Red vs. Black

[Insomnyaq]

So.. been doin some searchin fer some engines, mainly the sr20det.. but, well, there are 2 different ones, a red top, and a black top.. what's the difference between the two besides the obvious color and the price??

[Dousan_PG]

www.srswap.com

[mistaanime]

lol...do some research...juss keep the bronze color one..it's better. hee

[TurK]

ther botch pretty much exatcly the same engine.....black-top is gona be newer....id go w/ the blacktop imo.

[hondaguy]

and black top is more money isnt it??good luck take care of yourself and each other

[FRpilot]

a few hundred more usually. blacktops also have those little vent/fins on the front of the block.

[TokyoNights]

^I have 2 redtops and one has the fins and the other doesnt

[s13Dr1ft]

Depends...Do you have an S13 or S14? I wouldnt put a redtop in an S14. The red tops sit slanted back in an S14. But i guess either one would go good in an S13.

[Wei240]

the hump...

and for some, different turbos...

[RanciD]

The redtops are from S13s.. they make about 205hp. I believe there's some blacktop S13 SRs also from late model 180s. The commonly referred to blacktops are S14 SRs making about 220hp. They have variable valve timing. Some people like it, some don't. It makes the engine feel a bit smoother but if you plan to make a lot of power it can make tuning difficult. It's all up to you. I'd just get whatever generation matches your car, ie redtop for an S13 but it's really just up to what you want. S14 SRs are newer so they haven't been sitting in a junkyard as long and probably have less miles.

[Insomnyaq]

I have an 89 240.. and yea my friend was looking and wanted me to ask or see if a black top came stock at all in any j-spec of my year

[s14falcon]

no, the black top was only in the later kouki models. In fact, the 89 never came stock with sr, it had the ca18det. Not like it really matters that much if you are planning a swap, they all fit nicely and arent too difficult.

[drift freaq]

The redtops are from S13s.. they make about 205hp. I believe there's some blacktop S13 SRs also from late model 180s. The commonly referred to blacktops are S14 SRs making about 220hp. They have variable valve timing. Some people like it, some don't. It makes the engine feel a bit smoother but if you plan to make a lot of power it can make tuning difficult. It's all up to you. I'd just get whatever generation matches your car, ie redtop for an S13 but it's really just up to what you want. S14 SRs are newer so they haven't been sitting in a junkyard as long and probably have less miles.
no commonly referring to a blacktop does not mean its a S14sr . S13 blacktops came in the cars from 94-98 . S14sr's have gobs more torque than a S13sr thats why so many socal SR guys are switching to S14sr's or S15sr's as fars as tunability goes you can tune a stock S14sr with bolts to turn out to close 300hp without breaking much of a sweat. The difference between the engines is the fact that the S13sr is a high port engine and the S14sr is a low port engine and has the VVT . High port engines are better for top end tuning i.e. track but you lose your bottom end when you tune them that way anyways. That is the reason track tuners prefer the S13sr but you see a lot of guys in Japan these days tuning the S14 and S15sr's as well.
S14sr's

[old_s13]

dave, black-top was released with the kouki 180sx which was made from 96-98.

the fins are on the HEAD not the block

black tops are more expensive simply because they are newer motor. of course, mileage is whats most important. since its hard to find mileage on used clips and motor sets, its kinda a toss up. one thing i like about black top CLIPS is that you have the digital odometer and you can see the mileage. combine that with a bit of snooping and its easy to tell if you are getting a good clip.