Budget Speed
1995-98 Nissan 200SX

By David Bellm

The trouble with some low-budget used performance cars is that they aren't really low-budget. Not if you plan on using them as daily transportation anyway. The purchase price of many such machines don't become cheap until the cars are old and in need of wallet-draining repair and restoration -- thus offsetting that deceptively low initial cost.

So what's a person to do when looking for a good, inexpensive car that can serve as both a reliable driver and a good performance foundation?

Well, here's a great place to start -- the largely forgotten 1995-98 Nissan 200SX.

Although initially slow to be embraced by sport-compact fans and the aftermarket that serves them, the 200SX has steadily gained a following. There are now plenty of goodies available for these cars, ranging from simple cosmetic upgrades to wild suspension mods. They make great little performance cars, and they're still new enough and generally in solid enough condition for use as everyday transportation.

These 200SXs are essentially a two-door variant of the Nissan Sentra. They were offered in base, SE, and performance-oriented SE-R models, all with 4-cylinder engines. Base and SE models had a 115-hp 1.6-liter unit, while SE-Rs had a 140-hp 2.0-liter. All were available with 4-speed automatic or 5-speed manual transmission.

A quick search on just about any good internet used-car listing will yield hundreds of these 200SXs. At this point, it's rare to see even the very finest of them selling for more than $9000, and there are loads of promising ones going for less than half that. You're best off holding out for a good-condition car in the lower end of the price range -- you'll probably want to hang onto some cash for performance mods.

Nissan didn't change this generation of 200SX much during its three-year run, giving it primarily cosmetic revisions along the way. For 1997, all 200SX models got the SE-R's deck-mounted spoiler. The following year white-face gauges were included on all 200SXs.

On the subject of the three different 200SX models, it's worth discussing the lower-performance base and SE versus the SE-R. Although the SE-R is obviously the best pick of these cars, you might have a hard time finding one. They were never a big percentage of 200SX sales, and that fact becomes pretty obvious once you start looking for one.

That said, they're out there at any given time. You just might not find one close to home right away. And despite their relatively scarceness, SE-Rs don't seem to command substantially greater money than other 200SX models.

Overall, while the 200SX isn't quite as sexy as certain rival front-drive coupes, these plentiful Nissans have a lot to offer -- attractive prices, an abundant supply of good examples, and burgeoning aftermarket support. What's more, even the very earliest of them are barely a decade old. So there are still a lot of them around in good condition, some with less than 100k miles.

Given all these things, it's no wonder why this once somewhat unloved coupe is becoming a popular pick among first-time performance-car buyers. Take a look.