(grunting)
(imitating car engine revving)
- Or if you have another type of 240 it's more like
(imitates car screeching, crashing)
Bro, don't tell mom, bro!
Don't tell mom!
I know it's my second car bro but don't, don't tell her,
it's just the wheel, I'll get the wheel replaced man,
just don't, whatever you do,
do not upload that video on YouTube, man.
It's not good, okay?
It was one time that I ran into a street pole, one time.
This car's like,
this car's like the Mona Lisa bro, just don't wreck her.
All right, what's going on guys?
It's me Alex from Fitment Industries
and in this episode of So You Want,
we're talking about the car that people bought
when they turned 17 because they saw Tokyo Drift,
then let it sit in the garage for two years
before declaring it a loss and selling it
to someone else to do the same exact thing.
It's probably one of the only cars
to teach us about disappointment and you know,
if you've ever been in a relationship with a high schooler,
that'd probably be the only other time
that you were taught disappointment.
But today we are talking about the Japanese
level car of the world, the Nissan 240SX.
(mid tempo electronic music)
(car engine revving)
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so we can keep making awesome videos like this one
and if you haven't subscribed yet, look at all these
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This guy sure (beep) doesn't (beep) race.
Dude's got some (beep) fake carbon fiber parts.
I know that he's covering up
a crack with all these stickers everywhere.
It's like good thing I know it's on Air Lift Performance.
I can't tell because it's (beep) completely undriveable.
The Nissan 240SX was a North American
market coupe variant of the S13 and S14 Chassis.
When it came out, it was equipped with a KA-24E
from 1989 to 1990 and a KA-24
DE
from 1991 to 1999.
The difference was just a few goodies
but most notably the cams.
Every single 240SX was built in Kyushu,
Kyoshu, Kaishu, Cookie, Japan.
Now here in America, there were the 240SX.
In Japan, it was the S13, S14, the Silvia,
there's the 180SX and the 200SX from the European market
but for the sake of my sanity today,
we're rolling with the 240SX nomenclature.
In short the first generation,
the good old S13 was a pretty simple Nissan.
It was naturally aspirated,
came in a decent motor option
and had a typically early 90s look.
It came with a four speed automatic (gagging)
or a five speed manual meant that
there were quite a few produced.
You could see this car come in like coupes and fastbacks
or even a convertible if that's really your thing.
It came with the best stock option any car
in the history, in the world could possibly come with.
Pop-up headlights.
(squeaks)
The car would receive various updates to the motor
over time, adding more valves, sport packages, LSDs
and even the HICAS four wheel steering if you were a lucky
kid and got the golden ticket and you managed to come
across one because usually those just weren't in anything.
But how was the first generation actually received?
Decent.
The first generation was an overall success back in the day
and for most this was still challenging like your parents
to pick up either like a domestic muscle
that was loud and obnoxious or a Japanese coupe
that was nimble and maneuverable.
While many thought this was
a successor to the Datsun platform,
it is not, don't even think about it.
Another big step that made the first generation successful
was it's multi-link rear suspension
that truly made it feel like a sports car.
In fact, a lot of people attribute the success of the first
generation 240SX in the US market to that suspension.
The second generation, well they made it better but
they removed the most important thing they possibly could.
(squeaks)
Overall, the S14 wasn't a great success.
Even as they introduced more trim levels to make it more
appealing to a wider audience, gave it some goodies
like leather seats and ABS, more LSD and more,
it still just wasn't, it still wasn't enough.
It was at the end of it's generation that
the 240SX decided to go through puberty
and in 1997 received some minor improvements.
Pretty much just made it angrier.
The second gen wasn't received as well out of the gate.
America was finally learning that SUVs were apparently
the bomb.com and no one had time for the cute coupe sports
cars that were like the Japanese market's bread and butter.
During this time of America with them always getting
the short end of the stick, the international market
was receiving some goodies added to the 240SX.
The Silvia in Japan for instance
won Car of the Year Japan award,
it came out with the SR20DE and DET motors,
which was baller.
It was getting the love it needed by Nissan to
continuously improve it and it became a proper sports coupe.
However just like that child that you never liked,
you just wished they would go to college and just
never came back and like Nissan did with the 240SX,
they axed it in 1998, that was very dark.
I don't know where I was when I said that
but apparently I was not in good head space.
The 240SX hit the American market at an opportune time.
The depreciation of the vehicle
had allowed people to jump in when,
when they were (sigh),
do you hear it?
