This is purely a speculative thread, just getting an idea out there and seeing how feesable it may be and gather some opinions from some of the more experienced guys out there...

Right now I got about 3 more years left to pay off my 06 SS S/C that's 100% stock right now. It's my DD and my project car now is a 95 Talon TSi AWD. I figure in 3 years I'll be satisfied and/or done with the Talon. I'll probably also have a new DD and can now make the Cobalt my project car.

That being said, I've thought about some of my options. I could do the simple mods of smaller pulley, injectors, maf-t, exhaust, etc. I could put on a new supercharger. I could remove the s/c and go with a turbo setup. Then I started thinking about engine swaps. But what? Naturally aspirated? Turbo? Supercharger? 4, 6, 8 cylinder? RWD? FWD? AWD???

Obviously now we're getting into serious custom fabrication, engine management, large budget, etc. I'm not entirely concerned with the budget yet, but here's where I was going...

My first car was a 98 camaro with the 3.8L V6. It was a pretty good motor for a 6 cylinder, stout, good power band. So my idea is to swap out the trusted ecotec motor for this V6. I would like to do a twin turbo setup (one on each bank). Something relatively small for quick spoolup. Two turbo's and a V6 should yield some good numbers without going with huge turbos. I figured then that I would make it RWD because there is no way the motor will mount sideways with a FWD trans.

My questions would be what type of transmission is recommended by you guys? 5-speed of course.

What type of engine management system would you go with?

Obviously there will be a lost of custom work involved with motor mounts, trans mounts, shifter location, custom driveshaft, rear end, axles, etc. Just putting the idea out there to get some feedback.

 

worst idea ever. /end thread

 

lol word

 

well even if everyone will flame bout it i would say ditch the 3.8 idea and get a 4.3 if your gonna do the v6 thing.. a 5 speed from an s-10 would work good for that setup and since hp tuners works for the 4.3 just use the ecu that goes to the engine and trans you put in it and use hp tuners for all the tuning.. i would stay n/a with the 4.3 though cuz they make great power without bein blown..

but i wouldnt do all this to the ss/sc though.. just get a base ls model for doin that kinda stuff too..

 

please tell me why you think this is the worst idea ever? I would especially like to know because of all the ridiculous posts on this board I sift through everytime I log on. I have stayed away from this forum for a while because of the ridiculous threads from idiot owners who don't know the first thing about cars so they ask "which CAI should I get?" 18 billion times. but whatever, I come back and start reading up on the new things that have gone on, I read about the new turbocharged cobalt and some of the new products out, etc. so the one day this idea come to me and I wanted to see if I could get some help it on this forum. for some reason I must have thought that someone would actually be helpful or give a normal response. not this crap. if you think this is the worst idea ever, then read another thread and get over it. i'm sorry, but i'm really just frustrated with this crap. i feel bad for cobalt owners who actually seek advice from people on this board when it's filled with idiots like this.


Thank you. I like that idea. I would still like to have a forced induction setup though. So I'd probably rebuild the rotating assembly with forged parts and use lower compression pistons. They do make good power those motors, but why not make them faster? That's great that HPTuners works with the motor, I can just use the same ecu. I'm not familiar with HPTuners though. Is it a full standalone engine management system? Or is it just like a glorified SAFC?

 

Go to http://media.gm.com/us/powertrain/en...2008/08car.htm
to see what will easily swap into a Cobalt.

For example the LK9 Turbo and either MO9 or MU9 should bolt in....

 

3800 Supercharged from a Grand Prix GTP

 

First off.....measure the engine bay, and stick with FWD. Going RWD will require you to frame the car to add support. And by sticking with FWD you can leave the rest of the car alone. If the 3800SC from teh GTP fits I would do that, because it works great and can be beat on. But my guess is that the engine profile won't really fit in there.

 

If a 3800 SC can fit in a cavalier, I'd venture to say it can fit in a cobalt

Just last week someone on the Jbo forums stuffed a Northstar V8 into their cavy

 

The problem is engine room it unfortuanley is desgined for a side mounted engine goint stragiht is going to require cutting to the firewall and generally just hacking way most of the engine bay.

Now I'm about to say something crazy and I don't care to much for them but you need a small engine to fit in the bay straight ways for your RWD setup and stay Forced Inducted correct?

The best bet would probably be a 13B Rotary motor with a twin turbo setup. The engine is small enought to most likely fit (don't quote me thou) with ou to much fabricating in the engine bay and the power by twin turboing it is vast enough I' ve seen RX-7's that weigh around us do 10's so it's proven to work.

I wish the best of luck to you on this I hope it works out.

 

Bastardizing your car with an engine from another automaker = FTL

 

Get the V6 outta a CTS-V Type if you want a V6 Swap.

 

Hey I said my self I don't care to much for rotary engines but if your looking for something unique then thats the way to go. We already have one person making a Cobalt SS S/C into RWD why not up the antie?

 

Well I know there will be a lot of fabricating in this project. Strengthening the frame or customizing a suspension setup can be done. I think RWD is the way to go though for a bigger displacement engine.

