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Thread: Some quick questions for an article

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    Some quick questions for an article

    I appreciate I haven't been a member for very long but I was wondering if anyone would be willing to help me out with some university work I'm doing. It's for my journalism degree, I'm writing an article on the S-chassis looking at why you should buy one (like a sort of buying guide type thing). What I'm after is some quotes I can use in the article. If this is in the wrong section please don't hesitate to move it, sorry I didn't really know where it should go!

    My questions are:

    1. What do you personally love about the S-chassis and what makes it special to you?
    2. What typical things would you look for when buying one?

    Any answers you could give to the above questions would be very much appreciated, you'd really be helping me out!

    Thanks

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    Guest mcleansc's Avatar
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    If you have too much money and would like to throw it into an unending pit of woe, rust, weary, rust, rust and rust then buy a S-Body.

    Personally speaking this Forum and the knowledge I've gained from it is one of the reasons I've owned 2 S-Bodies. You never feel alone with a problem and if there's something to come off or be swapped someone on the Forum has done it before. Normally better than 'f**k it that'll do' jobs I do right enough. There's a plethora of aftermarket parts available due to the cars popularity and a large amount of standard parts should something go kaboom. It's mostly mechanical and simple to work on unlike the cars of today and to me, bang for buck, there is no other car available like it. RWD, easy and cheap to tune, cheap to buy (although the prices are shooting up) aggressive styling, there's just nothing else in it's price range I want.

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    I love how rare they are, I remember the first time I saw one and I knew from that day on that it was my dream car and Id own one in the future. Then I bought three because they are addictive. As far as buying goes I'd say don't buy one with any abnormal engine noises unless you want to rebuild the engine. Also they rust badly so that's something to check for.

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    Both perfect thank you so much!

    One final thing I'd like to ask is: do you think driver involvement is more important than outright performance in a car and, if so, why? Doesn't have to relate to S-bodies that one, can be any car.

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    Banned sideways14a's Avatar
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    As a now ex owner of an S14 i would like to answer your last question.

    I think that driver involvement when owning an sx is paramount, in fact a drive should be involved in the following more than anything.
    Involved in, finding boost leaks
    Involved in, finding rust
    Involved in, dealing with rust
    Involved in, petrol station attendance records
    Involved in, MOT retest records
    Involved in, shares in tire companies
    Involved in, NVH testing (specifically with a modified exhaust)
    Involved in, fixing those boost leaks

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    Guest mcleansc's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sideways14a View Post
    As a now ex owner of an S14 i would like to answer your last question.

    I think that driver involvement when owning an sx is paramount, in fact a drive should be involved in the following more than anything.
    Involved in, finding boost leaks
    Involved in, finding rust
    Involved in, dealing with rust
    Involved in, petrol station attendance records
    Involved in, MOT retest records
    Involved in, shares in tire companies
    Involved in, NVH testing (specifically with a modified exhaust)
    Involved in, fixing those boost leaks
    Actually laughed aloud at this. Not because it's a joke... Because it's all true

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    Bod Jon's Avatar
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    I've reported this thread for moderation, just to make sure that no matter what gets written, the edited version make the S-body look better than a BMW.

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    I think you need driver involvement and outright performance in equal measures. You want to feel like your driving the car without lots of electrics holding you back but at the same time fast cars give you a thrill.

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    Member Petrol's Avatar
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    Ive driven/owned a lot of cars over the years and every car has it's advantages and disadvantages. It's trying to find a good all rounder that's the problem... For me, the S13 is the best I can find -

    RWD and LSD - Anything less, forget it
    Retro looks
    Pretty rare now
    Reasonable performance
    4 (ish) seats
    Big boot
    Small enough to get down country lanes
    Big enough to cruise down the motorway

    They rust - That can be a good thing... adds to the rarity of a good un
    CA engine is not the most reliable... there won't be many S13's left with CA's in em

    As for what to look out for when buying one - Your wallet as these things will empty it overnight

    HTH
    Pete


    SXOC Member Number : 317

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    Girly rep Neelie's Avatar
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    1. What do you personally love about the S-chassis and what makes it special to you?

    I'm on my 5th s-body and I've only now learnt that no matter what phase I go through, at what stage of my life I'm at and what the circumstances might be in that moment, I'll always come back to the s-bodies.... Since the day I test drove my first 200sx S13 (I was 19) I've been captured by their soul and flair. No other car compares to it. You can show me supercars, vintage cars, rally cars, anything, and none of them will ever catch me like an s-body. They have a certain feel about them that really transports you into the 90's in Japan, and the values that were important at that time to Nissan. Epic design, superbly balanced handling, portrays character and spirit, excellent engineering and build quality (all the electrics and buttons worked in all my s-bodies!). I can't ever be without one again. They are my religion lol. Maybe I'm slightly obsessed, but that's a good thing!

