48 replies to this topic

[The Matt]

Other than mate the likkle dinky engine to a mini gearbox?

[Jammy]

Other than mate the likkle dinky engine to a mini gearbox?

I was thinking more along the lines of mate the little dinky engine to a motorbike gearbox...

[maph2]

yep, but you would end up with a less power that the bike engine the gearbox came off and no reverse gear.

[maph2]

there has been a z-cars smart 42 R1 lump i think

[mighty_mini]

I was going to reply to this, but matt's got it covered. in my personal opinion its totally not worth it.

Bike engines are problematic when it comes to torque. the only way to sort it out its through turbocharging, yet the smart car still doesnt boast much in this area standard. This falls into the same catergory as my other "poo" conversions... the R1..

[chairchild]

how about something like the gearbox from a VW Lupo, as they're pretty damned small things? And I'm tempted to put one through it's paces for my V8 (bike gearboxes are now a no-no for my car, as NONE can cope with the torque without spending mega-bucks)

[YIANO]

yep, the box issue sort of ruins it for me ,even with software tweeks the shifting is way too slow although i had hoped to mount micro switches in a revised housing on a new gearlever giving sequential style changes but as already experienced by myself after driving a not so smart car the shifting would be too slow for me ...so its back to the drawing board

its a shame though .. as the unit is tiny enough for front mounting and theres lots of upgrades available .as far as reliability goes its still better than the A series
oh well ...... the search continues

[Woody]

My mate had a smart turbo chipped and inter-cooled and it could not pull away from my escort van (fitted with a turbo and intercooler from a mondeo and an injector pump from a P100 TD but otherwise standard) so not very fast even in a super lightweight smart car

[maph2]

My mate had a smart turbo chipped and inter-cooled and it could not pull away from my escort van (fitted with a turbo and intercooler from a mondeo and an injector pump from a P100 TD but otherwise standard) so not very fast even in a super lightweight smart car

hardly the same if its a diesel pulling over 200lb/ft of torque. if it couldn't pull away then i'd say it did quite well seeing as the smart isn't a) turbodiesel but is b) down on capacity and c) lighter

Edited by maph2, 19 September 2007 - 10:37 AM.

[mighty_mini]

but arn't the TD escort vans only like 70-odd-hp, i wouldnt have thought the torque would be that high, although i might be wrong. Yes diesels have more torque, but the rev range and power bands arnt as good. Also the one big factor which you have to consider here.. its a ford..

[maph2]

but arn't the TD escort vans only like 70-odd-hp, i wouldnt have thought the torque would be that high, although i might be wrong. Yes diesels have more torque, but the rev range and power bands arnt as good. Also the one big factor which you have to consider here.. its a ford..

a quick search highlights about 191 curlywurlies of torque yet about 80bhp, if it was a 0-60 sprint and the van was warmed over.

woody - what was the van like up to 100mph

[Dev]

why not put the diesel from the ford in there instead. makes as much sense

[maph2]

why not put the diesel from the ford in there instead. makes as much sense

this isn't a ford forum you know

[mighty_mini]

woody - what was the van like up to 100mph

100? lol

[YIANO]

anyway at this point im leaning rather heavily to a front engined r1 conversion, ive always fancied a bike engined mini !