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Go Back   Madabout Kitcars Forum > Mad Build Area > Marlin Sportster, Cabrio, Berlinetta and Roadster builds

Marlin Sportster, Cabrio, Berlinetta and Roadster builds Enthused or Confused about your vintage Marlin build? Ask away here or show off your build.

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  #1  
Old 28th April 2020, 17:34
Santana Santana is offline
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Default Engine choice

Good afternoon,

My son and I have bought an Aeon GT2 rolling chassis. Quite a bit is already done and we are plodding through the remainder.

We have yet to choose an engine which is why I am knocking on your doors.

We change our minds about it every five minutes, currently our flavour of the month is the Audi 3.2 VR6. We like this because we need a tranverse unit, its naturally aspirated and it is around 250 BPH. And, although it is a V6 it has the advantage of having all the exhaust ports coming out of the same side of the cylinder head. So no weird wrapping around or under the engine with vastly unequal length manifolds.

So what's not to like?..well, it's a bit pricey for a donor. And the talk is that it's fast but not that "responsive". More sort of zooomy than thrashy. I like thrashy!

So give me an alternative. Criteria is:

Transverse.
Naturally aspirated
200+ BPH
Cheapish.

Other engines on our radar are the Honda Type R, and the fast, fragile (and turbocharged) Mazda MPS engine.

I await your collective wealth of experience to fall into my inbox.

Also, happy to do a bit of tuning to get the horses count up a bit from a standard engine.

Thanks to all.
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Old 28th April 2020, 18:38
Lucky@LeMans Lucky@LeMans is offline
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Alfa V6 out of a 156 or GTV, still quite a few about and cheap. 3.2 is best but more money. 6 speed manual box is good too.

Sound is fantastic which is a bonus !
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  #3  
Old 29th April 2020, 09:54
kon kon is offline
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I believe most of (if not all) the VR6 lumps are cast iron, so not exactly the lightest of engines, and can have "corrision" issues between the head and block, as the head is usually alloy. Other than that, I really like them, they sound great and have a really nice amount of low-end torque.
They also have a similar engine in the Golf, Bora/Jetta, Passat and Sharan, not as powerful, but cheaper and relatively available.

Last edited by kon; 29th April 2020 at 10:03..
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Old 29th April 2020, 11:38
Santana Santana is offline
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Thanks for the replies.
I have a mate at work who is trying to get me to fit an Alfa v6. I have reservations because I think they normally sit leaning over to one side which is a complication for the install and also shifts the weight further back which I am trying to avoid. Not too cheap either for the busso. The later 3.2 GM engines aren't so popular with the purists so maybe easier and cheaper to get hold of.
Kon, it's a good point about the other VR engines. The 2.8 could be an option but it feels a bit like second best if we are going down that route. And, our car already weighs 500kgs without any drive train so it's going to be up around 750 ish when built. So it's going to need as much grunt as possible to stop it looking like a race car but performing like a milk float.
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Old 29th April 2020, 17:42
Lucky@LeMans Lucky@LeMans is offline
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The Alfa V6 leans slightly forward in the 156. In a mid engine layout that would also be leaning forward. Complete cars come up quite frequently for around £1500 or less. 3.0 GTV would probably be the best donor on a budget.
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Old 30th April 2020, 10:57
kon kon is offline
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Had you considered the Jaguar AJ30 (or Ford Duratec 30, as it's basically the same) found in the s-type, x-type, older XFs or ford Mondeo ST220? It's all alloy, so lighter, gives around 220-270bhp, and fits transverse (in the x-type or mondeo), but it's a normal V6, so not sure if that fits with your packaging requirements.
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Old 30th April 2020, 13:01
jonkoxe jonkoxe is offline
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2.5 litre Duratec. You won't regret it. Plenty of tuning part suppliers around so lots of upgrade options. Tried and tested path so loads of info out there for support. When you get bored with the relentless power you can always stick a turbo on it...... Vrooooom!!
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Old 1st May 2020, 12:50
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Leadfoot Leadfoot is offline
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Volvo T5 engine. If I ever get around to another project, I would be looking at one of these. Even come dry-sumped as standard and 240BHP before any mapping. Nom nom.
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Old 1st May 2020, 16:31
Santana Santana is offline
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Thank you all.
For some reason I thought the Alfa leaned the other way...? I hope I'm wrong and your right as that could put it back in the reckoning.
The car previously had a Ford 2.5 unit fitted and it still has the engine mounts so when we first got the car our initial idea was the Jag AJ30. I think I read too much on line and somehow put myself off. Didn't seem to have a great reputation which is probably why there are so many cheap Jags out there. There are a couple of problems with fitting the Jag 3.ol. I think they are all autos and 4 wheel drive? I'll have to get round the 4x 4 problem with the VR6 aswell. On that note, and it may be different depending on the car but would locking off the rear drive transfer all 100% to the front transaxle. I think the Audi Haldex lends itself to this as I believe they run almost totally in FWD unless the fronts lose traction?
Volvo T5 ummm….only ever been in one and it was very quick. How laggy are they I didn't take notice at the time. Talking of laggy...the guy with the Volvo also had a DAX Rush with a Cosworth engine in (it's the bright blue one which is still shown on the Soveriegn Cars website). It is without doubt the fastest car I have ever been in but the delay between putting your foot down and it taking off was around 2-3 seconds! Not my cup of tea but impressive all the same. Thanks again for all your thoughts and advice.
One last thing if it's of interest, I just happened to see a Honda Blackbird xx1100 for sale on Ebay as a damaged repairable. Looked like just a damaged fairing. Search under spares or repair page 4.
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