change of engine to v6

[gary keenan]

Hello folks
i wondered if people have noticed a big change in handling going from a beta engine to a v6 in terms of spins and tail end heavyness at all ?i am considering changing vauxhall xe 4 cylinder to 3.2 v6.
thanks gary

[rutthenut]

I suspect that spins are more likely due to the extra power/torque available with excess use of right foot, rather than so much difference in weight and higher centre of gravity.

But I've only ever had my car with the heavy old V6 in it, so can't really say.

J.R.

[roger001]

Also noticed braking distances increased when I changed.

[Martin K]

Also noticed braking distances increased when I changed.

.........but maybe you were arriving at corners faster? But seriously, with more weight at the rear it is possible to increase rear brake bias and so get overall more braking, so you should be able to achieve the similar braking distances.

[Sando]

Hi Gary
Yes I noticed all the above. The extra weight, in cornering and braking (which was probably only about 30kg heavier???, but definitly higher up) and yes I agree with Martin it was probably due to arriving much faster at the corners. I found that I couldn't carry as much speed through the corners as I did with the VX....but then again I wasn't being gentle on the throttle and it's probably twice as fast down the straights. I'll get back in control of the handling when I calm down a bit, but the noise .....ooooooo:cool: ....., makes up for everything and I wouldn't go back to a 4 pot now for the world.

Sideways Sando

[Chris J]

The thing is. A tuned XE has the same (top end) power as a 3.2 Alfa, more or less.

Fitting a V6 to a Stratos rep. isn't just about performance though, is it?

[gary keenan]

thanks everyone
yes the change is more to do with the nature of the drive than all out power ,im meeting up with Chris Richard and Nico Alonzo this morning and looking forward to exchanging some ideas .(I will take some photos) :) have some I hope to have a scrutineer look at my car this week for a rally at the end of the month hopefully.
cheers
Gary