My Nissan 200SX was something of an impulse purchase - I needed a car, and this was immediately available to me at the time.

Being into street racing, I was not really aware of this car, until its inclusion in the movie "the Fast and the Furious"...

This car is built as a rear wheel drive, and was tuned for comfort, rather than sport, so it handles rather well, but not as well as a Skyline or something in that line. It feels rather heavy on the road, but the extra kick of that turbo under the hood quickly hides its flab.

Inside, my car was equipped with basic black upholstery (which was good enough for me) and considering that this car was a 1997 model, I would say that this car was the luxury sports car of its day. Although mine was not the GT or the fully-loaded model, this car was something which made me fall in love with Nissan all over again.

I have found this to be a car worth considering seriously - after all, it is not a very popular car in terms of there being that many of them on the road. Accessories and uprades are readily accessible (once you know where to look - as opposed to original parts, go figure) and because it was originally designed for the SR20DET motor, RB20 and RB25 motors will fit almost perfectly into the engine bay (in case you are wondering, think Nissan Skyline) with little or no modifications required. Even with the original SR20 motor, it is possible to reach as high as 800 or 900 horsepower with all the possible modifications your wallet and schedule can allow - or so I was informed.

Rear wheel drive cars are always looked at as being older in design (most newer cars are front wheel driven), sports cars (check most of the sports car you know - Mazda RX7, RX8, Mitsubishi GT3000) or luxury cars (Mercedes Benz, BMW). However, because of this car's sheer power, coupled with its heavy curb weight (or at least, heavy for a 2-door vehicle) and rear wheel drive, this car is a perfect candidate if you want to do drifting or power-sliding.

In the automatic transmission, shifting was not as smooth as one would like, but sports car enthusiasts waiting to purchase a stickshift will appreciate its sportcar-like feel when shifting. The overdrive is a confusing switch for me, since I hardly ever used it, but when it is on, the gears change at lower RPMs, giving the car a more sporty feel and somewhat better gas consumption.

Because this car is no longer manufactured, I would recommend taking this car to your trusted mechanic before purchasing. Be sure to check for any modifications in the exhaust system, turbo, change of engine and suspension. If all modifications were "bolt-on", then all is well (bolt-on modifications are components which require no modification of the vehicle itself and can simply be bolted onto the vehicle). Exhaust modifications are suspect, since exact modifications may not be easily identifiable or reversible. If an engine swap was done (such as replacing the SR20DET with a RB25DETT), be sure to have your mechanic look over the entire engine and engine bay before considering the purchase. Sometimes engine mounting brackets may have to be moved or welded on before the bigger engines can be mounted, so engine modifications should be viewed with caution. Body-wise, all normal rules apply, in terms of paint, rusting, etc.