KLZE & KLDE...Learn me

Ok newb question here, why does "every" on here seem to have a fondness for the KL*E engines? small displacement V6 with mediocre output.

Am I missing something?

Please correct my ignorance.

You just want this info to dazzle your Asian coworkers with bullstuff, right?

No, but funny you bring it up, I just picked up two co workers from Japan.

But I have a 2009 MasterCraft X14V loaded out at the shop so I can keep them occupied for the next two weeks.

They are just shocked I know about JDM cars period.

I just like the exhaust note. Otherwise, give me a BPT instead

revs to 7500+ rpm and sounds sexy all the way there. that's what does it for me.

What's so mediocre about 200 hp in a tiny little car? Besides revving really high and sounding lovely... the KL motors are also incredibly smooth.

They're light, have a big SMOOOOOOTH powerband, rev happy as hell, and make incredible noises.

That said, i wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to put one in anything unless it was pretty easy. The only exception to that rule would be a Miata. A KLZE miata = WIN.

Also, the KLs make relatively insane power under boost. There's been numerous instances of people slapping ebay turbo kits on KLZEs, running 5psi, and making 300whp.

The main appeal of this motor is that there's quite a few cars that it swaps easily into, and they're usually cars that end up being close to "perfect" with it's somewhat mediocre power output. 130hp MX3 = ok. 200hp MX3 = perfect.

It's "mediocre" output will be propelling my Escort down the quarter mile (if i choose to run it there) in the low 13s range.

It's more about the total packages that are created with the motor rather than the motor itself.

what are tge spec's on these engines? Like vee angle, b&s, things like that.

turbojunker wrote: I just like the exhaust note. Otherwise, give me a BPT instead

The regular BPT is nothing special, unfortunately. You've got to get the BPT (Really a "BPD") out of the Familia GTR to get the good stuff.

A low-pressure turbo KLDE will smack around a BPT and take it's lunch money like it's nothing.

For the record, i'd much rather have a 2grfse (alphabet soup for 3.5 v6 in the IS350) than a KL, but the 2grfse wasn't exactly legal for my build.

AquaHusky wrote: what are tge spec's on these engines? Like vee angle, b&s, things like that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_K_engine

This is all accurate to the best of my knowledge. They're cool motors.

Yeah read it just still didn't get the enamoring.

Thanks for all the info

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Also, the KLs make relatively insane power under boost. There's been numerous instances of people slapping ebay turbo kits on KLZEs, running 5psi, and making 300whp.

I wouldnt call that insane, thats actually about right.

200 horse NA, 5 PSI of boost, 300 horse (probably more like 275 at the crank unless you have a dyno sheet stating otherwise) and you are about where you would expect to be without spinning it to the moon using basic forced induction math .

They are nothing special, but they do sound nice.

sound great and very easy to fit into anything!!!!! altho personally ill take a duratec 3.0 or even the 2.5 over the kl's but thats cuz they sound better more euro sound than nice asian sound.

93gsxturbo wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Also, the KLs make relatively insane power under boost. There's been numerous instances of people slapping ebay turbo kits on KLZEs, running 5psi, and making 300whp.

I wouldnt call that insane, thats actually about right. 200 horse NA, 5 PSI of boost, 300 horse (probably more like 275 at the crank unless you have a dyno sheet stating otherwise) and you are about where you would expect to be without spinning it to the moon using basic forced induction math . They are nothing special, but they do sound nice.

Quite a few dyno sheets showing the kind of numbers i'm talking about out there. Check out Mx6.com or probetalk.

They are remarkably efficient under boost. Buddy of mine about 2 hours north has a MX6 with an ebay turbo kit on stock original motor. On 5.5psi, he ran a 12.6 quarter mile, trapping 116mph. Sure, it may not be impressive compared to like... a big block. But we're only talking about 2.5 litres here.

Got a link? I forgot my probertalk password and cant use the search. I would rather not filter through a board with such a poor signal-noise ratio.

revs to 7500+ rpm and sounds sexy all the way there. that's what does it for me.

+1

/thread.

I finally had to see what all the fuss was about with these motors...so I ended up test driving a 1994 Probe GT this week.

I pick it up next week.

93gsxturbo wrote: Got a link? I forgot my probertalk password and cant use the search. I would rather not filter through a board with such a poor signal-noise ratio.

Here's a KLDE (164hp to start) with over 180k miles, ebay turbo kit, 5.5psi on an FMU setup, no real tuning to speak of, just running off wastegate. 270whp on a Mustang dyno. I believe he later put down 298whp on a Dynojet with the same setup.

http://www.mx6.com/forums/gallery/241255-finally-got-my-mx6-dynod.html

Racer1ab wrote: I finally had to see what all the fuss was about with these motors...so I ended up test driving a 1994 Probe GT this week. I pick it up next week.

Noice!

The "twins" had weird differences. Despite the Probe being a couple hundred pounds heavier than the MX6, the acceleration figures were the same. The Probe has tighter gearing. A nice setup that i'm surprised more people don't do is an MX6 with Probe/MX3 transmission.

Plus, if you're planning on autocrossing the car, there's no reason to go with the Probe, as the MX6 qualifies for the Mazdaspeed parts discount program.

But, it's far easier to find a nice Probe these days than a nice MX6.

Just because...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyefIhVLd2g

Aren't they also aluminum block engines? Just a guess here, but maybe they weigh about as much as the iron-block fours they usually replace.

I've always wanted to put one of those in an Escort. Well, until I found out one could stroke an SVT Focus engine to 2.3 liters.

Alan Cesar wrote: Aren't they also aluminum block engines? Just a guess here, but maybe they weigh about as much as the iron-block fours they usually replace. I've always wanted to put one of those in an Escort. Well, until I found out one could stroke an SVT Focus engine to 2.3 liters.

Yep, aluminum block!

I'm anticipating dropping about 150lbs off the nose of my Escort with the KLZE when accounting for A/C, PS being deleted, and replacing cast iron manifolds with tubular units.

And just about doubling the power. Me gusta.

Which Escort? I've seen this completed (not in person) once with a ZX2, once half-done plus turbo with a 2nd-gen wagon. Do you have a build thread somewhere?

I almost bought that wagon for $1100. It had a working coolant temp gauge, but that's it. The car ran and drove though. daydreams

Alan Cesar wrote: Which Escort? I've seen this completed (not in person) once with a ZX2, once half-done plus turbo with a 2nd-gen wagon. Do you have a build thread somewhere? I almost bought that wagon for $1100. It had a working coolant temp gauge, but that's it. The car ran and drove though. *daydreams*

There's a couple escorts running around with the swap, at least two proteges, a Festiva (Seriously!!! And he's adding turbo right now!), and i do remember the wagon + turbo. That thing was insanely fast.

I do have a build thread. It stalled a little bit while i got a bee up my ass and decided i need to buy a Miata, but now that i've got the Miata back home from Cali, it'll start again and go hard this time. (One of the pioneers of the swap even popped in! If you search streetfire for "KLZE Escort," his car comes up.)

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/yeah-yeah-i-need-to-add-this-to-readers-rides/34254/page1/

The KL's are dirt easy to work on too. Parts are hard to find though and you have to know a bit about how the parts bin works in respect. The KLG4 is actually a better motor but mostly over looked. With just a few parts swapped out (cams, intake, valve train,exhaust) and some porting you can make 250hp easy. Slap a turbo on it with a good tune and megasquirt and you can get 400hp. Thats more power than the tranny can handle on a regular basis. Other than the damned HLAs being noisy the motors are smooth and reliable.