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MrBenjamonkey
MrBenjamonkey Reader
8/7/10 11:01 a.m.
Will wrote:
MrBenjamonkey wrote:
Will wrote: The problem I have with a lot of these proposed engine swaps is that an engine is more than just the thing that makes the car go. Put a 4G63 in a Testarossa and I'll break your legs. There's nothing on Earth that sounds like a Ferrari V12, and replacing that incredible noise with an Evo engine would be reason to stand before a firing squad. I don't care if the 4G63 makes 6 times the power; it sounds and looks like garbage next to that big beautiful 12 cylinder.
Marketing stuff ... kind of like I said.
I have to disagree with your assessment as being way too simplistic. If the way an engine sounds is nothing more than marketing, then the way it performs is nothing more than marketing, too.

That's fair. I personally don't understand the fascination with sound on street cars, since an unplugged racing 4 banger/6/8/whatever sounds better than any street engine in my opinion.

That said, justifying a supercar engine over an LS or 4g63 simply on sound seems a little strained.

MrBenjamonkey
MrBenjamonkey Reader
8/7/10 11:10 a.m.
blaze86vic wrote: I keep seeing the 4G63 being mentioned in comparison to the Flat 12 from Ferrari. I'm not saying it's a bad motor, but no upright 4 cylinder will be able to package as well as a flat motor. IMHO I'd like to see a flat motor in more cars, and the absolute best engine swap would be a rotary into everything.....except for the whole 3000 mile reliability issue.

The Mitsu would be shorter, much narrower and taller. If you wanted something short, the EJ25 would be much, much shorter, about the same width and about the same height.

Platinum90
Platinum90 SuperDork
8/7/10 11:38 a.m.

uncorked 4G63 sound like garbage...have you ever heard a rally evo at idle? Its like a bag of washers are being dumped into the intake runners...

Will
Will HalfDork
8/7/10 1:10 p.m.
MrBenjamonkey wrote: That's fair. I personally don't understand the fascination with sound on street cars, since an unplugged racing 4 banger/6/8/whatever sounds better than any street engine in my opinion. That said, justifying a supercar engine over an LS or 4g63 simply on sound seems a little strained.

Justifying a supercar is strained in the first place. Hell, a stock Evo 8 is probably faster than a Testarossa with the 12 or the 4G63. But owning a Ferrari or a Lamborghini is about more than pure power. Supercars are inherently vulgar. To rob them of their vulgarity with a more practical engine would be to take away a huge chunk of their essence. So if you buy a Testarossa, or whatever, you're probably not buying it because you want to out-autocross the next guy. You buy it because you want a Ferrari, and everything that goes with it. It's about the sum total of the experience, warts and all. If you're in it for the performance alone you wouldn't buy a 20 year old Ferrari.

11110000
11110000 New Reader
8/7/10 1:43 p.m.
blaze86vic wrote: IMHO I'd like to see a flat motor in more cars, and the absolute best engine swap would be a rotary into everything.....except for the whole 3000 mile reliability issue.

Rotaries have much fewer parts than piston engines. Theoretically, if you produced large volumes, you could get the cost of a rotary and parts down to disposable levels. So, run your car hard for 3k miles, remove & replace with engine 2 (using modular, easy in & out attachment scheme), rebuild engine 1 for next swap.

If you could get the swap down to a one hour procedure (think about military jets getting an engine pulled & replaced) doable by one individual, it could work.

MrJoshua
MrJoshua SuperDork
8/7/10 3:07 p.m.
Fit_Is_Slo
Fit_Is_Slo Reader
8/7/10 4:04 p.m.

Thats it i'm swapping a Testarossa flat 12 in a eclipse!

Fit_Is_Slo
Fit_Is_Slo Reader
8/7/10 4:04 p.m.

Merlin v12 55 chebby! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIj2GVfua84

Vigo
Vigo HalfDork
8/7/10 6:18 p.m.
There is no difference between the turbo on a 366 hp FQ360 and a regular 286 hp Evo 8. The new 4B series FQ 360 Evo weighs more than a Testarossa.

Alright, i just assumed that since you were talking about old cars and motors whose performance dont justify their expense, that you wouldnt be looking towards motors whose cost also doesnt justify their expense. If you're planning to spend more than LS1 money to get something that makes no more power than an ls1 but is more likely to break, why not just LS1 the ferrari?

As for the V8 Viper, my idea was an LS7 in an early Viper. The goal being similar/better power with a ton less weight.

And for way more money than the motor it already has? The only real problem i see with this idea is that you take a car thats already lambasted for its limit-handling and make it more rear-biased. other than that i cant say im against it.

MrJoshua
MrJoshua SuperDork
8/7/10 6:26 p.m.

