KA vs SR

[GOfast]

I'm sure this has been asked before. I just bought a 95 240sx and i'm fairly new to the 240 scene. I see a lot of people doing sr swaps, and i'm just wondering what makes the sr20 so much better than the ka24? The ka booted would have much more torque. Thanks people.

[Bacon]

It's all in what you want. Personally I would build a CA18DET but that's me.

[GOfast]

Why a CA18?

[RandomGuy]

There's no standard better/worse here I think.

The KA-t can be done a budget setup getting decent power, questionable reliability. The SR = drop in responsive to mods platform. The total torque/power numbers can be competitive if you want, but the main difference is feel of the motors. The shorter stroke, higher-rev, snappier SR drives different than the KA, not to say better/worse but different without a doubt.

[CSquared]

Ive always thought that if i did a 240 it would be ka. There is enough aftermarket and they are reliable enough to make the sr swap a questionable investment. Even if they aren't reliable... I don't know what its like now but when i was originally looking years back you could get ka's for pennies on the dollar compared to sr.

Good luck either way.

[gerardojdm]

If you have the fund to do a swap then go with a sr. Ka would probably have alot of miles making them easier to give out when you boost them unless you rebuilt it. I recently did a sr swap on my s14 and was worth every penny. The swap is pretty straight-foward. Mounts are the same, driveshaft is the same and power steering bolts up.

[nelson9995]

i look at it as a b16 vs b20vtec type of thing. the sr being the b16 making it more reliable to rev but the ka being more torquy and more of a bottom end type of thing but you sacrifice revving high not necessarily power up top. Stock for stock I would do a SR swap since it's stronger and boosted... Both in built form, I would do the KA. Iron block (stronger) and displacement will get you. if you tune both the sr and ka on the same psi under all the same circumstances, relative turbo size, etc.... the KA should make more power. no replacement for displacement. You will also spool the same size turbo quicker. It's all about preference and what you like and what feel you rather have... KA is underlooked in so many levels though. Idk why so many people are so clueless about it.

I recently went through this and wanted a sr20 until I did some research and decided to build the KA. Go on ka-t.org you will find useful information about turbo ka builds if you still have it as an option.

[Bacon]

The CA18 is the 1.8L twin cam turbo found in the 180SX in Japan. It just a motor that doesn't get a whole lot of attention yet is still a good motor.

[kevint2]

The CA18 is a good engine but if you want high HP its not the best motor to go with plus its kinda hard to find parts for it,Ive built afew KA NA-Ts and they are very good boosted but is kinda hard to find aftermarket parts for it and you really cant go over 8-10psi safely without rebuilding the engine...SR20 are dirt cheap right now and are made for boost and are good for about 350hp on the safe side...... knowing all the pains of doing a KA-NAT i would say its the best bet is a sr20 swap......just my 2 cents!

[E36slide]

Take a ka run 5psi and it will out do any sr giving its tunning 7-10psi. People even boost single slammers and put out good numbers and reliable too. Sr have forged internals which os why people buy them, their too lazy to build a ka. Sr are pretty much plug and play too I've done a few. I slide a n/a single slammer its fun, and Idc if it blows up cause the motor is cheap vs sr. I did just buy a rb20det that's something id get if I were you. Wiring can be a bitch but there are many write ups on it. Good luck with what ever you choose man.

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[GOfast]

Thanks for the advice people. Reps given.