While many sporty cars are broad
shouldered around the rear of the car, the 200SX is all shoulder, with a small cabin
attached to the top. It's one of those designs that is bound to elicit either love or
loathing, and although I was definitely not attracted to the car initially, the looks do
tend to grow on you. But what grows very much faster on you is the way the car goes.
On paper the 200SX has got sportscar written all over it.
Starting with a 110kW two litre 16 valve engine, Nissan chucks a turbocharger and
intercooler at it, bringing the power to 147kW (somewhere around 200 bhp in Olde Worlde
Figures). Then those crafty Japanese insert the engine into a rear wheel drive chassis,
complete with multi link rear suspension and limited slip differential. Power is applied
to the road through 205/55 R16 tyres, just the right size for 'enthusiastic' driving. Then
those self-same crafty people lost the plot somewhat and made an automatic gearbox an
option.
The car I tested had an
automatic. I've never really been a fan of automatic gearboxes, preferring to decide when
I want to change gear rather than leaving it up to the car. Power sapping torque
converters are another reason I think real sportscars should avoid self shifting, but
perhaps Nissan has got it right, and maybe 147kW is more than enough to overwhelm the
torque converter.
NISSAN 200SX AUTO Driven Review
