Hi all.
Considering putting a Honda Pan-European V4 engine in my car.
I know Stuart Taylor Motorsport were big fans a while back and did quite a few. Anyone here running one, what you opinions on it?
Pro and cons etc
1100cc or 1300?
What to look out for?

Think you'll be around 100-115bhp depending on which size you go for. Theres plenty of more traveled roads that might be easier to get help with (and more umph). What's your car likely to weigh?

Looks like quite a tall engine. You may end up with quite a big bump or scoop on the bonnet.

Like a lot of shaft drive engines the drive shaft is on the left hand side of the bike which generally means the shaft output rotates the wrong way for a standard car diff. I have been looking into this as I would have liked have built a VFR1200 Dct car or possibly the BMW K1600 6 cylinder but finding a suitable diff has been pretty much impossible. Worth digging into this before you take the jump. Also look into diff ratios, the final drive on most bikes is 2.5-3.0:1 (note they also typically have a primary ratio inside the gearbox, be careful to include both when calculating) which means that you are looking at the rare 3.14 Sierra diff, Freelander 1 diff or some BMW diffs (small 168 diff 3.15 torsen lsd from a 2.8 Z3 looks promising).

The usual way is to run the diff upside but the you run on the coast side of the cwp which may not work well long term.

Just a few thoughts to add to the mix.

I remembered this one from a few years back (over 20 years? - bloody hell!!)


https://web.archive.org/web/20110316042046/http://website.lineone.net/~btbromilow/locost.htm#car

Thanks for the info guys.
I have decided to go MX5 instead as I've been gifted a 1.8 engine and happened to have a gearbox anyway.