the advices coming guys, i'd love to see what you guys think as you guys are probably way more experienced in this field than i am.

^^^^ that guy spent 4 times more $$$$ then needed. Sorry but a high revving ve will own the de at less cost and won't need the 6 speed. I'm not a fan of the 6 speed rwd trans because they break easy compared to the 5 speed. I have seen them break at 400hp while the 5 speed will hold 600hp. But that's all on turbo cars so your lower hp should be fine. Good luck with this.

FYI for a drift car you want rear wheel speed so getting lower diff gears makes it harder to keep the wheel speed. The car will pull harder but require more hp/rpms to keep the rear wheels spinning. Plus holy he'll that car is loud, I would hate to drive that thing very long. If drifting is your goal just turbo the car and be done.

Drive? the cop would pull you over and beat you a inch of your life then give you a ticket for auditory assault. Car sounds very very bad.

Yeah the car will be drifted so logically i should go with the turbo. Im a student and those N/A parts are available at much lower cost then a turbo setup plus i'm pretty keen to just experiment with things. Always loved the sound of screaming N/A engines. Plus drifting N/A is alot harder than with turbos, keen to give it a go.

Managed to score some SR16VE pistons and some HKS extractors for cheap. Will also be keeping my 5 speed box instead going to fiddle around with the diff ratios to see whats best. Got some Franklin stg3 bolt on cams at my disposal too so will give that a go as well. They are 257 deg 11mm lift both intake and exhaust.

Will let you guys know how things go

Student and drifting should never be combined!

That's because you'll make much less power with NA, and power is what you need when drifting...which is probably why the video ended when you were going to take the lead. Did you get passed?

oh thats not me in the video haha, its some dude in japan. meh i'll see how things go, i've managed to score most of the bits for quite cheap so it'll be a good side project for me. i'll update you guys as much as i can