going to be fitting a 2.9 cologne into my saphire soon and am interested in the tuning potential of the lump.

at the moment the two options in my head are big carb, cams, intake, headers and pipes or just turbo the fecker

tbh i have no idea whats involved with doing either of these on this engine as i've never dealt with it before.


any help on it really appreciated

 

Depends of how much power you want.

Single turbo systems can give 200-260 BHP
Twin turbo syems can give upto 330 BHP
Supercharger systems can upto 250 BHP
Enlarged engine capacity can give upto 225 BHP

I'm sure you can get more power but you are starting to talk very serious money. The cheapest is a second hand turbo setup as made by turbo technics but ensure you have all the parts.

 

cheers for the info there, anyidea on costs??


the only car i have experience with tuning is my octavia, i've spent around 3k on that so far making it faster etc and that has got me (some 2nd hand) coil overs, brembo's, wheels(so the brakes fit), re-map, fmic, new intake, downpipe/sports cat/cat back system and that lot has taken me from 150bhp/155lbft to about 245bhp/270lbft

if i had bought everything new then i would be looking at about 4.5k


if i'm looking at this sort of money on the sierra then it will probably be staying as a standard 2.9

 

You can get a complete xr4x4 twin turbo from £800 up. Turbo technics made many different versions and most are the 225 BHP option with limited work done on the engine so for more power you would have to spend a bit on getting the engine worked on. A friends twin turbo with 330 BHP cost around £5000 but as its a V6 you get loads of torque meaning his car has done 0-60 in 3.98 s and another stipped out version has done it in 3.7 s. My car has cost well over £5000 and only makes 275 BHP but 350lbft of torque and this spend has been over 8 years of owning the car. You might want to ask the same questions over at http://www.xrstyle.co.uk/ or http://www.interford.co.uk/

 

The 225 bhp twin turbo conversion is fairly easy to do. I got a complete engine and kit for £650. It involved swopping the heads, drilling the sump and a few minor electrical mods. The only thing I'd say is get a vented bonnet as it really gets very hot underneath the standard bonnet.

Anything aboe 225 bhp then you need to uprate the clutch, pistons and I think a few other things.

If you get a kit I've got the t.t. installation manual somewhere that I can e mail you.

Cheers

Steve

 

thanks people, seeing as i need some transmission parts for this transplant i have seen a 2.0 16v 4x4 saph for sale very cheap and wondering if this gearbox will bolt straight onto the cologne engine?

any idea people?

 

I think the gearbox bell housing is different and its part of the main gearbox casing. You need a 2.9 XR4x4 MT75 gearbox if you want 4x4. It might be cheaper to buy a whole car as you can get cars smashed at the rear for very little money and you would get the engine and gearbox etc.

 

Why not just do it the easy way and either: 1: buy a Sapphire Cosworth, or 2: use the 24v version of the Cologne which has 200+ bhp as it is, or... well I dunno but it seems like you're making work for yourself.

And regarding your last post I don't think there was a 16v Sierra that wasn't a Cossie, unless you mean the twin-cam 2.0 which is in fact 8v??

 

bomber i'm only going off what i've seen mate so if i'm wrong then apologies, apparently there was a 2.0 16v 4x4 saphire that was a vert rare import something like 35 in the country.

anyway i've found a gearbox a lot closer to home(about 25mins away), its a 4x4 estate with the heads missing so i can get any part of transmission i want. the breakers want £50 for the box/flywheel/backing plate so thats the plan, will probably get the lsd from the rear while im there too.


the reason i'm fitting the 12v cologne is its free and the saphire only cost £100 so for around £200 i'll end up with a pretty clean RWD 2.9 saphire that is a total sleeper as it has steelies and 1.8 badge


only 2 major questions left are these though

1) will my 1.8 prop fit the new engine/gearbox/rear diff setup?

2) are all the engine mounts in thesame position between the 2.9 and the 1.8

from a quick look the look the same but i haven't got under the car or measured anything yet.

 

talking to a mechanic mate tonight he says that fitting a 4x4 box without the front shafts won't work as the phantom front shafts will take all the power via the diff and the rears wouldn't turn.

maybe i'll be better off just making the saphire 4x4

 

Your mate is correct, I assumed you were going the 4x4 route. You might be able to get a 2.9 RWD granny for the gearbox.

Dave

 

well, i'm being given the granada for free as a donor car so it's not like i've gone out looking for one.


how about a diff lock for the box?

are these a common thing and could they be expensive?

thinking its maybe going to be easier to just make the saph 4x4

 

I do not know any thing about diff locking a 4x4 gearbox. I assume your granada gearbox is an auto then?

If you want to go down the 4x4 route you will need a XR4x4 sump, front diff, front drive shalft, front hubs and front prop at least.

Dave

 

yeah the granada is an auto, i don't mind it being auto but have been told it won't fit in the saph's tunnel. if it fits i'll leave it on to make my life easier

there is a nearly complete 4x4 estate near me to get bits from so them bits wouldn't be too hard to obtain


would rather go RWD though

 

I do not know about the later saphires but not all sierras could take the 4x4 system without much mods to the transmission tunnel to get the transfer box in. People either mash it about with a very big hammer or cut it out and fit a transmission tunnel from a 4x4.

 

have already started the big hammer technique

 

Nice one, a sleeper is always fun, especially with 1.8GL on the boot