A viper is Lambasted for its limit-handling?

White_and_Nerdy
White_and_Nerdy Reader
8/7/10 8:54 p.m.
Twin_Cam wrote: I WILL eventually put an F20C into a 1st-gen Saturn sedan, converted to RWD. It'll take me like 20 years to accumulate the equipment and knowledge to do it, not to mention 1991-1995 Saturn sedans will be antiques by then, but whatever. Ima do it.

You mean like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF4-1Afs_vs

Totally wrong, I agree. That's why I love it!

The idea of shoving any V8 into a Miata was considered heretical by the Miata's original designers. It's so not the point of the car - it's an updated classic British roadster, with a small horsepower boost to keep up with modern times. Personally, I dream of a V8 Miata, for the soundtrack as much as the performance. It's a modern Shelby Cobra.

friedgreencorrado
friedgreencorrado SuperDork
8/7/10 9:48 p.m.
Fit_Is_Slo wrote: Merlin v12 55 chebby! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIj2GVfua84

Merlin V12 in `44 Mustang..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sjqir7YzVQ&feature=related

Kinda on topic, almost..an engine swap (the 41s and `42s had Allisons) that turned a great airframe into a legendary aircraft.

MrBenjamonkey
MrBenjamonkey Reader
8/7/10 9:51 p.m.
Platinum90 wrote: uncorked 4G63 sound like garbage...have you ever heard a rally evo at idle? Its like a bag of washers are being dumped into the intake runners...

Haha, I was actually thinking about a rally 4g63 when I said an uncorked 4 sounds good. Though I was thinking more 6,000 rpm with the anti-lag kicking than idle.

MrBenjamonkey
MrBenjamonkey Reader
8/7/10 9:57 p.m.
Will wrote:
MrBenjamonkey wrote: That's fair. I personally don't understand the fascination with sound on street cars, since an unplugged racing 4 banger/6/8/whatever sounds better than any street engine in my opinion. That said, justifying a supercar engine over an LS or 4g63 simply on sound seems a little strained.
Justifying a supercar is strained in the first place. Hell, a stock Evo 8 is probably faster than a Testarossa with the 12 or the 4G63. But owning a Ferrari or a Lamborghini is about more than pure power. Supercars are inherently vulgar. To rob them of their vulgarity with a more practical engine would be to take away a huge chunk of their essence. So if you buy a Testarossa, or whatever, you're probably not buying it because you want to out-autocross the next guy. You buy it because you want a Ferrari, and everything that goes with it. It's about the sum total of the experience, warts and all. If you're in it for the performance alone you wouldn't buy a 20 year old Ferrari.

You think they're all vulgar? I would love to own a turbo Porsche or any Skyline GTR. I'd kill for a C4 ZR1. Hell, I even admire the F40. The difference being, the engineers who made those cars seem to have chosen parts and dimensions for solid, justifiable reasons, not because it would be cool to make a V87 with quadruple overhead turbo camshafts.

MrBenjamonkey
MrBenjamonkey Reader
8/7/10 10:16 p.m.
Vigo wrote:
There is no difference between the turbo on a 366 hp FQ360 and a regular 286 hp Evo 8. The new 4B series FQ 360 Evo weighs more than a Testarossa.
Alright, i just assumed that since you were talking about old cars and motors whose performance dont justify their expense, that you wouldnt be looking towards motors whose cost also doesnt justify their expense. If you're planning to spend more than LS1 money to get something that makes no more power than an ls1 but is more likely to break, why not just LS1 the ferrari?
As for the V8 Viper, my idea was an LS7 in an early Viper. The goal being similar/better power with a ton less weight.
And for way more money than the motor it already has? The only real problem i see with this idea is that you take a car thats already lambasted for its limit-handling and make it more rear-biased. other than that i cant say im against it.

The Ferrari idea with the 4g63? My thought was you could turn all that extra space on either side into enormous ground effects and corner at 1.5 Gs.

Fit_Is_Slo
Fit_Is_Slo Reader
8/7/10 11:23 p.m.

Germans are crazy... Goggomobil with a radial engine Gotta see these videos chronicling the build!

