Engine And Gearbox Swap

Hi all,

 

I have my VX (n/a 2.2) in pieces at the moment - to replace wishbone bushes and ball-joints, refurbish the wishbones and fit the Spitfire toe-links / brace kit and VRSAS.  Rear calipers off to BCS Automotive for refurbish...etc. 

 

My daily driver is a 2002 VW Golf Mk IV V6 4Motion which I have owned for 10 years and put 120,000 miles on in my ownership. 

I have just acquired a 'spare' 2003 VW Golf Mk IV V6 4Motion with sub 50k miles.

 

Has anyone on the forum dropped the VW VR6 engine / gearbox into a VX?

It is heavier than the Z22SE engine - 170kg versus 140kg - and it doesn't have the Z22LET power output - 250 bhp versus 204 bhp (I don't have the equivalent g/box weights - does anyone know what these are?) but with a bespoke exhaust, which will be needed anyway, and a gentle re-map I can get 240bhp.

Is this totally pie in the sky, or doable? 

Roy  

Anything is achievable with enough time and money to through at it. A lot bespoke parts would need to made for it work. If it were my car I would just supercharge it if you want a good reliable power increase.

there have been only a couple or so engine swaps done with the vx220, the lotus chassis is all about keeping things lightweight.

 

Fitting a GM LSJ supercharger is by far the cheapest method to get to 250 bhp.

 

The standard vx220 F23 gearbox weighs roughly 43Kg, so another 7Kg of weight for the VR6 box = 36Kg more for VR6

 

Your biggest challenge will be packaging it all into the confined engine bay of the vx220.

the vr6 can make up to 700bhp on stock internals with something like a billet s400 and 15psi on E85

Gm 3,2 V6
https://scontent.fwa...4f9&oe=5D929A85

And i would choose DSG gearbox. IT Weight 75kg but You dont need selectors links.

Do it makes no sense & perfect sense

I have mounted the DSG to the S3 tfsi turbo conversions I did and fits fine, I never retained the DSG as at the time a few too many unknowns.....but not an issue now but would go syvec route to get the most from it

DG

Gm 3,2 V6
https://scontent.fwa...4f9&oe=5D929A85

And i would choose DSG gearbox. IT Weight 75kg but You dont need selectors links.

 

Interested in more pictures. It looks quite compact in there.

 

I looked at that a while back, mostly as its the only V6 that will bolt to the (turbo) gearbox. Fully built they weigh about the same as the Z20LET (both iron block). 

 

You can get 250bhp-ish / 220lb/ft from the 3.2 with just some cams and a good exhaust, but it doesn't compare to the SC option in terms of cost / performance. You're just gonna get an older engine, but pretty much just the advantage of nicer exhaust note (admittedly, that does have a lot of appeal for me. Especially as 4-cylinders are become ubiquitous these days).  Maybe if you got a cheap one with some mods and an ECU, it would be a good project..

 

OP, no reason why not to - the SC conversion adds 25-30kg in parts, but its better distributed front / rear. No reason it won't handle well either if you change the suspension to suit.. (well, about as well as a turbo )

Edited by Rosssco, 04 June 2019 - 07:14 AM.

Done in an Elise:

Elise R32 V6 by DataHamster, on Flickr


VR6 at least avoids the width and need for 2 manifolds ot normal V6 engines.

Bye, Arno.

https://m.facebook.c...05729&source=48

https://scontent.fwa...321&oe=5D92F82A