How would you replace a Speed 6?
Discussion
Sometimes I have idle thoughts....
One of them is- if my Speed6 engine had a catastrophic failure, what would I do?
Would I stump up between 5 and 15 grand for some sort of Speed Six rebuild, or would I ruin the TVR by fitting it with a frankenstein engine? First off, I have no interest in a cross plane V8 engine. LS or otherwise. Just doesn't ring my bells. BMW straight sixes are highly regarded, but there are only a few that would meet the power requirements.
The other big contender would surely be a Nissan RB26. 2.6 turbo out of the R32-R34 GTR's. Available used from 2 grand, or even competition prepared engines of differing grades from GBP3,000. The engine with standard internals will support up to 500hp all day long, scattered mods will give 6-800hp, and knoweldge and off the shelf parts mean over 1000hp is relatively easy to achieve if you have the desire.
Anyone else given it some thought?
One of them is- if my Speed6 engine had a catastrophic failure, what would I do?
Would I stump up between 5 and 15 grand for some sort of Speed Six rebuild, or would I ruin the TVR by fitting it with a frankenstein engine? First off, I have no interest in a cross plane V8 engine. LS or otherwise. Just doesn't ring my bells. BMW straight sixes are highly regarded, but there are only a few that would meet the power requirements.
The other big contender would surely be a Nissan RB26. 2.6 turbo out of the R32-R34 GTR's. Available used from 2 grand, or even competition prepared engines of differing grades from GBP3,000. The engine with standard internals will support up to 500hp all day long, scattered mods will give 6-800hp, and knoweldge and off the shelf parts mean over 1000hp is relatively easy to achieve if you have the desire.
Anyone else given it some thought?
As Gazzab says costs will rocket with a one of conversion and the overall value of the car will in no way Mach the expense. The desire for up to 1000bhp is crazy in a TVR, traction would be difficult if not impossible in a car that weights just over a ton. 400-450 BHP should more than satisfy and is about as much as the chassis can cope with. In my opinion you should look at a 4.3 or 4.5ss which will give plenty of power and come with up to a 100,000 mile 5 yr warranty.And is a proven reliable product.
natben said:
As Gazzab says costs will rocket with a one of conversion and the overall value of the car will in no way Mach the expense. The desire for up to 1000bhp is crazy in a TVR, traction would be difficult if not impossible in a car that weights just over a ton. 400-450 BHP should more than satisfy and is about as much as the chassis can cope with. In my opinion you should look at a 4.3 or 4.5ss which will give plenty of power and come with up to a 100,000 mile 5 yr warranty.And is a proven reliable product.
I agree with this. Before going down the route of an alternate engine (though I appreciate your day job and potential expertise in this matter 
) try a 4.3 or 4.5 first of all. The difference over the standard 3.6 is immense. On Saturday I did a back to back test with Steve Perkins (Shidevil on here), him having a drive in my 4.3 and me in his very sorted 3.6, from that I could really tell the difference, especially low down. Overtaking was effortless in the 4.3 and it had so much more punch right throughout the rev range where the 3.6 only really came alive after 3500 rpm. Until then I really didn't think there was much in it but the comparisons truly showed me where my money had gone. That's not to say the 3.6 is slow!!
Zippee said:
natben said:
As Gazzab says costs will rocket with a one of conversion and the overall value of the car will in no way Mach the expense. The desire for up to 1000bhp is crazy in a TVR, traction would be difficult if not impossible in a car that weights just over a ton. 400-450 BHP should more than satisfy and is about as much as the chassis can cope with. In my opinion you should look at a 4.3 or 4.5ss which will give plenty of power and come with up to a 100,000 mile 5 yr warranty.And is a proven reliable product.
I agree with this. Before going down the route of an alternate engine (though I appreciate your day job and potential expertise in this matter ) try a 4.3 or 4.5 first of all. The difference over the standard 3.6 is immense. On Saturday I did a back to back test with Steve Perkins (Shidevil on here), him having a drive in my 4.3 and me in his very sorted 3.6, from that I could really tell the difference, especially low down. Overtaking was effortless in the 4.3 and it had so much more punch right throughout the rev range where the 3.6 only really came alive after 3500 rpm. Until then I really didn't think there was much in it but the comparisons truly showed me where my money had gone. That's not to say the 3.6 is slow!!
Well guys, sorry didn't think it through and wasn't trying to troll a TVR forum! I was just thinking that given the Speed 6 is a lovely, but flawed engine, would I want to speend 10-15 thousand pounds making it good enough? Probably not willingly. (My engine is currently in perfect health anyway btw.)
And if I had to replace it with something I think I'd be inclined to go for a GTR engine. Still a S6, just with a lot more power available and a lot more reliability for under 5k installed properly I reckon. I don't want 1000hp, I was just saying that you can have 1000hp with off the shelf parts.
I definitely do not want an LS or any V8 engine thanks- although I aknowledge that they are popular in the UK, they are not my cup of tea.
I was really just wondering if anyone had ever gone for, or given consideration to an engine that wasn't a re-built Speed 6 or an American v8.
And if I had to replace it with something I think I'd be inclined to go for a GTR engine. Still a S6, just with a lot more power available and a lot more reliability for under 5k installed properly I reckon. I don't want 1000hp, I was just saying that you can have 1000hp with off the shelf parts.
I definitely do not want an LS or any V8 engine thanks- although I aknowledge that they are popular in the UK, they are not my cup of tea.
