GTP Cool Wall: 1989-1994 Nissan 240SX

1989-1994 Nissan 240SX

  • Total voters
    115
  • Poll closed .
White & Nerdy

White & Nerdy

4,209
United States
Wasilla, AK
1989-1994 Nissan 240SX nominatedy by Custom878

img_3486.jpg

800px-Red_240SX_II.jpg


Stats:
Production: 1989-1994
Style: 2-door coupe, 2-door convertible (not in nomination for some reason), 3-door hatchback (AKA "fastback)
Engine: KA24E 145 ci/2,389 cc naturally aspirated OHC inline 4 (rated 140 HP & 152 lb-ft), KA24DE 145 ci/2,389 cc naturally aspirated DOHC inline 4 (rated 155 HP & 160 lb-ft)
Transmission: 5-speed manual, 4-speed automatic
Layout: Front-engine, Rear-drive
Related: Nissan Silvia, Nissan 180SX, Nissan 240SX​

My take? Maybe OK, I guess. 1994 models are auto-SU due to all being AT convertibles. An AT convertible is a girly car, unless it's something really powerful like a Corvette or a Camaro SS in which case it's a midlife crisis poser car.

Also, inb4 peolpe saying it would be cooler if it had the smaller, higher-revving, higher-specific-output engines from abroad. They may have had more power, but I'm not sure if they'd have been cooler - or, in this case, even less cool.
 
This car is trapped between Cool and Meh for me.

I'm not persuaded to give it cool, so Meh it is..
 
I like these and can appreciate tastefully modified ones, but they're not particularly cool.
 
Meh. Can be made to look decent though. The "Oh no 5oh" swaps that seem to be popular in this car would bump it to a low cool if I could vote based on modification but I can't so meh.
 
Inb4 uncool cause truck motor.

90s FR sports cars with pop up lights are almost always cool. Suffers a bit from being hard to find one that isn't modified by a douche, though. It's not beige enough for meh and it doesn't have an SR20, so it can't be uncool. It's was also available in lavender and two tone colors, which make it slightly cooler. I guess I'll give it a Cool, but that's if it's decently optioned with one of the rarer colors. Otherwise, it might be Meh.
 
Last edited:
I have very fond memories of this car from NFSU2. Overall its a relatively good looking car for the price it cost, had good driving dynamics and lots of modding potential.

The fact that so many of them have been riced knocks it down a bit but its still a solid cool.
 
It's one of those cars that I think I'd be quite impressed with if I saw a bone-stock one driving down the street.

However, its image is a bit too "drifter, YO" at the moment, and even a nice, stock, original one driving down the street isn't exactly a head-turner. Fun, but so are plenty of genuinely cool cars.

Uncool.
 
Exempting the drift scene and indeed ensuing stereotypes, I personally find the S13 liftback to be a fairly boring looking car; taking preference to the Silvia coupe and in particular the Sileighty.

Add in the KA24 and it's a Meh on my end. I've driven a few cars with that engine, one of them quite extensively, and while it's reliable and strong it's a fairly uninspiring engine.

Pop-up lights and the good weight distribution almost pull it out of Meh.
 
Good lord I never realised US 180's had such pitiful motors!

Despite W&N's ramblings in the OP, I think this car with the proper engine comes across as cooler overall - once again though this is down to the massive drift culture in NZ.

If you talk to your average person over here and mention drifting (and especially so that you're a drifter yourself) they suddenly see you as a much cooler person.

It's unreal and yet it appears to be universally true - I've never managed to get through a conversation with someone who knows I drive a skyline without being asked if I drift and how "Cool drifting is"

And you can fit more spare tyres in a 180SX than any other "Drift car" - I think that's a pretty cool if boring fact.

I dunno, I'm going to ignore the fact this is a US 180 simply because I just can't relate and say it's cool.

1796959_277830412376311_4321935135768438063_o.jpg


(Yeah it's a friends 180 so I'm biased but shhh)
 
While these cars have a huge image problem, that's not necessarily the car's fault. Still, the KA is a fairly uninspiring motor. The car itself was nice, but it just wasn't all that much fun with a KA. With an SR, it really woke up. Even in naturally aspirated trim, the SR's more rev-hungry nature made it a more engaging drive. With an SR20DET, these things can be a right gas. I guess we're kind of lucky we got the later S14s here with DETs... except, of course, they sold them only with auutomatic transmissions, which are an automatic "uncool" because they're 90's automatic transmissions, which suck hijjus.

Since we're talking about a standard S13 240SX, I'd say it's either a low cool or a meh. I'm more inclined towards the latter, since there's really nothing remarkable about this car before you swap the motor. And after you swap the motor, then it isn't the same car, anymore, now, is it?
 
The KA isn't really that bad. It's not exactly rev happy, but it has some rather decent qualities. *cough*torque*cough*
 
Looks meh. Get plus points for being RWD, but that gets more than cancelled out by the drift/stanced/JDM factor. I can almost guarantee there is no unmolested example in the UK right now.
 
TheCracker
I can almost guarantee there is no unmolested example in the UK right now.
Click to expand...
They do appear very occasionally, but they're usually scene-taxed to buggery. And a 1990s Japanese coupe, usually with a slushbox, is really not worth what people want for them when anything else of the era can be had for three-figure sums.
 
Just like the miata, I'd love to own one to drive at the track but I don't feel it's a cool car really. Meh it is
 
Thats a lot of mehs! (I'm one of them)

This car's styling could have been better, and it could have had more power, but it didn't. But it was a good car nevertheless.
 
Stock examples look like a blank, soulless template for many early 90s coupes (though most other 90s coupes have at least some redeeming qualities). Very little character and could blend into traffic anywhere in the world, leaving it teetering on the precipice of uncool.

And then the JDM/dorifto movement came along.
 
TheCracker
Looks meh. Get plus points for being RWD, but that gets more than cancelled out by the drift/stanced/JDM factor. I can almost guarantee there is no unmolested example in the UK right now.
Click to expand...

I see one everyday, owned by a mechanic near me.


This car is an uncool for me, only a few cars from the 90's have come round and look good again, this car is still stuck in the phase were it just looks a bit cack.

Wait ten years and an unmodified one might have matured well.
 
It's either a drift-car. Or an autocross car. Or a beat-up first sporty car for a teenager (incl. FARTCAN!). Or a car for the kind of uncle that went through a mid-life crisis in the 90s and couldn't afford a Porsche so he bought a 240SX with a slushbox and keeps it to this day thinking he still "gets it".

Point is, none of those things are cool. I voted uncool but coming to think of it, I should've gone for seriously uncool.

PS: Darn, I would love to own one! :lol:
 

Latest Posts

Back