C16SE pros & cons

[muzzy]

Just bought another Nova with a C16SE engine, i bought it to put an xe into but im interested in the tuning options for the 1600 and also for peoples opinions on which would be a better choice.

Ive had both engines before in Novas but ive never had a 1600 which had anything more than a mild fast road cam.

[AlexW]

Depends on your budget really... Fitting a Xe isnt going to be cheap, but you could spend it on modding the 1.6, but as usual depending how far you go you lose the reliability of the 1.6.

Whats the plans for the car? daily? weekend? track?

[muzzy]

Would more than likely be a weekend thing, as you said my reasoning for not wanting to tune the 1600 is the reliability issues, ive done a fair few xe conversions so i know how much work is involved. I dont have a budget as sorts im sort of buying what i see at the moment, trying to put together some sort of plan.

[_JH_]

I wouldn't worry about reliability of a 1600, I've never understood why people do.

It's hard to discuss the pros and cons WITHOUT turning it into a big block / small block arguement lol

I'd say 1600 all day long, maybe on some bike carbs?

[muzzy]

I was interested in looking into bike carbs, i would like to keep the 1600 engine as it makes a change from the usual 2.0 16v which they all seem to be up here.

I would be looking to uprate the internals of the engine and do a full rebuild anyway just to be safe and have something decent to work with, i will be doing some head work too.

Just out of interest, what is options for a turbo conversion, can you buy of the shelf manifolds etc or is it a custom job?

[philip]

more custom jobby.

mate did it years ago, using spacer plate, 5th injector(think off an rs turbo or rs turbo type set-up, then had a flange welded on the cast manifold to suit turbo

[muzzy]

i think ill have a look into both the bike carbs and turbo route, the bigger plus side for me is the power jump on the xe without having to do any engine work but of course than means new mounts etc and finding the right suspension set up to deal with the extra weight

[pob]

I have a C16SE powered car. What restricts your power output is the standard management system.

You cant put a wild cam in as the timing advance cant be adjusted.
The standard management has a very low rev limiter (6250??)
If you port the head, put a cam in, bigger throttle body etc, then all these advantages start to pay off and the standard management cuts in just as they really get going.

If your staying with full multipoint injection and looking for big power you need a programmable ecu for the c16se.

If you want 150bhp + from a 1.6 carbed engine your probably better starting with a distributor engine and bolt on a couple of webers rather than starting with a coil pack engine.

Just my 2p's worth.

[craig green]

Aye. E16SE is a better option than the C16. Courtenay can still sell the turbo manifolds from stock.

Personally I'd sell it & get a 1.6 twin cam. All the joys of smallblock motoring with higher revving & tuneability.

[muzzy]

a 16v smallblock was a thought as ive had them before and found the 1600 to be quite a good engine although i found the inlet manifold isnt that great.

If i was to stay with the 8v i would be looking to change the management as i would to have the full benefit of the cam etc

[pob]

But you could do exactly the same for the 1.6 16V, spend exactly the same amount and get about 30bhp more out of it.

[craig green]

Aye, putting management on one engine is far more complex than bolting on a Powerbox to the 16v.