Locost engine

Dunno why I was thinking the later Tracker motor was the same.

I drove a 1.3 Swift GT some years ago, that thing's performance was pretty impressive. Put that in a 1000 pound car and you better hang on tight.

mtn wrote:

Keith wrote: It ends up being a game to see who can suggest the most oddball of the bunch :)

Cummins Inline 6

engine only weights 980lbs.. why not.

what are thoughts on a turbo rotary?

i keep hearing about the JDM SR20DET from drifto-heads.. what potential do they have (and are they still available? )

i love modernbeats comment on the ferrari V8, but i woud HATE to think what that motor cost him (do you care to share mod-b?)

I know i want to build one at some point and was thinking bike motor for the longest time. what keeps me from going there is that if i do build it, what i would use it for.

HPDE/TT
so therefore i would want to put a full cage on it which kinda goes agianst how i would be drawn to build it with a bike motor (light as hell), so go ahead and put a bigger motor in there and make it beefier and with power. (it will still be light, but if im gonna TT it i want to survive clouting a tirewall)

A Megasquirted Chevy 194 straight six backed with a T5.

Buy my inline ford 300 6 cylinder, comes with a 4 speed trans!

Sorry but domestic six cylinders weight to much and don't make much power.

96DXCivic wrote: Sorry but domestic six cylinders weight to much and don't make much power.

yeah domestic v6.. total crap not suited for a locost type vehicle...

(did I just defend a domestic product?)

But compare that to say a Honda 4 cylinder or something similar and I just wonder why? If I was looking to buy American, I would have to get a SBC.

Hey, you asked for input, not affirmation. If you wanna build something powered by a D-series Honda, go ahead and do it and screw what anyone else thinks. Clearly, it's not the worst consensus choice (as has already been pointed out). Just don't expect everyone to go "what a great idea! Why haven't I done that?!" when you make the suggestion.

I think you may have a little bit of tunnel vision based on what you're already driving. Branch out a little. Honda doesn't have the lock on good engineering; I would at least look into what everyone has reccommended (at least the serious reccomendations).

Since you're looking to stay MR, I'll make a wild reccomendation: 3.5 Mopar V6 out of the LH platform (intrepid/vision/concorde/etc.). 214 hp, 221 lb/ft of torque (more of both in later models),. Just a wild hair, but Skip Barber did use them in his open-wheel cars at his driving school.

Sorry, I am just looking for something smaller. The Honda is more a suggestion. I also like the Nissan SR20DE and the Suzuki Swift engine someone suggested. I had not even thought of that engine.

Apexcarver wrote: i love modernbeats comment on the ferrari V8, but i woud HATE to think what that motor cost him (do you care to share mod-b?)

Cheap.

$3450 delivered sans carbs, exhaust, alternator, flywheel & clutch, but including the intake manifold. The guy took off almost half the original price when I told him I didn't need the carbs.

96DXCivic wrote: But compare that to say a Honda 4 cylinder or something similar and I just wonder why? If I was looking to buy American, I would have to get a SBC.

lighter than Small block chevy.. 300 lb-ft of torque.. Mates to t-5 .

ohh and they are cheap... L67.. look it up.

http://www.angelfire.com/biz6/stalkerv6/kitcar.html 11 second quarter mile.. 0-60 sub 4 seconds.. cheap ameraican parts... hmmm..

http://www.azrockcrawler.com/_images/tech/2007/2-14-07l67/l67.html

I'm a honda fan boi through and through, just trying to expand your horizons.

How much do the engines weight? The thing is I want to spend less then $1000 dollars on the engine so that knocks out the LSx engines or the Ferrari engine. That would be awesome if I could.

96DXCivic wrote: How much do the engines weight? The thing is I want to spend less then $1000 dollars on the engine so that knocks out the LSx engines or the Ferrari engine. That would be awesome if I could.

The 4.8 and 5.3 chevy truck engines can be had for $300-400.

