A friend of mine brought up the idea of installing an SRT-4 engine and transmission in my car. I like the idea alot. Has anyone conscidered the possibility?

The idea of 230 stock horses from a light weight 4-banger sounds good. With a Stage three kit it would push the total to around 330 hp.

Who is going to create the first "Fiero 2MSRT4"?

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1987 Fiero SE

You should be able to do it. You probably need to fabricate your own engine and tranny mounts to make it work and you would need to have custom axles made up. You also have to figure out how to shift the tranny or actuate the clutch. You also would need the electronics from the SRT-4 donor and probably the gauges. Go for it and be the first one. Just make sure to measure the engine to be sure it wil fit in the engine compartment, before you go thru all the trouble.

[This message has been edited by avengador1 (edited 09-03-2004).]

The only problem I see is reliability. It has been my experience with MOPAR products to have less reliability then any other manufacturer. I really like their designs and ideas, but sadly from a mechanical standpoint they have poor quality.
If you want 300+ horses in a light weight engine, Just get yourself an EcoTec and build it up. They can easily reach 400hp on pump gas and over 1000hp in full race build-up. Also the GM transmissions bolt right up.

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Happiness isn't around the corner...
Happiness IS the corner.

From what I heard, Dodge will be releasing the SRT4 engine as a crate engine with a stand alone engine management system for custom installs like this. I think I read that in Hot Rod magazine a while back. Anyway, if they were to do that, it might even be easier to swap an SRT4 engine into a Fiero than another GM engine, since a stand alone engine management system doesn't need to tie into so many different things like factory engine management. You'd still need custom axles, or an adapter plate and Fiero tranny, and custom engine mounts, but that shouldn't be too difficult.

In the last 5 or 8 years chrysler like any other north american car company has made leaps and bounds when it comes to quality. GM also had quality issues in the 80s, same with chrysler. Aside from my fiero I'm a mopar guy. 85 chrysler lebaron turbo, 95 chrysler neon, 01 chrysler neon, 86 lebaron turbo, and a 00 intrepid. All have been very reliable aside from the 95 neon which the ecm went out on it.

Got to stop the dodge quality bashing. My intrepid has 115k miles on it and still runs like new.

I may be biased... buttt...
You could get close if not 230 out of a stock DOHC (after exaust and PS delete) and you would have a heck of a lot more torque (tha good stuff ) A turbo could put you anywhere from 300 to who knows what. Actualy I bet a good rebuild with perrf parts and P&P could get close to 300 NA
+'s
It works, been proven
It bolts right in with few mods
It is all but a self contained engine, aside from a couple power sources, the firewall connector is mainy just guages
Theres a lot of background and support for the engine and the swap

Of course its always cool to be the first to do something.

I am bias.........Why would you want to consider swapping in that engine, when for the same money it would take, to could put a very nice V8 or 3800SC in there. Both of these engines would have the SRT4 Turbo crowd crapping their pants.

Just my opinion, I could be wrong !

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Car History: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/025670.html

quote Originally posted by crzyone: Got to stop the dodge quality bashing.

I'm not "bashing" them, Just going by the experience's I've had.

1989 LeBaron - Power steering pump went out twice in 60K miles, engine knock at 71K
1995 Intrepid - Even when I sold it it would eat O2 sensors every winter. Was stranded no less than 4 times. Steering rack went out and trans was repaired once.
1999 intrepid (Family members car) at 72K miles trans dumped, at 135K trans dumped. They traded the car in when the trans started shifting funny again and it had 160K on it.
1998 Durango This vehicle developed leaks all the time. Trans was repaired twice, Transfer case once. Window switches died and there was a 3 month backlog on parts.
Only had the Durango for 4 years and less than 40K miles when I was sold.
1997 Avenger (Friends car) Trans replaced at 35K ECM burned itself out twice.

Neighbors 1998 Jeep Gran Cherokee, It is on it's 3rd trans in 109K miles
2000 intrepid (guy who works with me) twice the cam sensor went out and every winter he has to replace coil packs that die out. He actually keeps 2 spares with him as soon as the temp starts getting below 50*.
Transmissions seem to be the common failure even from surfing thru the Mopar forums as well.

The 3800SC has been my first choice for a long time but I am open to exploring new ideas. I like the concept of small high-power engines. To me it fits the spirit of the car.

Anything is doable if you have enough money to spend. It would be a fun combination if you did it. If Mopar sells a crate engine you would be in luck. Several of my friends have been looking for SRT-4 engine to drop in older 2 door Neons. The engine is pretty new and there is a large demand for them. If you end up doing the swap please keep us updated.

The transmission would be a real big 'stopping' point if you were to use an auto.. that thing is HUGE.. Just in case you are wondering, I have done the measuring on this swap.

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1988 Aero 88 coupe.. 2.8l v6.. more mods to come.
Photo Gallery - Fiero Links - WebShop

[This message has been edited by DotTC (edited 09-03-2004).]

quote Originally posted by jim123185: it might even be easier to swap an SRT4 engine into a Fiero than another GM engine, since a stand alone engine management system doesn't need to tie into so many different things like factory engine management.

You can get an LS1 crate engine with a stand alone engine management system.

I think when someone posts the price of an SRT-4 Turbo Crate Engine, this topic is going to hit the sidewalk like a egg dropped from the Empire State Building !

