Which motor has best 'character' for non-RS flared car?

[berettafan]

Curious to see what folks see as the ultimate early car motor for cars that DON'T have RS flares. Sure you could drop in a 3.6 and, as the Beach Boys said, 'get rubber in all four gears' but is the character there? By character i'm thinking of my 2.4 on webers that has awesome throttle response particularly at 3-6k. Great motor but is there something out there that will provide a similar power curve but much higher on the chart? A 3.2 w/ webers and S cams???


Not buying/building anytime soon (i hope!), just daydreaming and putting together my 'lottery list'.

[CanuckRS]

Erik,

I'm in a similar situation as you with a narrow body T and waiting more power but trying to keep it vintage racing legal. For me, I'm thinking a short stroke 2.5 as my ultimate motor. If I was not restricted (self imposed at this point) because of vintage racing, I would say that whatever you do should definately have carbs...I personally would opt for a 3.2 with carbs. I think a 3.6 is just not for a hot rod narrow body...JMO

BTW, I have 205's on 15x7 fuchs on my narrow body with no problems....

Curious to see what other think too...

[JackG]

I have a '76 whose motor has been redone with 2.7RS p&c, carbs, and E cams. I bought it done this way about 6 months ago and so far really enjoy the combo. This supposedly was a setup highly recommended. I also have a 914-6 with a 2.5 w/carbs and S cams. It is hard to be objective and compare the two since they are just so different in other respects. The 2.5 (with short gearing too) seems much quicker but then again several hundred lbs lighter and with the gearing it's too hard to compare. I have no idea how much hp either of them makes but I would say the 2.5 seems to have more torque and the 2.7 seems a bit smoother and might be easier to live with. But, again, very difficult to compare, and I would imagine the increased torque of the 2.5 might have more to do with gearing than anything else.

[boba]

I think the hard part of this question is what is meant by character.

If you mean the essence of the early narrow body in production form I would say a 2.0 MFI S or a 2.2S. If a hot rod then a 2.0 906 as some of the R's and TR's had. You could also think 2.3/2.5 as the ST's came with, but those were not narrow.

What all of these have in common more or less is a high revving motor with its power at the top of the rev band. These were momentum cars that took a lot of involvement by the driver to be driven well.

To me that is the character of these cars, the lightweight, high rev, peaky high output motors which needed to be driven in their narrow power band. Being in the right gear and having that throttle response on tap.

Now if touque is your "character" 2.7, 2.8. 3.0, 3.2 will give all you need to light up 7" anything under a narrow body, but it is not the same. Just my thoughts.

[a911s]

Well you could buy my 2.7 listed in the classifieds...

That's probably overkill, so maybe a 2.5 MFI or a 2.7RS spec motor, which is easier to drive around town. There is really nothing like the rush of a MFI S cammed motor above 5K.

[boba]

Well you could buy my 2.7 listed in the classifieds...

Now that would be one fine motor for any hotrod.

[silver911]

I have 2.7E in my 72...with MFI...(2.7 P+Cs)
MMMMMMMmmmmmmm

Might not scream like a an S.. but it pulls cleanly in all five gears and its plenty fast enough for me....

Its more powerful than a stock RS...but very different.

[berettafan]

So is it pretty much cams and stroke that give a motor its personality?

If this is the case does that mean an otherwise stock 3.0 or 3.2 w/ S cams and webers would lack the snap and feel of earlier motors?

[a911s]

So is it pretty much cams and stroke that give a motor its personality?

If this is the case does that mean an otherwise stock 3.0 or 3.2 w/ S cams and webers would lack the snap and feel of earlier motors?

I would say, cams and compression give personality. Stroke and lightweight internals do too. The 3.0 and 3.2 motors you describe lack the feel of an early S motor. Although they are better than stock, the compression and heavy internals rob their character from matching an early motor in feel. A twin plug short stroke 3.2 with all the goodies can approach it however. A heavily modified 3L (or 2.9) definitely can, but it gets expensive.

[Bobboloo]

Displacement, cams, ports, induction and exhaust are the main determining factors in a street motor's character. Stroke yes, but not as much when you're talking about street motors. Race motors have a character that I would not desire on the street.

I've driven early cars with the following motors 2.2S MFI, 2.4T MFI, 2.7RS carbs, 2.7S CIS, 3.2CIS, 3.2EFI. Every motor was fun in it's own way. My favorite would be the 2.7RS for the early car "character" that I desire. It has the "S" cam that has that "wait for it" character but also has enough displacement so that it doesn't leave you "wanting" torque when driving next to today's cars on the street. Oh, and lets not forget the "sound" of the open induction and exhaust. Very important characters.

A 2.7 or 2.8 with an E, Solex, or S cam would all be great motors for an early street car IMO.