What Engine?: RWD 240ish HP. Stock ECU

We're going to build another car for enduro racing. What engine should we run?

Goals

• 240ish HP on stock ecu
• RWD (or can be converted to RWD)
• Manual trans
• Durable
• Not a unicorn

EDIT

• No turbos, they cause heat issues
• no straight 6's ( no room under hood)

Nice to have:

• Reasonably light
• Drinks regular gas

Looking for 220 - 250 crank HP on a stock ECU. The Honda J V6 comes to mind. What else?

Buick 3800?

I am with Dave. Are you wanting it to run on pump gas (91 or 93 octane) or regular (87 octane)? I would also suggest a 2011 Mustang V6 manual if you need 87 octane.

SRT-4 engine with jeep library bellhousing and supra R-154 transmission

A 5.0 with a cam and gt40p (explorer) heads can do that and is reasonably light for a V8. Our used 5.0 had about 60 racing before melting a piston due to incorrect timing.

T-5's are cheap and easy to find. We are still on our first.

Gm 3500 v6 mated to an s10 2.8 bellhousing and trans. Unkillable and cheap.

singleslammer wrote: I am with Dave. Are you wanting it to run on pump gas (91 or 93 octane) or regular (87 octane)? I would also suggest a 2011 Mustang V6 manual if you need 87 octane.

Regular 87 gas would be nice. Not a gotta have it. 2011 Mustang V6 was a first thought. But it's too much power. Because power to weight classing.

V8 RX7 At Homestead Last run: http://youtu.be/rxSuu13DQoo

A 4.8 or 5.3 lsx with a t-10 would work if you have room for external shift linkage. That would put in the right HP range.

A friend of mine in the video link above has the aluminum 5.3 L33 (better heads) withstand an ls6 intake manifold and long tubes in his 2nd gen rx7 track car. Makes 300rwhp 330tq on 87 with the stock truck cam. Runs out of breath by 6k rpm which helps keep the engine alive.

Bmw 2.8-3.2 inline six. Bulletproof engine and trans combination. 2.8 will need cams from the 3.2 (S52) to make that power.

The 3800 is the best option if you are power limited. A 3500 will get you close on a stock ecu and be smaller and a tad lighter than the 3800. A 2010 Mustang v6 is another solid option.

Easy peasy with a Volvo whiteblock.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/lightest-v6-about-200200-in-a-rwd-setup/92272/page1/

Isuzu V6.

F20C/F22C or VQ series motors. Both provide that stock and are readily available.

240 hp

8,000 or 9,000 redline

Honda S2000

1uzfe or f20c? Ls400 and s2000 motor if you dont speak alphabet soup. Or maybe a ford supercoupe 3.8 supercharged v6 and t5 but then your at the point of why not 5.0 which could be the best choice per dollar

Edit damn someone beat me to f20c as I was typing. Must mean its a good idea

Um, S50?

MZR 2.5L hooked to a miata tranny? With a little tuning they are getting that into the range you are looking at with a good amount of torque and a pretty broad powerband.

How heavy are you willing to go?

I wouls also vote for a semi-modern American v8. Early 4.6 sohc, chevy tbi 5.7 from a truck?

Or a pushrod 5.0 with underdrive pulleys and 1.7 rockers?

S2000 engines are 240hp stock, but not exactly cheap. Plus the transmissions aren't the strongest.

Nissan sr20det (RWD version)? All aluminum, 205-240hp depending on the year and they're fairly easy to find.

VG30ET, Nistune will help idk if that would count as modifying the ECU. It however would be mostly stock hardware. Back in the day people would mod cars like this on stock ECU anyways. 240 crank hp would be no problem on a car with stock turbo up to 87 model year. I wouldn't say this engine is light, however. It's an iron block v6.

4G63T. Early Japanese versions made this much power stock. Like one from the Galant Evolution.

RB25DET made 250hp stock. So have versions of the SR20DET 4 cylinder. Durable engine and trans. Unmodded will be very stout.

RB20DET made 220hp stock, minor mods to 240hp would be simple. I run this engine myself and it's great. An exhaust would reach your goals.

BPT from Familia (323) GTR has tunes in the ECU for up to 18 psi. Will make well more than 240hp on stock ecu.

Z32 v6 naturally aspirated version makes 220hp stock, i'm sure uncorked it would be 240 easily.

Rover V8. Run carb'd. Aluminum block, very lightweight and various displacements. Popular overseas. I would probably target this, versions that are injected from the 90s make like 225 or 230hp and are an exhaust away from 240 and more.

edit: Gah, just read regular gas. That cuts out almost all of these lol. Go Rover V8. 4.6 one from a Land Rover will make like 230hp, minor mods to 240 would be easy and you would have an extremely lightweight V8.

Aluminum 5.3 GM engine would work as well.

All of the smaller engines I can think of that are high performance all require more than 87 octane.

A friend of mine in the video link above has the aluminum 5.3 L33 (better heads) withstand an ls6 intake manifold and long tubes in his 2nd gen rx7 track car. Makes 300rwhp 330tq on 87 with the stock truck cam. Runs out of breath by 6k rpm which helps keep the engine alive.

Sounds like a winner here.

Lots of ideas here. Thanks guys.

A couple of constraints I forgot to mention: ( I just added these up top ^)

• No turbos. They tend to cause things to melt in endurance racing.
• the S50/s52 has the right HP, but we don't have room for a straight 6.

The Isuzu looks interesting. The GM V6s sound pretty cheap and easy

k24 with a miata transmission?

http://www.shop.kmiata.com/Engine-Adapter-Plate-KM-ADP-ST.htm

So you can only make in the ~200whp range. Power to weight classing means that your car will have the greatest advantage by making as close as possible to that max allowed HP level for as many RPM as possible. This means lots of torque early, but falling off in an attempt to make the HP curve as flat and broad as possible. Thus I would be looking at an 'overkill' V8 (or maybe strong V6) setup that makes significantly more power than you're allowed, then attempt to specifically restrict airflow where it would make too much power...Even at the sacrifice of a bit of weight over smaller/lighter engines that make the same 'peak' HP.

Then you are right back to the MZR/Duratec 2.5L. Dirt cheap ($500-1000) About 200ish HP at the wheels with a set of cams. No fancy turbo/cam timing crap. Endurance race proven.

Here is the info to convert these FWD motors to RWD:

http://www.mazdaspeedy.com/2013/11/great-article-on-how-to-do-mzrduratec.html

Bolt on the 5/6 speed from the NC miata and have a lot of fun in a small and lightweight package.

Hmmm 1uzfe, m60/m62, ford 5.0.

There's a m60 with a 6spd man for $100 just 40min from me. http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/pts/4782522588.html