New engine, who would you use?

[sapper]

I’m thinking of going from 4 to 5 and looking from advice from those who have done it or any engine builders on here.
Who would you guys recommend and why?

[Belle427]

Probably a similar question.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
There are probably a main three to choose from. Powers, John Eales and V8D.
I’ve used one of those three fairly recently (not a complete engine) I would not choose to use them again as they didn’t inspire me with confidence.
All depends on your budget really.

[Classic Chim]

If it’s a full engine build upto a reliable spec and if your selling the car Powers as it has a warranty that blows everything else out the water. Oh hang on someone else might get you 6hp more though ?

[spitfire4v8]

sapper said:

I’m thinking of going from 4 to 5 and looking from advice from those who have done it or any engine builders on here.
Who would you guys recommend and why?

As you're already at 360hp from your 4 litre I'm assuming you either want the same or slightly better performance with lower boost/stresses, or you're wanting to go a bit faster?

[N7GTX]

You know where mine was done. Here's the price list for an upgrade:

http://www.powersperformance.co.uk/upgrades/4045-5...

Been some suggestions they now do a 5.2 as well?

[sapper]

I’ve been looking to sell for a while but I’ve not had much interest and at the same time I’ve not seen any TVRs for sale that I would go for without paying too much. So I think if I go for a new engine I’ve got effectively a new car. Nothing wrong with the 4l I’ve got.

[Belle427]

If it’s a true 4.0 not a 3.9 then you could quite easily build a cooking 4.6 from it without going mad with the spending.

[sapper]

Belle427 said:

If it’s a true 4.0 not a 3.9 then you could quite easily build a cooking 4.6 from it without going mad with the spending.

It is a true 4, tell me more

[Belle427]

You use the crankshaft, rods and pistons out of a 4.6 engine in your block.
Some keep the original 4.0 pistons to raise compression slightly but not sure if this is suitable with a boosted application.

[DuncV8]

I’m going General Motors LS 3. Reasons: Bullet proof reliability, loads of torque, low cost (for the power) 😉

[Boosted LS1]

^ It's not bullet proof reliable. The ecu is critical otherwise you can easily crack the pistons. if your ecu has knock sensing then that's a huge plus.

[sapper]

Boosted LS1 said:

^ It's not bullet proof reliable. The ecu is critical otherwise you can easily crack the pistons. if your ecu has knock sensing then that's a huge plus.

I’m using an Emerald ECU.

[Boosted LS1]

On what engine? If ls then the ignition settings are critical because the piston crowns are thin. The GM does a fantastic job at knock retard when needed. Few can match that.

Edited by Boosted LS1 on Sunday 7th October 22:44

[ITVRI]

DuncV8 said:

I’m going General Motors LS 3. Reasons: low cost (for the power) ??

A cool conversion but I’ve read on the Sportmotive website their LS conversion starts at £20000. Not exactly cheap. At least with a turbo conversion I wager you could spend around half that money and get similar results. Also the turbo and plumbing can be replaced easily with orginal should one day you have the desire or need.

[Boosted LS1]

Turbo's are a piece of cake for an rv8. Mine were very satisfying. I've done the Ls route also, it's good but crippling on costs compared to a strong rv8.. Power corrupts as they say, absolutely. I do like the Rv8 for its weight and simplicity.

[Boosted LS1]

ITVRI said:

DuncV8 said:

I’m going General Motors LS 3. Reasons: low cost (for the power) ??

A cool conversion but I’ve read on the Sportmotive website their LS conversion starts at £20000. Not exactly cheap. At least with a turbo conversion I wager you could spend around half that money and get similar results. Also the turbo and plumbing can be replaced easily with orginal should one day you have the desire or need.

Exactly, treat the engine as disposable should things go wrong. All you need for a strong rv8 are a new set of shells and a freshen up. It'll love 5-7 psi boost on stock internals.

[900T-R]

It still baffles me how often the 'LS is cheap' myth is still doing the rounds.

Yes, the engines are cheap.

Installing one in a car that's built around something else, however, means replacing all of the ancillaries with stuff that will be bespoke to the application, and either find ways to mate the engine to the existing drivetrain or re-engineer the lot.

The Sportmotive and Topcats sites give a good idea about the costs involved, it all adds up to a level (£20K is a reasonable benchmark provided you're keeping things 'sensible' - most projects seems to go far beyond that price point because of the 'while I'm in there, anyway' effect) where the alternative of buying another TVR that's been built to take the higher power levels to keep your Chimaera company (something like a Cerbera ) becomes a rather tempting one.

That, and £10K will build an RV8 that will be asking rather serious questions regarding the rest of the car anyway - so why bother at all?

[TOV!E]

DuncV8 said:

I’m going General Motors LS 3. Reasons: Bullet proof reliability, loads of torque, low cost (for the power) ??

Then it won’t be a true TVR will it

[baconsarney]

I hate these threads, they make my pockets all itchy and wanting.......

[Classic Chim]

baconsarney said:

I hate these threads, they make my pockets all itchy and wanting.......

I like that

I hate PISTONHEADS in general now for that very reason, no sorry my pockets are bare is the real reason