Please dont let this turn into a flame war, but how does a Quad 4 compare to the other swaps out there? I have had my Quad 4 swap on the road now for 2 weeks, and I am very happy with it. I know the Quad 4 isnt really a drag racing car, but more for the spirited twisted road driving, where a SBC Fiero probably isnt as good in handling with all the extra weight in the back, but equally better in drag racing. I have read a few times on this forum that people who have driven a Duke Fiero and a 2.8L Fiero feel that the Duke feels slightly better than a 2.8L on the twisty roads because of the less weight, so a Quad 4 would be the same.

Has anybody driven Fiero's with a variety of swaps? I am interested in how the other engine swaps make the Fiero perform, not just in a straight line, but more for handling, fuel mileage, etc...

For fuel mileage, my Quad 4 got 39MPG 90% highway, but I was downshifting to pass, and having fun.

I have driven the 4 banger with stick and the car was very very nice handling and had good pickup.
the 4.9 caddy motor that Flynts has is just pure power and also handles very well.
the v-8 took my breath away, a lot of power for a little car.

That is all that I can tell you for now

I have to get the wet spot off my friends driver seat from the V-8

I"ve had a Quad in my GT for over 13 years now and to be honest I have no idea how it performed with the 2.5 because I baught the car with out a motor.
I love the power you get out of the Quad when you slamm into 2nd gear and pass every thing in your way. Its a very light engine, good fuel economy and fun to drive. It also has its down faults.....its very tempermental and hates heat....get a 3 or 4 core rad made....better fan ....and change your coolant regularly.

As far as the swap itself goes... Its actually one of THE MOST difficult to perform. I'ts not as bad as a Northstar/Shortstar/Aurora, or a longitudinal swap. But its FAR more work then a 3800, 3.4 DOHC, SBC, 4.9 ect...

Mounting the engine is a test of fabrication skills in itself. If the transmission is placed in the stock "Fiero" location, and you still managed to get the engine to sit level, then you will not be able to close the decklid without cutting it up. The most logical solution is to drop the engine and transmission to the lowest point practical, and that does usually mean some cradle modding. Routing the coolant system is another challange. Unlike all the other swaps I listed, the Quad 4's coolant inlet is on the wrong side of the engine (toward the rear) and in most cases will require some crafty plumbing to get it to the coolant tubes. Wiring difficulty is on par with that of the 3.4 DOHC and 4.9 requiring significant reworking of a harness, but not to the degree of OBDII swaps. I have come to the conclusion that there is no really good answer to the routing of the exhaust. It's either obnoxiously loud and short (like mine) or really long and perhaps restrictive, but quiet. There are ways of making it sound nice, even if it is short, but then you probably won't have a Catalytic converter. All these issues make it a difficult swap.

Performance wise I know this engine is excellent.

Heres a PROPER dyno chart I made over the past hour or so, from my 2.8 Fiero's dyno chart and my Quad 4's dyno. It is NOT scale offset, that's why its "proper". Also, Both used Getrag 5 speeds, so power losses are approximatly the same.

The 2.8 does have a slight, small edge till 4300 RPM's where the Quad 4 passes it and keeps going up. Both of my cars peaked at 144 lb-ft, but the quad 4 did it at 5200 while the 2.8 does it at 3700 RPM. I got 112 HP at the wheels from the 2.8, and 167 HP at the wheels with the Quad 4. So, when you feel that your 2.8 falls flat on its face past 4800 RPM's thats 100% accurate.

I did get 35 MPG once with my Quad 4, but I haven't driven it enough to really get a good guage of it.

I think the Quad is an excellent engine, but than again, I'm a little biased. For a stock car, the cams are pretty radical cams (I think I remember a graph one time from desktop dyno where the 3.4 DOHC engine had the Quad4 cam grind ). All of your comments make me want to go smack some guys at the machine shop so I can hurry and get this next engine back together

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88 Fiero GT Quad4 Turbo =) 396 whp!

[This message has been edited by bryson (edited 06-23-2005).]

quote Originally posted by bryson: I think the Quad is an excellent engine, but than again, I'm a little biased. For a stock car, the cams are pretty radical cams (I think I remember a graph one time from desktop dyno where the 3.4 DOHC engine had the Quad4 cam grind ). All of your comments make me want to go smack some guys at the machine shop so I can hurry and get this next engine back together

stop thinking of track times and start thinking of reliability (i know bad word for a quad4) that way when i goto the charlotte show, or maybe even catch a daytona show you can give me a ride.

i drove an 88 coupe with high output quad4 and 5 speed, from 1000-4000 RPM it felt just like a stock v6, but from 4001-7200 RPM it pulled MUCH harder (as if the 2.8L could pull to 7200 RPM) it was very fun and would be excellent for auto cross, but i wanted something with a bit more torque and easier to install so i went with a 3.4L DOHC

the quad 4 in the 88 coupe was supposedly giving 36-40MPG highway and 23-28 in town depending on driving habits.

matthew

That is one of the biggest reasons I went with the Quad 4. It gets one of the best fuel economy of all the engine swaps. I drive 80% highway, so I dont need low end power, but having lots of revs is fun, and more of what you need on the highway. Dropping it down into 3rd gear to pass someone doing 60MPH is fun.