The Ecotec 2.0L Supercharged crate motor will be out soon. I do believe this will be around $3,500 Parts Direct price...includes everything except a few externals. Forged crank/pistons the works...I'll be swapping one into my 04 cavalier soon.

I've got a question. What direction does the neon srt-4's engine rotate? It would have to rotate the same direction as the fiero to work with the fiero's tranny. If it doesn't then the neons tranny would have to be used unless a differant mopar/ mitsubishi trans could be adapted. With all that time and effort to do this particular swap i'd go v8 or 3800sc. Just my 2 cents though, good luck

edit: How about a hemi swap! at least that mopar has some cojones .

[This message has been edited by FIEROPHREK (edited 09-04-2004).]

quote Originally posted by FIEROPHREK: I've got a question. What direction does the neon srt-4's engine rotate? It would have to rotate the same direction as the fiero to work with the fiero's tranny. If it doesn't then the neons tranny would have to be used unless a differant mopar/ mitsubishi trans could be adapted. With all that time and effort to do this particular swap i'd go v8 or 3800sc. Just my 2 cents though, good luck edit: How about a hemi swap! at least that mopar has some cojones .

It seems to me that if one were going to go to the trouble to install the SRT-4 engine it would make more sense to put in the complete engine/trans package. The newer SRT-4 (04+) comes with a Quaiffe. The shift linkage might require a little manipulation, but should be possible. Then the issue of which way the engine rotates is moot.

BTW, I am a member of the local Shelby Dodge club. It recent months, more SRT-4 owners have been coming to the meetings. Last week, a guy showed up with a heavily modded SRT-4 which he cliamed was putting 500+ hp to the wheels. Hmm! It's possible... my good friend has an older Omni with an 8 valve T2. By adding my Super 60 turbo, he pulled 313 whp (and 370# torque) at a recent Dyno day. The Omni is pretty quick for a street car with A/C (7.8 in the 1/8 mile on drag slicks).

Having said all that, it seems to me that a turbo Ecotec might be more appropriate, assuming there is a trans available that can handle the power. It should be lighter as well.

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FierOmar

even though i wouldn't personally suggest this engine for a swap (noting wrong with it, i just think there are better choices). you could get a Saturn 1.9 ltr DOHC. Stock they are 124 HP @ 5600RPM, and 122 ft lbs @ 4800RPM, (you feel/hear a diff. in power/sound right around 4K). they make a full stand alone for it. they are reliable engines, (tend to burn oil in the higher miles, but run wonderful). there is a good aftermarket for it (you can have all forged internals, oversized cams, turbo, N20 etc.) there trans is good to around 400 HP (when the diff. pin is welded, and a quaife LSD wouldn't hurt either). you have too GREAT choices of transmissions, the DOHC's come with a 4.063 FD, and are very close ratio, if i shift @ 6.5K, i'm doing AT LEAST 4K in the next gear. course, stock, at 6.5K, i think you'd only hit 130-140 MPH with redline in 5th (let's say this, @ 90 in 5th i'm doing 4K RPM's). OR, you could get the trans that comes with the SOHC motors, and with that, the gears are much longer. with mine, third gear is 75 MPH, my friend with the SOHC tranny can hit 100 in third. o, and these trans shift very smooth compared to a fiero in stock form...

also, with 6 #'s of boost with a garret T3, i'm told i'll be pushing 190ish WHP. (and SRT-4 puts out 15 PSI, and makes 215 HP, now in defence of the SRT-4, i talked to someone that owns one, and he said it's because their factory turbos are tiny).

bottom line, the friend that's doing my turbo kit, and install, has one pushing 25 PSI, and he pulled a 13.7 @ 115 in a Front WD, i've been told that with mine, and my closer ratio gears, @ 6 PSI, i'll pull a 13.8-14.2 @ 99-102 MPH. add the traction that a fiero has, and i'd say that with the same setup that i'm running, one should be able to pull a 13.5 or so, with only 6 PSI. not to mention, my turbo will be at full boost @ 3K (lot's a low end torque for me hurray!).

I also realized that after typing all that, i'm talking myself into swapping one of these in... hmmm...

-Fish

quote Originally posted by Oreif: Also the GM transmissions bolt right up.

The "standard" FWD GM transmissions do NOT bolt up to an Ecotec. The race teams are using an adapter plate to run 4T65E-HD's.
However, the Saab 6 speed bolts up...

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Punch the gas and feel the back step sideways; rip off a powershift and hear the tires punished by torque; downshift, lift off and feel the engine braking that comes only from big cubes, listen to the pop and gurgle. Know that you are driving an American V8. There are finer engines made, but none that are this cool.

Luck, Fate and Destiny are words used by those who lack the courage to define their own future

quote Originally posted by couch2199: The Ecotec 2.0L Supercharged crate motor will be out soon. I do believe this will be around $3,500 Parts Direct price...includes everything except a few externals. Forged crank/pistons the works...I'll be swapping one into my 04 cavalier soon.

From what I've read/heard, the superchaged Ecotec is a weed wacker compared to the SRT-4. I guess we'll see what happens when people start bolting used Mustang Cobra superchargers onto SC Ecotecs...

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Punch the gas and feel the back step sideways; rip off a powershift and hear the tires punished by torque; downshift, lift off and feel the engine braking that comes only from big cubes, listen to the pop and gurgle. Know that you are driving an American V8. There are finer engines made, but none that are this cool.

Luck, Fate and Destiny are words used by those who lack the courage to define their own future