Engine swap or stick with fiat?

F

Fc170drw

Full member
Points
153
Location
Everton,Arkansas,U.S.A.
Car
Fiatx1/9
Looking to repower my x1/9. Which brand in your opionon has the best support and lowest prices. For me here its Honda they just tend to spin backwards. I'm not loyal to any one make so open to suggestions. Would like 2 litre or less and of course tonnes of horsepower and torque plus at least 50 mpg. So suggest explain and please back up your claims with facts not emotion.
 
Blimey that's a serious job you're undertaking. The Fiat X1/9 (if indeed that's the car of which you speak) has been out of production for years so finding a Fiat engine to fit is likely to be next to impossible.

Nissan does some seriously good engines. Perhaps a 2.0 V6 unit for a nice mix of refinement and torque?

I'd like to suggest a common rail diesel - it would certainly be good to have a mid-engine derv powered car (maybe the first??) but I can imagine serious issues and massive mods to fit such an engine.
 
I was with you all the way until the; "at least 50 mpg" would this be a typo by any chance?
 
Honda Vtec all the way, however are you able to circumnavigate the emissions with a mod like this and for the age of the car in question?
 
Honda's engines do contra-rotate which could give rise to some interesting gearing issues. 5 reverse gears and one low-ratio forward one comes to mind :)
 
Yes 50 mpg was well...a dream, as for regulations not a problem here yet, the car will be primarily a track car. was thinking about Nissan 1.8s. something small and fairly economical, I have 3 more X1/9's so maybe a turbo diesel could be possible, I can see weight issues.
 
Fc170drw said:
Yes 50 mpg was well...a dream, as for regulations not a problem here yet, the car will be primarily a track car. was thinking about Nissan 1.8s. something small and fairly economical, I have 3 more X1/9's so maybe a turbo diesel could be possible, I can see weight issues.
Click to expand...

At least being a mid engine setup all the weight will be in the middle and therefore unlikely to upset the handling balance, despite seriously adding to the overall mass of the car.

A Ford 2.2 TDCi would work well. Remap to 205bhp and about 340lbft in a car weighing less than one ton :) Party time. This would probably give the hallowed 50+mpg as well with some restraint. But factor in the cost of fitting the engine alongside the potential for good fuel economy.
 
In Europe it's the Ford Mondeo and the 2.2 TDCi unit of which I was thinking. The latest one is a twin turbo effort with about 170bhp from the factory.

It's a Peugeot/Citroen (PSA) derived diesel engine engine and as such is very refined and very torquey even in stock tune.

There's also a 2.7 litre V6 derv PSA motor but as far as I know it's never been used in a retail car in America. Probably too wide to jam into an X1/9 anyway, but - well, you never know, necessity is a good reason to promote invention.
 
I don't think the smaller Ford cars have diesel engine in the USA,

However VW do, a 1.9 PD turbo diesel is able to make massive power and torque and still have repectable fuel ecomony, how much does the car weigh? If it's not an enormous amount then maybe a bike engine shoudl be considered
 
Hello.

If you're going to track the car then 50mpg is a dream so forget it and concentrate on POWER!!!

What about the ford duratec 2.5t, used all across the ford range these days, I have heard it is a compact engine and easily tunable to well over 300bhp.
 
another engine swop thread and the answer is always the same........

Find something that fits easily or buy something else !

If theres a turbo fiat engine that will fit use that even if you have to import it as the time and grief saved will be massive .

No gearbox drivetrain problems will (unless of course they cant handle the power )
 
The purpose of the forum is knowledge, Sleeper, correct? so if you don't know ,ask

Anyway, it seems to be between toyota and nissan with the nudge towards the 2zz-GE opinons please. Lotus seems to like the toyota powerplant. If we had a few more diesels here I would consider one for my street x1/9.
 
Fc170drw said:
The purpose of the forum is knowledge, Sleeper, correct? so if you don't know ,ask
.
Click to expand...


Absolutely and therefore if I have a reply I will post it especially if I have something relevant to say.

Ive done a few engine swops in my time and in each case when I looked at an upgrade using the natural " bigger brother" as a replacement for the current engine it seemed straightforward as gearbox, driveshafts etc all seemed to fit without major mods.
When I looked at other makes they usualy didnt

Conversions are hard enough without making it harder still - I prefer a job to be easy rather than difficult and usually the bigger brother upgrade can be done in half the time and for half the cost.

But of course your car your choice

I assume it is a serious question so the answer isnt what engine is the best but what will fit the best .
 
Agreed, but as of yet fiat is not here, so big brother is not an option. However Nissan and toyota do offer similar engines (size wise), I just decided to build an autocross track car and have a few spare x1/9 layin around. Have a complete machineshop so the engineering is not that big of a problem just wanted opinoins on who has the best support and following. Here it's Honda or V-8 and I'm tired of going straight and want to turn, the fiat handles well enough just lacks hamsters. I know on your side fiat has a presense and the parts are there so I thought I'd find out what works in Europe.
 
Thank you everyone for your input, now of course I'm going to ignore all your efforts and go with a Toyota 2zzge in the track car, aToyota 2zz with the smt for the road car, and TDI fun when we get a decent turbo Diesel here I'll consider that for one of the other x's, and if Fiat ever really gets here again maybe one of their new dual clutches who knows
 
I saw some of these swaps VTEC. They are fantastic, but I was looking for a simple exchange. Handling shafts and couplings does not seem very plausible project. I would do this kind of swap, but im afraid that mid-term, I had to give up and ruin my X.
 
you can use 4EFTE from a Starlet Glanza, a 4age from a mr2, a d16 from a civic, a b16 from a civic si...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
G Thinking of putting a turbo on my Nissan Skyline R31 (RB30E engine) Superchargers & Turbos 0
M Help on tuning Honda L15BE Turbo engine Superchargers & Turbos 8
A Turbo a G4EE engine? Superchargers & Turbos 1
M Turbo non turbo engine 2003 isuzu 3.2 v6 Superchargers & Turbos 0
E Turbo on N42 4 Cyl Engine Superchargers & Turbos 5
Y the twin charging engine project Superchargers & Turbos 15

Similar threads


Please watch this on my YouTube channel & Subscribe.


Back
Top