Gearhead thread

[Osborn F Enready]

This is the thread to talk about anything and everything gearhead.

Have a technical question about cars, trucks, motorcycles, etc.?
Know a shortcut to making power, or efficiency?
Want to post something engine related you think others may enjoy?

FIRE AWAY!


I am a gearhead of longstanding, an ex-machinist/engine builder, auto and racing enthusiast. I am always interested in anything related to modifying, improving or creating engines, vehicles, and performance.

A couple of my favorite video links:

Twin-Turbo Viper that is just sick.
YouTube - Street Dodge Viper twin turbo 1700hp drag race.

2004 turbo hayabusa vs twin-turbo 96 Viper:
YouTube - Judgement Day 2 - Turbo Hayabussa vs Twin Turbo Viper

Nice 500 horse Hayabusa:
YouTube - 500Bhp Suzuki Hayabusa Turbo Ghost Rider


Enjoy, contribute, be merry! :)

[The Dunedan]

Hmm...see, now you've got my attention. Do you, or anyone, know the maximum practical horsepower from a General Motors GEOTech engine? I've heard figures as high as 450, but that sounds a bit extreme.

I ask as a handling freak who's decided to wait a few years for the Ariel Atom to become available used for say 30,000 bucks, and then see just how sick you can make one of those things. I cut my teeth on a lowered '71 Midget (Gawd, I miss that little car!), but the Atom just takes my breath away. Even the Exige isn't that friggin' sticky.

[Osborn F Enready]

Dunedan said: Do you, or anyone, know the maximum practical horsepower from a General Motors GEOTech engine? I've heard figures as high as 450, but that sounds a bit extreme.

I am not familliar with the "GEOTech" engine. Can you give me more information (prototype or production engine, in what?)? If you can, I can try to track down some information on specs for you.

Dunedan said: I ask as a handling freak who's decided to wait a few years for the Ariel Atom to become available used for say 30,000 bucks, and then see just how sick you can make one of those things. I cut my teeth on a lowered '71 Midget (Gawd, I miss that little car!), but the Atom just takes my breath away. Even the Exige isn't that friggin' sticky.

The Atom is indeed pretty awesome.

I ask, do you prefer understeer, or oversteer?

I am of the type that prefers oversteer on demand, via the "go" pedal.

[The Dunedan]

Right there with you on oversteering. My old Midget could float through a turn damn near sideways if I told it to, beautiful little machine. A friend from the British Auto Club was the proud owner of a Griffith 400 that was beyond sick in this respect. I have to say, though, that living where I do front-wheel drive can be an advantage. Delivering pizzas with a RWD car on a snowy night in the mountains...sucks.

[Osborn F Enready]

Dunedan said: Right there with you on oversteering. My old Midget could float through a turn damn near sideways if I told it to, beautiful little machine.

I hear ya, and relish the feeling myself. I have always preferred cars with a longer wheelbase for spirited driving, but that is in large part due to what I learned in. Cars with 107 to 110 inch wheelbase seem to be my prefrence.

Dunedan said: A friend from the British Auto Club was the proud owner of a Griffith 400 that was beyond sick in this respect. I have to say, though, that living where I do front-wheel drive can be an advantage. Delivering pizzas with a RWD car on a snowy night in the mountains...sucks.

LOL, yes, indeed.

I had a rude awakening one day as my fat-tired, '77 Impala with a 4.56 Posi couldn't climb the modest grade of the freeway on-ramp in light snow.

Currently, I am driving one of the most amazing little cars I have ever been introduced to. It's a 1993 Eagle Talon Turbo Sequential Injected All-Wheel Drive. This car has only a few mods (adjustable boost controller, larger custom aftermarket upper and lower pipes (to and from the intercooler), and a quality boost gauge, but it is literally a corner carving, no-nonsense, all-weather ass kicking machine. High 12's, low 13's in the quarter mile(with much, much more on tap), as much corner as you can force yourself to put it through, and a wonderful AWD bias control keep this thing glued to the pavement.

I have never been a fan of newer cars, but this Talon made me a begrudging believer the hard way.

This isn't my video, but the car is the same year and running about 5 more pounds of boost.
93 Eagle Talon TSI, 25psi - Video

If you see a TSI AWD model come up for sale, might want to check it out if you like corner carving pocket rockets.

[Suburbanite]

im driving an acura legend right now and its my second one, and i just cant get the acceleration as high as i could on my first legend. any recommendations?

[Osborn F Enready]

What year Acura, what engine, what mods have you done if any?

[Suburbanite]

no mods, 89 Legend LS. I just replaced the timing belt, the spark plugs, and all this other shit and it still doesnt have the pickup i need to cut off people safely.

[Osborn F Enready]

Hey Sub, you may want to read this article.

1991 Acura Legend - Feature Car - Honda Tuning

You didn't say what size engine you have, but I would think the first thing is to find that out, and if it is a type I or type II. Could be as simple as a visit to the junkyard for used heads and intake.

Check out this forum Sub:
Engine & Performance Modifications - The Acura Legend & Acura RL Community

I would look into getting an ECU upgrade, or a computer remap.

