Alternatives to cubic inches

[M-train]

Lets see, I have a 347 stroker with a Paxton Novi 1200, all forged {wifes car} 65 fastback, I have a 540FE tunnel port, titanium retainers, custom this and that bla, bla, forged bla with a Procharger F1r on a 67 Mustang fb, a twin turbo 363w in a 90 Mazda pickup Dart block, bla, bla, a fiberbab 65 Mustang fb with a 427w, World block, World 10deg heads, bla, bla, with a Procharger F2.

And, last an 02 Tacoma 4cyl with a turbo.

Force induction is fun, but $$$$, and time consuming to fabricate.

Oh, and I DID try every trick in the book on the Mazda pickup, with gutting the bed, moving the battery, removing the power steering, electric fan, but that angry 85hp engine was still a turd, which is what we got here, more cubes, and turbos.

 

[M-train]

A really great example of the less weight idea is the 05 to present Lotus Elise. I weighs only 1900 lbs, and is as close to a go cart, or motorcycle that you can get, from what I have read on it. At 1900lbs it even comes with an AC and stereo.

However, I think Lotus should have looked into the Honda S2000 engine vs the Toyota 2zz that they went with. The Toyota engine only puts out 180hp which does move a car this light, but is still not what it could be.

If I ever own one I plan to change the engine over to a turbo engine, and tranny from a Toyota MR2. Even if you did rebuild the 2z 11:1 comp ratio down to a turbo friendly 9:1 cr, the transmission becomes the weak link. So installing the whole drive train from the MR2 would solve this problem.

 

[Anonymous]

There's a guy that brings his Exige out to the track days. That thing is a street legal, rocket powered go kart!

 

[Starfury]

However, I think Lotus should have looked into the Honda S2000 engine vs the Toyota 2zz that they went with. The Toyota engine only puts out 180hp which does move a car this light, but is still not what it could be.

I'm pretty sure price has something to do with that. I bet the 2ZZ motor costs half as much as the S2000 motor. Besides, I'm not a fan of the whole VTEC thing. Under 6k, the S2000 is a bit of a dog. As soon as you hit 6k, it's like you flicked a light switch. More noise, more power, but it goes away when you get back down below 6k. Annoying.

The other factor is that the S2000 motor is installed inline with the car's centerline. The 2ZZ (and MR2) motor is transverse already, making it a much easier swap into the Lotus.

 

[M-train]

The Toyota engine is VTEC as well. I used to have one in my 00 Celica GTS. At about 6k it felt like you hit the boost on a turbo, but anything under that, and it was a dog.

I can understand the Toyota engine already turned correctly for the Lotus, but going that route they could have went with the turbo engine, and drivetrain from a Toyota MR1. The engine is turbo charged so even in stock form it would have bested the 2zz, anyway, why do auto manufacturers do the things they do is only a guess to most of us.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

I believe yamaha built the engines for the mr2 and the celica gts. The gt had a motor that had more low end grunt, but wheezed at high rpm, the gts was opposite.

 

[Sluggo]

I believe yamaha built the engines for the mr2 and the celica gts. The gt had a motor that had more low end grunt, but wheezed at high rpm, the gts was opposite.

You would be correct on all points.

The GTS engine was a pig until you wound it up to about 7 grand. Kinda like a 4 bbl cleveland with a single plane intake and 2:73 gears.

When they first come out with that engine in 2000 we had a salesman take one out and "demo" it. Demo being the key word. He attempted a 5-4 downshift and found second instead. It wound up so tight that the clutch, bottom end and input shaft all exploded. It was a hella mess. Toyota rep figured it was spinning in excess of 16k. :hide

 

[Starfury]

Eep!