Rice Vs Lamborghini Diablo

Hows about a 1200 horsepower 573 buick engine built by Jim burek to put in a miata.....I don't know if it'd fit or not, just an idea.....o No:

 

You'd make it fit! :laugh:

I saw once a fuel injected 350 dropped into a Lexus Is 300 i think. the smallest of the lexus sedans. Man that thing could lay down a nice strip. :3gears:

 

I'd like to point out the difference between rice and "lowriders", lowriders have been around since muscle cars first came out, they're not rice. They focus on the "look" of a car, they're not pretending to be fast or anything, some of them have $15,000 paint jobs that take 200 hours to complete with custom murals and people spend thousands of hours and many are a work of art, they aren't to be grouped with "rice".

 

The post up there that ATX posted with the pic of that skylark has a paintjob that don't look cheap. Pretty neat:Brow:

-Cody

 

Well, yes and no.

I've been quoted $2500 in and out for a 550 horse Buick 455 from a reputable engine builder. You couldn't do all that much on a Supra for that kind of money. You could do some upgrades, but you probably couldn't be making close to 550 horsepower, and you sure wouldn't have all of the low-end torque the 455 would bring to the table. I'm not saying the Supra motors aren't fast or durable, because they are. But I think the bottom line is that the 455 would give you more bang for the buck and a faster, more driveable car for the money. Starting with nothing, I think you could build a super-fast, Buick-455-powered 3rd gen Supra for the cost of buying a 4th gen Supra and giving it a tune up. For that matter, you could probably get even more bang for the buck if you started with an even cheaper engine platform, like a BB Chebby. I'm not a Chebby fan, but few will argue about how cheaply they can be built. There's where I stand on that.

On your other topic, I've done a fair amount of reading on Miata engine swaps. It's true, people do put all kinds of motors in Miatas. That having been said, there's only a few different makes of V8's that can fit without major surgery because the car has such a narrow engine bay. About the only V8 that can fit in between the front fenders is the old-style Ford small block. Heck, that's why Carrol Shelby chose the small block Ford for the Sunbeam Tigers and then for the first Cobras he built -- it's a V8 in a compact package. The most readily available of the old-style Ford small blocks is the 5.0 liter found in the Mustangs, and that's the only one that fits in the Miata easily. The 5.0 clears the wheel wells and the stock hood, and also has a huge aftermarket following, making further enhancements fairly inexpensive. There isn't really any widely supported GM V6 or V8 that will fit into that engine bay without having to convert the front clip to a tube frame because they are all too wide. Ditto for the Ford 351W, the new "modular" style OHC V8's and V6's Ford is putting out now, and ditto for most other OHC V8's in the world as well. (Like the Lexus V8; As a footnote, there's a company in Australia that does a really nice looking Miata conversion with the Lexus motor as a turnkey unit. They do it by building a tube frame front end and putting a one piece fiberglass front clip on the car.)

About the only other V8 that fits into the Miata's engine bay easily is the Buick/Rover Aluminum block, but it would just cost you SO much more to build up one of those than it would a 5.0 (not to mention that the displacement is smaller), so most people just don't bother. I've also read that the high-winding DOHC aluminum V8 that they put in the 2nd generation SHO will physically fit into a Miata (and with a valvetrain rated to 9500rpm, that sounds very tempting). But, considering the poor reputation those motors have, the small displacement, and the amount of fabrication it would take to get one running (like a custom made bellhousing and reprogramming the ECU to work with a different transmission), I don't know of anyone that has attempted that swap.

The only true "Monster Miatas" were those 5.0L cars built by Monster Motorsports in California back in the early 90's. Monster stopped building the Miatas (I think because of emissions regulations) and the last time I checked they are just a shell of the company they used to be. As time has passed, anyone throwing a 5.0 in a Miata has been calling it a Monster, but the actual cars built by Monster are quite rare and desireable because of the special touches that Monster put into the car. There is a guy that is marketing a kit for making 5.0L Miatas, and he is one of the original R&D guys that used to work for Monster. From what I gather it is a pretty straightforward kit that lets you bolt in the 5.0 and T-5 from a Mustang, and hook it up to a narrowed 8.8" IRS from a Thunderbird. I gather it's about the best kit out there for the swap.

Sorry for the novel...

- Freed

 

Don't worry about the "novel". The majority of people on auto forums, unfortunately, have bad information or are simply ignorant about what they are babbling about!:beer When it comes down to it, a 12.5 second Supra is just as quick as a 12.5 second Buick. Different strokes for different folks. I love them both!:grin:

 

True. Personally, I'd like a 9-second BMW 3-series that can hit speeds north of 200MPH in a standing start mile. I figure the motor out of a low 10-second Grand National would be a good place to start, if only I could afford one. Don't worry, I'll have one built in the next 5 years...

Oh, I also want one of these:





- Freed

 

Im gonna buy me one of these when I get older. These are really rare, but I think I could squeeze a 455 buick under the hood too. This guy had to do a little work to get it to fit, but it worked, and that sucker is fast. I can't wait to get mine.

 

I've seen one at a local car show that was made up to be as close as possible to the ones in the movie. Way cool. The funny thing is the movie has made ricers think you can actually turn a roots blower on and off ! I heard this at the show and on other forums. They don't know that the blower in the movie wasn't functional. It was driven with an electric motor when Gibson flipped the switch.

 

While the blower in Mad Max may have been driven by an electric motor, it is true... you can turn the boost on and off. In fact, the majority of roots style superchargers that come from the factory have a bypass valve that redirects the airflow when boost isn't needed. This generally occurs during idle and low RPM conditions such as cruising. So yes.... a roots blower can be "turned on and off".

 

Well, I've actually thought of a way that you could put a Roots blower on a clutch and turn it on and off like they did in the movie. It has to do with the design of the casing, among other things, but it could probably be retrofitted into current blower designs without much trouble. I'm sure it would work, I just don't have the money to get it patented, so it will probably never see the light of day.

- Freed

 

Can you re-post the link? It doesn't seem to be working....

 

Yeah, but what's up with those Cheech and Chong tires?? ou:

 

Lol:laugh: Can you say, Bling-Bling?uzzled:

:laugh:

-Cody

 

Sorry to burst your bubble, but someone beat you to it. The supercharged Mercedes motors actually use a clutch to disengage the blower. Good idea though!

 

Nope, wholly different design from Mercedes uses. If I'm remembering it right just bypass the whole blower when they aren't using it, and disengage it to reduce parasitic losses. I'm 99% sure my design is unique.

- Freed

 

So you are thinking about various boost levels by "slipping" the clutch?

 

Nope, the clutch would be an on/off switch just like an AC compressor clutch. It would be something that could be made to work in conjunction with a fairly "conventional" carbed 6-71 blower setup (for example). For all purposes, it would work on a switch just like the one in the movie is supposedly working.

Now, if I told you anything else, I'd have to shoot you.

Sorry all, for the thread hijacking.

- Freed

 

It still works for me. Did you try it with a different browser?

 

wont work for me either<a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_9_7.gif' border=0></a>