Anyone have a Raby rebuild yet?

[silver arrow]

How is engine management going to be handled? What software is going to be used to reflash and will it be able to be custom tuned or is it going to be an off the shelf tune for each engine combo?

[dmcutter]

My car is an '04 S. He was talking about the capabilites of the Motronic so I guess engine management will be handled by remapping the exisitng system. Hey, I'm just a civil engineer-all the things I deal with are supposed to be standing still. I have to assume that the guys doing the development work are capable of handling the details.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by dmcutter

My car is an '04 S. He was talking about the capabilites of the Motronic so I guess engine management will be handled by remapping the exisitng system. Hey, I'm just a civil engineer-all the things I deal with are supposed to be standing still. I have to assume that the guys doing the development work are capable of handling the details.

Motronic is a completely independent engine management computer, eliminating the stock DME.

[dmcutter]

Sorry, my bad. I'm obviously not educated on all the details of an engine swap or rebuild. I won't even pretend to be on the same level as most of the contributors to this thread. That's why I posed the question about NOS in the other thread-I wanted to know why it could or couldn't be done.

My perspective is that the car is beautiful in what I feel to be a classic, timeless way, and it is an awesome handler. The engine appears to be the weak link. If I can find a way to make the engine more powerful and longer lasting, it would be worthwhile to do it to ensure years and years of driving pleasure.

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

Motronic is a completely independent engine management computer, eliminating the stock DME.

Motronic is Bosche's engine management software brand. It is used in all Boxster DME. Depending upon model and year, you either have Motronic 5.2, Motronic 7.2 or Motronic 7.8. The file sizes for ver. 5.2 is 16k while ver. 7X file sizes are 512k, allowing for greater programming and greater dynamic response.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

Motronic is Bosche's engine management software brand. It is used in all Boxster DME. Depending upon model and year, you either have Motronic 5.2, Motronic 7.2 or Motronic 7.8. The file sizes for ver. 5.2 is 16k while ver. 7X file sizes are 512k, allowing for greater programming and greater dynamic response.

Brain fart, I was thinking Motec.

[Sputter]

This thread is one that has significant value to a good many of us. I for one would like to see it stickied.

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

Brain fart, I was thinking Motec.

As far as Motec, I totally agree with you

[Jake Raby]

All the heads flow incredibly, even the 2.5 has an amazing amount of flow for such small valves and ports.. and a stock 3.4 head has an exhaust valves thats the same size as the 2.5 intake, and the 3.2 head is similar to those.

Boosting torque is what really makes an engine responsive, be it street or track and torque is something that these engines lack from the factory, especially at lower RPM. The 3.2 is a bit better just because of it's size, but it's still pretty lame at low revs.

Grant,
Any turbo engine would never pass smog in an area that requires a visual inspection... You could keep the OE exhaust system and re-install it for smog time though.

[Jake Raby]

The 2.5 can only be made into a 2.9 by using the crank and carrier from a 2.7 core @ 78mm stroke. The 2.5 block is maxxed out (safely) at 89mm bore, to create the 2.7 with the 2.5 crank, or the 2.9 with the 2.7 crank.

The 2.9 is rated at 260HP and thats attained without high CR or putting the engine "on edge".

We may have the ability to get more HP as time goes on from the 2.9 combo, especially with camshaft manipulation. The limiting factor will be the hydro lifters, but our solid lift mods (that require periodic valve adjustments) can extend RPM ranges and use more aggressive cam profiles for more power.

As always, time will tell....

[grantsfo]

Guess the other option would be turbo but I'm unsure wether I'm willing to make the car dedicated track car due to smog issues. Probably need to learn about possible smog issues with other configs as well.

[Cloudsurfer]

I certainly agree, with respect to the "3.6," that I'd much rather have a nice broad torque curve than a peaky high HP motor. If this is achievable with the 3.2 heads, fantastic, though as far as I know, the X51 heads are a good bit different than standard 3.6 heads, which are already quite different from 3.2 heads.

I'll be very interested to hear what you find once you have a look at 3.6 X51 heads on the flow bench.

Patrick

[Jake Raby]

My 2.7 is approaching 80k miles and has been rock solid reliable, but I do know that there will come a day when it's time to address an engine replacement.

That 2.7 can be made into a 2.9 and make 30-40% more power! It drops right back in without hassles.

We haven't applied these enhancements to the tiptronic vehicles yet, but those trannys and components are fairly substantial, I don't know if they would take a 3.6 retrofit, but we'll have to try and see.

The ECU requirements are still being investigated as the 3.2>>3.6 is just now being taken seriously. We'll know lots more by the end of the year!

[silver arrow]

Jake, what ECU reflash solution are you going to use? Are you including the reprogrammed ECU and having the old one sent back as a core?

[Jake Raby]

There are several methods of ECU manipulation and the method we choose will be based upon what we have done to the engine and what engine we are working with.

Lots of the items we are working on are well within the realm of "learning" by the very smart Motronic ECU, this is mostly true with the early engines.

We'll prefer to receive an ECU from the client's car and then use it for engine tuning with the replacement unit. Its a plus to keep the stock ECU with the car whenever possible.

Today I began measures to re-outfit our facility with an area and crew to complete full service engine installs/ swaps into the Boxster and 996. We have typically been an engine design/ assembly and research/ testing facility only, but its apparent that it'll be a necessity to offer full services to those who want innovative flat six power :-)
(some are willing to ship engines cross country for us to do the installation)

[grantsfo]

I'm considering a 3.4 conversion in the next 6 to 8 months. What are options with 2.5 block. I want something that will be capable of 300 reliable HP. I'd also like something that will give me better low end torque range. I dont know if a 2.5 bored out to 2.9 would be solution?

[silver arrow]

I would think that the 2.9l would end up somewhere between 270-280hp. I think once you start getting close to 100hp/liter or more, you are pushing things in any engine. You don't have VTEC yo.