which engine to choose?

[P Whack]

Have just recently bought a nova and am looking into putting a bigger engine in either the c20xe, c20let or a 2.5 v6 just wondered what 1 you lot thought would be the best
cheers

[Adam]

What do you want the car for?

[P Whack]

well want it for going down the strip a few times and just 2 have a quick car but like being ble to corner and have heard the v6 is really bad for cornering in a nova

[Adam]

C20LET. Easily tuneable to 300hp.


Yeah a v6 is a lot of weight to have in a nova.

[Stuart]

20XE on TB's and add nitrous will be a more "useable" car for everyday/track use + the nitrous will hoon you up the 1/4 nicely

[Ernie]

plus an xe can be picked up for under ?200 now so all depends on what you want/have to spend.
To fit t/b an noz your looking at well over 2k but a let could of been bought and fitted for a lot less.

[Stuart]

but generally LETs tend to need an overhaul to ensure they are running right before upgrading which would drive the cost up too

[db_1.2]

Personally only having driven 1 XE and many tuned small blocks i will always choose small blocks something like a small block xe on TB's is the best option in my eyes, depends what you want it for i guess.

[Ernie]

but generally LETs tend to need an overhaul to ensure they are running right before upgrading which would drive the cost up too
True but i was just chucking a few idears his way fella.
:thumb:

[Dar]

If it was me I would go for the C20XE option and add in some laughing gas for the 1/4mile.
However if you want big power all the time then a C20LET is your best bet.
Or if you fancy something different you could go for a supercharger instead of a turbo. But you are talking about more development costs for that route.

I'm not suggesting a small block because you mentioned a BIGGER engine. But there is always the small block option if you fancy it.

[dhdev (Oli)]

20XE on TB's and add nitrous will be a more "useable" car for everyday/track use + the nitrous will hoon you up the 1/4 nicely

Do that, small blocks are pants :thumb:

[Paul]

it sounds like you want to use it quite a lot, go for c20xe, turbos are not the most reliable things around. lol

[Timmy]

1.6 16v

[craig green]

1.8 16v smallblock




with a turbo!

[P Whack]

Thinking it will have to be the c20 then but do quite like the sound off a v6, one of my mates is sellin a gte with gsi engine in it so may buy that

[General Baxter]

td lol

[Mazz]

I'd vote a XE on gas for cheap fun...

[P Whack]

Have found their is another choice to use a saab 9000 2.3 turbo engine

[Clarky_man]

i have a 2.5 v6 in a nova an it has ballistic acceleration it pulls hard through every gear up to 140mph in 4thits quicker than scoobys and evos
xe's dont even come close and to be honest it doesnt handle any different to xe's ive driven all its got is lowered and an lsd other than that its standard and the noise it makes is amazin that alone turns heads everywhere it goes

[Philsutton]

but then a C20let will pull even harder than a V6 all the way to 160mph+

[Dar]

Have found their is another choice to use a saab 9000 2.3 turbo engine
Thats a new one! Who told you?

[Clarky_man]

v6 more reliable though mine will pull up to 160mph+ in 5th but i live in the valleys not a lot of places i can stretch her out that far without being stupid it stays with an let corsa all day long anyway
saying that im going to be building an let corsa soon

[P Whack]

Well the saab uses an engine made by vauxhall only certain years tho, it has bosch jetronic ecu and the loom is bosch so should go into a nova

[tom_beverley]

A lad I know is currently on with a RWD Nova using a Saab 2.3 turbo motor. Saab are part of the GM group.

[Dar]

OK, but is it an easy conversion for a Nova? Converting a Nova to RWD is not as simple as sticking in an C20XE. Also if you were to RWD a Nova you could choose any engine that you thought suitable, a bike engine for example.

Clarky man - Have you taken yours on track? Fancy doing Castle Combe next month to see how fast it is? If its as quick as you say then it would deffo be worth seeing.

[tom_beverley]

No RWD conversion is easy really and unless you want something different I wouldn't consider it.

For a good track car go for a C20XE as they are quick and loads of conversion and tuning products available. Coupled with a good suspension setup it will be awesome on track, look at Dar's, BT's and so on, they whoop ass on track.

Personally I'd be a little different and put together a good spec small block 1.8 16v motor

[Ash]

1.8 16v smallblock




with a turbo!

:thumb:


but with a supercharger and nos

[Clarky_man]

got my leg in a brace just had an op on my knee plus the cars off road a min for a respray puttin all the interior back losing the cage etc. back to a road car, im tryin to get to euro fest though thats in castle coombe

[Stuart]

the 2.2 z22SE "should" go in although the exhaust being on the other side of the engine migh pose a small head scratcher. 200bhp is easy to get from them in N/A form now and also VERY VERY easy to get 300bhp from them with an S/C conversion and a few other bits from them USA (GM even wrote a book with GM part numbers to use for upgrading the engine lol)