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Old 09-21-2013, 08:42 AM   #33
mav1178
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wise View Post
...The problem is that it's incredibly hard to find a nice car that hasn't been modified or had crap like rice taillights and bodykits installed. Most of them are 100,000 km's+ these days.
<snip>
If Nissan still sold them new it would be another story though.
That is basically how I feel... if I can find a pristine S15 that I can import and legalize, I'd get rid of my BRZ in a heartbeat.

But Nissan dropped the ball on this because they read the US market wrong, and never thought about importing and developing an entry level sports car with the right engine. A S14 with a 155HP KA24DE in 1998 was sold for around $25k, and for the same dollar amount today you can get a FRS or BRZ that has way better performance and platform design.

If, however, the S-chassis was continually developed, I think the subcompact tuner market today would've been vastly different.

The SR engine is a proven design from the 1990s with a lot of aftermarket support, even long after the cars were discontinued. One advantage the engine had was that it was both popular in NA form (SE-R guys), as well as turbo (Pulsar GTi-R/Bluebird/Silvia/180SX). I hope the FA20 sees the same development over its lifespan.

-alex
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