Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Which engine is the right one for the job?

Deciding on the right engine is not something that can happen overnight.

The criteria for the right engine are numerous making the right choice difficult. Here are some thoughts:

1) The engine would be a 4a series. That way I don't have to mess about with custom engine mounts. Call me lazy, but I'm no engineer, and I'd rather not make things too hard for myself :)
2) Ultimately, I really want forced induction. Whether it be supercharged or turbocharged, I'm as yet unsure.
3) The engine needs to have reasonably low kms on it. I don't really want to get something that has done 250,000 kms and have to rebuild it from the get go (unless it's really cheap :D).
4) The gearbox, like the engine must be a c52 or c56 so as to easily bolt up to the engine. I have come to terms with having to switch the selectors to the other side (http://www.padandwheels.com/mr2/blacktopproject/day13/c56.html).
5) In terms of power production, I'm happy with around the 200hp range or less. I'm not insane...
6) I'm happy to force induction a 20 valve by lowering the compression and maybe giving it stronger rods. Although at this stage, I'm unsure about the price/complexity of the ecu required to do this.

Essentially that boils my options down to a few:

A 2nd or 3rd generation 4agze. Stock standard they produce a little over 120kw and a bit over 200 nm of torque. With an sc14 super charger, and/or a larger pulley kit, they would do the job nicely. The downside is trying to source one that hasn't got very high kms and isn't too expensive.

A 20 valve silver top or black top, modified with a super charger hanging off the side. The upside here is that sourcing an engine, gearbox and loom would be relatively easy, plus it could have lowish kms. The downside is that I'm unsure as to how would the gearbox and engine handle the forced induction? Also, how much is the ecu modification to handle the super charger going to cost?

Theres still plenty of time, and I suppose it's good to thresh this out now, rather than getting something that I won't be happy with :)

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