Originally I wanted to get hold of a ZX12R engine but after find out that I was looking at £2.5K I have reviewed my cash flow and most defiantly cannot afford one. I’m now left with the choice between

ZX9R
Blackbird
Or
Blade engine

Can anyone help I have no idea what to go for?

I want a car which will be a quick road car with the capability of having a go at some hill climbs and track days. I originally wanted to go ZX12R so I had a little more bottom end toque to compensate for those heavier padded Sunday drive buckets and the misses instead of lightweight grp seats.

Any help much appreciated.

Blackbird IMO are not worth the bother, as they need a £1k dry sump and still can blow-up.

If I were building again on a budget I would go for an R1, followed by either the ZX9 or blade, not much between the two.

The R1 is light and powerful (150bhp), and can be had for reasonable money - check the breakers and ebay.

All of these will give you hours of on track or road.

R1? Not heard of this as an option b4 or am i being stupid is this the Yamaha YZF-R1?

Has anyone else used it or got any opinions on the above three?

[Edited on 6/10/03 by Gremlin]

[Edited on 6/10/03 by Gremlin]

The R1 is the Yamaha R1, gives a good 25-30 more bhp than a blade, is even more compact, and costs about the same to buy. The GSXR1000 is pretty much the same power / weight etc, although slightly less proven in BECs.

Did I read somewhere that this engine is quite a new engine and needs a cat for the sva because they are all post 98 engines? Can the cat come off after the sva?

What engine size is the R1? 1000cc?

Is this a better option than the Blade and ZX9R?

Cheers for advice.

I would go Yamaha R1 or Suzuki GSXR1000. Both are 1000cc, mad powerful, torquey and light. From what I have heard Blade (900-919cc) motors are only slightly less powerful (10-20hp) and are very reliable. Powerwise I think the ZX9 motors are somewhere in the middle between the 1K and the Blade and they are reliable also. They also sound good.

I am no expert in this field but I have made the same decision recently myself.

From what I gather R1s work well in cars and dont need dry sumping, just overfilling with oil and maybe a baffled sump to be sure.

I bought a GSXR1000 motor for my project after I emailed various tuners / builders and they confirmed that it worked well with overfilling and a baffled sump.

[Edited on 6/10/03 by MarkClow]