Cars that are basically the same but have different....

[Rooted]

Can anyone think of examples of cars that are essentially the same but have markedly different performance : I.e. the 8L Audi A3 1.8T quattro and the S3 (key differences being slightly bigger turbo + different ECU)...or the old Vectra 2.8T and the VXR?

[Dr Interceptor]

BMW 116d, 118d, 120d, 123d - all essentially the same engine, in varying states of tune.

[Mr SFJ]

The Fiat 1.4 T-Jet unit.

Seen in the Grande Punto, the Bravo, the Abarth Grande Punto and the Abarth 500. may be even more I don't know about.

[Lowtimer]

There are examples all over the extended Volkswagen / Audi / Seat / Skoda / Porsche group.

[thatdude]

Dr Interceptor said:

BMW 116d, 118d, 120d, 123d - all essentially the same engine, in varying states of tune.

Initially confusing, they are all 2 litre units. I understand the 116 / 118 / 120 have different cam shafts, whilst the 123d takes it further and has two turbos instead of the one, plus all the other bits and bobs (injector pressures? etc)

[Lowtimer]

They also have other detailed differences including intercoolers in some cases.

[DanielJames]

Lowtimer said:

There are examples all over the extended Volkswagen / Audi / Seat / Skoda / Porsche group.

I was just thinking that. Most VAG cars are essentially the same!

[Eighteeteewhy]

Aston Martin and Toyota

[mcgandalf]

Ford Mondeo and Jaguar XF?

[P-Jay]

My Seat Exeo is basically an Audi A4 B7 with ugly bits added to sort of make it look like the rest of the Seat range - and thankfully the current gen engine range.

The lump in the front of the Original Porsche Cayenne 3.2 "V6" is actually the VR6 from an R32 Golf (and a few other things).

[Impasse]

Lotus Elise. Mind you, they all drive pretty much the same too.

[DanielJames]

Ren Esis said:

E36 BMW 323 and 325. AFAIK, same 2.5 litre engine but with a different map and manifold (perhaps more).

Hmmm, both 2.5s but different engines.

323 is a M52 (ali block)
325 is a M50 (steel block)

Inlet manifolds are different, it's common to put the M50 manifold on an M52 for an increase in performance.

[P-Jay]

mcgandalf said:

Ford Mondeo and Jaguar XF?

Type X, XF is all Jag, but lends a lot of it's bits to the XK and shares engines with Land Rover stuff - except the defender - which now uses engines from old Transit vans.

[irocfan]

mcgandalf said:

Ford Mondeo and Jaguar XF?

I suspect you mean X-type - and even then it's a stretch!

[P-Jay]

Aston DB9, Vanquish, DBS, Virage and probably one or two more cars beginning with the letter 'V'.

Same chassis, same engine, same interior, etc but with a few variations for the last decade - straight out of the 'if it aint' broke' school of thinking that killed the mainstream British Car industry.

[irocfan]

try these 2 for size...

[iloveboost]

kapiteinlangzaam said:

MINI R50 ONE/Cooper.

Exactly the same engine save the ECU (restricts WOT on the ONE, meaning an approx. 25bhp difference).

I agree this was my engine 'pick' for this topic. I know of one other engine like this from memory and that's the Leon Mk2 TFSI Sport. It has the same engine/gearbox as the Leon FR 2.0 TFSI but came out about a bit earlier with softer 'sport' suspension than the FR, and a throttle restriction in the ECU so it made 185hp not 200hp.
I think that there's a rumour the Corsa SRi Turbo has the same powertrain as the Corsa VXR Turbo only the map/intercooler is different. No idea if that's right though.

[NiceCupOfTea]

Plenty of Saabs.

Take the Saab 9000, entire range used the same B2x4 engine:

2.0 n/a - 130bhp
2.0 LPT - 150bhp
2.0 FPT - 175bhp

2.3 n/a - 150bhp
2.3 LPT - 170bhp
2.3 FPT - 200bhp
2.3 Aero - 230bhp

Exhaust and a remap and the Aero was up to ~300bhp. 2.3 was just a stroked 2.0, internals of both engines good for 400bhp. Differences between engines was basically turbo and map (IIRC all had Garrett turbos apart from Aero which had a Mitsubishi TD04)