Reviving this thread after a while....
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO Not a fan of engine swaps in India. For every 1 positive story I hear, there are 25 bad ones. The reliability & quality is just not there. I'd agree with 2000rpm that it's better to upgrade to a more powerful car. Factory horses are factory horses . Factory fit is factory fit .
@ Arka: Would strongly recommend this thread, read it post by post - Brio with 1.5L engine swap. |
You probably meant in broader sense at engine level, but we have learnt in many cases where factory fit required DIY improvement, most recent example being Thar leaking roof and the other guy who has his 520d engine torn apart with nowhere to go in other thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by frankmehta Attachment 1535343
@GTO already had naughty thoughts in his mind when he reviewed the Mobilio.
AEROHIT's post in my Initial Ownership Thread and this statement by GTO sparked the insect in me to swap engines! |
That was back in 2015 i think.
By no means I am an expert. I had been following vtec portals since late 90s, and when Honda released 1.2 Brio/Jazz here along with 1.5 engines, without even doing any research, I knew swap was inevitable. Many curious and inquisitive folks who spent life time outside in markets dominated with Japanese cars have this thing in their head - "
the mod culture". Because of this reason I hardly get excited over other brands entering local market, be it VAG or Kia. Point is simple - as an individual I like to tinker with things that I grew up with, and these Jap cars is what I grew up with which gives me sense of satisfaction.
I couldnt do this swap years earlier because I could not find the engine in the first place, neither had urgency to do it. Finally, during lockdown, sometime in June 2020 I had some free time, I found a seller online, with a new engine from BR-V with 6MT and a good price.
Few bugs had to be resolved - sensor swaps, starter issues, lean codes, and lastly, a DIY valve adjust (i always do valve adjust myself, no matter how competent the shop, as it requires patience that a shop may not have). Of course, if i were to do this swap again on a Brio or Jazz, it will be easy and matter of few hours due to lessons learnt (not that easy, but easy, there are few nitty-gritty one has to be aware of)
Old engine: L12B (35000 km)
New engine: L15Z1 (About 1000 km)
Car Weight: 900 kg
Transmission: Existing 5MT (6MT not yet swapped)
Swap time: Done in record 1 day
ECU: Bosch
Total expense: Less than 1 lakh
Priceless: Sense of satisfaction and smile on your face
No one can tell there was swap done on this car. There is no vibration, no issues with fit/finish, and no reliability issue. In fact, i vaguely remember swap was one of the reason I bought Brio in the first place back in Dec 2015 --
LINK (Honda Brio Vs Hyundai i10)
For me, the whole point of this swap was to improve driveability, not to race. However, when required, I can keep up or pass most vehicles with ease - just stay in powerband. Its not a monster by any means and that is a good thing. Fyi: Ladies and Boys in Thailand are able to pull 0-100 in less than 8 seconds without Turbo. In the city, I now often just 'coast' in 3rd gear most of the time as it doesnt lug as it use to. Similarly, on highway, since the rms are already high, it is easy to jump from 60 to 80 or 80 to 100.
Will keep this car for as long as possible, even if I buy another larger vehicle. To me this is like a little 2 door coupe now, efficient and simple engineering, easy to work on, and as I mentioned above - I understand Japs/Honda better compared to other brands.
Even though Brio is discontinued, spare parts are easy to procure, further, discontinuation makes this car more unique than it already was.
Next step - Figuring out a way to install 6MT sometime in future. Before that I need to understand if ratios of petrol BRV are worth swapping.