KA or SR

SnoOgAns

Member
I have a 91' 240sx and i know there has been many discussions on the ka24 vs sr20 but i need suggestions on what i should do... Im leaning more to the KA side for now but i wanted to also know how much it would cost to boost the KA if that's what i decide... I have about $2500 - $3000 to spend. Thanx in advance.
 
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SnoOgAns said:
I have a 91' 240sx and i know there has been many discussions on the ka24 vs sr20 but i need suggestions on what i should do... Im leaning more to the KA side for now but i wanted to also know how much it would cost to boost the KA if that's what i decide... I have about $2500 - $3000 to spend. Thanx in advance.


spend it on an sr20. ive done the ka route and judging by your description you would have a more enjoyable experience with an sr.
 
Go ka Man ! :bigthumbu

do it right.... timing chain,timing chain tensioners,pistons,rods,headgasket,good tuning....
 
listen to 240sickness....he has to borrow cars because KA's blow up on him on a regular basis. I was gonna go the KA route until I met him. He no doubt is a sick ass driver and builds awesome engines. Its just the downtime and time it takes to fix it when shit goes boom sucks. SR's are getting more and more popular so finding parts for them is no problem. Its already got boost. Just drop it in.
 
slidewayz240sx said:
listen to 240sickness....he has to borrow cars because KA's blow up on him on a regular basis. I was gonna go the KA route until I met him. He no doubt is a sick ass driver and builds awesome engines. Its just the downtime and time it takes to fix it when shit goes boom sucks. SR's are getting more and more popular so finding parts for them is no problem. Its already got boost. Just drop it in.

ouch, regular basis............... its because I have not been able to build an engine with aftermarket goodies, and I have been piecing engines together with scraps. used pistons, whooped bottom ends and the sort. hopefully that will change, I havent driven my car since February hopefully this engine will last a year.
 
this is the way i see

how much is a sr swap ?
with that money you could boost the ka and you going to make more power than the sr...yeah is true they blow up alot specially if you don't get somethink to tuned....i own a ka-t is has piston and headwork..i took it to the dyno it make 260 hp at 9psi ,with my fuel pressure at 60ps1,why cause i ididn't have nothing to tune i drove the car like that for like a year ,i put couple of time races gas and i pumped the boost couple of time to 15psi and till this day is still running..now i'm not driving the car i'm doing suspension work and better turbo parts and a good ECU to tuned... all my parts my friend has them in his s14 ,is a bone stock motor that i has a lot of mile it came out of my friend Alibaba old car and he dogs out the car alot and till this day still runs,and even know he has a AEM computer the car ruuns good but like shit cause is not tuned right..Don't get me wrong i like the sr i think is a great motor and i seen a loot of people with the sr making power like the car from Mazworx that think is sick i give to them and is five speed....just like ka-t they are a couple of them running hard like Ivan's cars....me personally like the ka is iron block,longstroke,and they meybe a truck motor but it has almost the same desing of the old datsun from the 70 with that means it could hold a lot of betteing,easy to work on them and they are getting popular that why a lot companies they making a lot of parts..now you decide..


and to everybody excuse my writing,,i'm Cuban (BALSERO) OK
 
s13hector said:
how much is a sr swap ?
with that money you could boost the ka and you going to make more power than the sr...yeah is true they blow up alot specially if you don't get somethink to tuned....i own a ka-t is has piston and headwork..i took it to the dyno it make 260 hp at 9psi ,with my fuel pressure at 60ps1,why cause i ididn't have nothing to tune i drove the car like that for like a year ,i put couple of time races gas and i pumped the boost couple of time to 15psi and till this day is still running..now i'm not driving the car i'm doing suspension work and better turbo parts and a good ECU to tuned... all my parts my friend has them in his s14 ,is a bone stock motor that i has a lot of mile it came out of my friend Alibaba old car and he dogs out the car alot and till this day still runs,and even know he has a AEM computer the car ruuns good but like shit cause is not tuned right..Don't get me wrong i like the sr i think is a great motor and i seen a loot of people with the sr making power like the car from Mazworx that think is sick i give to them and is five speed....just like ka-t they are a couple of them running hard like Ivan's cars....me personally like the ka is iron block,longstroke,and they meybe a truck motor but it has almost the same desing of the old datsun from the 70 with that means it could hold a lot of betteing,easy to work on them and they are getting popular that why a lot companies they making a lot of parts..now you decide..


and to everybody excuse my writing,,i'm Cuban (BALSERO) OK

the decision lies in whether the person is going to rebuild a ka with at least a set of forged pistons. 3k will not get you a turbo charged ka with different pistons. So the most reliable and easiest to make power out of is the sr20. If he had 8 thousand to spend then I would possibly suggest building a ka because that would cover the cost of doing everything right. That dose not mean that you need 8 thousand dollars to build a ka correctly but its a number that would cover mostly everything.
 
it's true ,but with 3000 dollars he could turbo a stock ka ,wich he is going to make more power than the sr,and yes i do think that the sr is going to be more reliable cause is low compresion and is going to last longer than the ka..but hey i seen ka tuned right and last long to..


