I used to have a 270bhp ca18 in my old s13 which was proper quick and sounded awsome until the big ends went so i bought an sr20 and put that in and i can honestly say there was a huge difference in the way the car drove much more low down torque and it felt so much lighter and more nimble, sounded like shit mind but a much nicer drive all the same
^ different bellhousing, if you swap bellhousings you can use a CA box on an SR but you'd probably have a easier time finding a whole SR box than just a Bell.
In Europe at least, the biggest power 200's run CA's, up to about 7/800hp. I dont know of any SR's doing more than 600ish. The SR does have more low down torque but the CA is a joy at the top end, horses for courses I guess but I wouldnt say one was necessarily better than the other
I did own an s body a few years ago but only ever went to a couple of practice days, so I will be practicing the CA to death. I think 300-400bhp is the max I really want or need. More torque, lower down would be ideal, fitting my budget and I "think" the SR might be more reliable within those power figures meaning I can drive to an event, drift it and drive back 600+ bhp is more than I need and I suspect a CA will suffer With drivability due to HUGE turbo lag, Plus anything built to that power will need to be properly "built" costing a small fortune! Nice cheap stock internals, low lag with something like a 2971 and enjoy the drive. I plan to run normal track days and drift it also.
My advice these days is to stick to 300hp unless you are competing. Its plenty, and the engine is less likely to eat itself at that state of tune
i love my CA but im constantly shitting myself due to all the bad press. fucking goes like stink! (as far as im concerned)
Stage 1a SR20 will last a very long time even driven hard. That's just under 300bhp and loads of wheel spinning torque. On stock lagless turbo. That's what I'm going for with my s13 now as I need to Jill climbs. Sprints. Track days. Drift days. Etc and need something as reliable as the Beemer was.
cheers for all your reply guys, as seen many prefers SR's and many on CA's, i guess really as most say is to rebuild the CA and use it to practice and when competing in top competitions go for the SR or RB, as I already have a CA in (just need to be striped and clean) n maybe buy few bits n bobs for standard drifting demo and soon after by then save for an SR or RB. I got 2 months to decide really what im gonna go for, but for now my plans is to take the whole engine block apart,, clean all and build it back together n see where i can go form there.
I've just settled to buy an sr20 for my s13 now. I've had everything from a stock CA. Stage 1 CA Stage 2 CA Stage 3 Ca Ca with t70 turbo CA with t04e turbo Stock RB20 320bhp RB20 400bhp forged rb20 Supercharged rb20 350bhp with reduced lagg and more torque rb20. And now will have a stage 1a SR20. Ive had an SR in my s14 a few months ago but I didn't really like the way it didn't rev. But then that car had stock very tall gearing. The s13 has a 4:4 diff so should spin the wheels easily. Really looking forward to how the engine works in the s13 compared to all the other options I've used.
i would definately go with the SR20 for the low down torque and for the cheaper upgrade parts very good engine to learn with on a lowish budget
Right, with the CA having the cheaper parts and being cheaper in the first place, the SR is the better choice for a lowish budget. OP, if you already have a CA then use that, listen to guys like m.d. or manky toe who have actually had both, dont listen to people who are just posting for the sale of it though
