The Nissan 240SX is a wonderful piece of machinery. It’s an entry-level sports car that was introduced to the United States market by Nissan in 1989 for the following model year. It replaced the outgoing Nissan 200SX (S12) model. Most of them were equipped with the 2.4-liter inline 4 engine and delivering 155hp and 160lb-ft torque.
The KA24E engine had a single overhead cam and KA24DE engine had dual overhead cams. Two distinct generations of the 240SX, the S13 (1989–1994) the S14 (1994-1998) were produced based on the Nissan S platform. The S13 and S14 are two different chassis in the same line that were made by Nissan. Various body styles and names were attached to these and sold differently worldwide.
In the USA the platform came as the following:
S13 chassis – 1989-1994
There was a coupe and a hatchback version. There was also a limited edition convertable version. When going for the S13, most people go for the 89-93 because the 94 was available strictly as a convertable with an auto tranny. From 1989-1990 the coupe and the fastback both came with the KA24E. That’s a single cam motor that puts out 140 HP and 160 lb-ft of torque.
From 1991 and up it came with the KA24DE, a dual cam motor that puts out 155 HP and 160 lb-ft of torque. The S13 was also available with HICAS which is a 4 wheel steering system. Some people like it a lot and some hate it. If you plan on drifting, you don’t want HICAS.
S14 chassis – 1995-1998
Here it was available only as a coupe but got a different body styling. There are 2 different S14’s though. From 1995-1996 the S14 came with oval headlights. From 1997-1998 the headlights were changed to a slanted, or “shark eye” style. That was the only difference between the 2 S14’s. The S14 came with the KA24DE engine.