Nissan 180SX RS13 Portal

The 180SX is the S13's fastback twin, the one with the pop-up headlights and the hatchback tail. Same running gear as the coupe underneath, different body and a much longer life: Nissan kept building the 180SX right through to 1998, years after the Silvia coupe had moved on. It is one of the great cheap turbo rear-drive cars, and here is how the range breaks down.

RS13 to RPS13: the engine that matters

Early RS13 cars run the CA18DET, a willing little 1.8 turbo good for about 175 horses. From 1991 the SR20DET took over in the RPS13, and that is where the numbers and the interest are: our registry alone holds more than 41,000 RPS13 cars. It is the same S13-spec 2.0 turbo (around 205 horses), the same FS5W71C five-speed and factory LSD as the Silvia K's, in a body a lot of people reckon looks even better.

Types, and the one to chase

Over its long life the 180SX ran through Type I, Type II and Type III trim, and finished with the Type X, the final and best-equipped version, which got the 1996 Kouki restyle and the full factory aero. Worth killing a common myth here: the Type X did not get the S14's hotter black-top engine. Every 180SX, right to the end, kept the S13-spec red-top SR20DET at around 205 horses, so the Type X is about trim and looks, not more power. A genuine one is still the collector 180SX, and below it any honest RPS13 is a brilliant base and a joy to drive.

After the notchback coupe instead? That is the S13 Silvia, same mechanicals under a different roof.

So which 180SX do you actually want?

An SR20DET RPS13, and a Type X if you can find a real one and stretch to it. The CA18DET cars are charming and getting collectible in their own right, but the SR is the easier car to live with and to tune. As always with an S-chassis, the shell is the thing. Buy the straightest, least-patched car you can and let someone else pay for the crashed ones.