Had a 95 SE. Great little car. Didn't have the 140 hp engine but I did what I could for a teenager on a grocery store paycheck budget. Short ram intake, monza exhaust and advanced timing. It was still pretty responsive and loved to rev. It also handled really well. Great memories
I fully agree, these should have been called the Sentra Coupe. The 200 SX went on production for a long time not until 1988. So would have been better if it was named Sentra Coupe SE-R.
In project car magazine they took an older Se-R which was lighter and got 140ish hp to the wheels with simple bolt-on mods, that must have been good for low 6s 0-60.
@@palebeachbum the g20 was definitely an old cousin, not even the same came in the slightest except both being available with the SR20, g20 carried on the old Sentra chassis through 2000, the 200sx was mechanically a Sentra front with a 95 maxima rear suspension
@@terryvincent8405 We did get the P11's stateside too correct? (I was stationed around Europe for 10 years) Superior front suspension compared to the B/N chassis for sure, I just didn't vibe with the sedans. I was able to get a redtop SR20 from a P10 back in the day off eBay for 1GBP, the guy had it listed wrong lol. I ended up finding a rear-ended Almera (N15) and bolted the front end onto my 200SX, looked so much better! And then I went down the rabbit whole and did the 52C (GTiR) SR20DET and Spec-V 6 speed swap. These cars for me were definitely a financial quagmire but I consider it tuition as I learned a lot about mechanics and electronics along the way!
The early G20 was an OUTSTANDING-handling car. I remember chasing a Boxster through Glenwood Canyon, he'd pull ahead on every straight and I'd catch him in every curve; at the time the Boxster was a new creation. When he pulled off in Glenwood Springs he did a comically literal double-take as I sailed by. I had a Sentra SE-R at around the same time and while the Sentra was lighter and quicker with the same engine, its suspension was primitive and it was no match for the G20 in the curves, not even close.
These are SO underrated. I had the 99 Sentra GXE Limited Edition 5 Speed that I was the second owner of for my first car. I managed to find the Sentra SE/200 SX SE-R 5 spoke wheels, slapped them on, added coil overs and kept it pretty much OEM +. It had the GAD16DE engine and boy did I give that car hell from time to time but I loved it and it never failed me. Thanks Motorweek for posting this, brings back wonderful memories.
Im pretty sure it was the 240 sx model that was the rwd with the DE24 motor i think 2.4 litre 4cyl almost the same motor Nissan used in the hardbody pickup truck. But the cam was a different profile and the head was a little different for more rpms and more top end power in the 240 vs more lower end torque in the hardbody truck .there both awesome motors but eventually you do want to change the timing chain because if it breaks im pretty sure those are interference motors meaning the pistons will say hello and meet the valves which is never good..
The Silvia RWD coupes came to US as 180SX (in the mid '70s), 200SX and 240SX, depending on the year. Even some in '87-88 were opted (200SX SE's) with the VG30E NA-3.0L V6 from the Z31 300ZX. These FWD ones (called Lucino in JDM) were from the Saab-looking B14 Sentra.
I had this car! It was really good. Mine had 395k miles before I donated it due to too much rust. The only thing I changed was the transmission at 260k miles - however the gas mileage was not very good if I recall.
@@RobinDale50 the only thing poor with my car was gas mileage. I live in Minnesota so cars rusting here is very normal. We kept ours for almost 22 years.
Well, I had the NX2000 which had the same engine, 5 speed, and it got 35mpg overall, which dropped to 32mpg when mandatory 10% ethanol was implemented. Thought it was pretty decent mileage for the peppy output it provided. Sure, the 1.6 was better fuel efficiency wise but it was noticeably slower.
This Nissan 200sx remind me of pocket rocket cars of late '80s and early '90s. I love pocket rocket, small, cute, reliable, high mpg, cheap, and very quick.
I owned 2, a '96 that rusted out but ran like a top and later a '95. Both SE-R trim w/manual transmissions. Zippy daily commuters that were fun to row the gears on even the most mundane errands. The sr20de was bulletproof and loved to rev.
I bought my 1998 200SX SER brand new and drove it till 2018. 270,000 miles on that baby! I had to give her up though , the underpinnings and frame were completely shot after 20 years of harsh Wisconsin winters. The car was only garaged for the last 5 years of her life. I remember agonizing before I bought it whether I should get the Nissan or a BMW 318TI but the 200 I thought was just a bit more fun and practical to drive, never thought I’d keep it for 20 years and I doubt the BMW would have lasted half as long!
This era of Nissans were actually in my experience pretty well made , I had a 1998 Sentra and Maxima that were pretty solid, both eclipsing 200k without much fuss
I had one of these briefly, but it was not the SE-R, so it had the 1.6L from the Sentra. This was, after all, just a 2-door Sentra. It was fun and economical. It's a shame they don't make cheap and cheerful 2-doors like this any longer.