I was really just wondering if anyone had ever gone for, or given consideration to an engine that wasn't a re-built Speed 6 or an American v8.
I understand the BMW engine is very similar in dimension to the S6, power is probably a little down, but the drama of the Tuscan is the way it looks and a well set up BMW M series will still push it down the road at a fair old lick.
The problem as I understand it is getting it all to work properly as apparently the ECU throws a bit of a hissy fit when it doesn't detect certain things like ABS and other gubbins, but I'm told there are specialists who can (for a price) get around that.
Suppose if you really wanted you could fit the traction control and ABS too to make it a proper turn key daily driver. As for cost, it probably wouldn't be massively expensive and it'd be a pretty unique car. Unless someone else got there first
The problem as I understand it is getting it all to work properly as apparently the ECU throws a bit of a hissy fit when it doesn't detect certain things like ABS and other gubbins, but I'm told there are specialists who can (for a price) get around that.
Suppose if you really wanted you could fit the traction control and ABS too to make it a proper turn key daily driver. As for cost, it probably wouldn't be massively expensive and it'd be a pretty unique car. Unless someone else got there first
ChrisPap said:
Sometimes I have idle thoughts....
One of them is- if my Speed6 engine had a catastrophic failure, what would I do?
Would I stump up between 5 and 15 grand for some sort of Speed Six rebuild, or would I ruin the TVR by fitting it with a frankenstein engine? First off, I have no interest in a cross plane V8 engine. LS or otherwise. Just doesn't ring my bells. BMW straight sixes are highly regarded, but there are only a few that would meet the power requirements.
The other big contender would surely be a Nissan RB26. 2.6 turbo out of the R32-R34 GTR's. Available used from 2 grand, or even competition prepared engines of differing grades from GBP3,000. The engine with standard internals will support up to 500hp all day long, scattered mods will give 6-800hp, and knoweldge and off the shelf parts mean over 1000hp is relatively easy to achieve if you have the desire.
Anyone else given it some thought?
Get a Powers Performance Speed 6 rebuild with a 4.3 upgrade with their 5 year unlimited mileage warranty.One of them is- if my Speed6 engine had a catastrophic failure, what would I do?
Would I stump up between 5 and 15 grand for some sort of Speed Six rebuild, or would I ruin the TVR by fitting it with a frankenstein engine? First off, I have no interest in a cross plane V8 engine. LS or otherwise. Just doesn't ring my bells. BMW straight sixes are highly regarded, but there are only a few that would meet the power requirements.
The other big contender would surely be a Nissan RB26. 2.6 turbo out of the R32-R34 GTR's. Available used from 2 grand, or even competition prepared engines of differing grades from GBP3,000. The engine with standard internals will support up to 500hp all day long, scattered mods will give 6-800hp, and knoweldge and off the shelf parts mean over 1000hp is relatively easy to achieve if you have the desire.
Anyone else given it some thought?
Excellent!
Personally I'd get a rebuilt Speed Six put in. I know the LS is a fantastic engine and I totally understand why people do it, but the engine is a big part of the character of the car for me.
I did briefly consider an LS when the Chimaera went pop. That's obviously another crossplane V8 - and arguably a rather better one than the Rover - so it seemed in-keeping with the car, but the cost of the full conversion (at the time) would have been enough to buy me a Tamora!
I did briefly consider an LS when the Chimaera went pop. That's obviously another crossplane V8 - and arguably a rather better one than the Rover - so it seemed in-keeping with the car, but the cost of the full conversion (at the time) would have been enough to buy me a Tamora!
ChrisPap said:
I was just saying that you can have 1000hp with off the shelf parts.
Thats a little bit of an exageration... theres not many skylines running that power and at that level they have quite a few mods, way beyong a bigger turbo/intercooler.Edited by m4tti on Tuesday 14th May 12:29
m4tti, I don't think it's an exageration. Having spent a bit of time around Jap tuners in the past, there is no doubt that, while expensive, you can buy the necessry parts for a 1000hp engine either off the shelf or from a catloge, and there is plenty of expertise around to put it together. But 1000hp is a ridiculous notion for a regular car, and not at all what I'm on about.
Let me thank most of you for their input and consideration of the OP, and even Mark. for the only real respose.
Although I still don't want an LS engine, and am dubious about spending 15k to turn a Speed6 bad job good, I should definately do either of those things instead of spending 5,000 on fitting a much superior engine.
Let me thank most of you for their input and consideration of the OP, and even Mark. for the only real respose.
Although I still don't want an LS engine, and am dubious about spending 15k to turn a Speed6 bad job good, I should definately do either of those things instead of spending 5,000 on fitting a much superior engine.
What other normally aspirated units are there which are compact enough to fit the T chassis, whilst delivering more than 400 bhp?
Is the BMW v10 narrow enough. I don't think there's a huge amount of options outside of Ferrari units normally aspirated that aren't LS units. I know you didn't specify normally aspirated but not sure a turbo charged application would be the right way to go.
If you we're going forced induction the Mazda rotarys of the 3rd gen rx7 can make big power and a cracking noise.
Is the BMW v10 narrow enough. I don't think there's a huge amount of options outside of Ferrari units normally aspirated that aren't LS units. I know you didn't specify normally aspirated but not sure a turbo charged application would be the right way to go.
If you we're going forced induction the Mazda rotarys of the 3rd gen rx7 can make big power and a cracking noise.
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