Nissan 200SX Spec S S15 Review

Overall Rating

* Great Aceleration (0-100 in around 6.5 Seconds)
* Very Easiy boosted, My S15 is running at 192KW with only a few thousand dollars spent. Drops it to nearly 0-100 in 5.0 Seconds!
* Very durable engine, hard to destroy - so you can push this car hard each and every day!
* Supporting seats for fast corning
* Good visibility
* Great standard electrics, mirros, windows, airbags..etc - you get a lot of gadgets!
* Car stays low and flat like a spider at all times, great for hard corners and sudden fast bends.
* Fantastic Suspension, always keeps you low to the ground but comfortable, you can easily take a corner at high speed and not spill your drink in the cup holder. Nice and firm ride.

* DEADLY in the rain, always use your traction control/snow mode, never acellerate much on a corner of any kind or never push the car hard at all in the rain. Take it very easy, the car will easily spin on you and u'll end up in a treee even for the most experienced and skilled drivers.
* Bad factory sound system, throw it away!
* Too much attention from boys, girls and cops!
* Expensive to keep as there as so many options out there you can add to it! This car has so many after market options you will go beserk!

Having owned this Nissan 200SX Spec S S15 for 6 months now i've learnt a lot about the good and bad points of this car. Overall i have to admit it's a thrill to drive! No regrets at all after buying this at all. I plan to keep it for at least another 2 years before upgrading. You won't get bored of this car very quickly.

Pros:

Rapid Acceleration followed by the Turbo Power surge
Fantastic Control
Low Steering resistance
Precise cornering
Car remains low and flat to the ground at all times
Comfortable Suspension, Even after lowering the car 2 Inches the bumps are soft but the handling is firm on corners. Very impressive!
Superb seating position, You sit very low and flat but have full visibility all around the car.
Tremendous Breaks! - WOW! Big Break discs make stopping suddenly a joy.
Head turner - Great feedback from pedestrians and other motorists, the car gets noticed a lot in a 'classy' way. Mainly guys i must admit. Admirers of Turbos'.
Comfortable seats - Great design and support.
Nice interior, very modern and stylish. Unlike Slyline's and Supras the 200SX shows modern design and curves.
Practical Drivablilty - It's a sports car when you want a rush but it's a refined comfortable ride when you have passengers or driving through traffic.
Automatic transmission is impressive! It learns how you drive to control giving you faster or softer throttle response, fast or slower take-off and mid range acceleration. It has a highly adaptive onboard computer constantly analyzing the way you drive to best give you what you like best. With a power mode and 'snow' mode for more power (keeps the car in 1st 3 gears only at all times) and snow mode takes off slowly to reduce spins at rear wheels and loss of traction in wet conditions. This is VITAL to use in the rain.
Drives and Performs like a $200,000 German Exotic Sports car! Pure honey to drive.
Cons:

High Petrol Consumption - a Full tank of Petrol for me is about 55L and will last about 400Km when the car is being pushed hard regularly.

Slow Take off - From start with the throttle pressed down completely there is a 1 second lag then the car will FLY off!! This surge makes up for any lost waiting time but is sometimes frustrating. Apparently all Turbos are like this. *Confused look*

Attention from Police - This car will get you noticed more and police will use any small detail to give you a ticket.

Deadly Dangerous on Wet Roads - Extreme Caution is needed when driving in the wet or the back wheels will spin and the back of the car will slide out of control. I've learnt this the hard way once before which resulted in my car ending up in a park. Controlling this takes time to master.

Filthy looks from some girls - Negative stereotypes come from owning a car like this. Often girls give you filthy looks as to say jerks and their loud cars...or...'he must be compensating for something'.. Girls will be girls. I'm sure most guys in Skyline/Supra or other loud performance cars would be able to relate to. It's a shame.

Members' Comments onpayam0001's Review

• BillybobR32 on 20th Nov 2003

  I know what you mean about the negetive stereo type. I own a loud R-32 GTR and half the chicks admire it and the other half think what you were saying. Would they rather us drive around in a stock excel with 14's or something!

• Hempsfarmer on 19th Oct 2004

  The reson I'm looking at this site is because on my way back from biringham I sat behind a 200sx and could do nothing but admire the way it glided around the bends, coming along the a64 from the A1 to Scarbourgh I could tell the driver wasnt booting it, yet it took off like a shot. Plus it looked sexy as hell even in the dark. After reading the reveiws about it i'v forgoten about buying a Honda Pralude and really want a 200sx Spec S for my self.

• pyro566 on 13th May 2007

  Thank you for this review, I have been looking at S15 200sx's for a while and haven't been able to make up my mind whether to buy a skyline or a 200sx. umm only 1 thing, I would like to ask tho does it get over speed bumps without scraping cause I have to go through a lot when going to TAFE
  
  thank you
  
  email me a response plz @
  
  kyleiam@hotmail.com