Oilburner said:
I'm the OVLR past president and I have not heard of this Simon character, and based on what I am hearing we should talk! I think Mr. Lefebvre is an OVLR member, or will be soon enough, I believe we met at the social at the Prescott a few months ago (young guy with the 6BT powered 109, there is only one AFAIK)
Due to the much higher complexity of the DII's body control systems and engine management controls (and the fact that they are interlinked), it would make a clean swap difficult. It would probably be cheaper to simply pop in a brand new 4.0 or 4.6 and keep on trucking, unless you could do all the work yourself and you have a huge shop and you can afford 8 months of downtime. Anything can be done.
No, I don't think we've met. At least, I wasn't at a Prescott social. I did attend the first meeting in Belleville last Sunday, not sure if you were one of the guys there.
Oh, it would never about being simple or cheap. More about being more reliable and possibly better fuel efficiency.
It's true that pushing a small 4 banger harder might not result in lower fuel consumption, it largely depends on HOW hard you push. The Otto cycle (unlike the Diesel cycle) is actually more efficient at higher loads. However, when you cross the point where you need to be driving around in closed loop operation running 13:1 AF and retarding spark to avoid detonation, then it really starts being inefficient. So, the key is to not overdo it.
I had a WRX with a 2.0L 8:1 compression ratio turbo engine. It used to get the same mileage at 100mph as it did at 60 because it was running 7psi boost from the turbo, but still closed loop operation. Once you go open loop however, the party is over.