ENGINES? HONDA OR BMW

[rc]

Ok bit of a rare question! if my m42 goes pop (and a hope not) should i drop an s14 or an s2000 block in her, reason am sayin this- well seen it done (in an e30) and am sure it could go like sh!t of a stick. Bro has an integra t R which is one of the best cars i've ever driven, it justs reves its nuts off and never fails and u just know it won't. So who thinks am over the top by droppin a Dink motor in a Baverian? Or who'd agree that u can mix and breed....

[m3ben05]

I think the s2000 unit would be better than any e30 engine including the s14 because its a more modern design.

I would think that an s14 would be cheaper to buy but dont forget they were all LHD spec.

[Jhonno]

s2000 imo..

[PaulyV]

VTEC is a very solid engine, Honda really know their technology, but you likely know that having had experience of the Integra R, the newest version of which is a shockingly good drivers car.

Always astounds me that they are considered old peoples cars over here when they have such a great motoracing heritage and produce very rapid vehicles across much of their range.

best

Pauly

[Stevin]

The only thing I hate about High revving engines, and especially the V-Tec motors, is that there power band is so hig up, that it's not really usable power for everyday driving... It's great if u sitting there in the high RPM's.

[Rosc0PColtrane]

Aren't they lacking in the torque stakes?

[Bob_S]

as is the m42 engine!

[Simon13]

i think u will find that the M42 makes excellent torque for the engine size, even now, and i doubt the new honda engines are making alot more

[Lordschleife]

Honda all the way

Simon, all the 318is I've driven felt like they had less torque than my '89 crx and thats a 1.6 4pot
As good as the M42 is, I think honda were way ahead back then, still make some of the best engines in the world today and without the problems/expense that recent BMW efforts seem to suffer

[Demlotcrew]

I think the s2000 unit would be better than any e30 engine including the s14 because its a more modern design.

I dont agree with that!

Andrew

[Lordschleife]

The s14 does have a bit more torque than the s2000 engine, but the s2000 is 240bhp whereas an s14 will be 195-215bhp

Save the s14's for the m3's that need them!

[maxfield]

I woudl go for s2000 its probably cheaper to maintain than a S14. and has great power per liter. but it would be bad if it's an everyday driver as theres nothing under 6k

[Jhonno]

I woudl go for s2000 its probably cheaper to maintain than a S14. and has great power per liter. but it would be bad if it's an everyday driver as theres nothing under 6k

i dont know if its so much that it has nothing, more it has so much over 6k that below it feels gutless.. seat of the pants is a funny thing

[Demlotcrew]

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/D913 ... 294422.htm

Why is she touching the steering wheel?

Andrew

[Simon13]

Robin on the recent rolling road day none of the CRX's there made barely over 115lbs of torque. the M42 is nearly a 140lbs i think so a good difference. CRX weighs about 4kgs too

[fuzzy]

not sure about your two choices,id probably go for the honda engine for the novelty value alone , i dont see any problems with mixing and matching generally at all though

[Lordschleife]

Robin on the recent rolling road day none of the CRX's there made barely over 115lbs of torque. the M42 is nearly a 140lbs i think so a good difference. CRX weighs about 4kgs too

Yeah I suppose a crx is a good 150kg lighter than a 318is, thinking about it thats probably what makes the difference in there seat of the pants-o-meter
They really do shoot off at low revs compared to an iS

Still a superb engine and fantastic handling car one day I'll put the effort in putting mine back on the road.

And I'd still rather have a lighter car with less torque (and a nice high rev power band) than a heavy one with lots, but thats a whole other discussion!

[Lordschleife]

Oh another point about the Honda engine, I drove mine bouncing off the limiter at 7500prm for 4 years non stop and it didnt miss a beat - none of this cracked head M42 , or spun bearing S14 business!

Also the Honda engines are so nicely free revving

Not trying to diss BMW here BTW - I do love em, but certainly engine wise (and in a few other bits) Honda are right there too, just unfortunate the whole rice/pensioner thing, and the limited no. of Honda RWD cars

[Dan318-is]

, just unfortunate the whole rice/pensioner thing, and the limited no. of Honda RWD cars

Classic!!

[Simon13]

don't under estimate a good S14 i've experienced both honda and bmw's and the S14 rev's like a goodun too, plus they might be a bit down on bhp compared to certain V-tec lumps but standard 2.3's make a 170lbs too, same as a 325i might i add!

[Blue_MK2]

Honda's are crap

[kirils]

what are you guys talking about? i would never put a honda engine in a bmw? that is stupid! about that how modern are the honda engine i'm not really sure, cause bmw cars are with injection from 1960, and honda civic from 1992 is with carb. ? and the Bhp per littre is really stupid, there is a suzuki swift with 1.3l engine with 105 hp, and can beat the sh*t out of the 318is any time it want's but that does that make it a betther car?
i know a guy who has a 318is with turbo and it goes like crazy there is a pic of him going 260 km/h, if i can find it i will post it... i think that would be enough for the crx

[toby]

Honda engines are good.
Buy my Honda!

I wouldn't put a Honda engine in a BMW though. I'd put a BMW engine in it!

318is is a desirable car as it is. Even if the engine does go pop it would surely still be better to keep that and fix it rather than spend a fortune on some strange hybrid - unless you like that sort of thing.

[bottlecapE30]

unless you are looking to spend a load of money on a swap, i would just mod the BMW motor

[AndyTouring]

My '88 CRX had 130bhp @ 6000rpm & 105 lb/ft torque @ 5700rpm.

Trust me, that's a narrow power band. Unless you're working the engine hard you just don't have any go.

The S2000 may have 240bhp but 9 times out of 10 you'll be blown away by diesel hatchbacks.

As for the engine swap - a fatal flaw. Honda engines rotate in the opposite direction to everyone elses (or at least they did). So you're stuffed unless you use the complete Honda drivetrain.

[Motorhole]

There is a solution to the V-Tec's lack of torque though, in the form of numerous bolt on supercharger kits!! There was a fella with a Civic Type_R in track and race cars are year or two back who had done this. 360bhp and over 300 lb/ft. Plus he used it every day, dragged it at Santa Pod regularly and tracked it. Lots of reliable miles still on stock internals!

Yes, I heard that Honda engines rotate "the other way" too. But you would need to transplant the S2000 gearbox too anyway as the E30 bellhousing is cast as part of the box. Therefore the old adapter plate approach doesn't work out too good...

[bmpaul]

bmw are world renowned for their knowlege and engineering so putting an engine in from somthing else is sacreligous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RobMorris]

save money from getting an S2000 lump and just go for the 2.2 vti prelude lump, 200bhp..

and also save money on the s14 and get s13 1.8 T, 170 standard but a few quid will see 220bhp...

[maxfield]

Dude the S14s the engine code for the E30 M3 not a nissan

[RobMorris]

whoops, im ex nissan man and seen a few bmws with the nissan 200sx s14 engine in...
im getting into the bm scene now...

[dsio]

I've seen alot of people here do the Nissan SR20DET engine conversion here, with a great deal of success. Here in Australia I can get a mint SR20DET for less money that a second hand M20B23 due to the Japanese dumping ground effect. Don't know how you would feel about it though.

Mind you, the coolest job I've seen recently is a 318i chomer running a non-turbo M12 engine pushing out 280HP from 2L without a turbo. This is on a car with drum brakes. Surprisingly cheap too, out of a badly wrecked E21 or something. There is a company doing 2002 and E30s with custom built M12s here as well, though I don't know where they are getting the things from.

That. Is a 4 cylinder engine.