whats the easiest way to get the 2.2ltr short block engine, would it be to uprate my uk engine or buy a 2nd hand sti block and uprate that one or just see if i can find a genuine 2.2 ltr block, would only be going for about 450bhp. how easy is itto get this bhp on the 2.2ltr block

forgot to say which heads would i need to buy, would sti 5/6 heads do

 

steve iam running 385bhp 370 torque and we had to stop at that with my standard rods but as it is its good for about 420bhp so 450 wouldnt be a problem m8,but if i was you i would make it 2.33ltr

 

so you must of sorted your internals out , or that ion turbo will sash them how much extra has it costed to bullet proof your 2.2ltr

 

forgot to say your still on TMIC same as me are you

 

Steve - Crawford Performance is the best way to go and very well priced IMO.

 

Realistically you're looking at the same price as a 2.5 shortblock, and then you need to think about better pistons and maybe better rods too.

Might be more economic to pick up a 2.0 CDB and crank and get it linered to 2.2, and fit with new rods and pistons.

Paul

 

I'm getting more and more faith in the stock £1200-1300 EJ257 short block for c.450 BHP/400 lbft, having got c.12000 miles out of this one at this level without any issues, including some track at 400 BHP, and for the last 2000 miles turned up a bit more. No oil use issues, no forged rattle, cheap. Not saying it will last forever, but for modest power it may have fewer issues than many built engines. It has required a more mature tuning approach than I could get away with on the 2.0s - not chasing timing, keeping it rich. In 12000 miles the knocklink has lit up briefly only twice, both times when it overboosted due to AVC-R funniness at high revs due to self learn.

 

john what was your ion turbo like on that setup as thats the one i think i will be buying if idecide to go bigger

 

Excellent

Guess that the EJ257 & 20g with a "reasonable" boost level should be able to deliver an everyday 380bhp, sounds about right .

Carlos H.

 

Steve, YHM. It was quite nice on the iON, 1 bar before 3000 RPM, similar to 16G or 20G on a 2.0 in terms of balance, just 23% extra free

 

but if your sticking with the 20g you might as well stay with the 2ltr if your only after 380

 

i seen it john but at this moment in time im still on standard internals or i would of bought it. if i move up the cc range my 20g will do me till i buy a bigger turbo

 

Have a drive of a 20G on a 2.5.... whilst flat out obviously the power is important. However, the real world torque delivery from the extra capacity is astonishing.

 

is that turbo bolt on and MRT inletpipe friendly

 

standard internals m8 turbo peaking and holdin 19psi

 

no i had a change of plan a fmic can up and was cheaper than a tmic

 

John, with the 2.5 stock internals, 20g etc I think you are getting 400x400(?) are you still on the 5 speeder, and if so what year of box?
Does the 20g loose some of its 'lag' when on a 2.5 compared to a 2.0 litre engine?

Graham

 

AFAIK John uses a 6MT

 

Sorry, I'm a nut for changing specs like hot dinners, here it is summarised...

I had the 20G with MRT inlet pipe on the 2.0 then 2.5, in the switch to 2.5 I also went to a tubular exhaust manifold. The lag basically disappeared, difference astonishing, with 10% methanol this did 434 BHP and 395 lbft at 1.4 bar mid, 1.2 bar at the top. Tried to run it at Prosport with more methanol and more boost, but it slipped the rollers and lost the headgaskets. 7000 miles on the engine at this point. Engine removed and head studs were a bit slack coming out.

Refitted engine with new gaskets, head bolts. Then I went to the iON, into which the MRT inlet fits inside a short piece of 76mm ID Samco. This produced similar to the 20G using no methanol/octane booster, slightly more lag, it was again happy for 7000 miles. I then tried methanol, 1.7 bar etc, it felt strained, but went quickly for a few hours, then lost the headgaskets again, and cracked edge of piston.

New EJ257 block and headgaskets fitted with OEM bolts, run for 10000 miles on Optimax at est. 450/400 on iON. No problems. I deliberately sat back for several months to see if anyone sorted out the issues with the EJ257. I took it on track at 1.2 bar and it behaved and performed well.

The rotated GT30R-12 is now on with external gate, 4" inlet, no MAF sensor, better flowing downpipe setup. It spools up similar to the iON but the native housings and better plumbing seem to release more power and torque. I estimate now about 470-480 BHP and 420 lbft, it feels very unstrained doing this and for a few thousand miles is behaving itself. It has had some high speed runs of the sort I said I wouldn't do as they usually resulted in engine demise before, so I guess this safe tune is OK for far longer than previous stressed setups running up to similar power have been. I want to resist turning it up more (at least for a while) to see whether it really lasts a decent time. I'm actually glad it is summer though, as the torque is a bit silly when it rains, I think with a bit more boost in the dry it would become a bit dafter than it already is. The chassis which felt competent before is a bit more stressed. It is just coping at present.

 

John, out of curiosity have you fitted any additional oil cooler to your engine, or are you just using the stock banjo cooler? Similarly have you been monitoring oil temps?

 

Stock cooler, with hard road use I can get it to 107C, on track 110C after 5 or 6 laps so I left it at that. Have been wondering about an oil cooler, but I think that would allow me to thrash it longer, which may be a bad thing. Water temperatures are fine, usually mid 80s IIRC on a thrash. It is 99% road car, so at present I'm not too worried.

 

John, r u using the stock US STI headgaskets (0,6mm IIRC), and what CR ?

 

Yes, think it is about 8.7.

 

so that's quite high, and still u haven't had headgasket issues with your latest setup ..... most guys around here that run the EJ257 conversion go for the thicker headgaskets which drops the CR to 8:1 and also don't seem to have headgasket issues.

 

I'm not running much timing, and finally have a turbo that can blow harder than I am asking it to blow.

 

I'll ask a stupid question. How do you measure the actual compression of the engine?

 

Can anyone tell me how much it would cost to have a block re-linered?