Can you fit a Mazda 3 engine into a Mazda 2?
- Thread starter xenonk
- Start date
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- 02' Protege ES
in all honestly, with a car that small you be better off adding a turbo then trying to shoehorn in a bigger motor. then again i don't know the actual weight of the drive-trains themselves.
my concern would be the engine mounts themselves along with mating the transmission to it. I can only assume that the motor itself can't be that much bigger. I was hoping that Mazda engine-to-chassis swaps are as easy as Subarus and Hondas.. wouldnt it be nice to drop in a MS3 motor in this bad boy and keep the OEM tranny to the fast acceleration (I like the gearing in the 5MT on the Mazda2.. I can play with gearing by upping the size of the tires to get more top speed per gear). I think www.driveshaftshop.com can custom make a pair of drive shafts with some CV joints.. doesnt need to hold up that much power, just needs to be the correct length.
I see no real point in turboing the Mazda2 unless I can drop the compression ratio down to as much as 8.0:1.. at 10:1 it's almost pointless to run that 4 to 5 psi just to shorten the life span of the motor (been there, done that with Subarus for the past 8 years).. I rather just spend that kind of cash on a new motor if it can be dropped in and run on NA all day long using OEM power.. I just wanted to know if the mazda 2 and 3 are close enough related to drop a motor in it being NA and all.
I dont mind the extra 20 to 50 lbs difference in the car if it makes an extra 50 hp in the process.. I think if you figure the weight of a turbo kit on the OEM motor vs just dropping in a 2.3L motor, the power gain and weight gain may come out to be very close, but I'll prefer the N/A route if it's just a few lbs difference (less tuning involved if I keep it N/A instead of F/I, just have to pop in the 2.3L OEM-ECU and do some rewiring, and if I really want, I can redo the fuel and timing on the OEM-ECU with a piggy-back system and squeeze out the rest IF I REALLY want to). I dont mind losing 20 lbs either as a driver to make up for it.
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Wagonbacker9
Member
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- 2004 'Hoe
even if it could handle the power, the 6mt would be FAR better given the added power than a 5mt. but my guess is like most swap questions like this, the simple answer is that its possible (with enough money and skill anything is) but not feasible.
well, we are talking about OEM power.. nothing well past 280 hp at the crank. I think the OEM 5MT will hold out as long as the pressure plate is good enough to hold it all together.. it's probably the syncros that would be the first to die...
not to worry, the friends at Andrewtech could probably source some PPG gears for me on that tranny anyways.
If the 1.5L gave up on you, which way would you upgrade? Turbo, Supercharge? Or drop a bigger motor? I just dont see the 1.5L being a reliable candidate for force induction in general, at least not reliable out of the box without internal work.
sweet, so in theory a 2.3 could be shoe horned into the 2?? Assuming I can get get some solid engine mounts made to hold up the motor where it needs to be?
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- All Mazdas!
I thought someone mentioned the fiesta in europe which is on the same chassis has a 2.0 in it.
-Derrick
mazdadude
ZOOOOOOOOOM ZOOOOOOOOOM
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- '16.5 Mazda CX-5 Touring
Sounds like a lot of work for a ~50hp increase. I think I would rather go turbo/supercharged.(dark)
What about using the 2003 Mazdaspeed 2.0 Turbo unit? ~170hp
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Other than it being a complete chunk of s*** of an engine?
My opinion... build the engine that's in it up to the limit where the power can actually be used. If you're breaking traction every single chance you get, it's a pointless modification because you're not getting anywhere faster.
I'm highly considering a 2 when I get back into the States. It's not a heavy car by any stretch of the imagination. Put it on a slight diet, add a little bit of N/A power and I'm sure you'd be surprised what kind of a difference it can make. Not to mention slow cars are more fun to drive fast than fast cars driving slow.
mazdadude
ZOOOOOOOOOM ZOOOOOOOOOM
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- '16.5 Mazda CX-5 Touring
Ahhh, I wasn't aware they were total crapola. (rei)
But if the 2 and 3 do share the same transmissions, then indeed you are alot closer to an easier swap if you could shoehorn the 2.3/2.5 MZR into it!!!
it does use the same chassis here in the US for the Fiesta that just came out.. but I'm not so sure for the motor or sourcing a Euro one though.
I am with you on that notion.
I think it's fair to say adding 50 hp to the car is doable, but if there's already an OEM engine available to be dropped in with very little to minimum work (it would be nice to know if it just drops right in) then I rather go this route rather than force induction by far. As many people around the world taking NA motors and throwing a turbo charger or supercharger in it, not all the engineering know-how coming from a "bolt-on" kit will make the engine overall happy, especially when we are talking about running a STOCK motor to redline every time. (btw, if you aren't running the stock motor to the redline every chance you get, then it's stupid to even talk about power mods to begin with because as a driver/owner of the car, you're not using all the power the car has to begin with, so why bother?)
I used to race cars (legally) in stock power trim.. If people cant appreciate the raw power of the engine, then by all means adding more power to it before that appreciation not only will yield in a lot of money being lost from blowing up motors or wearing parts out, but simply it goes back to a waste of time and not getting the most out of the motor that it has to offer. It'll will be a short-lived adventure.
Wagonbacker9
Member
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- 2004 'Hoe
yeah, what phen said... it blows.
yes, I run one... and boosted. 102K... and every day it still runs I'm happy.
I'll be getting my hands on the manual next week. I'll take a look at the tranny and post up pics.
From what I recall, the 1.5 and 1.6 motors in the Mazda3 don't share the same bell-housing as the 2.0 and up motors... but then, that's AT to AT. Not having the 6MT 2.3 here, I wouldn't wager to guess what it looks like, but I can take a look at the manual in the Mazda2.
Still... opinion... just take the whole motor and dump it in, and custom-fit axles. I doubt the axles they use on the 1.5 version will stand up to the torque, anyway. Only problem is the electronics... in which case, you may want to go with a regular 2.3 (or mayhaps, a 2.5?) and slap the Mazdaspeed turbo-kit and pistons on it. I seem to recall one of the buff books doing the Mazdaspeed3 swap into a Mazda5, and it wasn't pretty... they basically had to swap over the entire harness and associated control modules to make it happy. I'd wager a lower-end motor would be easier.
If anyone does the swap, I'd be very interested to see it.
From what I recall, the 1.5 and 1.6 motors in the Mazda3 don't share the same bell-housing as the 2.0 and up motors... but then, that's AT to AT. Not having the 6MT 2.3 here, I wouldn't wager to guess what it looks like, but I can take a look at the manual in the Mazda2.
Still... opinion... just take the whole motor and dump it in, and custom-fit axles. I doubt the axles they use on the 1.5 version will stand up to the torque, anyway. Only problem is the electronics... in which case, you may want to go with a regular 2.3 (or mayhaps, a 2.5?) and slap the Mazdaspeed turbo-kit and pistons on it. I seem to recall one of the buff books doing the Mazdaspeed3 swap into a Mazda5, and it wasn't pretty... they basically had to swap over the entire harness and associated control modules to make it happy. I'd wager a lower-end motor would be easier.
If anyone does the swap, I'd be very interested to see it.
Well, actualy I have my Mazda2 with a custom turbo kit. The Mazda2 is my daily drive car and it was street tuned to 8psi.
obviously do not drive to the red line every day, but I have to say I was surprised that the engine can handle 8psi of boost with 10:1 compression ratio
