hey guys i've found a exa turbo, it has 200k on the clock but the motor sounds good, i'm going to take it for a drive tomorrow, what do i look out for? what do they go like? are the motors strong? what problems do they have? please help i need to make up my mind soon!!

many thanks

nicholas

Nicholas, we didnt have the exa turbo in Aus so can help sorry....
Ours were normally aspirated CA series engines.

He is talking about the earlier 1984-85 Exa Turbo powered by the E15t.

We got plenty of them in Australia

I remember when they came out in.. the magazine review referred to them as a deathtrap. With a boost curve that was unfriendly, and powersteered the car uncontrollably across 2 lanes under excessive acceleration.

They are also made of thinner metal than a 1200. And that's saying something.

But if it's got not a lot of rust, it'd be fun at the right price.

Chris

how much power did they make? this one seems pretty clean, am going to take it for a spin tomorrow, will let you guys know cheers

i had one for my second car. went pretty hard after id done some head work and that. They have nothing on a 1200 though.

N12 EXA Specifications

Engine
Type: E15ET 1.5 Litres
Configuration: 4 cylinders
Cams: Single Overhead
Valves: 8
Fuel Injection: Electronic
Management:
Displacement: 1488cc Bore x Stroke: 72 x 82mm
Max. Power: 78kW@5000rpm
Max. Torque: 157Nm@4000rpm
Compression Ratio: 7.4:1
Fuel Tank Capacity: 50 litres
Electrical System 12 volts

Transmission
Manual, five forward speeds: one reverse.
Floor-mounted gearshift. 1st 3.333, 2nd 1.955, 3rd 1.286, 4th 0.902, 5th 0.733, Reverse 3.417 Final drive 3.550

Brakes
Front: Ventilated discs Rear: Drums

Steering
Rack and pinion.
Turning circle: 9.2 m

Suspension
Front: Independent strut stabilser bar
Rear: Independent by trailing arms

Tyres & Wheels
Tyres: 175/65 R14 Steel Radials
Wheels: 14x5JJ Alloy wheels

Instrumentation
Speedometer
Tachometer
Fuel Gauge
Temperature Gauge
Warning Light System

Dimensions and Weight
Overall Length : 4125mm
Overall Width : 1620mm
Overall Height : 1355mm
Wheelbase : 2415mm
Front Track : 1395mm
Rear Track : 1385mm
Kerb Weight : 925kg


* Note specs taken from Nissanexa.com

I would prefer the newer model with CA18

I know someone who is a mechanic and kept having trouble with them

Personally I think N12s look very ugly, I wouldnt mind N13 for daily...

a little history....

The Nissan EXA/NX Turbo N12 made it's debut to the world stage in 1981, in the era of hot front wheel drive turbo vehicles. Powered by a E15-ET Turbo engine, it shared all it's goodies with the N12 Pulsar ET, except for Pulsar's rear end disc brakes (which by the way can be fitted directly to the N12 EXA Turbo).

They were renown for their ability to produce vast amounts of power from it's small powerplant, coupled with a light body they made for lethal weapons on the race track. It took very skilled drivers to master the torque steer from this little baby.

Other not so well known variations of the N12 EXA/NX Turbos were the non-turbo E15E versions, and the factory convertible version.

I owned one for a couple of years. They had factory 13" alloys in Australia not 14".

The main problems with them are that the ecu is located under the passenger's seat with the plugs facing forward so everytime someone sits in the seat they hit the plugs with their feet and the car runs like crap! I have seen a couple of them where the ecu has been relocated or a metal plate has been fitted in front of the plugs. The other issue is handling related. Basically with the motor so far over the front axle line they corner like a lead tipped arrow. This can be rectified but they will never have that nice chassis balance evident in other cars like 1200's, pugs etc.

On the plus side the motor, while not a great design, is very strong and the same can be said for the gearbox. Air-to-air intercoolers are dirt cheap nowadays too so if you don't mind cutting up the panel between the headlights you could fit a fairly decent sized core for minimal coin.

I fitted a 3" mandrel exhaust with a custom dump pipe, high flowed standard turbo, a T piece running 8 - 10psi from memory and a decent clutch and could keep up with standard WRX's in roll ons.

Mine rusted in the boot floor but overall was a reasonable car. Like any car check it over thoroughly before you sign on the dotted line.

Matty
p.s. Sorry for the essay.

these are a good powerful little engine, if a rear drive gearbox was available i would put one in my coupe ken

thanks guys,

just took it out for a drive and fukc me!! it pulled strong right to red line!! it's only running a 0.5bar boost, but i'm sure we can turn that up .

It really clean only prob is the fold up lights don't work but i'm sure that all of us here can sort the problem out.

i'm hoping to pick it up on monday i'll post pics of it soon.

cheers and thanks guys.


p.s am i still welcome here on this forum if i buy it?