1987-1988 Nissan 200SX SE

As the 280Z grew into the 280ZX, Nissan (then plying its trade as Datsun) decided that it needed an entry-level sporty coupe in its lineup to combat the six-figure-selling Celica. Its answer was the original 1977 200SX (blessed overseas with the legendary Silvia moniker), an origami-folded rear-drive coupe that made more than a few wonder what Nissan was thinking. The all-new 1980 model was a vast improvement, leaping to the head of the class with a choice of sharp coupe or hatchback styling and underwhelming dynamics.

So hopes were high when Nissan launched its third-generation 200SX (known internally as the S12 generation) in mid-1984: It was slickly styled, featuring pop-up headlamps, a fully-independent, 300ZX-based rear suspension (on performance models) for the first time, rack-and-pinion steering replacing the recirculating ball system, a drag coefficient of 0.34 compared to the old hatchback's 0.42, a turbocharged four-cylinder engine good for 120 horsepower, and rear-wheel drive.

One reason Japan insisted on rear-drive was the flexibility to fit numerous powerplants-including, for the U.S. only, Japan's first V-6 engine.

Now, you and I both know that rear-drive means hanging-the-tail-out fun. But for the mid-'80s, it seemed an odd choice. Three entirely sensible reasons--namely flexibility in powertrain choice, the idea that rear-drive meant performance, and Nissan's WRC rally participation--were floated, but in the enthusiast press, the notion that Nissan stuck with rear-drive was met with dour faces. Why, virtually all of the competition--Honda Prelude, Renault Fuego, VW Scirocco--was front-drive, after all. (Toyota Celica remained a rear-driver until its 1986 redesign.)

The turbo, and its attendant 120hp, wasn't enough for Nissan's American arm. Boost control in the '80s wasn't what it is today, and it was more of an on/off switch than the smoothly integrated feel that Nissan North America wanted. It also seemed that the turbo four wasn't sporty enough, and that something needed to be done.

High rear liftover height aside, the S12-generation 200SX allowed okay room for storage, all of which could be hidden under a cover attached to the hatch. Note vinyl sunroof storage bag.

And so Nissan built, exclusively for the American market, a V-6-powered 200SX. (The rest of the world made do with an increasingly powerful turbo.) For 1987 and 1988 only, the top-of-the-line 200SX SE became a mid-life facelift for one of the last compact, rear-drive sports coupes on the market (only the aging Isuzu Impulse still had rear-drive). The engine was Nissan's first V-6, the naturally aspirated 3.0-liter that was cribbed from the naturally aspirated 300ZX and rated at a healthy 160 horsepower, thanks in part to port fuel injection, aluminum heads and single overhead cams. That 40 additional horsepower (and 40-lbs.ft. more of torque at the same time) could be channeled through the same five-speed stick or four-speed-automatic options as the other 200SXs got; the SE also received beefier driveline components, which added about 200 pounds to the curb weight.

Motors can go bad; your best source for replacements is a Nissan-specialist boneyard.

That trumped just about every other sport coupe out there. A V-6 Camaro (oh yes, they were considered competitors) had fewer cubes and a lot more weight to haul around, and the aforementioned turbo Impulse was hiding a Chevette chassis under its Italian designer bodywork. None of the others in its class even had a V-6, much less rear-wheel drive.

Indigo cloth door panel, specific to later models, matches seat cloth and lends a quality feel.

Other changes accompanied the mid-generation facelift: The turbo's tacked-on-looking hood scoop was gone, and the rear wing was body color instead of black. The former on-again, off-again bumper rub strips were now carried completely around the beltline of the car, and topped a gentle ground-effects kit. New alloy wheels were included, the optional digital dash had been banished from the option sheet, and a new three-spoke steering wheel was installed. And strangest of all was the low production run: Just 5,000 were built for 1987 and 1988.

Car and Driver admired the aesthetic changes of the 1987 SE in their March 1987 issue, calling it "a step closer to the German ideal of functionalism...[it gets] the job done without gimmickry or theatrics." Even so, they questioned the mechanical alterations, which made the car 200-300 pounds heavier and sapped up the 40 new horsepower despite quicker responses and smoother power delivery. "We suspect a lazy engine," they wrote. It could well be: While their top speed was 122 MPH, members of Club-S12.org (a top site for 1984-'88 200SX models) claim to have seen 130 MPH and higher. They also accused the all-independent-suspension chassis of being strictly average.

