Nes,
Can you explain why there is no capacity cap please?
Assuming we are trying to meet NCOP VSB14, my understanding is that the engine capacities are not mandatory. The wording used is "the
recommended maximum capacity (swept volume) of engines for passenger cars and passenger car derivatives". Any engineer can override the "recommendation" and allow a bigger motor. Few will (at least in NSW). A 350 Chev is within 1.5% of meeting the "recommendations" in my EK wagon.... yet I could not get any engineer to accept it. Some will allow larger motors but require additional testing - the one guy I found who would do so wanted beam testing etc.... an additional $4500 on top of the engineering cost
with no guarantee of passing the test.
So assuming we can't find an engineer to push the limits, we need to meet the "recommendations".
The mass of the vehicle referred to in Tables LA1, LA2 and LA3 is the original (unmodified) tare mass of the model vehicle fitted with the largest engine available for the model in Australia but without optional accessories (air conditioning, tow bars etc.). The mass of the vehicle, whether it is a sedan, station wagon, utility, etc., should be based on the heaviest sedan version of the model (not station wagon version) sold in Australia. For FE this is probably 2377lb (Business Sedan, = 1078kg) and for FC 2417lb (Business Sedan, = 1096kg). This assumes kerb weight = tare weight, which most engineers believe (though not all - some still believe that the RTA have a special list of weights).
Sadly, this is under 1100kg (FB/EK were the first to weigh that much
), so the supercharged engine capacity "recommendation" is Original mass (kg) x 2.75 = max. capacity in cc’s. For FE, this is 1078 x 2.75 = 2964.5cc, and for FC is 1096 x 2.75 = 3014cc. Looks like John is right, and that a blown 3.3L engine is a tad too big. If we were able to sneak the tare weight up to 1100kg (by heated discussion with the engineer
) then the formula becomes Original mass (kg) x 3.0 = max. capacity in cc’s, and our FE/FC can have a 3.3L blown motor.
I might have the above wrong - happy to hear alternate views.
Cheers,
Harv
