I drove one when they were new. Wanted to like it but the engine wasn't particularly inspiring / fun and the interior was really kinda blah with cheap materials. It was out shined by its competitors at the time. It was thought of as a secretary car - using terminology of that era...
Still a cool car though with mods
Feedyurhed said:My short (very short) experience with the Nissan 240SX. It would have been in the mid 90s, I worked near a "Motor Mall" that had 20 or 30 car dealerships. Sometimes at lunch I would walk around the dealerships just to get out of the office for a bit. This particular day I stopped by the Nissan dealership and was looking at a 240SX on the showroom floor. A sales associate came over and asked me if I would like to take one for a test drive. Of course I said yes, so he pulls one around and off I go. Side note: Remember the days when they actually had demo cars available, let you drive them and let you drive them by yourself with out even checking your license? Anyway, off I go. Drive maybe a mile, look down at the instruments and the temperature gauge is pegged on hot. Pull over and turn the car off, call the dealership and they come and get me and flat bed the car back. Turns out the car had just arrived and had never been prepped. They told me Nissan ships the cars without any water/antifreeze and it's added at the dealership. There was no water/AF in this car. That's my 1-2 minute Nissan 240SX test drive story. Oh ya I felt kinda bad when I got back to the dealership as I just just said thanks, got in my car and drove off.
OMG, that means the sensor was tripping on the heat of the air in the block or head.
My dad debated NX2000 or the 240SX. He was coming out of a 200SX, which went to my brother.
My parents also had a 4DSC Maxima with a stick. I bought an SE-R soon after.
For a while, we were an all-Nissan family.
Now we all have Miatas.
calteg said:My 240sx story:
Just before the pandemic I decided I wanted to LS swap a 240. I found a suitably ratty example and went to go test drive it. Every panel was dented, but it was very very cheap. Right as I'm about to test drive it, the owner tells me "careful, the brakes are a little weak."
I accelerate down his residential street and the drivers seat rocks backwards. Briefly, I'm staring at headliner before it crashes back forward. The driver's seat, though in roughly the correct position, is not mounted to anything. The owner too, was correct, the brakes barely functioned. I made it about half a block before turning around and wishing him luck with the sale.
If you LS-swapped it, you'd have to redo the brakes anyway... could have leveraged that "problem" into an even lower price. One man's problem is another's opportunity!
In reply to kb58 :
The welds to mount the seat to the floorpan had all been ripped out. I took that as a sign of the general state of neglect of this particular car
calteg said:In reply to kb58 :
The welds to mount the seat to the floorpan had all been ripped out. I took that as a sign of the general state of neglect of this particular car
Fair enough, but for an LS-swap, the seats would likely end up replaced and attached to a roll cage anyway :)
I love 240s!
First car I ever bought, back in 2001 when they were cheap and the average enthusiast thought drifting is what snow did. Got me through college and showed me the entire world of cheap motorsports. AutoX, RallyX, track, drift days, I tried everything I could find in that car.
I've bought 5 more over the years since, when they were great cheap cars to pick up prior to full Drift Tax. I bought one because it was cheaper than a 1-way rental car back from St. Louis, it's only real fault was steering rack bushings made from duct tape!
I recently picked up another one in rampant nostalgia: Build thread
So if the 240SX morphs backwards to the 200SX and the 1986-87 200SX V6 was similar in design to the 300ZX why can't Nissan feed us a new 240 based on a lightened up 400Z?
I called these sporty cars but in reality that backseat came in handy and the hatchback was awesome to use. I brought a steel entry door back to the lumber yard in my 200SX. Once I removed the seat and put rebar thru the car to get it.
I still want a new 510. berkeleyers at Nissan.
I bought my S13 around 2001 just as the drift scene was starting. It served as daily driver for years, but now mostly sits in my garage. Every time I take it out, I'm reminded how joyfully it drives. Needs new bushings, the AC is broken, and could use some minor paint work. It's not a very comfortable ride and it's underpowered. But it makes me smile.
These make for a great organ donor for my 1969 Datsun SRL311.
(you might have to look that one up)
Especially when 240sx owner is going to SR20, an says “I am done with that truck motor”.
One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.
The “science” has already been worked out on install details, and SPL’s/SRL’s (1600 and 2000cc roadsters, respectively) weigh 2100 in stock form.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
I was a guy with a 200SX Turbo for several years, I learned that you CANNOT speed shift these in a drag race with a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. After a rebuild that car lasted me over 100,000 miles, and then the Z32 Z car arrived, ordered the slick top version, sold the 200 to a buddy who put another 100,000 on it. Kept the first Z for over 12 years, but picked up another '90 six years ago, still in love with them.
Ive always been surprised at the relative lack of these cars on the forum; I have two and they're awesome. Well, one could be and one was....
I bought one as a spare parts car but ended up having it caged and it has sat ever since. Clean title, stripped out, sr20det swapped.
the other is my previous track car but just bolt-in cage and imported from Japan. It is a fantastic car but hasn't run in yeeeaaarrrsss
In reply to 300zxfreak :
I’m trying to recall the last time I saw a 200SX in the flesh, even at Radwood....
This was the first new car my wife owned. Thing is, she's as opposite a car enthusiast as there is, so her saying that she was impressed by its handling was a real shock and surprise. Alas, her new-found appreciation for handling didn't extend to wanting a manual, so we owned the automatic for many trouble-free years.
My parents got many years out of their 240SX as well, owning it from 1991 through 2013.
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