Nissan Silvia S13 JDM

The S13 is the car that taught half the planet how to go sideways. Light, cheap, rear-drive and just tough enough to survive the learning, it kicked off the Silvia line everyone actually knows, and it is where the SR20 legend really starts. Here is the S13 range sorted, engines and trims, so you know what you are chasing before the money leaves your pocket.

The engines: CA first, then the SR that made it famous

Early S13s (1988 to 1990) ran the CA18, a 1.8 that came naturally aspirated (CA18DE) or turbo (CA18DET). From 1991 Nissan swapped in the SR20, the 2.0 that turned the S13 into a legend. The SR20DET is the turbo four you have seen in half the drift cars on earth, and an SR-powered K's is the S13 to hold out for. It shares its FS5W71C five-speed with the Skyline's RB20DET, so gearboxes are common as muck and cheap to service, though it is not the strongest box once you wind the boost up.

Q's: the NA SR20DE

The Q's runs the naturally aspirated SR20DE, around 140 horses, no turbo. Light and chuckable and a fair bit cheaper than a K's. Do not write it off: it is a genuinely fun momentum car and a tidy base if you fancy dropping a turbo motor in down the track. Plenty of great S13s started life as a Q's.

K's: the turbo SR20DET

The King, and the reason the S13 is worth writing about. The K's gets the SR20DET, about 205 horses of boosted 2.0, usually with a limited-slip diff from the factory. It is the affordable turbo rear-drive coupe that modern drift culture was built on, and it takes to tuning like almost nothing else for the money. Find a straight one that has not been thrashed to death and you are laughing.

Chasing the pop-up-headlight fastback instead of the notchback coupe? That is the 180SX (RS13 / RPS13), and it has its own page here.

So which S13 do you actually want?

An SR20DET K's, every time, ideally the later SR-powered car. If the budget only reaches an NA Q's, no shame at all: it is light, it is fun, and you can boost it when funds allow. Whatever you buy, chase the straightest, least-crashed shell you can find. These have lived hard lives, and a clean, honest S13 gets rarer every year.