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someone PLEASE convince me to stay L6!!!


OlderThanMe

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atye...but light weight...an SR20 with all of it's turbo stuff probably weighs as much as an N/A L6 engine but it is shifted more rearward.

The big thing with a V8 is gas consumption. I still have to be able to drive this car 350 miles and not not be broke at the end of the day. With a performance V8 I am guessing I could get maybe 12mpg or upto 15 with an LSx motor. With the 2.0t you are burning less gas than with a V8 unless you are always boosting.

 

Of course if I could find a turbine engine with a power output shaft like I saw at the Naval Aviation Museum that makes 750 hp and looks like it would fit in the Z's engine bay then I'd do it but I don't really want hot feet...

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The big thing with a V8 is gas consumption. I still have to be able to drive this car 350 miles and not not be broke at the end of the day. With a performance V8 I am guessing I could get maybe 12mpg or upto 15 with an LSx motor.

 

Not true. Plenty V8Z's get over 20. My LT1/T56 240z got 28+ on the highway.

 

If you make big power you WILL burn fuel, regardless of engine, period.

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atye...but light weight...an SR20 with all of it's turbo stuff probably weighs as much as an N/A L6 engine but it is shifted more rearward.

The big thing with a V8 is gas consumption. I still have to be able to drive this car 350 miles and not not be broke at the end of the day. With a performance V8 I am guessing I could get maybe 12mpg or upto 15 with an LSx motor. With the 2.0t you are burning less gas than with a V8 unless you are always boosting.

 

Of course if I could find a turbine engine with a power output shaft like I saw at the Naval Aviation Museum that makes 750 hp and looks like it would fit in the Z's engine bay then I'd do it but I don't really want hot feet...

 

My LS2 Z was just finish,At least to drive it on the streets......I have a Ford Festiva with a Mazda GTX/Mercury Capri 1.6 engine Swap.I have all the bolt ons with a chip.It's making like 190 whp on a 1866 lbs. car.

I think im getting about the same gas milage out of both cars.It's hard to keep your foot off the gas on a turbo vehicle.

On the LS2 Z its hard to go full throttle!

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I am not that strong against a V8...Maybe a smaller V8...

I was looking at the higher revving 289 sbf and thinking that would be a good motor. Good road racing history in the cobra, not too heavy, and good aftermarket support.

The LSx motors are just too expensive for what I am looking to do. If I were to do a 289 sbf I would want to spend like 3k to get a motor and tranny installed in the car with a driveshaft and then spend the rest in cylinder head work and a cam. EFI/megasquirt would definitely be in the plan. I got sick of my car having something going wrong every 500 miles...I want a dependable engine that makes good power and get decent mileage.

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I want to go L6 for my first build since it's a bolt in, but my friend's L6 seems to have problems constantly and he's always frustrated with it (but it's fast when it's running). Since u want a really reliable engine with power, go SBC. Big trucks with 350's get like 12 mpg, so a light Z with a well built 350 could easily get 20-25mpg and have all kinds of torque and streetable power. I've never been in a V8 powered Z, but i love the thought of all that torque of a 350 in such a small car. Other than the thought of bad gas milage, why don't you want a SBC?

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It seems like the title of your thread should have been " someone PLEASE convince me to go SR20 "

 

seems like your heading that way, so i'll try to convince you.

 

Ive had an S14 SR20DET before, and finding parts isnt hard at all. You can cross reference lots of engine parts (even internal parts) from the USA from the SR20DET's cousin, the SR20DE. There is also PLENTY of aftermarket support for that engine, which you probably already know.

Fuel consumption is one of your constaints, and I can tell you In My S13 w/ SR I averaged 26 highway and somewhre around 18 city, and thats driving lead footed here and there (the way we all drive!).

 

I Havnt driven any Sr powered Z's but i can tell you that my S13 ran consistent mid to high 13's on street tires and at 3000 ft elevation.

 

You put that kind of power in a smaller mass Z and all the numbers just get better.

 

However, if you do go that way, May I recomend getting an S14 SR. bigger, ball bearing turbo, VTC , better intake manifold, and easier to work on.

 

 

hope that helps.

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If you want a smaller lighter V8, consider a Ford 302/5.0 or an all aluminum Rover 4.6 or 5.0. These are both EXCELLENT engines. More aftermarket support is available for the Ford... you can event stroke to 347 or bigger:wink:

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My neighbor has a MILD sbc Z that I rode in back in 03 before I bought my Z. I haven't seen it for a whils so he could have sold it or moved it into storage.

IF I go v8 it'll be a 289 or 302 sbf motor. I know a few fox body mustang guys so that may help. I'll do some more searching on here and some ford sites to learn more about the 289/302 motor. I have heard the 289 is higher revving than the 302 so I am leaning toward the 289...IF I go V8...

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I was putting some numbers together the other day and I can build a L6 for $2400 plus the turbo stuff and be good to make 400+ horsepower....

Make sure you fully understand what all the "turbo stuff" is. You are probably looking at another $2400 if you are going to do 400hp right.

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I know...I want to find a way to stay L6 but for $5000 I could have a V8 making 600+hp for the same price or less. Right now I have pretty much made up my mind that there are more cost effective ways to get gobs of power and be easy to find parts for.

I am still searching for motors but I am thinking of going small(er)V8 with a shorter stroke. 289 SBF or something similar.

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Why is the extra few RPM more important to you than torque? This isn't a criticism... just wondering. If you read many threads regarding the LSx engines vs Gen1, the general argument in favor of the LSx motors is extended torque curve... more is better.

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The main thing is that the LSx motors are not cheap...I am looking to spend my $5k on engine, tranny, and driveshaft. That plus the mounts.

The car will be used as a track car so I want a long power band. I was considering this consecutive turbocharger setup to make a long boost range on an L6 but by the time I have that I have spent $5k on just the engine and I'll need a better tranny and clutch to hold the power.

It would be nice to go LSx but I don't think I can wing that much cash around as a college student...I mean 5k is really pushing what I will be able to get and I am not going in debt any more than I can help it.

Right now I am pretty open to any engine. I just want a high revving motor with lots of torque available.

 

My Z is going to be a track car mainly so it won't see too many miles but I don't want to be out the roof in gas prices when I do drive it.

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You can find a very nice, relativley low mile LS1 with T56 for less than $3K if you search. The conversion kit from John's Cars should be under $500 (SWAG). The power band of the LSx series engines is becoming legendary. This leaves $1.5K to upgrade to LS6 heads and intake, etc. This is just one option... one I'm sure you'll be very happy with.

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