How much does the sr swap cost ,me doing the swap just buying all the parts for it?
 
If I had to do it all over again I would go Ka. The sr is more money to get power from...ya there more reliable but my freind went through 2 of those motors...If you mod an sr (I.E. bigger turbo, injectors boost controller etc.) be prepared to pay for a good tune. The main problem with the ka is that it's n/a, so once it sees boost it automatically needs a good tune from the start. Aslong as you don't go cheap and cut corners it will be just as reliable to even more reliable than a modded sr. Go to ka-t.org and search!!!! Theres no need to post on this.Here is one ka-t route I would go, if your compression numbers are excellent!!!!! Any problems you have with a Ka will become worse when it gets boosted.
350 Manifold (revhard or jgs topmount)
60 oil lines
350 holset h1c turbocharger with v-band clamp
110 custom 3' downpipe
250 40mm or bigger external wastegate
200-400 enthalpy or jwt ecu must go big on tuning
60 dyno runs
100 for a blow-off used
200 Intercooler for sr ( has to be modified for the turbo...)
250 aem uego wideband to monitor your afr's
50 boost gauge.
300 for shit that goes wrong or w/e

With an lsd/slicks you'll probably run nice streetable low to high 12 seconds in the quarter depending on your car.
heres a link just read...
http://www.ka-t.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6263
Don't say the motor will go boom in a month. If you get a good tune...theres people running stock motor 400+hp daily driven for over 3 years... :bigthumbu
 
SnoOgAns said:
I have a 91' 240sx and i know there has been many discussions on the ka24 vs sr20 but i need suggestions on what i should do... Im leaning more to the KA side for now but i wanted to also know how much it would cost to boost the KA if that's what i decide... I have about $2500 - $3000 to spend. Thanx in advance.


If you decide to go SR call me!!!
 
:confused: .......SR20DET is the only way to go......You cannot compare the 2 motors...the sr was built for boost from the factory and IS going to last ALOT longer the a KA on boost! Why is it that when somebody asks what motor to get everybody automatically thinks there gonna build a 1000hp car..... :rolleyes: ......The SR will be more reliable and alot more fun...comparing stock SR to KA-T, the sr just has the right power curves, you would have to tune the KA to do the same!
 
The engine depends on what you want. Both have pluses and minuses. An initial factor is how much money you want to spend. You can build a 350whp KA on a stock/refreshed block for less than a good SR swap. At this point the sr is doing ~190whp and you're out 3.5 grand. Of course the SR has a bunch of crazy japs tuning its potential and producing parts so ultimate top end power is easier to achieve on an SR... at a price.

What you should be doing is examining dyno graphs.

http://www.ka-t.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=3
http://www.sr20forum.com/turbo/82080-post-your-dyno-sheets-*turbo*.html

Since this is drifting forum, I'm assuming that you would like to have low end torque. The KA is a much easier engine to get 200 ft/lbs of torque at 3krpm than on the SR. I'm sure the SR could achieve it, but again, at a price.

Here's the easy SR vs KA buyer's guide:
1) What motorsport are you running in?
2) What kind of power do you want for that motorsport?
3) How much cash do you want to spend?
4) Go look for a dyno with parts list that meets your budget, and build from that.

In other words you need to figure it out for yourself. Everyone's going to try and sell you their belief as to what engine is "best", but what you need to determine is what engine is best.... for YOU. And there's only one dope good enough for that job...(hint: you.)

Also.. TUNE TUEN TUNE TUENE TUNE TUENENENENE. For fucks sake tune. I can't speak from experience, but from research, on the KA, the only need for forged internals below 400whp is detonation insurance, from faulty hardware(cheap wg), or, wait for it, shitty tuning!!

Did I mention tuning?
 
low end torque is over rated.....imho......when comparing 250 ftlb and 270...............now when were talking 96 ftlb ...then it becames a factor
 
personally it all depends what you want man.....cause you get a head gasket and some good pistons and you can abuse the shit out of the KA man. those motors can take a beating iron blocks ftw they are heavy but can take whatever you throw at them if done right
 
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