Bought my first 240 w/ SR20DET

[RalliartRsX]

Originally Posted by Kingtal0n

Anything over 340rwhp, do not use the sr20det in my opinion. Because as you can see, it will cost 5k just for the engine, and often they only last a couple hundred miles and then you need another one. The previous owner of your engine probably blew it after a couple hundred miles, then rebuilt it and sold it quickly before it blew again. Very few people in the USA can properly build a small displacement engine like the sr20det.

It can be done though, but lets just play what if: what if you DO successfully build the sr20det, now what? Now you have a motor that demands methanol or E85, at 500+rwhp, and is not nearly as fun to drive on the street, because you have to rev the motor out higher to get to the power. You going to take the motor to a minimum of 5,000rpm everytime you leave a stoplight just to see some boost on the gauge? Not in a daily driver. And if you have to ask me "why not use a smaller turbo?" I would point out one critical oversight: you will spend just as much building an sr20det to support 400 as it costs to build one for 550. If we can get 350HP out of a stock engine ($1200 longblock) then it does not make sense to spend an additional $6000+ (the price of 5 stock longblocks, approx 250,000 miles of reliable daily driving) for a built engine that only provides an extra 50-100 horsepower. In other words, once you pass the 350hp bracket, the price of the engine multiplies by 5 times, and the chances of successfully getting a reliable engine decreases by approx the same factor of 5 or more.

This is about 5% true, but keep telling the masses this is not so.


As mentioned in my thread, your ideas of a 340WHP is properly outdated and there are plenty of 400WHP SRs that do not use a VE head that do multiple trackdays and race series with vary nary a failure. Read: Cody Ace. Some 40 plus trackdays at 400WHP and he has yet to have a failure. And 1 track day equals about 5 years of abuse that you would ever place on your car just doddling around on the streets.

In addition with tuning, a good flowing head and a EFR turbo, a 450-500WHP SR will perform as mundane as a D series Honda out of boost and be very drivable in boost with nary a downside. I see it time and time again and not sure why you choose to not open your eyes and come to the realization that: Technology has advanced WAY beyond what you may think and you need to bring yourself to the turn of the century.

A well setup Haltech or AEM vehicle with proper failsafes works plenty magic.

Also, I have yet to buy a used SR I would use as a coffee table much less to throw in my car. These engines are almost 30 years old and people seem to think they are worth gold and asking 2500 for a S13 full swap with unknown mileage, leaking oil, with shit tunes, rat nest for wiring harness and missing all sorts of parts. Not to mention driven into a wall more times that there are hours in a year.

S15 engines are the youngest at 15 years old at best and 20 years old at the worst. 20 YEARS OLD! That's almost as old as I am young. And guess what?? People want minimum 2000 for a S15 long block.........Swaps are $3,500 and full swaps are almost $5,000 (from radiator to exhaust tip).

I will welcome you with open arms to the 21st century once you get a phone that can actually receive text messages (much less picture messages) and you are able to accept that Technology is capable of wondrous things, not something to play ignorance on.

And time is money: So now I buy a used SR with all these demands (which almost none will be met in that 1200 price range lol), swap it in, spend a bunch on miscellaneous and still have a stock SR with unknown history??

I mean shit, isn't that what got the OP in this mess to begin with?? Buying a block (or in this case, an entire vehicle) that is suppose to be in fantastic condition only to find with less than 20 psi compression on 2 cylinders?!?!