Klostrophobic
I want to take the engine from the minivan and place it in the Audi. Or did Volkwagen already do that?
When I told this plan to my friend, another car-lover who drives a huge Mercedes, he immediately asked what I'd do with the body of the S6. I told him I'd put the 3.8 from the Grand Caravan in it and have the opposite of a sleeper. He goes, "yeah - they call those 'wakers.'" I thought it was funny as piss.
and the cost of the RS6's engine would be too much, with a small block you'd have that sume cut by half or even more, have gobs of torque and the 340 hp you want. BUT! I still like the Microbus more (: those things are sweet, and you can get a porsche turbo engine in that huge engine bay... imagine a red and black 23 window Transporter with BRM wheels and turbo porsche engine... YUM! no AWD, but what the hell.
Well, if I did this it would replace my Cayenne, so I'd need not only utility, but an excessive amount of comfor features, like heated leather, a 6-CD player, and a sunroof, plus all-wheel drive though I think I'd have to give up any sort of off-roading and get an old Explorer or anything. I realise I
could supercharge the engine, theoretically, but I know it won't pass Tennessee's somewhat strict state inspection. I could register it with my brother in Colorado, but they have an emissions program which would catch such a thing, and New York and my other brother's New Hampshire have adopted California's smog program and would destroy the vehicle on contact. The good thing about the S6's engine is that, if I did get it in there, it'd be a clean engine, legal in all fifty states - though if the cost difference was
that great, I'd get around inspection somehow. The cost of the S6's engine isn't
too high, either - used 2002 S6 prices will take a fall once the new style comes out later this year, and Audi wagons always depreciate more than sedans. Plus, it's possible I could find a salvage one with an intact engine.
a minivan isnt the ideal car, I agree,
I think, with 340+bhp, a minivan would be perfect - all weather, all purpose.
"So my mechanic says to me, 'you need a new automatic transmission.' And I say to him, 'you need a new face.' So now I need two new things: an automatic transmission... and a mechanic."
No, it didn't happen, it's a joke based on the actual event of being told that, in fact, I needed a new automatic transmission.
Pontiac already makes a supercharger for their 3.8L V6 that resides in their 2003-4 Grand Prix.
I wish GM put that engine into a minivan, but their minivans all use the same 3.4L V6 used in stuff like the Pontiac Grand Am. It's too bad, too, because the GM 3800 lends itself perfectly to supercharging. Clearly.
But the next question would be could the Caravans engine internals and driveline handle the extra power. If you're looking to get into the 300+ HP range, you will more than likely be pushing the limits of the stock tranny and engine internals.
Exactly. And if it breaks, it'd need a new engine or transmission anyway. With the Audi engine, I'd have to replace the transmission and all of the internals from the get-go and hopefully, if done right, at least, it'd run as seamlessly as the car it came from. It'd be a Chrysler in spirit, purely, and an Audi at heart. Sort of the neon_duke dream.
I'm open to suggestions here about the engine; I just can't think of another V8 on the market that produces similar horsepower without a supercharger or a turbocharger except the Hemi, which is probably too large, and large Mercedes V8s, like the one in my CLK55, but I don't know how well it'd mesh with all-wheel drive. I immediately thought of the Audi engine because they got it fit into the new S4, which has a pretty compact engine bay, as I mentioned.
