^ tell me again which K20 makes more power, stock for stock, than a 3S? The reason you see more modded Hondas is because they're more common than our cars. Flip the sales numbers and you would be seeing the same number of big power Celicas as you currently do Civics.
CSAlltrac":284ionxf said:
I agree with you that the 3S is just as capable. What it does not have is 1/3 the aftermarket support of a K series Honda engine. That with the cost difference of what it takes to make a high HP K series vs a high HP 3S. Ill take the "completely unnecessary fab work" route, the difference is that big. To each their own, diversity in the car world is why it's so good.
It has the support in terms of everything you need to make as much power as you want. Internals are easily available, and pretty much everything outside the block is universal fit. But to shove a K20 into an MR2, you're worrying about fitments because the engine and tranny have different dimensions, outlets for things end up in crappy spots, you're likely getting custom CV's every time one gets damaged. Now you've gone through a bunch of money and work and rework just to fit the K20 in, and it doesn't make any more power and you've got the same displacement as you did before you got this silly idea, in a frankencar you'll have to take a huge loss on and wait forever to sell. Unless building a big power K20 costs 1/4 what a 3S does it's a huge waste of money just to say you have a K20 powered MR2.
And how long did it take them to build this thing? I'd rather be driving my car than spending forever building some abomination that might never work.
Now what DOESN'T have the support, is our chassis. Engines are the easy part if you're going for big power IMO, but look at how much footwork people have to put in to try and get us a front LSD, or a tie rod flip kit, or a CF driveshaft. If I was going to do a goofy swap like this, I'd be shoving our motor into something with good chassis support, throw a 3rd gen 3S into a Civic or something.