Engine Compartment Size

[Kinleysman]

Is the engine compartment in the 06 vibe large enough for a V6 motor???

[Doug14]

Well this is in progress and should answer your question, check it out! viewtopic.php?f=11&t=41298

[Kinleysman]

Well will the bigger motor help with gas mileage seeing how with the factory four cylinder your pulling a 5,000 lb car with a motor built for a 3,000 lb car

[Doug14]

Hmm, that is a question that cannot easily be answered. It all depends on what motor you wish to use and how its programmed and mapped ect. There are too many factors to consider in this situation, one being the astronomical cost for a job such as this. If any improvements to fuel economy were made they would have to be huge increases to offset the cost of this fully custom job. Mileage in these cars is already pretty good, and I personally, don't think a larger engine will help with fuel economy in this vehicle BUT sure would rip around a lot faster! I don't want to discourage you on this intriguing build, just wish to add a little bit of insight from my point of view. Hopefully some others will chime in on this topic!

[Rayven01]

Well will the bigger motor help with gas mileage seeing how with the factory four cylinder your pulling a 5,000 lb car with a motor built for a 3,000 lb car

a 5,000 lb Vibe? Must have gained a little weight...

Weights: curb weight (lbs) 2,700

Granted passengers add some more, but you'd have to pack the thing to the gills to cram in another ton...

[hotbug1776]

my impala has a 3.6L, 305HP v6 in it getting 30MPG with a 6spd auto. My vibe is around 200HP and can get 36MPG with the 1.8L 1zz, supercharged. I could well eclipse the 300HP mark and have less work involved with a built motor from Monkey Wench Racing, using a turbo setup. Saving MPG and keeping most of the reliability.

The compartment is big enough for a LSx motor as has been proven on Matrixowners. Problems arise with cost and drivetrain though. Even a V6 would need drivetrain modifications to have any kind of reliability.

Then again, speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?

[SeattleJeremy]

The engine bay has been designed for inline four cylinder engines. There are larger engines that could fit, and would take less engineering work. The 178HP 2.5L from the Camry comes to mind, but I have not seen a swap of that engine in to a first gen Vibe/Matrix.
The Volkswagen VR6 engine is designed to fit in the engine bay of a four cylinder, but there are a lot of engineering problems that come with putting a VW engine in a Toyota.

If fuel mileage is your goal and it was possible to increase your gas mileage from 30 to 40mpg with a motor swap. The money you spend changing the motor will likely never be recovered.

You might want to look at the spec sheet for the Vibe. The Base curb weight is 2700lbs for the manual and 2778 for the automatic. The AWD's are a bit heavier at 2980lbs.
http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/spec_ ... 12#VIP_TAB" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


What are your goals for this car?

[SeattleJeremy]

I want to expand on the fuel savings.

If you take the Civic's 32mpg (combined) vs the Civic hybrid 44mpg (combined) and if this car is driven 15,000 a year, the savings is $500.
http://fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?acti ... 0&id=31186" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For a 12MPG increase.

If driving 30,000 miles a year it's a more intresting $1000 savings.
2013 Civic "LX Sedan 5-Spd AT" is $19k, and the hybrid Civic is 24k, so even with driving 30,000 miles per year, it's going to take 5 years to make up that cost.

How much is your motor swap going to cost? How much will it increase your fuel mileage? How many miles a year are you driving? Does the savings add up?