I have been driving mine now for 3 weeks and absolutely love it. Mostly highway, 35 mpg, smooth, sounds good, plenty of power. It is a sheer joy to drive.

I love the sound of my Quad, and I even have the cats. If you want to keep it quiet get your self some super trapps they work great also.

If you want more info on the quad go to Quadforums the guys there are excellent.

http://members.aol.com/nstarfiero/q4ex.mp3

how does a Q4 sound again?

well, love my quad, and its not stock.

bored .01 over
410/219 cams
head shaved .015
venoila forged pistons 10:1
shaved flywheel
centerforce clutch (grabs great, never a problem)
big 'ol injectors.

all that, and i still only used half a tank to go 217 miles. that is, highway of course.

also, a climb in elevation from the 1117ft that phoenix is at, to the 7000 that flagstaff sits at, at a distance of 160 miles, and back to camp verde another 57 miles, down to 3133 ft.

lets see, that all comes out to.... lets see, 217 miles, half a tank.... 39.5 mpg? avg? that is a climb of 5900ft for the first 160 miles, and a descent of 3900ft for the last 57. all the while spinning 3000 rpms at 75 mph in 5th. but to be fair, i probably coasted about 5-6 miles. all in all, not bad. lots and lots better than my brothers 5spd 6cyl mustang i made the trip with 2 days ago. that thing is geared AWESOME for highway. 2k rpms at 80 mph in 5th? SWEET. but, it still used almost a quarter tank more for the trip up, just 160 miles. guzzler man. all in all, the quad is GREAT on the gas.

as for fast? well, yes its fast. loud? you betcha! from the short headers, to a 2-1 collector, bent about 90' angle, to a cat, out a few inches, to another bend into the hooker flow tuned muffler/tip. (its a motorcycle muffler, but it looks decent, and it works.) all in 2 1/4 inch piping. total length, maybe 3 feet? not including the headers. twisties? you betcha, thing loves them, it weighs less than the dang duke. plus, its a 5spd. 3.94 gears. ive never driven anything other than stock fieros before this, my auto duke. then, when i got my GT, thought it was scary fast (compared to the duke it was...) then, i went and looked at this car, it was for sale. took it out and drove it. my god. it scared the crap outta me. fastest car ive ever been in. ive only ever raced a few cars with it, some guy ina crown vic, thought he was bad.... lol. things are slooooow. i let him get a car ahead, then stomped it into second and flew past him. lol. and then, my best race/loss ever. an svt lightning. he won, but only by a nose (my nose was even with the back of his cab at the end.) it was on a freeway on ramp, and well, the lanes merged, and i let him in. stupid yes, but i thought he was gonna smoke me bad. wasnt expecting a real race

i am currently going to start a 3800sc 5spd swap, so when thats done, i'll let you know. but compared to the stock, or even modified stock fiero motors, theres no comparison. quad rod all the way

I almost forgot to mension... I also went with the 3.94:1's. They are awesome! The 3.94 I got has the same fifth gear as a Fiero. It came out of a 93 Achieva SCX. So taking into account the FDR change, the RPM's are still pretty reasonable with the 3.94's. Come to think of it, everything but the shorter 4th gear is Fiero gearing but with the shorter FDR. In the end, first and fifth are roughly the same as the stock quad 4 trans, but 2nd 3rd 4th are shorter and closer togather with the 3.94 trans.

As far as how fast I feel the car is, well... It scares me to bring the RPM's up into the 5-6000 range in 3rd 4th, I dare not go there in 4th, because I would be doing well beyond 100 MPH. But even then it's still accelerating pretty hard. I was messing around with a friends built Mustang, (he always says its a low 12 second car and no one believes it) he got next to me at a roll, I was in second gear at 4800 RPM's, and I stuck with him half way up in third, then he walked away. He was shocked to say the least. In reality, he couldn't have picked a worse time to play, I was right at the most powerful point in second gear.

I think in autocrossing, the Quad would do quite well if you can downshift into first when you need to get out of a turn. Can you say, double clutch?

ShaddowGT can you post some pictures of yur exhaust? Would love to see your set up, Ill take some pictures of mine this weekend and post it here.

Here is mine, all I have added was a resonated tip:

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84 Fiero Sport Coupe #1192 :: 86 Fiero Base Coupe :: 84 Chevette CS 4 Door

Wow that must be very laud, Im suprised the cops dont keep pulling you over. You might try adding a Supertrapp to reduce the noise.

I might check into that, I do have a monza style resonated tip, the inside looks like the glasspack, it stops the snapping sound and gives it a deeper sound.

You could of put a small Catalytic before the first bend, thats what I did. I was just sick and tired of allways being pulled over by the cops and getting "exceeding noise" tickets....it was allways thrown out by the judge but still a pain in the arss.

yah, ill get a few pics for ya. no prob bob.

show u mine if u show me urs

well, its dark, and my camera batteries died, so i'll get thems tomorrow.

[This message has been edited by ShaddowGt (edited 06-26-2005).]