That's really when the Japanese automotive scene was at it's prime... Everything was impressive, from the amazing Acura legend and NSX, to Toyota taking on the Germans with the Supra and LS
@@kalwilson7670 it’s a shame that the industry is trying to phase out manual transmissions. Yes automatic transmissions have improved but their no fun driving
@@PapaRazaa you are correct!! Automatics are more efficient, can shift quicker than a human possibly can, and can be electronically altered,giving it a different personality, at the touch of a button, but they'll never be as engaging as a well built manual, and for an enthusiast that's why we drive, for the engagement!
I had both a ‘93 Sentra SER thatbIbgabe up to go to college and a ‘97 200SX SER that I leased for a song when I graduated. I loved both of them and would love to have either of them back
I've got a near mint 96 SE-R and I'll never part with it. Awesome little weekend fun car to take out for a nice drive. I always wanted one of these when I was in high school and they were new. Having a very well preserved one now is the next best thing. Great little cars. Sporty, fun to drive and well built.
I wish Nissan would make Sentra Coupe now add 6 spd and AWD. The brand doing such a excellent job again really love these older models love the 200SX better than the Sentra sedan haven't seen one of these in a good bit they were some good looking cars.
I have a 96 SE-R and a 97 SE. Forever cars - don't really need anything more to go along with the S-10 Sport I have. I suppose if they got wrecked I'd move up to an Altima coupe. But a Versa or Sentra coupe would be cool if Nissan hadn't gone to pot. The body lines really suit it - take a look at one next time out and just visualize it.
Personally, I would have preferred that this car was given the Pulsar name. It would have been better. The SE-R trim was a great performance car for entry-level buyers. Make mine an automatic!
After watching this, I finally made my choice for my first car. I know that now it has almost 30 years but I think it’s cool. I hope to find a Lucino in good shape (or 200SX if I find the USDM version)
These are a step behind the NX2K and original SE-R in terms of my own ranking, but they’re still lovely cars and get overlooked more than the others, somehow.
I used to have a 97 SE-R. I sold it and bought a 98 SE-R. It sucks that they don't have the same aftermarket support like the Honda cars of the same year do.
Actually the one that looked like a Saab (9-3) was the Sentra B14 Sedan from where this FWD 200SX was made from. The Sentra (B13) SE-R that predated it looked like a "poor man's 3-Series".
I almost bought one of these when I was looking for a civic / integra. I came close, but the only 5 speed one i could find at the time wasnt well kept and wasn't worth the investment. Went with the integra instead, still have it.
Had the b13 Sentra but skip this one for some reason. I swap the sr20de for a sr20ve neo vvl fast forward a couple of years and got the b15 2003 and the 2005 later on. Good ol se-r days. At the time of the Altima Se-r. I was driving an 05 350z
Y en Japón también (las vendidas en México fueron hechas localmente, los 200SX vendidos en Los Estados eran hechas en Los Estados, en TN, junto con los otros Sentra).
$16,000 for a brand new car. Wow. What a steal for the 90s. I wish Nissan would produce stuff like this now. All they have is CVT driven garbage these days, and it's a real shame.
I don't remember Nissan marketing an LE Sentra (I was working at a Nissan dealer back then). The only levels that the B14's came were E, XE and GXE, the 200SX's coming in XE, SE and SE-R. The LE level was sold back then in more expensive Nissans as the Altima and Pathfinder. The only '94 that came with the 2.0L was the 200SX SE-R, all B14 Sentra's and other 200SX's came with the 110hp DOHC NA-1.6L, versions of which were still made until not so long ago for the Mexican market in the Tsuru II (Sentra B13 sedan).
@@syxepop Yeah, my actually had the words Limit Edition (no some sticker some stuck on it). I do recall that there were very few of these, but when I did see them back them but it's rare.
It was the same engine as in the B13 Sentra SE-R and the B14 200SX SE-R, but on an even larger and heavier platform (the Infiniti G20 was the Nissan Primera in Europe and JDM, sized similar to the B15 Sentra).
It's not. It was uploaded 5 months ago by someone who recorded it from a retro marathon and posted it to their account. Not an official MotorWeek upload
@@bendavis9733 oh ok, I could have sworn I was referring to the actual official page, but yeah, I also saw that marathon one and a super low quality one
That was my least favorite body style of the Sentra. The previous generation to this one and the next generation were much nicer body styles. This was really just a 2 door Sentra unlike all the other generations of 200SX which all had a their own unique body style.
they had the rwd S12 200sx in the states, and also the euro and japanese 200sx which were turbo rwd. But I see your point, I hate when companies use the same model name of a totally different car.
These were good, fun to drive sport coupes , handled and stopped better than Hondas 95 Civic . I worked at a Nissan dealer then ,sold quite a few and demo drove all the Nissans then . The SER Sentra and 200SX stand out . The Maxima's and 240SX were the real gems though .