Although the Nissan SR20DET looks like just a bunch of jumbled letters and numbers, this collection of characters actually spells out for you exactly what kind of engine this is. You just have to break things down a little. The SR at the beginning naturally means that this engine is in the SR family. The 20 indicates that this engine has 2.0L of displacement, which is the largest volume of displacement in the SR family. Then there’s the DET. The D means that this engine features a dual overhead camshaft, which gives the engine more power than you would expect. The E serves to show that it uses electronic fuel injection. Finally, the T simply means that this engine has a turbocharger.
The SR20DET was able to sustain the whole lifespan of the SR family, from 1989 until 2002, in a variety of different vehicles over the years like the Nissan Silvia and Bluebird. Depending on the vehicle it was in and what model year it was, this engine could generate anywhere from 200 hp and at the low end to 247 hp with its final iteration in the Silvia S15 from 1999-2002. Over the years, the color of the engine would change, be it red, black, or silver, which indicated different eras of the SR20DET.
[Image by RB30DE via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0]