But aren't those really heavy and large?

no.

hmm wouldnt this be a good deal

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Parts-Accessories_Car-Truck-Parts-Accessories__JDM-88-91-MAZDA-RX-7-13B-TURBO-ENGINE-WITH-TRANSMISSION_W0QQitemZ160285860946QQddnZPartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQadiZ2865QQddiZ2811QQadnZCarQ20Q26Q20TruckQ20PartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQcmdZViewItem?hash=item160285860946&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A543|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

$1,350 for a turbo 13b

comes with trans AND ecu, shipped to your door for an extra $350

or a bit more for a later twin turbo http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Parts-Accessories_Car-Truck-Parts-Accessories__Mazda-RX-7-93-94-95-JDM-13B-Twin-Turbo-13B-TT-Engine_W0QQitemZ350109318347QQddnZPartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQadiZ2865QQddiZ2811QQadnZCarQ20Q26Q20TruckQ20PartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQcmdZViewItem?hash=item350109318347&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A543|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

OR an SR20det http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Parts-Accessories_Car-Truck-Parts-Accessories__JDM-Nissan-240SX-180SX-S13-SR20DET-Engine-Transmission_W0QQitemZ150304004615QQddnZPartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQadnZCarQ20Q26Q20TruckQ20PartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQddiZ2811QQadiZ2865QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item150304004615&_trkparms=72%3A543|39%3A1|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245

if you can find a late JDM rx7 it looks like they were factory 280hp... (i would guess lighter then the GM v6, but how hard is a turbo upgrade to big power? imagine a 500hp locost (ok, so 400hp would probly be more then pushing it))

If you don't know what you are doing these engines go boom easy. I was thinking of an originally front wheel drive engine since this is going to be a midengined car and it seems like this would be easier to adapt a front wheel drive engine to an midengined setup then a front rear engine.

What's the GRM consensus on the GM 3.8 V6? Not necessarily for locost use, although they do seem quite compact and light.

in that case what about a neon SRT-4 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Parts-Accessories_Car-Truck-Parts-Accessories__t850-SRT4-Dodge-Neon-motor-engine-Transmission-SRT-4_W0QQitemZ270287727841QQddnZPartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQadnZCarQ20Q26Q20TruckQ20PartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQddiZ2811QQadiZ2865QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270287727841&_trkparms=72%3A543|39%3A1|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245

overcomes the shortages of the neon (steering radius, chassis, ect) and has lots of potential (400+ hp with a turbo upgrade..)

A bit expensive for me but an awesome idea.

well, take it as a readily available example, you cna probly find it for a fraction of that price with some hunting..

psteav wrote: I think you may have a little bit of tunnel vision based on what you're already driving. Branch out a little. Honda doesn't have the lock on good engineering; I would at least look into what everyone has reccommended (at least the serious reccomendations).

Actually, basing your decision on what you already know is a good plan. If you're the world expert on NSU engines, use an NSU engine. If you love Honda stuff - and there's lot of good reason to - stick with it. Just accept that some aspects of the Honda donk will make life more difficult if you try to use it in an FR configuration, and if you go MR you'll have a number of other challenges to face.

As for the truck engines - get the L33 from a recent Silverado 1500 extended cab. It's an all-aluminum 5.3 and all the LSx performance parts fit - and you can get it for under a grand

Don't take this as us trying to be mean.. We're just trying to let you know that there are a whole ton of great engines out there if you just look around... and pretty cheap too.

I did some measuring and head scratching a while back when I was considering a mid motor Locost. I was after: light weight, compact, plentiful, decent power stock (minimum of 100 HP) good aftermarket support, etc. and after much measuring and cussing I kept coming back to the 1.8 and 2.0 VW 8 valve as being the most logical choice. And no I am NOT a fan of VW's 'engineering', so it took a lot for me to come to that conclusion.

If you get rid of the big intake which goes over the top of the valve cover, the motor is quite short and can easily fit in a mid motor car. The aftermarket support is there to get it up to around 150 HP easily.