But Greg Lindsey of Milpitas, California, thought differently when he walked onto his local Nissan dealer's lot in late 1987 to find a daily driver. How you see the Hot Red machine in these photos is how Lindsey drove it off the dealer lot: filled with luxe items like alarm, cruise control, electric windows, locks and mirrors, automatic transmission, and some appearance items like 15x7 Enkei wheels and Bosch foglamps.

In the years intervening, he's gotten used to the complete lack of parts availability for his baby--despite hundreds of thousands sold sharing this body and chassis basics, bits and bobs can only be found at the local U-Pull-It parts yard.

And so the S12-generation Nissan 200SX SE occupies a strange nether-region: It doesn't have even the modest following of the first 300ZX, making reproduction parts thin on the ground, and it's old enough that just about all of the original parts have dried up. Luckily, it's in decent enough shape that it's mostly routine maintenance items that need tending to.

Model year 1989 saw an all-new chassis, designated S13, underpin the new 240SX coupe hatchback here in the States. It would become a performance legend among those of a certain age, but without the S12 being what it was, the S13 couldn't have been what it was. The V-6-powered 200SX deserved better than its forgotten stepping-stone status: it was a formidable sporty coupe in its own right. Low production numbers and a lower survival rate mean that this could be one to keep an eye on as the Japanese collector-car market accelerates its ascendancy.

Specifications

ENGINE

Type: 60-degree V-6, SOHC, 12-valve, EFI, iron block and aluminum heads

Horsepower: 160hp@ 5,200 RPM (1987); 165hp @ 5,200 RPM (1988)

Torque: 174-lbs.ft. @ 3,600 RPM

Induction: Nissan ECCS with port fuel injection

TRANSMISSION

Type: Five-speed manual, all synchromesh, or four-speed automatic

PERFORMANCE

0-60: 8.6 seconds

1/4 Mile: 16.5 seconds @ 84 MPH

Top Speed: 122 MPH

(Car and Driver, March 1987)

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

Length: 175.6 inches

Width: 65.7 inches

Height: 52.4 inches

Curb Weight: 2,975 pounds

Production

1987 5,000

1988 5,000

Recent ads

Nissan: 1987 200SX SE, five-speed, sunroof, 140,000 miles, factory Ground Effects kit, brand new 3.3-liter V-6 from a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder, Mishimoto aluminum radiator, Moroso overflow catchcan, brand new 205/60R15 tires, needs engine tuning, speedo/tach don't work, needs brakes and shocks, needs a new battery, needs paint buff and polish, $800 (Club-S12.org).

Nissan: 1987 200SX SE V-6, five-speed, disc brakes, AC, registered and smogged, $1,700 (Club-S12.org).

Nissan: 1988 200SX SE V-6, five-speed manual, power windows and locks, cruise control, cold a/c, hatchback with rear wiper. Paint is black and silver. Interior is dark blue cloth. Car is stock, unmolested, never raced, never drifted. Professionally maintained (I have the receipts). 191,000 miles, $1,900 (Club-S12.org).

Body

The 200SX SE was available only with the hatchback body style; the formal-roof coupe made do with a naturally aspirated four for the duration of its life. Material quality with all Japanese cars had increased across the board by the mid-'80s, which means that there's a fighting chance of finding one still intact in the rust belt if you look hard enough. Check around the hatch, the wheelwells, and the spare tire well for telltale signs of tinworm. The body panels did not change over the duration of the S12 generation, but they're not reproduced either--check your local boneyard, craigslist.org or else a desert-area Nissan specialist like Nissan Place Auto Wrecking of Sun Valley, California, to score parts or even a whole car. Even so, buy the best one you can afford: With a top value at under five grand, you can eat that up with bodywork fast.

Interior

For 1987, the SE introduced a host of interior changes: The upholstery went from a psychedelic plaid to a far mellower indigo hue (though the basic frames remained the same), the turbo's Cylon-face two-spoke steering wheel was swapped out for a proper three-spoker, the far-flung buttons across the dash were brought closer to the driver, and of course, the boost gauge was eliminated from the gauge cluster.

