Is the FA20 a dud? No high horsepower use?

[hmong337]

Is it just me or does it seem like every major badass FRS/brz/gt86 basically tosses away the FA20 in favor of something "better"?

Gt300 brz... Ej motor
Upgarage 86... Ej motor
Greddy drift car... Cosworth

All the Scion drift cars use any but the FA20 and practically everybody is doing 2jz engines.

...even long time Toyota tuner Tom's Racing ditched the FA20 in favor of a sexy 400hp V6 2gr. WTF!
http://frsbrzperformance.com/tag/engine-swap/

Seriously, is the motor gonna go anywhere? Is it able to play with power reliably? What about SuperGT? Will there be a GT86 GT300 car using the FA20? I just haven't seen its use in any sort of serious completion.

Trd Griffen is doing their thing NA style with good results for their class. But will they ever climb classes, go boost, and take on high ranking cars while maintaining reliability?

The only team so far pushing the fa20 that I know of is KSR Scion FRS. Their first season wasn't too good but not much to expect as this is still a virgin platform to them. I hope to see their second season in the up coming 2014 PWC be a better one.

Other than that, there's not real much to go off of other than streetcars like Crawford's, HKS d1 car, Bandoh and Rasty 86 to name some that are doing it okay.

But now my concern is, will anybody take this FA20 seriously or is it just another mediocre designed engine tossed into the worlds cheapest front engine rwd sports coupe- and that's why nobody cares for it?

Any FA20 hope?

[Carlitoz3]

You said it best, it's a virgin.
Just waiting to be deflowered

[hmong337]

Originally Posted by Carlitoz3

You said it best, it's a virgin.
Just waiting to be deflowered

I hope to be FA20 surprised this year. I really do.

[Captain Snooze]

It is not a dud for its intended use.

Originally Posted by hmong337

...will anybody take this FA20 seriously...

Does the world end if they don't?

[Gixxersixxerman]

Isn't full blown making over 700 hp on a fully built engine.. I don't know the reliability or anything, I know it was at 600hp on the stock block.. But those race engines, in some classes, are not stock blocks but built up. So 700 hp seems decent enough.. I'm sure they just pick tried and true reliable power plants for the cars, would suck to fall out of the lead for an engine failure because it's untested..

Of course the flip side is, hard to test if you don't use it

[midnight23]

quite a few people are making 400-500+ on the stock block.. its still a new car. people are quick to use a 2jz or lsx motor because it has already been tested and abused for over a decade and the knowledge of them is much more present. Most people don't have time to do R&D on a new motor when they have races every weekend to attend.

[Anorexic 86]

Originally Posted by hmong337

I hope to be FA20 surprised this year. I really do.

Have you not seen the Forced Induction threads?

Full Blown Motorsports is making over 700 wheel horsepower...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK7Ad91BFic#t=62"]FBM Turbo FRS/BRZ :: 700whp :: Motec m150 - YouTube[/ame]

[wparsons]

There are two reasons the race and drift teams went with swaps right away.

1) OMG, 2JZ FTW!(@(%*WURSF(R(# -> nothing to do with power, just so they could say they did it.

2) It was a brand new engine, with dual injection systems that wasn't proven yet, so they went with something they could trust until they knew more about this engine.

The FA20 is superior in every way to past boxer engines, it just needs time for people to catch up.

[industrial]

Go to any 2015 STI thread. They will tell you the FA >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> EJ and all those race teams don't know anything.

But really, it's 20+ years of development vs. a brand new engine. For a race team it's kinda a no-brainer.

[Xero-Limit]

Pretty much sums it up. Not to mention most of those builds were in concept or started on over 6 months ago, and back then there was next to nothing for the FA20. It is getting a little better at this point, but when time is money it can be much cheaper to fab up some mounts and run what you have rather than R&D with a new platform.

Originally Posted by wparsons

There are two reasons the race and drift teams went with swaps right away.

1) OMG, 2JZ FTW!(@(%*WURSF(R(# -> nothing to do with power, just so they could say they did it.

2) It was a brand new engine, with dual injection systems that wasn't proven yet, so they went with something they could trust until they knew more about this engine.

The FA20 is superior in every way to past boxer engines, it just needs time for people to catch up.

[Dipstik-sportech]

I'm running it at 360whp daily. Hasn't had an issue yet and I plan to upgrade some parts and go for more. Most people like to stick with what they're comfortable with and probably have an abundance of parts for. Being such a new design the knowledge isn't there yet neither is the parts base but it getting there

The Frozen North

[Byebye]

Easier for big shops with money to drop in a "go with what you know" motor.

Lightweight balanced sports car that's an inexpensive platform to work with. What other cars are there that compare(FR layout, 2-door, RWD, under 3k lbs stock, not a convertible)

I don't think it's a dud for the masses.

[WHITE]

Like said above, its all about that comfort zone. When your spending big bucks to compete you want something you know will last, not be a guinnea pig and have a 50% chance of sitting out the season. In a couple years you might even see the fa20 faze out the ej motors in current race cars. But right now there just isnt enough data to take the chance.

[civicdrivr]

Given enough time, I'm sure the aftermarket will catch up to the FA20.

With that said, mine went pop at 286whp and now I'm inclined to swap it as well.