Viability of a renault fuego turbo swap

[klork]

I have been looking at possibly doing a fuego turbo swap on my S2 but I am concerned about parts availability and the lack of information that I can find on the engine.  Are there parts available and does anyone know of any information sources about these?  are they decent engine or will the block let go at 200 hp leaving me wish I went with a different engine.  I would like to squeeze around 250 hp or maybe a little more out of one.  I am assuming I will have to order most parts from over in Europe?

[jbcollier]

200+ hp has been done.  Streetable?  I wouldn't think so.  The stock Turbo only put out 107 hp.  Do you want to keep the turbo?

[klork]

I would replace the turbo with a modern turbo like a borg warner EFR.  I would assume porting the head would be a good idea along with porting the intake and exhaust manifold if not create new ones.  I come from early turbo 2.3 ford world.  Doubling the horsepower is fairly simple and very streetable.  I wouldn't think 200-250 hp would become unstreetable.

[klork]

Also being early 80's turbo technology it will have a rather inefficient turbo and injection system and I am going to guess no intercooler with probably somewhere around 6 PSI of boost which is very low.

[GavinT]

[...] are they decent engine or will the block let go at 200 hp [...]

Don’t know about the block, but probably the crank.
It’s a cast crank with no cradle for rigidity & support. By contrast, many modern engines are designed with a high output version in mind.
In the case of these old school 807 based variants, their high output version was 125HP for their road cars.

I’d expect 200 - 250HP is somewhat beyond the design expectations of this engine though the Group 4 Alpines supposedly put out 190HP or something. But they were race cars.

What transaxle did you have in mind?

[klork]

I was planning on using the fuego transmission.  However I do not want to use an engine that is going to blow up at 190 hp.

[GavinT]

G’day klork,

Let’s put it this way; development of these engines is pretty widely known.
200HP is pretty much at the upper end of things and I don’t know of any that have produced 250HP. Perhaps there are some.

I doubt anyone could or would say that an engine will (or won’t) blow up at 190HP, or even 100HP.
That’s a very definitive statement and it’d be entirely irresponsible.

Frankly, I think you’d be better off considering a different engine if your heart is set on 250HP.
There’s a number of people who have happily transplanted a Zetec.
How much HP can you get out of a Zetec?

[jbcollier]

Stock turbo boost was 12 psi.  Some versions put out 132 hp.  If you want serious power, switch to the cast iron block.  Turbo versions of those can top 300 hp.

[dakazman]

Klork ,
  While fumbling around looking for parts I did see some Fuego turbo parts on mecaparts web site.
It looked a little sparse.
Dakazman

[Clifton]

 If stock is 12 psi with 132hp, 250 will be tough.  Most people don't run over 18-20 psi on pump gas with out water/meth. I say most but some people run on the edge and are a light knock from a bunch of stacked ring lands.  Engines not lasting is in the tune. Too much timing or not enough fuel and deto or a lean hole. Too much fuel and too low of timing won't make power either.  I know you have a horsepower goal but a fat torquey power band is better on the street. Did you plan on standalone efi? It is a steep learning curve if you haven't done it before. Tuning for power is easy but getting the driveability perfect is very time consuming. A 250 hp Zetec will have more torque off boost will make the same power with less boost, more reliability and will be easier to get setup with modern EFI and OBDII. It's been done so may times you can follow the recipe everyone else did. Resale with standalone can be tough too as it can't be brought to anyone with a scanner like the Zetec. I'm trying to talk you out of the Fuego. I've built a bunch of turbo cars with all kinds of swapped motors and I've realized torque is fun not peaky HP, stock efi is best as is the most displacement you can get.

[JR73]

I have seen a couple of S2's with a Fuego Turbo engine swaps, they where done when the engine was still in production and mainly because it was a relatively easy swap for an increase in power over the original - they weren't tuned much from original either.
Aside from the fairly easy install (As you said, engine and gearbox can be used from the Fuego) I would agree with Clifton that there are much better engines to choose from now that will give the sort of power you are aiming for and with far less effort and head scratching!

Again, as Clifton has suggested, the Ford Zetec range of engines is a good choice. All sorts of different options available and parts (both standard and tuning) are easily available. 1600cc n/a Zetec/Sigma engine is capable of over 200bhp and is a relatively light weight engine that would compliment the Europa quite nicely for example.
Over here, if you are tuning a Ford engine, one of the most useful sources of parts and information is Burton Power - online catalogue, extremely useful guys that know their stuff on the phone when ordering and they can even advise which parts are interchangeable from other engines for various tuning paths using stock parts etc...

Ultimately if you wish to go down the Fuego Turbo engine and Gearbox route then it doesn't really matter what anyone suggests as that is what you want to do! The install is possible, I have no idea how easy it is to buy standard parts (Fuego's disappeared over here a good few years ago so they aren't even seen in scrap yards for example!) or if there are many aftermarket tuning parts available (as opposed to the vast range of Ford original or tuning parts for example). I'm sure it will make an interesting project - especially with a modern Turbo and intercooler setup. Also consider what the gearbox and driveline is capable of handling if you are aiming towards 250+ bhp.

Whatever you choose to do, please share it and put lots of pictures up!

[klork]

Well you guys talked me out of it.  I was not set on the engine at all it just sounded interesting.  The other engine I would really like to do is a VW 3.2 VR6.  I know they are very short but I also know length is a big issue in these cars.  I need to get some measurements to see what can clear the firewall.

[4129R]

I got 140,000 miles out of my R32 V6 engine before it expired. It has 1 cylinder head and the pistons have angled tops. Very strange.

It pulls in 6th from 1,000 rpm so you don't need to change gear often.

It can propel the Golf weighing about 1 ton to 155 mph, so in a streamlined Europa weighing 70% of that, I would expect with the right gearing 170+.

[GavinT]

. . . so in a streamlined Europa weighing 70% of that, I would expect with the right gearing 170+.

That'd be interesting.
At what speed do we reach V1 in a Europa. 

[Chuck Nukem]

I have a turbo fuego S2... Let me know what you want to know about it.

I wont be able to tell you much...I have not driven the car yet and it needs quite a bit of work. I don't think mine is going to hit 250+ hp any time soon.