Beyond the usual issues like the sun eating away at the plastics and encouraging them to become brittle and crack, the armrests have a tendency to give up the ghost and expose their foam-rubber entrails to the world, and your forearms. New door panels will run you in the hundreds of dollars, if you can find them; luckily, the Club-S12.org Web site has a detailed how-to on fixing them yourself.

Engine

The Nissan VG30 is the first V-6 engine that came out of Japan, ever. The iron-block, SOHC aluminum-head VG30 allowed for more modern construction methods and tighter tolerances as well as a lower hoodline, which allowed it to share duty in the naturally aspirated 300ZX as well as the 200SX SE. It's built in the traditional, bulletproof, quarter-million-mile Japanese tradition, so the VG30's life-span is often dependent on maintenance issues. The mass-air sensor and EGR are said to be particularly sensitive to external dirt or soot, which can easily contaminate the injectors, causing a whole host of problems.

Also, because of their relatively low secondary-market value, plenty have been hot-rodded over the years. Caveat emptor.

Transmission

The five-speed transmission was a carryover from the previous-generation 200SX, and will fit, but the S12 generation was re-geared, featuring a steeper first and a deeper overdrive, so there's no performance or economy benefit in making a swap.

The new transmission for the 200SX is the one in our feature car: the 4N71B that came over with the 300ZX engine. The four-speed-automatic-with-overdrive system, complete with OD lockout button conveniently located at your thumb, has a temperature sensor that prevents overdrive from engaging until the trans is completely warmed up; it may take a couple of minutes in lower gears to warm things up enough to shift into OD.

Brakes and Suspension

Performance variants of the S12 were blessed with four-wheel disc brakes from the get-go, and the V-6 got bigger binders than the Turbo it replaced: 10.8 x 0.9-inch solid discs in front, and 11.4 x 0.4-inch rotors at the rear (the bigger rear discs are to help squash brake dive). From 70 to 0, these binders allowed a 200SX SE V-6 to stop a car length and a half shorter than the previous Turbo model. ABS was not available, but rotors and pads should be available from the local parts emporium.

The suspension was a conventional MacPherson-strut type with anti-roll bar in front; the rear suspension, based on the 300ZX, also shares that car's appetite for eating the insides of the rear tires if soft springs induce excess negative camber. Components should still be available.

WHAT TO PAY

Low: $1,500

Average: $2,500

High: $4,000

Parts Prices

A/C blower motor: $100

A/C compressor with clutch: $600

Alternator: $200

Brake booster: $215

Brake caliper: $75

Brake master cylinder: $100

Brake rotor (front): $85

Brake rotor (rear): $60

Clutch disc: $130

Distributor (electronic with module): $350

Engine bearing set: $50

Engine kit gasket set (to 3/87): $300

Engine kit gasket set (from 4/87): $420

Front fender: $80

Fuel pump: $400

Oil pump (to 3/87): $150

Oil pump (from 4/87): $250

Piston ring set: $100

Power steering pump: $185

Starter: $200

SPECIALISTS

Nissan Place Auto Wrecking

9365 Glenoaks Blvd.

Sun Valley, California 91352

818-768-7604

Ivan's Auto Body Paint and Salvage

5620 S 67th Ave.

Laveen, Arizona 85339

602-237-2220

CLUB CORNER

Club-S12

www.club-s12.org

Free online-based community for S12 fans, 1984-'88

No membership, no dues

Viewpoint

My wife and I bought this car new from Sunnyvale Nissan in 1987; it combined 200SX practicality with 300ZX performance. I love the sleek, uncluttered lines. The dealer had installed the sunroof, Enkei wheels, and Bosch foglamps before we bought it. It's been a good car for more than 120,000 miles, and I've really only performed maintenance on it; one of the headlamp motors was replaced with a Pick-Your-Part piece, and the fuel pump and injectors were expensive when they went. The space-saver spare is virgin! Since these photos were taken, I've installed a CD radio to replace the cassette deck, and added a new set of KYB struts. It looks good, handles well, and is still plenty fast.

--Greg Lindsey