My boyfriend is looking to change the engine in his Vauxhall Frontera 2.0l sport for more powerful engine. He is using it to tow his race car and finds that the engine just doesnt have the power up steep hills when towing.
He wants to put a Vauxhall V6 engine in it and was wondering whether any of them would match up to the gearbox. He can change the engine mounts if need be.
Any advice or comments welcome. Other than he needs a new car ;)
Donna
Not sure which ones would fit to the existing gearbox but a 3.2L V6 and gearbox from a newer Frontera might be easier to fit. If there's room in the engine bay it may be cheaper to drop in a 3L 24V straight 6 engine and gearbox from a Carlton GSI.
get rid of it and buy a proper towing car :)
yeah something diesel, it would cost more to f*ck about with the engine, just sell it and buy a hilux or something...
To make any engine swop reasonably easy in a modern car, it helps if the designers had made room for that type of engine. I can't somehow see the Frontera being designed from the outset for an I6 engine - given that Vauxhall no longer make one.
I agree, that's why I said "if there's room".
I can't somehow see the
They did make a I6 when the Frontera was first designed and built.
Possibly, but you'd expect the designers to know which direction the company was going, given that it would involve a fair amount of wasted space.
Besides, fitting a RWD engine and gearbox to an AWD vehicle seems to be a strange choice.
Much easier just to part-exchange his current Frontera against a more powerful one. Total cost will be anywhere between £0 and £lots (his choice), and much less hassle. Resulting new car will probably be higher specced, and will certainly be cheaper to insure than his engine-change one.
The re-sale value of a vehicle with a non standard engine is likely to be poor too. Although poor is relative with a Frontera.
I've done engine swaps and there's a fair bit to consider.
Insurance is the first thing. Find out what sort of effect this will have on insurance, it does not follow that it will be higher. But there's no point in doing all the work if you can't legally drive it afterwards.
The second thing to consider is the suspension and braking, these have to be up to the task. In particular, a heavier and more powerful engine will probably mean stiffening the front springs and putting in heavier duty dampers to suit these. Brakes ought to be suitable as well, e.g. bigger discs with suitable calipers.
Battery might need changing.
The engine will need all the ancillaries, engine management, etc, probably also radiator but if you have a donor vehicle this doesn't need to be a problem.
Mind you, if you have a donor vehicle, you can change the gearbox along with the engine, this is generally easier than changing just the engine.
It'll need different exhaust pipes.
The wheels may need to be larger if you need bigger discs, this means lower profile tyres unless you are changing the rolling radius, and has an impact on cost of replacement tyres.
Security concerning engine immobilisers, the EMS, etc, may be relevant.
To sum up this is not a simple job and requires a lot more than just another engine, however it is quite satisfying. Easier and cheaper to just buy a beefier towing vehicle to begin with.
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