Hyunwoo Nubiron? Talk Me Out of It

I visited the race shop this afternoon with the intention of ordering a spare cylinder head that I might spend the winter porting, port matching and generally correcting a whole lot of weird decisions about flow and oil drain back that Daewoo/Holden made with this engine.

The proprietors, however, suggested an alternate path. What if, instead of berkeleying about with an engine nobody makes parts for and that, even according to its biggest supporters, isn't likely to make more than about 180 hp without a blower, I were to do a Hyundai beta swap instead?

He quoted me a price of around $3,000 and said, with cams, an intake manifold and header, I should be looking at around 200 hp at 7,500 rpm. This is obviously advantage one. He also assured me that betas, unlike T20SDs, do not tend to shove all their oil up into the valve covers under sustained hard use, nor to they starve their oil pumps under hard cornering. This is advantage two. The beta is the best supported tuning engine in Korea and it's not close. Advantage three. It comes connected to a stronger transmission with both an extra ratio and the option of installing LSDs and straight cut gears later on, if I should wish. Advantage four. It allows me to use a computer with available reflashes, which is important because the factory Daewoo tune sucks balls. Advantage five. It allows me to use Hyundai engine mounts, with are not only available in poly, but are not designed to immediately crack and fail upon installation. Advantage six.

So downsides I can think of off the top of my head. a: I don't think anybody has ever done a beta into Nubira swap before. b: I'm not sure how the shift linkage is going to work, or if I just have to swap in a shift box from a Tiburon. c: I'm not sure, but I think the beta might be little heavier than the T20SD and I'm almost certain it's going to give up a little bit of 3-4000 rpm torque. d,e,f,g,h: It will require an engine swap.

Is there anything obvious I'm missing? I can't turbo the T20SD because I have to aim for a racing class, btw.

Beta is the Alpha here!

Aside from the whole swap thing and all it may entail, the Beta is a much better platform. With all the posts and that build thread of yours it seems like this car is way more than a passing interest.

Why not start where you'll end up anyway?!

Beta is very very durable. Not as durable as the Alpha, but still a beast. Our main problems for making power (here in the states) was the cams used to make it 50-state legal emissions and have no EGR.

The Beta trans are cable shifted, so if you swap to the Beta box, you can mount the shifter anywhere. The thing I loved about the Beta was it's mid-range torque. from 2500-4500 it pulled great.

I liked the beta in my old Tiburon. It was a stout engine and some tuners were making very good and reliable power with it

The real question for me is whether it's worth doing the swap in a Nubria in the first place or whether all that effort would be better spent on a different platform. I think you picked the right motor, but did you pick the right place to put it?

mazdeuce wrote: The real question for me is whether it's worth doing the swap in a Nubria in the first place or whether all that effort would be better spent on a different platform. I think you picked the right motor, but did you pick the right place to put it?

That answer, to me, would be "No". A second Gen Accent, IMO, would be the best place to put it.

mazdeuce wrote: The real question for me is whether it's worth doing the swap in a Nubria in the first place or whether all that effort would be better spent on a different platform. I think you picked the right motor, but did you pick the right place to put it?

Considering my cornering speeds vs the cornering speeds of the Accents/Tiburons/Tuscanis I've been on track with - yes, I think I did.

My oddball suspension setup - which I want to pursue further - would require major surgery on any of those cars I mentioned.

BTW, this is the current leader in my intended class.

It's basically my Nubira underneath except with a crappier rear suspension, more weight, more tire and a much better engine.

mad_machine wrote: I liked the beta in my old Tiburon. It was a stout engine and some tuners were making very good and reliable power with it

How much rpm before they pop?

DaewooOfDeath wrote:

mad_machine wrote: I liked the beta in my old Tiburon. It was a stout engine and some tuners were making very good and reliable power with it

How much rpm before they pop?

Most of the ones I remember were stopping around 7500rpm. IIRC, the thrust washer is a weak spot on the bottom end.

The oddball suspension setup I mentioned, if anyone is interested. http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/no-swaybars-updated/75306/page1/

Bobzilla wrote:

DaewooOfDeath wrote:

mad_machine wrote: I liked the beta in my old Tiburon. It was a stout engine and some tuners were making very good and reliable power with it

How much rpm before they pop?

Most of the ones I remember were stopping around 7500rpm. IIRC, the thrust washer is a weak spot on the bottom end.

That would be plenty for me. I love the idea of 200 hp, but I also don't want to be doing frequent rebuilds. I will trade reliability for peak power a little bit because, as long as I'm in the ballpark for power, I think I'm going to have pretty good advantages in aero and handling.

I always thought that 200 at the crank would have been fairly easy with the Beta. For us, we'd definitely need cams and a standalone ECU. But I thought that 10.5:1 stock compression ratio was just BEGGING for more air/fuel/timing.

Really aggressive cams, 14:1 overbored pistons and a 9000 rpm shift point with ported heads evidently make 230 hp.

ebonyandivory wrote: Beta is the Alpha here! Aside from the whole swap thing and all it may entail, the Beta is a much better platform. With all the posts and that build thread of yours it seems like this car is way more than a passing interest. Why not start where you'll end up anyway?!

That was pretty much my race team's argument -

I think you're correct. I'll probably take a year to develop some cool suspension and aero stuff, run with the stock Daewoo engine and get my butt kicked on track for a season before I make a serious push next year.

It's not like I've done everything to the chassis that I want.

Is this swap class legal?

Yes. I need a 2.0 liter or below n/a engine manufactured in Korea.

Don't do it.

I have no reason for the comment other that you asked to be talked out of it.

Sounds like a great swap, but it's a big job...