Nissan Is Bringing Back One Of Its Most Famous Sports Car Engines

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There may be a way to undo the damage done to your 240SX by wannabe drifters.

Japanese manufacturers wereon a serious rollin the late 1980s to 1990s. Manufacturers like Nissan, Toyota, Honda, and Mitsubishi were building some of thebest four-cylinder enginesknown to man, and their legacy lives on to this day. Nissan, in particular, was building an especially good range of engines, one of which went by the name SR20.

These 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines delivered impressive power and were very robust. The most popular SR20 is the SR20DET, a turbocharged version that featured in many Nissan performance cars, including the Nissan Sylvia, Pulsar GTI-R, and NX Coupe. Many enthusiasts and tuners are keeping these engines alive and boosting their performance into the stratosphere, and now there comes some amazing news: Nissan is restarting production of this classic gem. Sort of.

Mercury Japan/Instagram

The SR20DET was built by Nissan between 1989 and 2003 and has been used as a popular swap in cars ranging from theNissan 350Zall the way toHonda Civicsand even in speed boats. But it was known from the factory as the engine that powered the S-chassis vehicles like the 240SX that's become a massive hit for drifters and import tuners.

Mercury Japan, a dealership in Nissan's home country, has now partnered with Nissan to reproduce 30 of these engines for lucky owners at a pace of three to four units per month. Further details still need to be revealed, but orders are expected to open this month.

The move comes as the result of two years worth of negotiations with Nissan, but with numbers limited and Japanese residents likely to get first dibs, we wouldn't recommend holding your breath.

Carbuzz

Prices for these brand-new engines are expected to start from 1,330,000 yen ($9,257), and preference will go to race teams closely tied to Nismo.

This is not the first time that Nismo has reproduced ancient relics of Nissan's past. Back in 2017, the company started offering parts for the Skyline R32 GT-R, and more recently, the company almost instantly sold out ofreproduction parts for the R34 GT-R, including parts such as instrument clusters that sold out rapidly.

With regards to the engine itself, the SR20DET features an all-aluminum construction with a square 86mm bore and stroke. The block was a closed deck unit with alloy cylinder liners and under-piston oil spray for lower piston temperatures. With dual overhead camshafts, 16 valves, and a Garrett T25G journal bearing turbocharger, this little engine produces around 200 horsepower in stock form, but with a few bolt-on parts can easily push the 400 hp barrier.

JDM Sport Classics

We doubt that many of these new engines will remain stock, but it's good to know that a few new SR20DETs will grace the car scene, even if it's just 30 of them.

This move is the latest in a series of events that have seen OEMs and their affiliates reproducing new parts for old cars. Mazda, for example, will sell you a ton ofbrand-new parts for the NA-generation Miataand rotary-powered RX-7, while Toyota will sell new parts for the legendary Corolla AE86 and older Supras. Nissan will evenrestore your Skyline GT-R in-house, but that's a process that costs an absolute fortune.

With the era of combustion drawing to a close, it's fantastic to see manufacturers looking after the cars that helped them establish themselves.

JDM Sport Classics

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