There's a bunch of V6 motors butting out 260-325 HP or so. What's the easy/cheap ticket? I'd think VQ35 might be it, considering how many there are, how long they've been out, and stock availability with a manual RWD tranny. But there's always the Canbus bugaboo to get around, and?
I always bring this up, and totally plagiarized the idea, but here goes:
Isuzu Amigo/Rodeo/Trooper/Honda Passport.
Short version: Honda built 3.5L Chevy 60 degree bellhousing bolts up. Stout internals, Aluminum, Practically free.
Lincoln LS could be had with a v6 and manual. Worries about the transmission being weak should be null with 2k lbs weight loss.
Mustang with 3.7l?
3800 Camaro or Firebird. No bus, simple security to defeat, available on rusty mullet mobiles cheap.
I drove an MGB with one. Torque out the wazoo.
Isn’t this pretty much what Datsaniti is but with an old Datsun body instead of a locost chassis?
Brunton Stalker is probably where I would start my research.
wheelsmithy said:I always bring this up, and totally plagiarized the idea, but here goes:
Isuzu Amigo/Rodeo/Trooper/Honda Passport.
Short version: Honda built 3.5L Chevy 60 degree bellhousing bolts up. Stout internals, Aluminum, Practically free.
Aye CARumba! You have to take an excel spreadsheet with you just to go to Autozone! (Says the guy with 10 different type of car's parts in one vehicle)
pres589 (djronnebaum) said:Brunton Stalker is probably where I would start my research.
I kinda forgot about those. I wonder if they’re still in production? (Off to google...)
Stalkers use 3800s, the 60 degree V6 or LSX. I'm more interested in modern OHC motors.
wheelsmithy said:I always bring this up, and totally plagiarized the idea, but here goes:
Isuzu Amigo/Rodeo/Trooper/Honda Passport.
Short version: Honda built 3.5l Chevy 60 degree bellhousing bolts up. Stout internals, Aluminum, Practically free.
WAIT WHAT???
edit: Nevermind, that is the goofy Isuzu engine, not a Honda engine.
LFX or Cyclone. Available, powerful, light, good transmission attached, good aftermarket.
Are we still saying the gm 60deg v6 is a *modern* engine?
We need to pull ourselves out of the early nineties, friends.
Heck, even the vq35 (and the Chevy LS) is almost 20 years old.
But I think nissan, mustang, crammit, are going to be the easy answers here.
In reply to Robbie :
Nobody said that, but the Isuzu engine used the GM 60deg bellhousing pattern, which opens up the world for trans options.
They probably did that because they used to use Chevy engines in the Rodeo, so this way they could keep using the same transmissions.
You could also do the 2GR V6 swap on an MR2. The Toyota 2GR-FE is an awesome V6 capable of 300+ HP though basic headers and a cracked ECU from Wilhelm Raceworks and Frankenstein motorworks- it'll even bolt to the S54 trans with basic mods, though that trans will be on a timer.
In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :
Go on..
I am fairly well impressed by the 2GR. What vehicles had the S54?
Would a nissan VQ not satisfy this ?
Honda TL/CL/Odyssey/Accord V6 with an adaptor to a Miata transmission
Part of the cheap/easy question is, of course, engine management. Pretty well all of your modern V6s fall into the Canbus era, I assume. So which ones have a reasonably priced standalone or at least a good Canbus emulator?
The GM stuff is pretty easily swappable electronically.
buzzboy said:The GM stuff is pretty easily swappable electronically.
GM is pretty good about making sure all data vital to engine management goes direct to the PCM instead of via the network. The only exception is the throttle control unit (TAC module) on some early drive by wire PCMs, but even then they had their own dedicated twisted-pair. And you'd be needing that module anyway.
Really, the only issues you run into are chassis-side on cars new enough to expect data from the PCM for vehicle speed and the like.
Knurled. said:In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :
Go on..
I am fairly well impressed by the 2GR. What vehicles had the S54?
Honestly? Just about any 4 cylinder Toyota from 1990 until ~1999 when SW20 production stopped and they switched to the C160 for the Matrix and ZZW30 3rd Gen MR2. The 5S-GE SW20 MR2 uses it, as do Corollas, Camry's and Celicas.
Just to forewarn you, I really don't know what it's pain tolerance is and it's really just a Wumbo-ed C52- to the point where it's a drop-in replacement in the AW11 MR2, even down to the axels and hubs being the same size and swappable (!). Of course MR2 guys have had ~250-300 HP 4A-GEs for years, so part of it naturally comes down to if you shift like a gorilla.
As mentioned f body 3800 plus I think all the various mid size or half ton v6 trucks out there would be a good choice aswell.
It's not the most powerful, but it's extremely tiny: Suzuki J25. It doesn't hurt that in stock form it revved to 7k.
Had a duh moment regarding the Toyota GR engines. They were used in EVERYTHING - pickups, vans, all the rear drive Lexuses, etc. So rear drive transmissions greatly exist, although you might only find a manual in an IS250.
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