Whats more fun, a large lazy engine, or a small engine

[martin butler]

OK, Hers my first offering on here, so you fellow petrol heads, whats better in a lightweight kit car, something big and heavy, or something small and that you have to work hard to really enjoy
My car only has a little 1300 crossflow, but its in a lightweight chassis, with properly sorted brakes , and i get more fun out of it than driving something with a V8 that you hardly have to make work, it suits me where i live because there are very few fast roads, and if I am honest, i wouldnt feel safe driving my car on a motorway with Kamikazi truck drivers and BMW pilots , who seem to think that 70 applies to everyone else.
I love driving it along country roads and B roads, than risking life mixing it with the other idiots, that may not see me until my back end disapears under their front end,
ii recently took mine from Hastings to Swindon for a family gatherig, with a trip to Stoneleigh on the sunday,, using only A roads,and very few duel carrageways, and it was a blast i kept up with road speeds cruising at about 50 ish, stoping enroute, so modern driving wasnt the hassle i expected ,

[DJ.]

You're preaching to the converted here, I have a 1.6 with about 120bhp in my Seven and it's just about perfect for road use. I need to use revs and gears to keep speed up, but it's still too quick to use all the acceleration for more than a few seconds at a time on the road.

Come road tax time, I wish it was a 1.3 though

[oldaker]

Hi Martin. Good to see you over on here! As you know, my Phaeton is having a transplant in the next few weeks from 1300 to a 1600 I have built. ( +60 thou rebore, 1300 pistons for higher compression, Kent 234 cam , polished and lightly ported head ( basically just matched to the inlet manifold ) and a single 40 DCOE ( single because there isn't room for twins - the master cylinder is in the way ) Hoping for around 110 - 120BHP. The 1300 was OK, but lacked overtaking power and seemed "busy " at 60/70MPH. I am hoping with the larger engine, it will be quite a bit quicker, although at the cost of fuel consumption and road tax! Mine is purely a fun "sunny day" toy, so these extra costs don't worry me. I'll have a 1300 engine available if anyone is looking for one......believed to be a 1300GT engine ( head certainly has the larger valves ) 681 block on standard bores, so plenty of life left in it.

[russtik]

I've got a little 1.6 engine too and I find the 260 horses is adequate to keep up with modern traffic.

[SJLB]

I find my 1.3 engine more than adequate for road use

[kenton]

In a normal 7 then probably a small revvy one but I like to be different.

[andyf]

I went for the 2L pinto in standard trim. It's not powerful but has loads of torque which makes it fun to drive without having to rev the nuts off it

[Chris_Xtreme]

Have to say I love my v8.. Always wanted one so after 2 pinto powered kits and a failed attempt to upgrade the later to a v8 due to family life I bought one,then converted it to bike throttle bodies and MS. Love the intake noise now prob more than the exhaust.

[andyf]

There's nothing like the sound of a v8

[scotty]

Love the noise of a v8 ....but cant get away from lots and lots of revs lol so usually you need smaller lighter engines for that,i would love a bike engine if i could discover a decent reverse solution they tick all the boxes light revvy etc but hopefully the new lump i have will go some way to sorting me for a while.