Quote:
Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG
I was thinking that too. Motec to run all the OE accessories along with EPS and communicate with TC is approaching half his budget before wire harness.
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If you are on budget, why spend thousnds of dollars for expensive free programmable ECUs? Especially if talking about a 400+ build, what for most LS options mean pretty much bone stock. There are two realy great plug and play CAN Integrations for LS swaps out there. I use one of them. Its awesome. ALL functions are there and working like the FA20 is still in there and the car was just handed over by the dealership. The OEM LS harness can be used with very simple mods. The integrator unit only is arround 600bucks if I remember correctly. You can buy it together with a prepared harness for 1400 I believe. But as I said, just use the OEM harness and pin the two or three required connectors on your own. A GM E38 ECU is arround 100-150 bucks if you didnt already get it with a used LS3. Installing the Translator and performing the wiring was surprisingly straight forward. Sure, some questions to answer and some conclusions to be made. But realy no big deal and far from rocket sience as long as you have a basic understanding of car electric.
For programming, buy a Hptuners Mpvi2. You can have it for arround 300bucks to start with including single ECU unlock. For 550 plus 200 for a wideband you are on Pro level. Even FI builds are possible then.
Using an iron block LS engine is pointless. Same thing with JZ engine if you ask me. Both are heavy as f*** and will destroy driveablity. For showof or drift only it might be a great thing. I also understand the JZ fraction since it is a legendary Toyota engine. But for the 86 it is nothing what will handle realy good on a track compared to other options.
Go with a more modern all aluminum LS3. I gained 65kg over the OEM FA20 on my swap. If you build it more weight sensitive than I did, it should be possible to get even less weight added. It also should be noted that only the tranny, which BTW is good for 900Nm (try that with the AZ6 and you will definately not have a Budget build), is somewhat like 15 to 20kg of the added weight.
Driveablity with the LS3 is great of you ask me, but you have to care about trans and axle ratios. A Corvette goes nearly 60mph in first gear. Most LS swaps ignore this fact and later there are complaints that there is no traction. Then someone says "this is because of the Bad weight distribution of this heavy piece of junk in the front" and most people will agree. Meanwhile nobody is recognizing that they are riding on a 1st gear which is redlining at 30-35mph. It is pointless to have such a short 1st on car with this torque to power ratio and RWD. Also a vette would struggle with traction on such a ratio.
Next thing: Tires and suspension. You cannot expect traction with a 400hp build while still sitting on a low buck coilover and a standard sport tire which is 30% smaler than factory tires of the car the LS came in.
Buy a Semi. It has not to be expensive. There are realy affordable tires out there which gives you loads of traction. Put in a good quality coilover with adjustable dampers. Add camber adjusters to both axles and give it a proper alignment.
I have a 245 Semi and 1st redlining at 50mph in my factory powered LS3 swap. Warm tire and dry road and you can give full throttle in 1st without wheelspin.
The other decisive thing is your location. A LS swap in Europe will be much more expensive than in north America. Also the lose of money on sale will be way less in this region.
I cant put a price tag on a LS swap in the US. Especially not with labor. What I can say: My (expensive and definetaly not Budget style) LS swap in Europe Was by far not that expensive that I would be able to build a 1000hp c5 or buy a reasonable C7 for this money, also not if I would have sold my 86.
I did everything myself. And yes, a reasonable used C6 would be the same or less money arround here in Europe and would give compareable performance as a good LS swap. But sorry, the LS 86 looks better, feels better and is much more exotic than a C6.
In north America it should be much easier keep the budget low. Even there I would doubt that a 15k budget will provide a reasonable swap if labour is included. But if you are doing the swap on your own, this should be enough for a good LS swap.
This beeing said, a good and same reliable turbo build with same power output will be the same or even higher price than a LS swap. You have to invest at least same money into the tranny, propshaft, axles, clutch. A reasonable used LS3 is how much in the States? 4-5k?
How much is a forged FA20 shortblock plus a bolt on turbo kit good for 400+hp? I would guess more. And you are still running parts of the system outside the specs they where designed for.
A LS provides the same performance out of the box for many thousnds of miles. The downside is a weight penalty of arround 40-50kg (add a turbo and you also add weight) and no turbo flutter sound. Therefore you can go uphill in 6th gear at 30mph and overtake a truck without touching the shifter.