121 replies to this topic

[maph2]

Maph - havent you built one of these minis? How much did it cost? Just wondering as you could give him an idea of cost, IF you fabricate your own parts?

I did notice that OP is only 15 also, so whilst considering your engine conversion have you also considered how you propose to insure a 2.0l??

cost more than what you earn from a paper round........

[bingobango]

Maph, for the money you aint gonna get more torque or power... especially low down. So yeah its pretty simple.

I belive they are working on reverse gear for r1 but thats no issue if you dont need it.


Liam - just go r1 trust me mate. Cheapest way by a mile.

[Lenny.G]

yes but R1 engine built to lug 200 kgs plus passenger, not 780 kgs plus passenger, has no torque and will need frequent chain sprocket adjustments

GM 2.0 once built would cost you oil and water for life, not regular rebuilds, has plenty torques, and built to lug around min 1ton of car.

Its not really a difficult choice, considering for starters the bike engine only really works in the back of minis, which is a poor combo as shortwheelbase + RWD is receipe for poor handling.

Then the kit from Z cars or like is 5k vs 1k ish from Allspeed for vauxhall.... i could go on....

as said previously OP is only 15 so unlikely to happen..... as wont be able to insure....

[Liam-Taylor]

well at the moment i would put the 16v in a clubman and i want be doing this till next year also i want be insuring it for a couple of years and will be using the car i am working on at the moment

also i don't do a paper round

[alexcrosse]

zcars is 5k? LOL? allspeed is 1K?!?! LOL get real. Zcars is 15k, allspeed is closer to 5k.

As for maph saying you have to rev the tits off an R1 to get off the line... your wrong. lol, its absolutely fine off the line, the noise is a problem, but can be sound insulated out to be not much bad, martins is ok, mine was horrific. I did that conversion in a weekend so it isnt too hard. Infinatly reliable engines... drivetrain is a different matter.

Also, not having reverse was never a problem for me, and i used it every single day, the engine weighs 80kilos.. enough said.

However if you look at how much you would spend on a promotive vs vauxhall, there the same initially, and then promotive racks up in consumables, chains, chain lube, sprockets, worn out drive train parts. Where as vauxhall is fit and forget IMO

The 1.6 vauxhall is deathly dissapointing after an R1 engine, but its still not too heavy, gets me 70 miles a day, and 500 mile round trip to newquay etc. And the C16XE on jenveys sitting in my garage should give it a better poke too.

If you want reliability and fun - vauxhall
if you want to scare the living s**t into yourself - promotive (still miss it like crazy!)

[Liam-Taylor]

thanks for that mate

i might just go with the 16v as it is cheaper but then one day it will have to be an r1

Edited by Liam-Taylor, 08 May 2009 - 07:55 PM.

[Marky Tizz]

I keep getting varying performance figures for the C20XE, one place reckoned it has 198lb/ft torque, another reckoned only 145lb/ft.
which is it aaargh!

But if it is only 145, does it still pull like a train? because the only reason I would ever go vaux is for the masses of torque. I like torque, bhp figures dont bother me nearly as much.

[Liam-Taylor]

yeah same here mate, i also want to know what the accceleration is like

[Liam-Taylor]

Maph - havent you built one of these minis? How much did it cost? Just wondering as you could give him an idea of cost, IF you fabricate your own parts?

I did notice that OP is only 15 also, so whilst considering your engine conversion have you also considered how you propose to insure a 2.0l??

cost more than what you earn from a paper round........

yes i know mate but i want be insuring straight away and using as a first car

but what is the acceleration like on your 1

yes but R1 engine built to lug 200 kgs plus passenger, not 780 kgs plus passenger, has no torque and will need frequent chain sprocket adjustments

GM 2.0 once built would cost you oil and water for life, not regular rebuilds, has plenty torques, and built to lug around min 1ton of car.

Its not really a difficult choice, considering for starters the bike engine only really works in the back of minis, which is a poor combo as shortwheelbase + RWD is receipe for poor handling.

Then the kit from Z cars or like is 5k vs 1k ish from Allspeed for vauxhall.... i could go on....

as said previously OP is only 15 so unlikely to happen..... as wont be able to insure....

yeah i would like to go fot the 2.0 also most probaly want be doing this till i'm 16-17

[oli8925]

what does it matter if your going to be 16/17 when you do this?
1. You cant drive at all till your 17 anyway!
2. Insurance for a standard 998 mini is going to be steep enough for a 17y/o, sorry mate but unless you have a trick to get round the insurance system, you have no chance on a 2l mini until quite a few years after that! Not only is it insurance on a 2 litre, but its insurance on a high performance, very highly modified car with an engine swap. Call an insurance company and ask, i'm sure they'll ask you to bend over until your at least early 20's.

Im not trying to be mean or put you down, but long before you look into the costs of actually doing a conversion etc, you really should look well into the cost of insurance etc. We all have dreams and its good to have them. but you need to be realistic as well. how annoying would it be if you jumped in at the deep end, built an amazing redtop conversion, then had to wait 5 years until you could drive it on the road.

[Liam-Taylor]

well cheers mate i understand what you are saying i have not confirmed i will be going for the 2.0 but i most probaly will i will be doing this when i finish my project i am doing at the moment which i have had since i was 14. yeah but i will most probaly not insure this till i am about 21-22 maybe longer..

[alexcrosse]

i was 20 when i had the R1, that was £900, which isnt bad considering it was an evo eater

[Ouster]

I keep getting varying performance figures for the C20XE, one place reckoned it has 198lb/ft torque, another reckoned only 145lb/ft.
which is it aaargh!

But if it is only 145, does it still pull like a train? because the only reason I would ever go vaux is for the masses of torque. I like torque, bhp figures dont bother me nearly as much.

Vauxhall engine stats

C20XE has 145 torques. Which in a lightweight mini would feel pretty ballistic.

[Liam-Taylor]

i was 20 when i had the R1, that was £900, which isnt bad considering it was an evo eater

that seems really cheap

how much did you spend on the r1

[alexcrosse]

alot...

as for 145nm of torque, ignore that its pointless looking at C20XE std statistics when you can run it on std injection. Its enough torque to chuck you into the armco every time you floor it.