well personally owning both i would say ka-t is alot better but thats my preference
I kept the sr20 stock except for a blitz blowoff valve full 3" turbo back exhaust and fmic. It was pretty quick i guess.
After that i got the ka-t it was a basic setup with many sr20 parts. Bings bottom mount, t25, 3" turbo back, fmic ect ect
Both at 7psi.
Hands down the ka-t killed the sr20 in performance and responsiveness (which was wierd) both were fun i just enjoy’d the torque and hp of the ka-t more. It would pick up alot quicker then the sr and when not in boost get the same mpg as a ka roughly but the sr got way better gas milage overall. Depends on what you want. and yes ka-t is alot cheaper overall then a sr if you go with a basic set up. You could go ka-t for around $600 if you wanted to cheap out with no tuning and have it run right theres a couple of guys on ka-t.org who have been runing there cars with no tune (i would run one tho) at all for about 2 years no problem you just have to know what parts to use. If i was to do it all over again i would go ka-t and probably will. The sr20det was a good motor overall.
sorry to shit talk
i just have to say this
why would you use a 10 cent DIME’s as a FUSE’s ,
and not replace it
how many cars have you set on fire?
hahah jokes,
im just curious why you didnt replace the dime once you got home
what wtf are you talking about pm me.
And the relavence to this thread is…?
Exactly…
Yes, that is a KA-T. BUT Both times I broke down at the track were hardly the fault of the engine as well, first was exhaust breaking, second was bolt fell out. Probably something to do with my solid mounts, and the fact that I need a better locking washer solution. What about SRs on the sideline? I seem to recall someone blew his SR at the track… :D. All the KAs I’ve blown up were on the street :p.
My stock KA is rock solid and it NEVER breaks down.
If I wasn’t buying another car i’d love to turbo my coupe… anyone want to donate a bottom mount manifold?
One of the greatest benifits with going the KA-T route over the sr route is the fact that with the same turbo and general set-up, your power band will hit about 2500rpm SOONER in the KA vs the sr.
If I were going for big numbers, it wouldn’t be either of these motors, but you would have to do pretty much the same modifications to both for 450+ hp.
As Varun said, if it’s street fun your looking for, there is no choice, KA is waaay more fun.
When I built my system, I went big on the expensive parts and cheapened out on the parts that could easily be upgraded just to get the system done.
Last years set-up was this:
KA24DE (170’000km and very very healthy)
Stock MAF
Bings SS manifold and elbow
All OEM Nissan mani/turbo gaskets and nut locking tabs
Garret GT2871R .64ar turbo
Japanese 3" steel down pipe that I modified for KA use.
Bings FMIC pipes, couplers and T-bolt clamps
American made FMIC (small=full rebar)
Walbro fuel pump
sr 370cc injectors
and an AFC Neo for control.
This set up gave me 230hp and 270lbs at the wheels. with a 30%loss through the drive train, at the crank thats 300hp and 350lbs of torque. I honestly didn’t feel confident in the AFC tune. It does not tune for load and timing is an issue as well, that is why I wasn’t drifting in full effect this summer.
This winter a bunch of parts will be replaced:
Neo will be replaced with an Enthalpy tune
370cc injectors will be replaced with Nismo 550’s
Maf will be replaced with an N62
Bings elbow will be replaced, not sure with what yet.
Thats it, she will be conservative and reliable then. I will be out beating the poop out of her next year.
Oh yeah, and my AC still works 
With all the talk about SR vs ka i have a question…what is it about the rocker arm in the SR being so bad ive heard from a few people …Sr is bad for this?? from what you guys are saying and…what ive looked up …sr still seems best for me rreliable turbo performance sincei use the car…summer car,track days<drift days,and drive everyday mostly at night.and offordable.
The only reason I sold off my KA-T parts was becuase I wanted something that will spool a 102mm turbo. So I chose something with 6 cylinders to compensate for the lag. KA-T is still FTW and I would do it again for a street car but Im building a 40% street 60% drag car that will be driven on the streets for some weekend fun, not as a daily. My KA-T saw up to 28psi on pump gas and meth until I my boost controller screwed me and the stock cast #1 piston gave up at 26psi. If tuned right those motors will last a long time.
hazhaha my rocker arms went “BLAT” on me late this summer.
this can go on all day long. There is no such thing as a best in cars, there is no best anything because it all depends on budjet, talet, driving skill and just personal opinnion.
agreed.
another thing i want to add is that alot of KA-T’s werent fully tuned properly. most just slap on a afc and tune it from there. imo that is not enough if want reliability. better the tune = better performance and reliability. this is the thing i stress the most for building a KA-T or any turboed car.
i have installed/built both SR and KA-T. and i would pick a KA-T. if you know how to use basic tools its not any harder to install than an SR.
imo, it all comes down to what you are using the motor for.
drift, grip, street rippage, and whatever else it may be
I drive like Grandma, does that count?? but I will have an 8star insurance raiting soon
OK KA-T BUILD FROM Team Draggone
Half built KA-t includes:
ARP everything!!( rod bolts, head bolts and main bolts)
Aerias pistons on stock rods (rods good for 450, 500hp on good tune)
Metal head gaskets and all the other gaskets.
Engine pickup and drop off
$2000.00 This price was when the Canadian dollar was lower than the usa.
So it will be little lower than $2000.00
Everything else you can get off ebay and other performance site for your KA-T.
JWF ecu cost $550 to $600.
There are other ecu’s that are cheaper like http://www.efispecialist.com/ $305 ( they have it for the SR20 too)
Parts for the KA are getting cheaper, you can get a piston and rod combo for $730.00 cad, ARP and head gaskets $207.cad
$2000.00 ish you will have a new KA to boost on.
$1500 to $2000 ish for a used SR20 with so call low mileage!!!
Fobwall I will be coming out to your next event with my KA-T
um where do you find this “complete” redtop for 1500, i haven’t seen them sell for that low…
ALmost every JDM place that sells redtops …
Tiger japanease - $1500 complete
AJ jap parts - $1200 complete
u dont have to look too hard.
i don’t think you want to buy a SR from tiger…
No one knows how good a motor is when they get it from jpn …Everyone assumes that it has under 60,000 and has good compression.
If u look at some of the half clips u will see that the kms are actually in the 60,000 - 150,000 Range .
And with all the drifting and shit going on in Japan , most of them have been through abuse.
buying an SR from tiger is the same as buying one from any other JDM place … The fact is that u dont know how good the motor is until u fire it up and drive for a bit. Thats why they come with a warranty.
OMG it’s not locked yet? This shit has been talked about so many times over and over again. I’m not even going to bother adding anything more to the KA-T VS SR20 thing.
However I will add to the where to buy an SR from. Buy an SR from a reputable source. Buy from a place that many others have bought from and had no problems and if there were any problems they were instantly taken care of. Be safe buy from Varun.
I have heard and seen so many nightmares from these JDM parts places. I wouldn’t recomend it to anyone. They are good if you need some part asap but that’s about it.