SR20DET differences

[dorkidori_s13]

Originally Posted by hobbs

As the OP was asking about stock motors, I would say there are a couple of major reasons the S14/S15 motorsets are better than S13 motor sets:

- Better flowing head and intake manifold - Sure you can build a S13 for the same numbers as a S14/S15 motor but at what cost? Why not start out with something that is great rather than something that is 'OK'
- Better lubrication system - Nissan revised almost the entire lubrication system on the notchtop, there's a reason why they updated it on their more powerful motorsets.
- Age - Even at the latest production dates the S15 motorset is 5 years NEWER than a 1998 S13 blacktop, if you're keeping it stock inside why wouldnt you want a newer motor?

What it all boils down to is cost, people seem to think we'll they are both SR20s and they can both make 400whp on stock internals so I'll just go with the cheaper motorset. How and when they make that 400whp is very different from eachother, save pennies just to spend a dollar.

It's common to see people just shooting for peak power these days with little care for how everything plays together to create a nice graph on a dyno, I guess it's just too complicated for some.

im curious, has anyone really ever documented the differences in the 4 generations of S13 SRs? and im talking about more than just "oh, the 02 sensor is a different and the ECU has a different letter on the cover". the more ive been reading about and investigating the various generations of S13s (180sx and Silvia) the more im finding that nissan kept working on and improving the s13 SR thru time.

what i do know about the 4 different SRs...

• There are 4 different generations of SRs
- 90 thru 92 (1st gen Redtop)
- 93 thru 94 (2nd gen Redtop)
- 94 thru 95 (3rd gen Blacktop)
- 96 thru 98 (4th gen Blacktop)
• 1st and 2nd gen redtop grounded 02 sensor to chassis
• 3rd and 4th gen blacktop grounded 02 sensor to harness
• 1st and 2nd gen used skinny 02 sensors
• 3rd and 4th gen used fat 02 sensors
• 4th gen blacktop used a brand new ECU that no previous gen used
• 1st gen redtop has a flat faced head near the front cam seals
• 2nd, 3rd and 4th gen has fins on the head near front cam seals
• S13 Silvia only used 1st gen SR
• 180sx used every generation
• 180sx 97-98 Kouki Type R used a supposedly used a slightly different ecu/wiring harness than Type X
• SilEighty ECU was tuned for 3-4 more lbs of boost

thats about all i can think of. but i would love to see if someone has documented the differences between all generations of the S13 SR as nissan did improve the motor over time with the Type X/Type R Kouki 180s having the most revised tuning done on them.