Do you?
Do you hear it?
It's the JDM hype train!
(mid tempo hip hop ensemble music)
The Fast and Furious was in full swing and the hype
for Tuner Japanese vehicles also skyrocketed at the time
and with it was the 240SX platform.
It became an immediate go-to for the aftermarket
enthusiasts because of its solid foundation,
decent suspension and lightweight chassis.
People like you and people like me really started to enjoy
the 240SX as they began to go back into the limelight.
But where they really began to shine
was the aftermarket drift scene.
The 240SX was huge in the drifting scene.
Plug and play style engine swaps, a great wheel base,
commonly produced to make finding parts even easier,
it was just a dream come true.
Regardless of generation,
the cars began getting scooped up by anyone
and everyone that thought about drifting their car
and that's when the tax came in.
The reason that you spend,
we'll get there.
You see, there's this thing called a drift tax.
It comes around every so often, sometimes they fade away,
sometimes they don't exist on cars you think they should.
But there is one car that sits at the throne
of that drift tax, the one that seems to just never go down,
that one big kid in 5th grade that
would never lose at King of the Hill.
The one thing, it's just like the one that people
could not give two (beep) about the taxing
because it is the go-to drift car and that
is the Nissan 240SX.
So you want a Nissan 240SX?
Neat, here are some things that you're probably
gonna want to know before jumping into one.
Most, if not all Nissan 240SXes
are absolutely overpriced, 100%.
We have seen rolling shells go for 4,000.
We've seen stock motors go for 5500 with 280,000 miles.
It's disgraceful!
12,000 for an SR20 swapped S13
that's met a wall just one too many times, how?
The 240XS lineup features a price point that can be
hard to swallow and in our eyes if you're gonna snag one,
find a deal or just get one imported.
If you're paying 12 grand plus for an already swapped
modified one that has met some sort of physical thing
that was not meant to move like a wall,
you're probably gonna have a bad time.
You see the cars themselves were probably
worked on by any Joe, Jane, Bob or Mike that wanted it.
Everyone wanted to swap them and everybody wanted
to modify them, especially in the early 2000s
and that didn't change especially up to today.
Therefore, most of them have had way too many
like grubby little hands in the engine bay
with way too much electrical tape.
So if you're gonna buy one,
you're actually better off starting from scratch
or buying one knowing you'll have to
fix all the shortcuts and the other
things that the 16 owners did before you
because that's just what 240SX owners do.
They buy and sell them way too often it seems like
or they work on 'em and then give up but then they
just sell the whole cobbled thing to the next guy
and that can sometimes be a pain.
But hot diggity dog, are these fun cars to modify.
They have every available modification known to man.
They are not insanely priced for parts.
The car can handle a beating and because of it's foundation,
it's quite the little monster and with a bit
of money and time, it can pretty much do anything.
The cars fit just about anything in them
but you'll find most S13s are running older SSRs, BBSes
and even more common now, Cosmis Racing Wheels.
S14s are littered with Heritage Besus, RPF1s
and suspension is usually TEIN
and BC Racing for the most part.
But the problem comes from if you can find one for you.
Can you find a 240SX with all the same color body panels?
Can you find one with a clean title?
Can you find one with less than eight owners?
But most importantly, can you find one without
spending more than $10,000 on a 20 year old car?
That, that is the tricky part.
The 240SXes sit in a very unique spot
because they are an incredible car to own,
they're an incredible car to drive and they're
an incredible car to drift and if you do it right,
it'll probably be one of the best cars you ever own.
However, sometimes starting at the beginning
of that race can be a little bit of a mess
because finding the right car right out the gate,
especially if you're planning on modifying
one yourself can be a little dodgy
and if you end up buying one from somebody else that managed
to put it all together, don't expect it to work right away
because unless you're paying around $30,000 for it,
it's just probably not.
So you want a 240SX?
Well, we hope you still want one after this
'cause we love 'em and we'd love to see more of them
and if you have one, drop it over into
our gallery at fitmentindustries.com/add.
If you're looking for wheels, tires, suspension,
check out fitmentindustries.com.
If you guys pick up one of those, you could pick up
a t-shirt, it helps us keep making cool videos like this.
My name is Alex from Fitment Industries.
Don't forget to subscribe even though
I said it three times and drop a comment
on what you'd like us to see talk about next.
We will see you guys later, peace.
(relaxed piano music)