1993 Nissan 240SX SE Convertible Test: Rough Edges, Soft Top
From the November 1992 issue of Car and Driver.
It's hard to be objective about a sports car when the air is warm and the road is wiggly and the appointment book is blank for the rest of the afternoon. But when that sports car is a convertible...hell, a Supreme Court justice would chuck all professional impartiality in a half-mile.
You can therefore understand our plight in assessing Nissan's fetching new Limited Edition 240SX SE Convertible.
"Limited Edition" is probably inappropriate for this car: Nissan says it will build up to 20,000 before shutting off the production spigot. But "fetching" certainly applies. Based on the svelte two-plus-two 240SX coupe, the SE convertible is low and lean and as dashing as a Hugo Boss blazer—particularly in our test car's "Super Black' color, which also helps disguise the fact that the roof is made of black fabric.
The droptop conversion is a joint effort between Nissan and convertible specialist ASC Incorporated. In Japan, Nissan structurally reinforces the bodies of the 240s that are destined to become convertibles. The cars are then shipped to California, where ASC lops off their tops, adds additional structural bracing, and fits each with an ASC-designed fabric roof.
The completed conversion appears clean and "factory-built." The only blemishes to the shape are the two seatbelt posts, which protrude awkwardly from the doors but provide more comfortable belt fit than if the belts were mounted down low in the doors.
The top itself is admirably crafted. To fold it away, the driver need only release two headliner-mounted latches, lower the power windows, and press a button on the console that electrically lowers the top into the bay behind the seats. There the first-class service ends, however: the folded top comes with a soft boot, which is stowed in the trunk and requires the driver to get out of the car. Securing the boot is simple enough, requiring only a few snaps and about 30 seconds of effort. Most likely, a lot of owners will simply drive around without the boot in place.
Though bred from the feisty 240SX coupe, the convertible is clearly designed for laid-back cruising. A four-speed automatic is the only transmission offered, and this car is more than 200 pounds heavier than the last coupe we tested (C/D, April 1992). Thus, a run to 60 mph takes 9.1 seconds, versus 7.9 seconds for the manual-transmission coupe. Skidpad grip drops from 0.85 g to 0.80, and 70-to-0-mph stops climb from 164 feet to 198 (in both cases, due largely to the ragtop's narrower, all-season 195/60R-15 tires).
The 2.4-liter four and the automatic seem unhappy partners. The transmission shifts frequently to keep the engine in the meat of its power band, and even at full throttle the upshifts occur well before the revs rise to the redline.
Structural rigidity could be improved. For all of the alfresco 240's added bracing, on broken streets—that is, the ruinous surfaces that Michigan calls roads—it shimmies like a freshly popped ring of Jell-O.
The 240 convertible's $22,295 base price includes power windows and locks, an AM/FM/cassette system, and cruise control. Air conditioning and a Sony compact-disc player are optional. That's a heady sticker when you consider that a similarly equipped Mazda Miata is more than $4000 cheaper. Even a comparable Ford Mustang LX V-8—a convertible with far more performance than this Nissan—undercuts the 240 by more than $1600.
But then, such criticisms will seem trifling to anyone who peels back the top and wheels the 240 into a warm summer twilight.
Specifications
Specifications
Year Make Model Trim
Vehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 2-door convertible
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $22,295/$23,215
ENGINE
DOHC 16-valve inline-4, iron block and aluminum head, port fuel injection
Displacement: 145 in3, 2389 cm3
Power: 155 hp @ 5600 rpm
TRANSMISSION
4-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 97.4 in
Length: 178.0 in
Curb Weight: 3158 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 9.1 sec
1/4-Mile: 17.2 sec @ 81 mph
100 mph: 29.5 sec
Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 9.3 sec
Top Speed: 124 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 198 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.80 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 22 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
City: 21 mpg
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED