6 replies to this topic

[fiatman]

hello all, love your site my first post here..

anyway i want to build myself a motorcycle powered mini.
i may be able to get my hands on a v4 1200cc yamaha vmax engine. Just wondering how that would preform in a car? would it be a good engine choice? keeping in mind the motor stock puts out around 130hp

any help/advice is appreciated

thanks Andrew

[R1mini]

The vmax engine is shaft drive which I believe makes it's output reversed and not suitable for a conventional diff, I heard of people turning the diff upside down to correct the rotation and apparently it has worked.

You would need to remove the bulk of the shaft drive and drive the diff directly with a mini propshaft I have no idea how differcult/easy this would be, the vmax engine is a deep engine with the wide V cylinder arrangement so it would be very tight putting it all in the rear, maybe up front is possible with a long propshft to the rear diff but like I said it's a deep engine

Good luck

Cheers
David

[Dirk130]

Conversion kits are availble driveshaft to chaindrive for the vmax. Not coming cheap by the way.

[z cars chris]

we had a guy used a v max engine in the autograss racing a few years ago
it wasnt a match on power to the normal four cylinder engined cars being heavier and way under powered
a 2008 spec hayabusa now gives 200 bhp which is just crazy and they are easy to fit and tune if you wish to
if you cant run to a hayabusa then fit the R1 yamaha they are 180 bhp and a beautiful little motor stuffed full of technology that you only get on a F1 engine
chris

[fiatman]

i have scraped the idea if using the vmax and instead i might buy a 1985 GPZ900R engine with 40,000 kms on it. i can get this motor for a very good price.

what do you people think? will it make a good engine for a mini?

of course i would love to buy a hyabusa or a R1 engine, but they are far to expensive for me.

[z cars chris]

the motor would be ok but to be fair its now 23 years old
what sort of money are you wanting to spend on an engine
its important to buy a good motor as its the heart of any conversion no matter if its a z cars kit or home built
if you have a budget in mind i will point you towards the best type of bike engine you can get for the money
chris

[Renessy]

You could always use a honda B series engine..... They aren't expensive but really reliable and have plenty of room for serious power too.....

René