28 replies to this topic

[mickymcg1]

I remember seeing a kit car years ago with 2 bike engines, 1 driving the front wheels and 1 driving the rear. It got me thinking about doing this to a mini.

Surely if you use say a zcars R1 rear engine, frame, drive etc and get a R1 fwd frame, drive, engine etc it would be a pretty simple conversion.

You could then be able to run an awd mini or either fwd or rwd by using the 2 seperate gear boxes.

I think the kit car i saw was a tiger z100, tiff neddle broke the wr 0-60 time using it in something like 2 and a half seconds.

I suppose the trouble would start when trying to sort out cooling and fueling, you would have to have 2 rev counters and 2x extra dials (temp, pressure etc) but other than that i think it would be a pretty easy conversion, well not much harder than making a r1 mini and a zcar mini.

Now this plan hasnt even made it to paper yet, iv just finished making a cosworth rwd mk1 ford fiesta which is alot of fun so now iv space in the shed i need something else to work on :)

Any advice/comments would be great,

cheers

Micky

[Carlos W]

Would it not be difficult to get the same power, out of both engines at the same time throughout the range?

Just my initial thoughts

[mickymcg1]

Would it matter?? Modern 4wd cars dont split the power equally front and back.

[Carlos W]

Dunno,

But if one engine is having to push or pull the other it wouldn't give you any gains

[George929]

pro motive and z cars in one . i say if you've got the funds go for it.

[feeenix14]

I'm sure I saw a car for sale at Stanford hall show that had 2 A-series engines for sale. About 18k I think. Pricey but it shows it can be done

[mickymcg1]

I was actually looking at the lynx AE kit for the front

[George929]

I was actually looking at the lynx AE kit for the front

i wonder if that would fit the z cars a series subframe. that would be intense

[kcchan]

http://www.force-rac...ts-twin-engine/

[The Matt]

Lots of people have built twin-engined cars. Yes it's possible, matching power isn't ever going to be totally perfect front to rear, but that's not critical.

Twini is one keyword to search for, then there's the bike-engined kit cars that you've already looked at.

IIRC, to be road legal for dual engine use, don't they have to drive through a common transmission? Either that, or you can only use one engine on the road at once and leave the other in neutral and turned off.

Some hybrid cars effectively have two motors/engines, but I assume they drive through some form of common transmission?

[George929]

Either that, or you can only use one engine on the road at once and leave the other in neutral and turned off.

and use the other when nobodys looking ;)

[The Matt]

Well, exactly. There's the law (and how to follow it if you choose to). Then there's what you're willing to do.....

Of course, from an "advice" point of view, TMF would always recommend you follow the laws of the road as they're there for safety.

[roofless]

I was actually looking at the lynx AE kit for the front

i wonder if that would fit the z cars a series subframe. that would be intense

No.....tried one and it doesnt quite work.

[roofless]

Z cars already do a twin engine R1 set up...... big bucks, but its there is you want it.





fully road legal.......

Edited by roofless, 16 February 2012 - 11:11 AM.

[mickymcg1]

Yea I seen that, both engines run the rear wheels but that will be the gear linkage set up il be lookin for.
My mate came round last night and we got talking about it. As I'm sure u can guess we got quite excited and started pricing parts. We reckoned 10k won't look at it and buy the time you get gauges and computers there won't be much change from 15k.
Not sure about u but I don't have that money to throw into a car in one go so I think I'm going to do it in stages. Had a quick look for unfinished projects last night but as I'm quite fussy and pretty much think everyone does it wrong but me I think I'm just going to go for the kit and start from scratch. Lol.
Going to get me hand on a mini and do the fwd conversion as soon as possible and run it until I get bored. Then when I get the ££ together buy the zcars kit and drop that in the back.

How cool would it be lookin over the steering wheel at a 3 dial dash with 2 rev counters and a speedo in the middle. :)