    2. What typical things would you look for when buying one?
    Rust is the first, obvious answer... and then general health of engine and suspension. Those are the technical answers, and do sort of apply to every car really. Other factors like what the owner is generally like (the clutch & tires may be give-aways there)... I do tend to be optimistic about s-bodies when buying them, but staying on the ground firmly will save you heartache ha.
    "If you don't fight for something, you'll fall for anything" - The Wise Man

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    Member Petrol's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neelie View Post
    1. What do you personally love about the S-chassis and what makes it special to you?
    You can show me supercars, vintage cars, rally cars, anything, and none of them will ever catch me like an s-body.
    .
    Well put
    Pete


    SXOC Member Number : 317

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    Guest nismo's Avatar
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    1. Very easy to tune and relatively cheap to do. RWD. Lots of parts available plus a good forum for backup and advice.
    2. One that needs work which can be quite easy to find now!

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    Thank you so much everyone for your replies, really do appreciate it! You've been a big help.

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    RS13 Everything else is either too much or not enough.

    Enough space to be practical. 4/5 seats (Sunny lap belt). Stuff like curtain poles that are 3m long will fit.
    Right amount of performance, 0-60mph around ~7secs and 140mph. When put on the right tyres, secure RWD handling with a modern multi-link rear axle. On the wrong tyres it's just humungous fun.
    Style - sleek and low - same or lower than most current 2 seater's and it's got Pop-ups.
    Cost, as others have said its best bang for buck.

    Yes you can have more practicality by buying an estate / MPV but at a massive cost to style.
    Yes you can have more performance but at the cost of either style or daily practicality and pay a lot more.
    Yes you can have more style if you give up the rear seats / hatch practicality and pay a lot more.
    Yes you can get cheaper transport but at the cost of style and performance.
    Yes you can have more or less of everything but this was about the first and last affordable car made with Pop-ups. Mazda 323 Fastbacks or Honda Aerodeck, no performance from gutless 1.6 N/A engines. MX-5 no back seats. Porsche pop-ups came at 2x cost. Lotus pop-ups never worked. TR-7 no back seats and always bozz eyed with one up when other was down. X-19 would only run one day of the year. 300ZX/Supra no luggage space as boot floor 3" higher to accommodate thirst. None of the RWD Celicas with pop-ups had comparable performance. By time they had either FWD or GT-4 AWD.

    Ford used to advertise the Capri as the "The car of your dreams" but if you had one you still had to dream a lot. 200SX is everything a 2.8i Capri was in your dreams and lots more reliable, though just as rusty.

    Jay Leno says the Lambo Miura was the last car made when designers had a totally free hand without a single government rule dictating how they had to make it. Height of headlamps from ground - prevented USA S13 notch-back having fixed lamps that JDM Silvia had. Fredral bumpers, took them 10 years to work out they didn't have to be sticky out, big and black but can be smoothed in and painted body colour. Just when they had that sorted the law makers came up with pedestrian and side impact. Pedestrian impact has dictated that the front of the car be tall and flat with a high bonnet. Side impact has resulted in cars waist line rising to shoulder height of seated occupants and glass area reducing - they compensate by fitting glass roofs or making a "x-over". A x-over isn't stylish, its just crap that can have decent sized windows as they are above the side impact zone but at the expense of massive increase in frontal area.

    Then there is emissions. Initial emission legislation resulted in 16v DOHC fuel injected engines but only in the very highest performing cars. The crap 8 valve motors in low end of market had fudged devices like electric carbs or single point injection. So they demanded a cat to kill them off. CA18DET in UK has the DOHC 16v engine + turbo but is not subject to CAT requirements.

    200SX S13 was among the first generation of cars designed in a wind tunnel and the last before side impact laws.
    Yes you can have a much safer car but only at the cost of style.

    After 28 years it's still ranking high in world class "best" for 9.5m turning circle and CdA 0.55mē aerodynamics. The last series production car to be introduced with a lower CdA was the 2002 Honda NSX. Of the 19 cars with better CdA the "best" 10 are fatally flawed by being concept cars or very low volume or 100% of production was crushed, 6 by being 2 seater, of the remaining cars 2 are underpowered, leaving a sole contender that being made in LHD for USA was not sold in UK.

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    Guest auz200sx's Avatar
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    What I love about owning A S14

    Not many about. Easy to work on as you can pretty much strip the engine with a few basic tools. A fairly powerful rear wheel drive turbo powered engine that is pretty economical on fuel and comfortable in stock trim for the longer road trips. Upgrade parts are ten to the dozen and pretty cheap now unless its super rare. The style of the Zenki to me just hasn't got old or, its got better with age. Its sleek with the right amount of aggression if you mix it up a bit with rear lights from a S14a. I also managed to fit over 9sq meters of laminate flooring in it. Its like a Tardis

    What do i look for.......? Lucky for us here there is no issue of rust here BUT more sun damage ie paint fade and a crack dashs. As there is also no MOT or yearly saftey inspection most owners neglect their cars and you find alot of the "common"problems remain un fixed. Working AC is a must as is rego and plates try and avoid "walk in rego" as car is likley to have defects that need to be cleared. In a nut shell a well looked after and maintained example would get my vote.
    Last edited by auz200sx; 01-04-2016 at 23:00.

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    Thank you both!

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