The SR20DET is a straight-four

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

gasoline engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...

that is part of the SR family of engines from

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

, produced from 1989 to 2002. It is a

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

version of the

SR20DE The SR engine is a series of , or Inline-four engine, straight-four, four-stroke engine, four-stroke gasoline internal combustion engine, engines manufactured by Nissan Motors, Nissan. It has an aluminum head and cast-iron block with steel Cyli ...

engine and is a replacement of the CA18DET engine. The SR20DET, like with the outgoing CA18DET, was a turbocharged intercooled engine in top form. It was Nissan's popular four-cylinder engine fitted into a wide variety of cars, most notably the S13-chassis

Nissan Silvia The is the series of small sports cars produced by Nissan. Versions of the Silvia have been marketed as the 200SX or 240SX for export, with some export versions being sold under the Datsun brand. The name "Silvia" is derived from Sylvia, th ...

and

180SX The Nissan 180SX is a fastback automobile that was produced by Nissan Motors between 1988 and 1998. It is based on the S13 chassis from the Nissan S platform with the variants receiving an R designation (ex. PS13 and RPS13), and was sold exclusiv ...

. It also came in the Pulsar GTI-R, Nissan NX Coupe and the

Nissan Bluebird The is a compact car with a model name introduced in 1957. It has been Nissan's most internationally recognized sedan, in multiple body styles, and is known for its dependability and durability. The Bluebird originated from Nissan's first vehic ...

. It replaced the CA18DE and CA18DET engines that originally powered the Silvia and 180SX from the S12-chassis and prior. The previous CA18DET was deemed too expensive to produce (due to its cast-iron block) and no longer met Japanese emission standards, and so was replaced with the SR20DET. The SR20DET is a popular choice as an

engine swap In car tuning culture, an engine swap is the process of removing a car's original engine and replacing it with another. This may be a like-for-like replacement, or to install a non-factory specification engine. Typically an engine swap is p ...

in North American 240SXs (more specifically the USDM and Canadian models), as they use the

SOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

KA24E for earlier models, or the

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

KA24DE The KA engines were a series of four-stroke inline-four gasoline piston engines manufactured by Nissan, which were offered in 2.0 and 2.4 L. The engines blocks were made of cast-iron, while the cylinder heads were made of aluminum. Despite their ...

for later models. Both are naturally aspirated engines and are much less-powerful than the CA18DET and SR20DET engines, producing and respectively. SR20DET engine swaps are becoming more commonplace due to the aftermarket

forced induction In an internal combustion engine, forced induction is where turbocharging or supercharging is used to increase the density of the intake air. Engines without forced induction are classified as naturally aspirated. Operating principle Overvi ...

options available for the SR20DET. There are many tuning shops out there that specialized only in SR20DET swaps.

Model code breakdown

The breakdown of the engine codes are as follows: * SR - Engine family * 20 - 2.0 liter displacement * D -

Dual overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

* E -

Multi-port fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All comp ...

* T - Turbocharger NOTE: The lack of a "D" in some engine identifications indicates an

cylinder head. For more information of Nissan's engine naming conventions, see

list of Nissan engines This is a list of piston engines developed by Nissan Motors. Engine naming convention Nissan uses a straightforward method of naming their automobile engines. The first few letters identify the engine family. The following digits are the disp ...

History

The SR20DET was first introduced in the U12

2000SSS

ATTESA ATTESA (acronym for Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All-Terrain) is a four-wheel drive system used in some automobiles produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan, including some models under its luxury marque Infiniti. The 'mech ...

Limited in a transverse-mounted

front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longit ...

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

form in October 1989. The first revisions of the

rear-wheel drive Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-wheel ...

