why do Datsun 510 owners exploit the 240sx engine better than acutal 240 owners?

[Feint]

If TRD could pump 230PS out of a 4AGE,then it is very possible to make even more power with that .8 extra liters of displacement.Of course,like previously mentioned,not street legal.

[the riot hero]

tip: if youre on a budget

SOHC pistons raise compression to 12.6:1 on a DOHC KA, have them milled down a bit obviously. that alone with cams and double valve springs and some other work will make over 170hp at the wheels, PROVEN. also extremely responsive.

172 hp at the wheels on extremely mild cams and JWT ECU, cams so mild JWT didnt even bother dialing them into the ECU. i believe alittle port clean up work was done.

[S13/R32]

if ya don't mind me asking this KA engine everyones talking about how simular is it to the Datto 1600 (510) L16 engine with the ohc or are they the same block?
im from Australia and we don't this KA engine, and this engine pops up all the time on this site and everyone says get rid of it.

[Norcalidrifter]

isnt the 510 lighter than the 240? The 510 is compatible with many engines like the f20 s2000 engine

[rasrx7]

Originally posted by S13/R32
if ya don't mind me asking this KA engine everyones talking about how simular is it to the Datto 1600 (510) L16 engine with the ohc or are they the same block?
im from Australia and we don't this KA engine, and this engine pops up all the time on this site and everyone says get rid of it.

the L16 is a different motor from the ka. you're so lucky to not have even seen one. heres a pic of one swapped into a 510. a lot better choice compared to the stock L16 in a 510...but the swaps available are endless like a vg turbo or sr20det. like taking a tricycle and slapping on a r1 motor from a street bike...whew..take alook at the pic and see if u can recognize it and if there are any like it in australia

[180fan]

Originally posted by the riot hero
SOHC pistons raise compression to 12.6:1 on a DOHC KA

nope. It's higher than stock, but it aint 12.6:1. The early version SOHC motors have the 9.1:1 pistons, the later model SOHC motors have the 8.6:1. Put either of the pistons into a DOHC motor and you get 11.6:1 and 11.1:1. You will be able to tell the difference when you actually get the pistons, the early model ones have a step up, while the later model pistons are fairly flat. The earlier model pistons were made for about the first 6 months of the SOHC-in-240's, afterwards, it'll all be the later model pistons.

rarx7, that is a KA24E, aka the sohc motor. The DOHC motors don't have the ribs on the valve cover and have spark plugs that go down directly while the SOHC has the plugs in at the side.

Norcalidrifter, the 510 is lighter than the 240, but it's not by all means more compatable with more motors. They all take alot of work and fabrication to get motors to fit. An example of an easy swap would be the KA into the 510, but even then you have to fabricate new motor mounts, cut apart the oil pan to a rear sump since the location of the oil pan will hit the steering rack.

S13/R32, the L16 is very different from the KA. You're talking about a large difference in displacement, difference in bores/strokes/piston dish volumes, physical height of the motors, and the list goes on. Also probably the easiest to spot difference is EFI on the KA and carbs on the L16.

The KA is not a bad motor at all, just alot of haters. It's beefy, lots of torque, and contrary to what some may say, can take a beating. Personally I would have stuck it out with the SOHC KA if I had the money to build up the NA version that Nissan Motorsports races with, but I don't have the 16k+ to build up something like that. So instead of more down time to rebuild my KA and slap a turbo on it, I just went with an SR low mileage and rebuilt at my leisure. It does really come down to a matter of preference though. I loved the intial torque of the KA, even loaded with 8 people like clowns into my fastback, it still drove like it regularly would which is impressive. I know I would not be able to do that with my SR, but my regrets are lost once the motor's revving up to 3k.

['97 S14 SE Turb]

The KA series is actually a decendent of the L-series motors.

There's a Z-series inbetween the linearage.

The SOHC KA head (cross flow), can fit a L-series block.

Bore center spacing is all the same. Same flywheel diameter (ring gear diameter), etc.

The DOHC KA actually features piston oil squirter for cooling the pistons. Feature pretty much found on turbo motors.

It's bore and stroke is 89mm x 96mm. Rod, center to center, is 6.5" in length. It's a pretty big rod.

The motor was tuned for midrange power, hence lots of peoples complaint about the topend power. But little do those folks, know, a swap in cams will gain topend power. Stock cams are relatively restrictive.

The intake manifold features long runners. Again, for midrange power. It isn't a concern for high rpm turbo motors. Only the cam is the limitation.

The only real weakness, not any perceived weakness, is the half-counterweighted crank shaft. Due to it's long stroke, at high rpm, the crank will see some funky dynamics that can shake itself apart. Most folks don't even get to that rpm range, and a custom full counterweighted crank can solve that issue.

The NASPORT series, which many cars uses the Carb SOHC KA are the ones using Nissan Motorsport USA's parts. They use the even longer 6.7" center to center carillo rods. And surprisingly, they use the stock crank, that gets cleaned up, and run these motors up to 8k rpm. These are the motors that are making 300+bhp normally aspirated.

[rusty_dime]

Ok maybe I'm chiming in late but there is a reason why people swap sr20det's over building KA's. KA's take money to build and tune as others have pointed out they were designed for mid range power. If you want 300 hp NA from a ka your going to spend close to if not more money than you would buying an sr20det. Srs have 205 to 230 hp right out of the box and 300hp is just a mater of boost increase. I personally like both motors but I know why people are into the sr's they are already geared towards performance. I like the low end torque of the KA it's real fun in my dime but I would like to see what an sr is all about. Another option is the turbo KA which again will probably cost more than an sr to setup unless you fab it yourself. The sr option just seems easier if your shooting for anything over 250bhp but I'm going to look into this 300 hp NA KA I've never heard of that it sounds cool.

[180fan]

well for the amount of money people put in to get the sr20det installed, running properly, and this and that, you can turbo a ka for about the same price and almost always the KA will have more torque than the SR. NA power is expensive even on the SR20DE from the Q's or J's. The nismo N2 head costing alone over 5k, aftermarket cams running 1-1.5k for the pair, not to mention the solid pivots that must be used, and so on. No one ever said NA power came cheap. If you're going to make a price comparison between the KA and the SR, do it comparing turbo to turbo, not NA to turbo cuz the turbo will always cost less to get the same amount of power, but is typically less reliable, has more weight and complexity due to the extra piping, extra oil and coolant lines, and is more difficult to diagnose when trouble does occur.

[naru]

What about supercharging a KA? Superchargers don't have that "turbo lag" of turbo'd cars and more or less has a "NA" feel. How long has the 350z been out? like a year? and there is already a supercharger kit out for the car... what about KA's? anyone know someone w/ supercharged KA???