Alternative XR engines

Hello all, finally made my way over here. Been thinking about an XR car for some racing fun. Dr. JVL has long tried to convince me to consider an XR as a platform. So, my question, what non-turbo engines are being implanted with success? I tried a search and didn't see much on the topic, apologies if I missed it. Thanks!

Dan

Well the new Duratec would be a great engine. Or a the Stock 2.3L rebuilt with roundy-round parts, like a midget setup - 12:1 flat tops, 5.7" rods, lightened crank, head porting and a cam with stupid amounts of lift and overlap; and 9,000 rpm limit.

Zetecs have also been tried, as have 5.0L v8's -big waste of time.

---

Scott Manley
Spokane, WA
86' XR4Ti
37

The Duratec to a T5 was my initial thought. Gear sets for the t5 are easy to find, if not an already mod'd gearbox.

I need to do some reading on the 2.3, just don't know anything about that motor. What are you doing for lsd on the XR?

Dan

I've seen the 5.0 done. Why is this a waste of time? Just curious, I'll probably never do one or anything.

---

"Time to unpimp ze auuto."





sleightc (A.T.) Yahoo {DOT} com

Quad4Rods in Denver makes a bellhousing for T5 to Duratec for around $400.

My thought is that if you are going to go non-turbo go with something light and capable. Duratec fits that bill. Maybe the SHO 3.0L V6, which should still fit in G2 and some of them we're made with aluminum blocks I believe. And they're capable of over 300 hp.

Of course, the best thing is to just stick with the stock turbo engine. You'll spend lots of money just trying to get a NA engine to the same power as the stock turbo one. And who wants a 2800 lb. NA car?

---

Grant Hughes

Zagato78 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello all, finally made my way over here. Been
> thinking about an XR car for some racing fun. Dr.
> JVL has long tried to convince me to consider an
> XR as a platform. So, my question, what non-turbo
> engines are being implanted with success? I tried
> a search and didn't see much on the topic,
> apologies if I missed it. Thanks!
>
> Dan
Hi Dan!
Been a while! Welcome!
Dan I stripped down to empty the Duratec I got for the Capri project and Seattle Scott and I lifted it into the empty engine bay.
Fits fantastic.
So with simple Soooper Bitchin engine mounts like I make for all rwd cars it would be a snap to mount the Duratec engine.
BUT!!!!!!
About half the reason I push Xratties and Volvos is cause a guy can reasonably get started with an un-opened engine WHICH WILL MAKE ENOUGH FOOT/LBS AND HAVE A BROAD ENOUGH POWERBAND THAT HE CAN STILL BE COMPETITIVE and have money left over he would otherwise be spending on building hot motor.

All the stuff we do to the motor is to try and make more ft/lbs if we CAN and more BHP if the ft/lb limit has beed reached----the we buy expensive CLOSE RATIO GEARS to keep that narrow powerband motor we built up on the boil and then we buy ring and pinions to multiply TORQUE.

All that is far less critical with a magic turbo, specially the right turbo bolted on.

So in the end a guy can get going soooner with the 2.3 SOHC.

The standard box will do but a Borg Warner T5 from SOME V8 Fords, those with the 2.95 first gear, or the gears from ANY Camaro/Firebird V8 in a Ford case (and if you could use the Camaro tailshaft housing the gearlever ends up in the correct place) is a much better set when going to a shorter 4.3 diff ratio.

The diff I'm setting up to use is the Toyota Supra MkIII or "MA70" diff.
Some, I think its the automatic turbos, and the non turbo manual boxes, come with a 4.3 and most have a big strong easy to set up multi-plate LSD.

Search around here for photos of the diff stuff and the already done sump guard mounts and supports.

And look for the Ford Motorsport manuals here in a post from Paddy, we scanned in like 300-400 pages of stuff really worthwhile to look at.

Again, welcome aboard and get going!

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

NoCoast Wrote:
> My thought is that if you are going to go
> non-turbo go with something light and capable.
> Duratec fits that bill. Maybe the SHO 3.0L V6,
> which should still fit in G2 and some of them
> we're made with aluminum blocks I believe. And
> they're capable of over 300 hp.