S13

and

Nissan 180SX The Nissan 180SX is a fastback automobile that was produced by Nissan Motors between 1988 and 1998. It is based on the S13 chassis from the Nissan S platform with the variants receiving an R designation (ex. PS13 and RPS13), and was sold exclusi ...

produced in 1991 were built with a longitudinally-mounted SR20DET. Others had the naturally aspirated SR20DE. The engine then went on to be used in a number of Nissan vehicles, including the

Nissan Avenir The Nissan Avenir is a line of station wagons beginning production in May 1990 by Nissan of Japan, with the budget oriented delivery van starting out as the Avenir Cargo, then being renamed the Nissan Expert ( ja) in 1999. The Avenir replaced the ...

in 1995, the Nissan R'nessa in 1997 and the

Nissan Liberty The is an automobile manufactured and marketed by Nissan from 1981 to 2004. Considered a mini MPV or a compact MPV. It was also marketed as the Multi in Canada and the Stanza Wagon in the United States. In Japan, it was exclusive to '' Nissan Bl ...

in 1999. The SR20DET (along with the naturally-aspirated SR20DE) was retired in most Nissan vehicles in August 2002 (including the S15 Nissan Silvia), and were replaced with the QR20DE engine in most applications. Out of all the

models produced with the SR20DET engine, the

Silvia Silvia () is a female given name of Latin origin, with a male equivalent Silvio and English-language cognate Sylvia. The name originates from the Latin word for forest, ''Silva'', and its meaning is "spirit of the wood"; the mythological god of ...

was the longest-running model to use it, starting with the S13 series in 1991 and ending with the S15 series in 2002. The S14 and S15 series used a bigger turbocharger than the S13 series.

Valve cover colors

The colors of the valve covers seem to relate to the year the engine was produced: *1989–1994 "Red top" - Came from U12/13 Bluebird, S13 Silvia and 180SX pre-94 ( Garrett T25G turbo) 370cc injectors were used. *1994–1998 "Black top" - Came from 180SX's post-94 (Garrett T25G turbo) *1991–1998 "Black top" - 91–98 Silvias - Variable Cam Timing or VCT was introduced on the intake cam ( Garrett T28 journal bearing turbo for Australian and European markets and Garrett T28 Ball Bearing turbo for the Japanese market) 370cc injectors were used. *1995–2002 "Silver top" - 95-02 Avenirs and 97-01 R'nessas. *1999–2002 "Black top" - 99–02 Silvias. Same VCT as above, 6-speed manual transmission (Garrett Journal Bearing T28 for Europe and Australia and Ball Bearing T28 turbo for Japan) 480cc injectors were used and the intake manifold was redesigned.

Engine specifications

4 valves per cylinder, Chain driven cam sprockets * Bore × Stroke of × * Displacement of 1990–1994 RNN14 Pulsar GTI-R *Compressor Flow: 33 lb/MIN *Throttle Body: Quad *Injector Flow: 440cc/min *Ignition Timing: 20º BTDC 1991–1998 180SX *Throttle Body Bore: 60 mm *Injector Flow: 370cc/min 1995–1999 S14 Silvia *Throttle Body Bore: 50 mm *Injector Flow: 370cc/min 1999–2002 S15 Silvia *Throttle Body Bore: 50 mm *Injector Flow: 444cc/min

Comparison table

Twin-turbo modifications

While all factory manufactured SR20DET's featured only a single turbo unit, some aftermarket tuners have engineered working twin-turbo configurations. One such kit produced by ENDLESS Japan in 2008 featured two

GReddy is a Japanese automotive aftermarket company specialising in performance tuning parts for cars. The company is widely known for its sub-brand of tuning parts GReddy and the turbochargers under this brand. GReddy/The Trust Company LTD The Trus ...

TD05-16G turbines in parallel. These were mounted on a custom exhaust manifold and downpipe, and required heavy modifications to the engine bay to fit correctly. This twin-turbo setup achieved its peak power at 2.2 bar between 5,500–6,000 RPM, and costs ¥300,000.

Applications

The SR20DET is used in a number of Nissan vehicles produced from 1989 to 2002, including the

line of compact sports cars. Below is a list of these.

References

{{nissan SR