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand Reader
8/7/10 11:33 p.m.
MrBenjamonkey wrote: Am I the only one who thinks you could massively improve a lot of the prestige marque cars with motor swaps? You could even keep it to torque motors in the torquey cars and zingers in the zingy cars. Examples: 1. Ferrari 512 TR/Testarossa with a 4g63T. I submit that there is no automotive problem for which the 4G63 is a viable solution. Unless the Testarossa engine is really, really bad.
2. Jaguar XJS with a VG30T.
Double goes for that turdmotor.
3. Early Viper with an LSX. For benefits see above.
Okay, now that's just plain *evil*. And probably a lot simpler than it sounds, too, given the nature of the T56's "universal bellhousing". To make it worthwhile, you'd HAVE to use an LSX and not a production block.
4. Big block C3 Vette with a 1JZGTE. Probably wouldn't save much weight, but everything else would improve AND you could immediately banish the gold chain crowd when you opened the hood.
C3s are not gold-chain crowd cars. (That'd be the C4) But jeez, a small-block car is the same metal and plastic, and even that huge tank of a Toyota engine is better than some wheezy 350. (I am assuming one of the worthless later C3s) I think this'd be one of things to do just so you could say you did it, since C3s, in my opnion, are about as scary to drive as a Jeep Wrangler.
6. Ferrari 348 with an Acura Legend derived V6.
Why? I understand that the engine is the most reliable part of the car. Why wreck it with the Legend POS?
Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand Reader
8/7/10 11:37 p.m.
TJ wrote: Maybe a Lotus Esprit with a GNX engine......that was on Ebay recently.

Someone cut up a super-rare GNX to put its engine in a British Fiero?

I really do hope you just meant Grand National. The GNX is something different altogether.

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand Reader
8/7/10 11:40 p.m.
MrBenjamonkey wrote: My buddy's father has a C3 and I tried to talk him into a straight six. The hood was so long (trust me, it would fit) and it would be so cool.

I have a hard time believing that "it'd fit". Every C3 that I've had to work on was an engine-room nightmare because of the way they had to tilt the radiator back in order to fit it in the nose of the thing.

A straight six would be an easy fit if it were air-cooled

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand Reader
8/7/10 11:49 p.m.
ScottRA21 wrote: Put a 5.0 in to an SVO Mustang? American V8 BMW.... V8 GNX ....

When I was in high school, Car Craft ran a photo (uncommented) of what was clearly an SVO with its hood up, revealing something with a TPI intake manifold.

My Autos teacher, who was such a Ford guy that it was awesome, was totally appalled.

Back then, of course, it was a technical feat. Nowadays, we'd say "oh yeah, connect these wires thisaway and those wires thataway and you're running".

I know someone who used to work for a guy whose dream was to buy a Syclone and convert it to RWD and stuff a turbo V8 in it for drag racing. Umm, why not just start with an S10?

Schmidlap
Schmidlap Reader
8/7/10 11:50 p.m.

I wasn't going to post again, but I can't help it, and I won't bother quoting, because, like you said, formatting would be difficult.

Anyways, you asked us to compare the 4G63 with a Ferrari engine of the same vintage claiming the 4G63 performed similarly, and I showed that the F-car V8 had more power and torque. If you want to argue weight, the F360 engine weighs ~390lbs (http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/engine-conversions/130791-ferrari-v8-into-105-stepnose-13.html see post 104). The 4G63, with turbo, intercooler etc weighs ~375 lbs (http://torontojdm.com/lite/cart.php?target=product&product_id=4299&category_id=96 lists the weight as 387lb, but I assume that included a pallet) so you're not saving much weight (the new 4B11 Mitsu only loses about 23lb). Packaging? A V8 with dry sump is going to be pretty short (in height) compared to a 4 cylinder with a similar crank stroke and a wet sump oil pan, but the difference is probably pretty much a wash. The lengths will similar since they're both 4 cylinders long, the F-car being slightly longer due to the banks being offset. As for width, the V8 intake is packaged in the V, and the exhaust manifolds sit almost completely underneath the banks, so they don't add much width. The intake on the Mitsu sticks out quite a bit, as does the exhaust/turbo on the other side. Yes, the 4G63 will be narrower, but probably not by a lot. Compared to a flat 12, yes the 4G63 could package a lot better but will still be down on power.

Yes, the 2005 FQ-400 makes about the same power as a Ferrari flat 12 from 1991, and falls slightly lower than a flat 12 from from 1994 (440hp). Again, however, you originally asked us to compare the 4G63 to Ferrari engines of the same vintage and the FQ-400 pales compared to the 2005 Ferrari 5.7L V12 making 530hp/434lb-ft or the 483hp/343lb-ft of the 4.3L V8. Yes, 400hp from a 2L is impressive, but again, the "ridiculous complexity" of the Ferrari engines seem justified to me since they thoroughly trounce most other engines of the same vintage. Yes, a boosted LS engine will make as much power with a little less complexity (fewer valves and cams, but you have to add in a few pushrods, a supercharger and intercooler system too) for less cost. GM does build impressive engines.