You could also get a higher performance cam and lifters.


Let me know if you do anything.

[Clarence]

if you don't care about gas mileage or the first few thousand rpms, put a resistor on your MAF. it'll turn full rich. then cut the exhaust out before and after the cat, put a sleeve in there or turn it out the side. remove the knock senser, if it uses one. That can advance your timing by as much 14 degrees with some cars increasing higher rpm power. retard the cam with keyed out gears if your cam has anything left which will also improve high rpm performance. if not, many times you can jack different cams out of different models. viola. stock race engine. get r done.

while sacrificing mileage and perhaps making your engine junky sounding below 2k, these easy mods can really open your I4 up. You'll be burning fools with $200 cold air intakes and 55 gallon mufflers

[tivodan1116]

Quote by: The Dunedan I ask as a handling freak who's decided to wait a few years for the Ariel Atom to become available used for say 30,000 bucks, and then see just how sick you can make one of those things. I cut my teeth on a lowered '71 Midget (Gawd, I miss that little car!), but the Atom just takes my breath away. Even the Exige isn't that friggin' sticky.

Seems like it would be extremely uncomfortable.

I also don't like that when I go to their website, it says "designed on a clean sheet of paper" implying all-new, and then I click on drivetrain, and it's powered by a GM Ecotec 2.0 SC. That's a great engine, but it's certainly not new or solely for the Atom...

I am looking at one of these next:

Pontiac G8
High power, great performance, comfortable highway star. They're getting great reviews so far. It's based on the Holden Commodore, one version of which is the most powerful car ever built in Australia. I'll wait for the GXP version though.

[Osborn F Enready]

Good reply Clarence, thanks for adding in.

Tivo, I too think the G8 looks like a solid performer for the money. The great thing about the G8 is that the addition of one turbo on the six cylinder, or two on the V8, and you can have a very versatile little car with great mileage and performance.

Pontiac G8 - GM High-Tech Performance Magazine

Looks like Pontiac is on the right track to marrying high-performance with efficiency.

[Clarence]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready Looks like Pontiac is on the right track to marrying high-performance with efficiency.

indeed. maybe the blue team will get with it soon.

[tivodan1116]

Quote by: Clarence indeed. maybe the blue team will get with it soon.

I hope so, although I am a GM guy - it's good when Ford is pushing them.

I had hopes the "Taurus X" was a hi-po version of the former Ford 500, now new Taurus... Then I saw it was a rewarmed version of the "Freestyle"... not good.

Although I hear Ford has improved the engine on the new Taurus - the only shortcoming of the Five Hundred was the complete lack of motor.

[Clarence]

Quote by: tivodan1116 the only shortcoming of the Five Hundred was the complete lack of motor.

and the lack of a manual transmission option.



Hey osborn. You see any running vw diesels over there? I've lost two of them now I can't find one for a decent price for the life of me. I need one, yesterday. driving me nuts. If you find what I need under $2k, I'll give you a hundred bucks. 1.6 volkswagen non turbo engine in any model car. I'm seriously struggling to find what I need over here on auto trader or anywhere for that matter. almost went to oregon for a cherry but decided against it.

[Osborn F Enready]

Clarence said: Hey osborn. You see any running vw diesels over there? I've lost two of them now I can't find one for a decent price for the life of me. I need one, yesterday. driving me nuts. If you find what I need under $2k, I'll give you a hundred bucks. 1.6 volkswagen non turbo engine in any model car. I'm seriously struggling to find what I need over here on auto trader or anywhere for that matter. almost went to oregon for a cherry but decided against it.

I will do some looking and report back Clarence. Give me a day to do some looking.

What do you want, rebuildable, running, or like new?

[Osborn F Enready]

Clarence, I have a number of a guy who is local to me (Toledo, Ohio) who may be able to help you. He is a VW hobbyist, has a lot of parts and various engines.

Can you give me more information on exactly what you want?

[Clarence]

yes. I need a running vw with a 1.6 non-turbo engine hydro or solid lifter. Doesn't matter whether it's in a rabbit golf or jetta. If it rolls turns stops and runs ok I'll come give it a look for sure. Plus I could meet you and Milt.

Ask im year, model, condition of pan and price. anything that doesn't work? Then I'll call im and ask similar questions before I drive over. This is going to be a test car so it doesn't have to be nice at all. just mechanically sound enough to get started. I don't want to have to start from scratch and build my own but that's the next step. In that case I'll definitly have to talk to him about engines. Did you know that any tranny from an inline 4 vw 79-present will work with the other diesel to gas and vise-versa. Just a matter of input shafts.

He may not have any together for me and in that case we may work something out. Hey just call and give him the feeler and if you think it's worth giving him a call I'll call him. If the contact leads me to what I need I'd give you the hun regardless if it's this guy or someone he knows. Thanks dude, I'm running out of good options. If I just would've insured the last golf I wrecked even though I never intended to drive it, that would've been a payday for me instead of a leak on my wallet that may never end.

[Osborn F Enready]

Ok Clarence, I will call him today and get back to ya after I talk with him!

[Osborn F Enready]

Hey Clarence, check your PM box.