How can anyone be ‘scathing’ when its a 1.3 producing 350+ hp ? I think its a little unfair. If its lighter and doesnt screw up the handling of the exige I would be happy with 250 hp ? It would make a good conversion, or am I missing something ?
It’s a great little engine and can produce loads of power with a turbo. BUT, they are unreliable when pushed hard in a car. It’s OK on a bike where you reach ridiculous speeds in a few seconds and have to back off, in a car on a track it’s another matter. The guy in question had spent �17,000 on the engine over a period of time and it still went bang.
Even as an engine numpty I know 100bhp/litre is good for a road sports car. At nearly 200bhp/litre, 250bhp has to be pushing the bounds of something.
Ian
IDG
They’re talking about 700bhp and maybe 800bhp from a 1.3 litre engine … … my calculator tells me that’s at least 538bhp/litre… holy big numbers batman…
I have to agree DSE, as a N/A version with an exhaust airfilter and a remap will give over 200BHP and will last. I know of plenty racers runing standard engines in kit cars of similar weights and have had no aditional problems to the normal ones associated with other engines.
I am not arguying the case fore or against as i have no benchmark to compare with, But i am interested in seeing and driving one and will give it an unbiased chance to impress. If nothing else we need something else out there to give you Honda Boys a run for your money - And with a little change to spare by the looks of things!!
Hi Again, after reading the other posts i think that my original point about a possible conversion has been lost slightly. I was not for one minute suggesting that a 800BHP motor be put into an Exige, mearly putting forward the unbelievable tuning potential from this amazing 80 kg japanese engine !!
To me the two factors that should in theory lend themselves well to a track focused conversion would be
WEIGHT or lack of it !!
It’s N/A and TURBO’d power delivery
I run a turbo Honda CBR 1100XX in my Austin Mini and it was very apparent on a fully soaked castle combe circuit the other week that the turbo on my bike motor works in a very linear way and right up through the revs creating less torque and a smooth power delivery. this didn’t unsettle the car in any way with large amounts of boost spooling in as the turbo on a 1.3 bike engine is tiny and only runs at 0.5-0.7 Bar. This allowed me to keep my grip under acceleration in the wet slightly better than other Turbo’d cars. This is the same in the dry conditions and allows for a great racing fell not to disimilar to the Type R engine !!
Sorry to Hijack my own thread BUT - just recieved word today that my Austin Mini recorded 264 BHP @ The WHEELS on the Dyno today !!! Not bad for 490 Kilo kerb weight !!
To explain the link it also runs a lightweight mid mounted Honda engine 1100cc from a motorbike - couldn’t afford the Bussa motor at the time !!!