R32 swap?
07-01-2010, 05:30 PM
#31
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Many v8 944 guys keep the stock gear box and they claim it can easily handle their big power. Others switch to a 951 box and that works great for them.
The 928 motor will not physically fit in the engine bay. And that motor is not an upgrade from a 944/951. It has barely more power than a stock 951, and similar reliability / design issues. At that stage you'd be dumb to not just go LS1.
Some people care a lot about the character of a car. A v8 would have the "wrong" sound, power curve, nationality, etc. Just another point.
The 928 motor will not physically fit in the engine bay. And that motor is not an upgrade from a 944/951. It has barely more power than a stock 951, and similar reliability / design issues. At that stage you'd be dumb to not just go LS1.
Some people care a lot about the character of a car. A v8 would have the "wrong" sound, power curve, nationality, etc. Just another point.
07-02-2010, 10:15 AM
#32
Racer
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Cortlandt Manor, NY
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Don't get me wrong, I own an '04 R32 and love it to death, but the 3.2 VR6 is expensive to wring out any extra HP.
The reason is it has one cylinder head covering both banks of cylinders, and doesn't breath well. Half of the exhaust
ports and intake ports on each side of the head have to snake their way through the narrow passages between opposing
cylinders.
Stock, the normally aspirated R32 engine puts out 250 hp. There are people who've sunk a pile of cash into cams,
headwork, intake, headers & exhaust that are struggling to hit the 300hp mark.
The FI crowd has a few centrifugal supercharger options, and a plethora of turbo options.
Many supercharged R32s complain that the power delivery is a little too linear. They don't get a big jump in
power/acceleration, but rather a cumulative building of power. And many have struggled to maintain a proper belt
tension. Too loose, and you lose boost. Too tight and you shred the belt. Not many find the "Goldilocks" "Just Right" spot.
The turbo R32s seem to be in the shop more than out. The tradeoff is the incredible HP gains. Most of the turbos
available run between 450 to 600hp, with a few going over 750hp.
None of this comes cheap. from the simplest supercharger set-up to the craziest twin-turbo set-up, you're looking at a
$5G to $15G investment.
Like I said, I love my R32, but I love it as it is. Normally aspirated, it's pretty much tweaked -out all the way from the
factory. And FI gets you crazy HP, but is insanely unreliable.
My vote goes to the SBC. I built a lot of hot rod Chevies when I was a kid. The parts are plentiful and relatively cheap,
and the $ to HP ratio is a lot more palatable.
--Chuck--