The 3.8L motor from the camaro is basically the same motor (bottom end at least). However I'd probably bore it out and stroke it to get a little more displacement out of it, get some low compression pistons, find a head to match the airflow and such.

Rotary engines are way cool and can do some major damage at the track, but they are not for me. I know nothing about them, and I'd rather stick with stuff I know.

 

HAHAHAHA! The CTS-V is a RWD LS1 or LS2 depending on year. And ALL CTS are RWD. So that's a no-go.

 

I would be interested in seeing a HF V6 twin turbo. You are planning to do a RWD ? I would go for a manual just so you don't have to mess with a transmission controller.

 

From http://media.gm.com/us/powertrain/en...2008/08car.htm

FWD Drivetrains to stuff in your Cobalt... may require suspension and steering mods too...

2008i 2.8L V-6 Turbo (LP9)
2008i Model Year Summary

• Twin-impeller turbocharger
• Unique double-wall exhaust manifolds
• Engine-mounted oil cooler
• Robust 356T-6 aluminum cylinder heads
• Air-to-air intercooler
• Improved horsepower from 250 to 280 HP
Revised engine calibration with increased turbo boost pressure

 

you might as well just drop the supra engine in it...

 

Your best bet for a cheap RWD setup would be a 2.4L Sky or Solctice engine with the drivetrain. Then going with a single turbo setup. You could fit a 4cyl and use the tunnel where the exhaust is for the driveshaft. Fuel cell in the trunk, but why go through the trouble.

 

if turboing the SS/SC, might as well just buy the new Cobalt LNF SS/TC instead.

 

back to what you asked bout hp tuners.. its just a program that runs off your computer (laptop) to remap the ecu to do pretty much what ever you want. simply said it lets you tune for just about anythin imaginable.. as for turboin the 4.3.. i'd say go with a s/c on it cuz there is ready made s/c kits for the 4.3 avalible. but since you'd be doin alot of custom work anyways then just go twin turbo all the way..

 

not necessarily. He can turbo his ss s/c for cheaper and make more power than that Direct Injection crap.

BTW, I said no to the whole motor swap idea especially to a camaro v6 cause that is not even a great platform and I personally think it is a lesser platform than the ecotec. Plus it weighs a ton and the car would be all out of wack with such a big motor up front.

 

Yea, I thought about it...but I'd like to stick with a GM motor at the very least.

And yea, putting a bigger motor up front will weigh the front end down a bit, but the suspension will just have to compensate for that, no problem.

I don't want to go with a 4 cylinder, because in that case I might as well just re-build the ecotoc motor and make it a turbo setup. I don't want to go with an 8 cylinder because that takes up A LOT of space and is way too heavy for the car. I feel like a 6 cylinder motor should be a good size. It has two banks so each one can run a turbocharger and has enough displacement where it'll be easy to produce a lot of low end torque.

As for the HPTuners....I may well have to go with a standalone engine management system since there will be a lot of custom work and mix and matched parts. No factory ecu will give good control over this setup.

Again guys this is just theorizing for what I'll do in 3 years. Obviously it would be cheaper to slap a turbo on there and tune it, but I've done the 4 cylinder single turbo setup too many times.

 

Supra is an inline 6, I think you mentioned that you wanted low end torque, a v configuration is better for lower rpm and higher torque natural physics of this configuration produces better torque. Where as the inline configuration is better balanced and naturally produces higher rpms with greater ease, and also produces better peak hp numbers.

My personal opinion is that the whole concept is a bad idea but im not uneducated so let me explain why. You mentioned that you are going to compensate for the additional weight with stronger springs. Thats fine the car will roll down the road but how do you intend to balance the car? The car is front heavy from the word go add more weight with the v6 and even more for piping and turbo or turbo's, the only way to balance the car even a little would be a rear transmission setup like what is used in the corvette. However I dont know of anyone who will mate that transaxle setup with a good v6.

My personal recomendation based on what you are looking for is either the 3.8 v6 from the grandprix or impala, they have alot of research available on the net for this motor, custom rotating assemblys, all the research for cams has been done.

My other recomendation is the northstar v6 used in the base model caddy cts, its an over head cam model, so it will be harder to shoe horn in. But depending on your budget and goals it may be a cool option. However im not sure off hand if there is alot of info or parts available. If I remember correctly though just changing the firing order will increase the power a good bit but make it run rougher.

Seriously though if you are going to invest the money in making this rearwheel drive you have alot to over come. I think there is a member who has done this but with the ecotec as his engine choice. I would seek him out and ask alot of questions.

So think about what your goals are? do you want a straight line car only? do you want something you can drive on the street or are you going to trailer this car to the track? Do you want the car to corner well? And your primary concern and where most of your money will go is how much power do you want to make. Do you have 25k plus to put into fabrication? Do you really need rear wheel drive? Would it be better if you want rearwheel drive to choose a car that is better balanced and has a longer wheel base? All of these are questions you should ask yourself before you begin. In my experience it is much easier and cheaper to learn from anothers mistakes. Bottom line you can spend alot of money on a project that really proves nothing and could have gone alot faster for alot cheaper in a different vehicle, you can also spend alot of money on a project that never gets finished. Just plan ahead and decide the cost you want to pay.