IIRC, the original intention for the SHO engine was for the Scorpio, so popping it into an XR4Ti isn't too far off the mark.

All V6 SHO are iron block, aluminum head. They're also *huge*, larger externally than the 3.8l pushrod engine (which is a 90degree V6 instead of 60degree) They're also about as heavy as the later pushrod V8 engines.

Why reinvent the wheel?

---

Pete Remner
Cleveland, Ohio

1984 RX-7 (rallycross thing)
1978
Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver.

John, ty for the welcome!

in all seriousness, that paragraph should be engraved in stone and hung somewhere so that people can get it. once again, you distilate all this stuff to its essence.

good stuff.

Dan

"In 1995, Volvo introduced the 850 T-5R with a 2.3-liter, five-cylinder DOHC aluminum engine with 240 horsepower. That engine had interior piston cooling nozzles, sodium filled exhaust valves, water cooled turbo housing and a microprocessor-controlled multi-point direct port fuel injection system"

"Volvo engines recently found an application in the Ford Focus ST in which the Ford Focus shares its platform structure with the Volvo S40."

Which means the Volvo 5 cylinder engine, is now also a Ford.

Kinda like the Hyundai with a Evo 4G63 with a Hyundai valve cover.

And wasn't the 5 cylinder Volvo engine created from the castings of the old Audi 20 valve 5 cylinder engines? Which is still in my mind one of the best sounding engines ever when fully built.

---

Grant Hughes

NoCoast Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> And wasn't the 5 cylinder Volvo engine created
> from the castings of the old Audi 20 valve 5
> cylinder engines?

Which happens to be eerily similar to the VW 16v, just with an extra cylinder... (and also piston squirters and sodium filled exhaust valves)




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/2007 06:36PM by Carl S.

I'll never forget when my family went on a trip to the UK and we rented a brand spanking new VW van.. which clearly had FORD labeled on various hoses etc under the hood

---

Andrew M
Onterrible
30ish

They dont look like exact casting more like volvo looked the audi over for how to do some things.

I don't really see the argument for going from an oversquare iron/iron turbo 4 to an undersquare alum/alum turbo 5.

Yes, the weight will probably be less, marginally.

You'll never be able to rev it as high.

But then again, 4 valves per cylinder and a fuel system that uses something resembling a real computer.

JVL, opinions? I know you've got em. Is it a dead end, or just more trouble than the potential gains are worth? I'm "getting" the point of a simple iron lump you slap a turbo on and then go worry about all the other million things on the car.

It will Probably weigh the same or slightly more.

NoCoast Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "In 1995, Volvo introduced the 850 T-5R with a
> 2.3-liter, five-cylinder DOHC aluminum engine with
> 240 horsepower. That engine had interior piston
> cooling nozzles, sodium filled exhaust valves,
> water cooled turbo housing and a
> microprocessor-controlled multi-point direct port
> fuel injection system"

Geez, PR hype! Does it also have replaceable bearing
shells, shimless connecting rod caps, and a longlife
water pump shaft seal? Maybe the pistons are also made
from aluminum instead of hewn from stone.

> "Volvo engines recently found an application in
> the Ford Focus ST in which the Ford Focus shares
> its platform structure with the Volvo S40."
>
> Which means the Volvo 5 cylinder engine, is now
> also a Ford.

Did they put the FIVE cylinder engine in the Focus,
or did they put the 1.9l FOUR cylinder in?

> And wasn't the 5 cylinder Volvo engine created
> from the castings of the old Audi 20 valve 5
> cylinder engines? Which is still in my mind one
> of the best sounding engines ever when fully
> built.

If it was, the castings got warped. Volvo engines
don't look much like anything Audi did except for
having the intake on the front/driver's side and
the exhaust on the rear/passenger side, and having
five cylinders.

They did sound great, though, didn't they?

---

Pete Remner
Cleveland, Ohio

1984 RX-7 (rallycross thing)
1978
Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2007 09:00AM by Pete.