[Mk2] [Turbo]What Engine revision and Ecu type is good for 400bhp??

[chriminator100]

Hi all,
After running into a bit of money, and having more time on my hands, i am looking to rebuild and tune an engine to around 400bhp. I just need guidance on parts that ill need. I think im going to buy an engine, so i dont have a long period of time without a car, so which revision engine should i go for?. Also, Is a 2.2l stroker rebuild kit (ie the one from xxxx) a good idea and would a motec m4 ecu be any good with this, and what turbos have a decent spec? many thanks , chris

[^Trickster^]

I would go with an early block just to be safe, however i believe that most cracking issues are because of poor tuning.

You want a good block which doesnt need any boring so you can take as little material off when boring or honing the bores for the rebuild.

Alot of people like the 2.2 stroker setup, but im not overly convinced with it personally as I prefer to stick to the mr2s 2litre platform, but thats personal preference, displacement will always yield more power and noticably low end and increase in spool. Not noticable enough for me tho lol

With regards to ecu/ems I dont really have the time to be driving my car around and mapping it, I dont think its a great way to tune a car, its much easier to hand it over to someone with a good dyno and plenty of experience in doing it to sort it out in one go. Therefore I run a Power FC, I can make modifications to it if I want and its easy to map, its a unestimated ems and its a good price. If i was tuning myself all the time, and fiddling around I would go for a Motec, Hydra, Link or something along those lines. Again its personal preference.

Building an engine and choosing what you want to use and why is a very long winded process to get the kind of power and delivery that you want from it. Hope some of this helps you make a decision but probably raises more questions than it answers lol

Graeme

[2Crooky]

Is this why a lot of the highly tuned turbo's are rev 1 and 2???? Is the block more prone to crack on re3+????? Very interesting!

[^Trickster^]

The cylinder walls on the early rev 3 are thinner, and by a noticable amount if you cut the blocks in half with a saw and physically see the difference rather than ultra sound it.

Ive seen all revisions crack and I have seen darton sleaves crack aswell.

Thicker wall just gives you a little more room to play with, its all in the tune in my opinion still

Graeme

[Harry]

I would go with an early block just to be safe, however i believe that most cracking issues are because of poor tuning.

You want a good block which doesnt need any boring so you can take as little material off when boring or honing the bores for the rebuild.

Alot of people like the 2.2 stroker setup, but im not overly convinced with it personally as I prefer to stick to the mr2s 2litre platform, but thats personal preference, displacement will always yield more power and noticably low end and increase in spool. Not noticable enough for me tho lol

With regards to ecu/ems I dont really have the time to be driving my car around and mapping it, I dont think its a great way to tune a car, its much easier to hand it over to someone with a good dyno and plenty of experience in doing it to sort it out in one go. Therefore I run a Power FC, I can make modifications to it if I want and its easy to map, its a unestimated ems and its a good price. If i was tuning myself all the time, and fiddling around I would go for a Motec, Hydra, Link or something along those lines. Again its personal preference.

Building an engine and choosing what you want to use and why is a very long winded process to get the kind of power and delivery that you want from it. Hope some of this helps you make a decision but probably raises more questions than it answers lol

Graeme

Great article Graeme

[jimGTS]

Is this why a lot of the highly tuned turbo's are rev 1 and 2???? Is the block more prone to crack on re3+????? Very interesting!

i would personally say, more rev1/2 engine blow more often (older, more miles etc etc, cheaper car to buy), hense why peeps do big rebuilds and put big turbos on

[jeffry-]

i would personally say, more rev1/2 engine blow more often (older, more miles etc etc, cheaper car to buy), hense why peeps do big rebuilds and put big turbos on

Not sure on that , my short time on the american forums it seems the rev'3s blow more often. The reason for that is , most rev 1's / 2's have ct26's which cant hold the boost but the ct20b's can do right upto 1.4 and upwards to redline.

There are other reasons aswell ,but i got a headache and can't be bothered to search at this time

[jimGTS]

fact of the matter is rev1/2 engines are older dude, and cheaper, and will come with more miles, this is what im saying, so more maintainance, if thats not carried out, then there more likely to let go.....
US didnt have rev3 engines, so what few they have are imported, certainly havent had them available like we have in the uk..

how many peeps to do know who are rebuilding rev3 engines because they blew?? whereas there are plenty of folk with high powered rebuilt rev1/2s..

[matt_mr2t]

IMO your gonna do alot of work to that engine if it's gonna be 400bhp so apart from the fact the block MIGHT be thinner on rev3's it doesnt really matter.

By the time your done with it, fitted a fuel system, EMS, turbo, cams, head work it's not gonna matter what engine you start with.

As for the thinner rev3 blocks - as Greame said - I think it's only the early rev3's and then Toyota noticed the problem and rectified the moulds.

I remember James (3S) setting a thick walled rev4 block once.

[EarL]

At the end of the day, ALL blocks can crack, but if you listen to someone like Graeme, you won't go far wrong.

Top stuff mate.

[Spacey]

At the end of the day, ALL blocks can crack, but if you listen to someone like Graeme, you won't go far wrong.

Top stuff mate.

yeah t'is true. James and I did a lot of research before deciding to bore my rev3 block to 86.5mm and came to the conclusion that the build/tune/use of the engine would play a far bigger part than the type of block.

[chriminator100]

thanks guys!. i think im going to go for a stroker kit. As far as head work goes, what do i have to do...? does this mean replace the cams and pullies? thanks, chris

[matt_mr2t]

Depends how far you want to go.

Port, polish, gasflow, oversized valves, uprated springs, there's loads that can be done.

[EarL]

As far as head work goes, what do i have to do...?

...get your wallet out, and give your cylinder head to someone that really knows what their doing.

[Harry]

As far as head work goes, what do i have to do...?

...get your wallet out, and give your cylinder head to someone that really knows what their doing.

Too true Earl this is where the real power lies and is well worth apportioning a fair chunk of the budget here

Speaking of heads just got my two back from Rogue M/s who fitted hks 264/264 cams to a stock head/engine and wow the engine is so lively
with a great rumble and the xhst is also alive too love it.

And that is just the cams only

[^Trickster^]

+1 with the cylinder head info, porting a cylinder head is really not something you can DIY without a good amount of knowledge in air flow and a good bench to test your work on.

Alot of people do more harm than good to their engine by DIY porting, plenty of power can be made without porting or going to oversized valves, money is better spent on a more equal flowing manifold.

Having someone port the head for you is notorisously expensive, and there is a reason for that!

Regards

Graeme