By Richard S. Chang
Photography: Wesley Allison
There are some things in life that I will
never understand. No matter how many books I read or museums I
visit or hours of TLC I watch, I find myself staring the same
nagging mysteries again and again--like a fly into a
window--never with an answer nor an iota of insight.
Why do L.A. drivers instinctually freeze
with unbridled alarm at the very sight of descending droplets of
water? Why isn’t shoe size measured in inches? And why does a
name like Smuckers mean it has to be good?
Useless stuff? Worthless thoughts? Or
perhaps just the uncontrollable wanderings of an under-used
mind. Whatever the label, Nissan contributed to this vexing list
when it chose to offer a turbocharged version of the revamped
240SX in Japan and Europe but not in the U.S. Voilà, another
superfluous inquiry stamped and delivered first-class to the
frontal lobe of my cerebral cortex. Offering it in Japan I can
understand. But Europe? To think that some wine-loving,
cheese-eating, cafe-socialist rat-bastard Pierre is flaunting
his red turbo 240 down the Champs Elysèes, seducing Eurail-bound
American coeds by the busloads burns me with the white hot
passion of ten thousand suns.
Visions of flirting Frenchmen may not have
been in the minds of the engineers down at HKS, but they were
clearly perturbed enough by Nissan’s cold-shoulder to the
American market to build a turbo 240 almost exclusively out of
HKS parts and accessories, with the spotlight on their GT 2540
turbo. And when all was said and done, HKS wound up with a car
shooting 250 hp at 5,250 rpm, which not only surpasses but
crushes Nissan’s factory turbocharged engine output, a
sputtering 200-plus.
HKS started out with a stock 1997 Nissan
240SX LE and fitted it with its very own GT Ball Bearing Turbo,
which, quite simply, rocks. Scary as it might sound, the car
doesn’t hit its comfort zone till the speed needle pushes 85
mph (Not that any of us drove it that fast. That would be
illegal.--MP). Cruising at that pace, the car just glides, with
only a dampened rumble from the engine as it pleads for more.
And getting to the right side of the dial is just as fun as
staying there. Popping the Centerforce clutch through the low
gears, pushing the rpm meter through easy 5,000s, whispered
whooshes from the HKS sequential blowoff valve.
Though the turbo unit relishes a better
part of the glory, without the other engine mods--HKS Super Mega
Flow intake, Dual Drager exhaust, and F35I plugs, as well as
Goodridge USA hoses, plumbing, and fittings--this kind of
performance would be as impossible as scaling Everest with a
spool of thread. In April, tech god Romans (Shh! You’ll scare
off the readers saying stuff like that!--BR) said in our
evaluation of the 240SX SE that he would’ve been happier with
another 50 hp tacked onto the stock 155hp engine. Well, HKS
provides all that and a bag of chips, and guess who’s doing
baby cartwheels around the office.
But HKS designed this car for more than
just speed. Whipping through the wiry canyon trails of
Mulholland Drive overlooking Los Angeles, the HKS wheels (18x8
in front, 18x9 in back) and Yokohama AVS S-1 tires (245/40ZR18
and 265/35ZR18 respectively) screech a little, but never give.
Road moves through the rubber into HKS HiPer Damper coilover
shocks, controlled further by Nissan Motorsports bushings, strut
bar, and antisway bar.
External modifications were kept to a
minimum save for tinted windows, Modern Image graphics, a
spoiler by Wings West, and an altered front bumper to reveal the
HKS intercooler. Inside, however, is a different matter
altogether. HKS distinguishes the car from gray market turbo
240s with gadgets and gauges--five dials, EVC IV, VPC, and turbo
timer--all fitted neatly into a custom dash unit in place of the
stereo. Sitting on the San Diego Freeway southbound to Long
Beach, California, on my way back to HKS, with the grime of
fumes from stop-and-go traffic (in which the Stillen/Brembo
brakes saw their fair share of work) and the late-afternoon sun
striking my forehead with the searing intensity of a focused
laser, I found myself yearning for a song to assuage my
deteriorating condition. Fiddling with the gauges didn’t help,
but then again, HKS didn’t design this car for traffic jams.
It was built for Montana.
For 25 years, HKS has been perfecting
aftermarket parts and accessories, and its expertise shines in
this turbo 240SX, finally giving the U.S. market what the
Japanese and Europeans already enjoy. And though my mind still
churns overtime, pondering unponderables, at least HKS has
lessened some of the aggravation. If only someone could tell me
why Rice-a-Roni is the San Francisco treat. (Courtesy
of SUPERSTREETONLINE.COM)
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