Mazda Motor

Hey Guys.

What are your thoughts about replacing the CA18DET Motor With the 2.0 16V Mazda Motor And Putting a bigger turbo on?

Cause its much cheaper than an SR20DET and parts is more easily available.

Any Opinons or comments?

You'll be banned from this forum 😮

Nah my views I don't like Mazkak's... Thing is you can't just drop it in IMO the guys that do, do it, go full out, rods / pistons, to get the compression ratio up to spec...

Remember in the end its going to work you out more expensive, there is a lot to convert, exhaust / intake / electrical / radiator, a lot of stuff will need to be fabricated, that costs money, buying of the shelf and fitting easier more cost effective, going SR20 is sorta straight forward, lots of articles on the web about it, AM parts are plenty.

When modifying buying cheep, is buying expensive...

To get the Mazda motor to stock SR20 spec will cost you more. Time and money wise. Then... I'd rather push the Nissan 😂

Fro about R35K you can build a seriously strong motor-either way.
With my troubles and Lucas 's troubles I would be leaning over to the Mazda side...

I think you going run into twice the amount of problems going Mazda... trust me once you need fabricating stuff you gonna end up with shit...

I'm not saying going SR20 is dead easy, if you look at Ero, did an engine / gearbox swap onetime... Rebuilt motor and there you go, will be as reliable as can be.

Changing motor brands is not going to change what Karma has planned for you.

There is a guy in PMB with a 200Sx / 2.0 Mazda turbo engine and the car runs well. It makes very good power. I went with the SR20 and it will cost about the same. To get power out of the SR20 you have to do the bottom end. If you can get the 185kw Nissan engine from an importer you will save yourself a lot of problems. The head is strong and with a few small mods you should be happy with the end result. Huge power can be extracted from both engines.

n1smo200sx wrote:

Fro about R35K you can build a seriously strong motor-either way.

For R35k you drop a stock RB25DET in, reliable 200rwkw every day!!!

Ask Bruno if you dont believe, he's done it 😛

yeah besides the obvious sacrilege of popping a mazda motor in such a cult car you will need to do custom bell-housing , motor mounts etc. etc.

Rather put that money towards getting a sr20det and save yourself some trouble and integrity 😉

The mazda is obviously cheaper motor cause it's NA, but it's the same price as a NA SR20DE. If you plan on doing all the internals anyways then you may as well go with a DE instead of a mazda motor. You will however still need a custom bell housing for the FWD DE to go into the S13. You will also need a intake manifold that faces the right way $150 off ebay (Greddy copy) and some rearanged water pipes and relocated dizzy or coil packs.

my 2c

There was a 200sx in the SNS, mazda motor conversion. In this case the dude liked the shape of the sx but preferred to use a Mazda engine because that is what he was used to working on.

Stock parts might differ in pricing but as soon as you start rebuilding/after market etc the expensive stuff will cost the same between any two engines. Forged pistons, Billeted bits, funky cams, its all going to cost quite a bit regardless for the brand of engine.

qewrty wrote:

There was a 200sx in the SNS, mazda motor conversion. In this case the dude liked the shape of the sx but preferred to use a Mazda engine because that is what he was used to working on.

Stock parts might differ in pricing but as soon as you start rebuilding/after market etc the expensive stuff will cost the same between any two engines. Forged pistons, Billeted bits, funky cams, its all going to cost quite a bit regardless for the brand of engine.

that same dude put a RB25 in not long after and his name is Andre AFAIK,

measure the costs and the gains personally Id say go V6 rb25det or rb26det

mono wrote:

measure the costs and the gains personally Id say go V6 rb25det or rb26det

Sorry RB is a straight 6, not V 😉

The Mazda Motor was just a thought for opinions. But yeah the SR20DET Motor sounds like a better option. On average the go for about R6500 - R7500?

If i was to do a SR20DET swop what needs to be changed as i am running the CA18DET currently with FMI, 76mm Pipe, Bigger Radiator with Electric Fans.

Can i use same gearbox...

Lets look at the other option doing a RB26DET swop. Motor goes average For R10 500- R11 000. Slap a big turbo on and make massive power. What mods needs to be made to fit this motor into a S13? Gearbox, ect...

Or lastly just depend on your CA18DET and push out power out that motor. Do rods, pistons, turbo etc. And have a very strong 1.8 Turbo?

You will need a gearbox to go with either enguine swop. The SR20DET block is different and while the RB25 block mountings may be the same the extra power will destroy your ca18 gearbox.

People make the mistake of assuming that because a motor is R10k thats what the cost will be. Take the cost of the motor and double it that should give you a starting point.

Of course you can bodge anything and make it work real cheap but then you have an abortion that gives you endless hassles. My advice is do it right the 1st time.

200SX-ZN wrote:

Lets look at the other option doing a RB26DET swop. Motor goes average For R10 500- R11 000. Slap a big turbo on and make massive power. What mods needs to be made to fit this motor into a S13? Gearbox, ect...

I'm really glad you found it at that price, in that case take 2

IIRC S13/S14 gearboxes are the same, bell housing is different and speed sensors

yeah i think he's mistaken.

an rb26det is 22 grand, and it comes with a useless (in our case) 4wd gearbox.

the rb25det is about 10 grand.

the block mountings are different. they're further forward if the engine is put in the same place in the engine bay as the ca18det.

so you can fabricate mounting brakets, or you can import an r33, r32 crossmember (subframe thingy)!!!

or you can do a fantastical swop like hennie, and stick an awesome 4.0 liter v8 in there for almost 200rwkw without a turbo!

I say go for the SR20DET motor.
Do the rods & pistons & all the thingy's that need to be done. with ball bearing turbo.....money permitting of-course.

Looking at what the calibrator has done with other SR motors & the power potential they have, sounds look a good bet.

Also keeps the weight distribution about the same.Remember the SX was one of the very first cars to have an almost 50/50 weight distribution.

S13 looks, with S14 power......That was a dream I had a awhile back. :x

I had a S14 gbox and a S134 gbox on the ground next to each other with an eye to swop the bell housings and it doesnt look like they will interchange. I may be wrong though.