The 1993 Nissan 240SX SE Convertible drops its top—and a bit of its rigidity. 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.
View Price on AmazonThe 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.
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. 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.
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.
Source: caranddriver.com