And just for fun, I'd say that the 4G63 may be more of a Rube Goldberg device than a Ferrari V8 (or 12). Yes, the V8 has 5 valves per cylinder (in some applications) compared to 4 for the 4G63, and yes it has 2 banks of cylinders instead of 1, but it doesn't even have variable valve timing or even VTEC like many lesser engines, whereas the turbo on the 4G63 is pretty Rube Goldberg-ish if you ask me.

"Lets take our exhaust gas, which we normally just dump, and we'll run it through a turbine. But right before the turbine, lets throw in a dump valve with an actuator just in case we don't want the exhaust to go through the turbine. Now, the shaft supporting the turbine will have some bearings, which need an oil feed, and lets flow some coolant around the oil to keep it from coking. Now, the shaft that the turbine rotates on, lets attach the other end to a compressor, and have the compressor force air into the engine. Now, because the compressor heats up the air, we'll route it through a heat exchanger to cool the air and we'll have coolant flowing through the heat exchanger to cool it down, but that requires us adding another heat exchanger in another part of the car to cool down the coolant, and a water pump to circulate it."

Oh, and you did insult Lamborghini engineers: "Lamborghini says "give me 550 hp" and their engineers come back with a massive weight, huge dimensions, 48 valves, four cams, basic design from 1965, no torque..." That's why I wrote the part about the Lamborghini engineering manager.

Sorry for the ridiculously long post again. Brevity is obviously not a strength of mine.

Bob

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand Reader
8/7/10 11:58 p.m.
MrBenjamonkey wrote: 3. The stock 4g63T came in many forms. The Japanese Evos where making 280 HP (probably underrated, due to the gentleman's agreement) during the time of the F355 and during the F360's production cycle Mitsubishi was producing both the FQ360 and the FQ400. Take a wild guess on their rated power.

On what fuel, to whose emissions specs?

Gotta compare apples to apples. Would those engines meet US regs and run on US peewater the way the Ferrari engines will?

And the whole turbo-four supercar worked so well that even Lotus went to a V8! I remember the reviews of even the best of the four-cylinder Esprits. "Sucked" is a good synopsis.

Now, I've never driven a turbo Lotus, but I've driven many 4G63 powered things, and the turbo lag is mind-bogglingly bad. Maybe it's not as bad as the Lotus, but it's still not what somebody expects when they spend Ferrari money. You don't spend Ferrari money to get a Mitsubishi driving experience.

I can't believe I'm defending Ferrari here

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand Reader
8/8/10 12:02 a.m.
blaze86vic wrote: IMHO I'd like to see a flat motor in more cars, and the absolute best engine swap would be a rotary into everything.....except for the whole 3000 mile reliability issue.

Hey now, I managed to get 1600 miles out of my 13B(*) before the oil pump decided to quit! 3000 miles... HA!

(*) all the moving bits are from a ~180k mile core engine, and when I had it apart last to repair the coolant seals, I neglected to replace the oil pump that appeared to have been chewing on gravel, or the bearings which appeared to have been pressure-fed a diet of gravel slurry and oil pump leavings

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand Reader
8/8/10 12:04 a.m.
Twin_Cam wrote: I WILL eventually put an F20C into a 1st-gen Saturn sedan, converted to RWD. It'll take me like 20 years to accumulate the equipment and knowledge to do it, not to mention 1991-1995 Saturn sedans will be antiques by then, but whatever. Ima do it.

I want to put a Saturn twin-cam in a longitudinal VW. Those engines weigh next to nothing, are fairly tough, and unlike Hondas, actually spin the proper direction.

Sadly, the supply of rusted out Saturn engine-donors is rapidly drying up.

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand Reader
8/8/10 12:10 a.m.
11110000 wrote: Rotaries have much fewer parts than piston engines. Theoretically, if you produced large volumes, you could get the cost of a rotary and parts down to disposable levels. So, run your car hard for 3k miles, remove & replace with engine 2 (using modular, easy in & out attachment scheme), rebuild engine 1 for next swap.

Not so few as you'd think. There's about a half million tiny little springs and seals and O-rings, and there's a source bottleneck.

The oil control O-ring holders, for example, ARE a wear item, and you're looking at $400 per engine. That's before the new springs or O-rings.

Chew an apex seal? Just buy a couple used "Japanese" engines off of eBay and hope one of them is okay, it will be cheaper than buying one rotor, one rotor housing, and new seals. Assuming that the other bits aren't worn.

Yes, this has me fuming. I figure it is cheaper to do an engine swap than it is to replace the bearings, corner and side seals, and oil control rings, starting with an engine with good housings, rotors, and apex seals.
Have a look at the engine parts pricing on, say, Mazdatrix's website, and get ready for sticker shock.

I think it'd be cheaper to drive a 944. And 944s don't rust, either

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