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In response to the earlier proposal by lonnie-S to mount turbos outboard:
It has worked fine in my case. The attached pics show the aluminum sidepods and the turbo mounted on the left side. The radiator is located in the left sidepod.

Really like that body work, it's a great take on a Can-Am look.


And Welcome!

Maybe the SOHC d-series Honda. Lightweight, compact, respond very well to boost. The only problem is the rest of the drivetrain.

Thank you. Very nice. Very interesting.

Cheers,

That's why I've been trying to figure out how to use a transaxle at the back. Just separate the engine and transmission problems from each other. I know of two seven types cars that have done this. A Westfield and another one mentioned in this forum once. I am drawing up plans for this, but really don't know yet how realistic this idea is. Someone who would like to use an older Honda would be a good target though...

What about the reverse rotation problem with old hondas?

It would be nice to free up the cabin from the transmission though. That's for sure.

(Or you could just put the engine in the back. Y'know. Whatever.)

I was thinking of the transaxles that can have their ring and pinion flipped or be run upside down. That would include the VW Bug and Porsche types.

It does also save a lot of room and complexity. I was really amazed at what it seemed to do with my original Car9 plans. The firewall almost looks like a FWD car.

It would also let you run various Jet Ski / Snowmobile type motors. Some of those are super or turbo charged. The Kawasaki 1500 cc ones come to mind. They are not typical "marine use", but may be heavier duty then auto and motorcycle units.

I always forget you can flip the R&P on a lot of transaxles.

Yeah, those snow/ski engines are awfully intriguing. Compact, great output for their displacement and physical size.

With absolutely no experience with them, I'm curious about their lifespan/durability/maintenance itnervals.

edit: and powerband

Never seen one up close but I hear tell that more than a few cars in Cuba have been retrofitted to outboard type engines. ..
Sure do like the idea of using a jetski engine and the R1 engine has a marine version with no gearbox, just an output shaft.

Ive seen this engine and its slightly bigger than a hayabusa but has only an output shaft and sits vertically,i bet that there is no oiling issues aswell as the jetskis are able to do some crazy cornering .My next build will have one and i will fit a small car transmission behind it,300 odd hp and low weight sounds good.

Keep in mind that jet skis corner like a bike, more or less.

Except for the occasional quickie flat spin I find that even when I do 360s cornering forces are still like a motorcycle.

I didn't know this existed. Any dynos on one?

Just found it (not a dyno), that's the supercharged and intercooled version from Kawasaki. 1,500 CC & 300 hp @ 7,750. It's not an atmospheric screamer like I expected.

So dyno, cost & weight?

Also what kind/size output shaft?

"The big news for 2011 is the use of an all-new supercharger, one that’s two steps beyond the abilities of the roots-type unit fitted to previous X-model Jet Ski watercraft. Roots-type superchargers are known as fixed-displacement units, which produce large quantities of boost at all rpm levels, even right off idle, for a flat torque curve and usable, step-free power across the rev range. That’s a good thing.

The new unit is known as an Eaton Twin Vortices Series (TVS) roots supercharger, which features twin four-lobe rotors and offers a significant performance increase over the already impressive previous unit. Where the standard roots unit delivered compressed air in waves, the TVS unit offers continuous delivery for more power and smoother power delivery. Boost pressure is up significantly, from 11.0 psi to 17.0 psi. Supercharger efficiency is also up too, nearly 30 percent, while mechanical losses have been reduced to just 10 percent. A liquid-cooled intercooler helps keep the compressed intake charge cool, which stops power-robbing heat from sapping the system’s efficiency.

There’s more. Stronger and more advanced internal engine parts assist power production and help maintain the high level of reliability you’ve come to expect. Revised pistons team with a pumped-up valve train that includes stronger, hardened-nickel valves with thicker stems, a beefier cam chain and reworked exhaust camshaft with revised lobe profiles and increased durability. Stronger crankcases help harness all this extra horsepower, while an advanced and more efficient oil cooler helps minimize temperatures when the action gets really hot upstairs by sandwiching oil between two cooling jackets instead of one as before. The result is a staggering 300 horsepower, a significant jump from the previous model.

Controlling all this substantial power is made easier via the 300X’s array of futuristic electronics, which include a highly advanced fuel injection system controlled by a high-tech Electronic Control Unit (ECU), the “brain” of the entire system. The ECU not only commands the injectors and throttle bodies to route a precise amount of fuel/air mixture into the combustion chambers with help from the all-new Electronic Throttle Valve (ETV) system (which converts throttle lever inputs into electronic signals that are then passed on to the throttle body), it also allows a host of other technologies. "

I posted about this engine in may of last year.I say that most of the time most people look past the most obvious choices of engines as everyone wants to follow the leader.The problem with the hayabusa engine is that they need to be dry sumped and that the gearbox can handle much power..this jetski engine could be fitted up to a small car transmission .

Looks like quite a bit of complication with the 300 hp version which means probably the easiest/cheapest way to fit it would be to destroy a workable jet ski which sounds expensive.

A NA version would remove a lot of complication but unless it comes NA somewhere then you are talking MS which adds it's own level of complications and time tuning.

Availability, dyno, cost, physical size, weight and ease of attaching to a car tranny would seem to be some very basic questions that you'd need some very good answers to before it became feasible. Just about any engine can be done, the question is should it be done with the array of available donors out there.

I like it in concept, if for no other reason than uniqueness, but uniqueness is seldom the best reason to do something. Based upon the jet skis I've had the engines are pretty small, but the pics of this engine in the skis made it look large.

I recently all but gave away 2 nicely running, but older jet skis with the 2 cycle engines and I've kept wondering should I have kept them just to play with, you make me wonder even more. They'd have been cool on a small buggy. With 2 we could have raced them. I've never seen a dyno plot on any jet ski engine so I just ass-u-med all jet ski engines would have terrible powerbands because they are usually run wide open all the time and spend very little time in transition.

Here's a bit from an earlier discussion. ..

http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=10977&p=106819&hilit=snowmobile#p106819

My recollection is that engine is available in lower models of jet skis without the supercharger. It would be one heavy duty motor.

There might be some issues with it at full power in a car. It probably doesn't get much shock loading in a JetSki. The extra displacement would seem to be good for a car compared to trying to use a 1 liter motor.