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Thu May 09, 2013 10:22 am

Lookin to do the transplant in my car what is the le5 motor someone told me that's the motor to get if u can . Why is this or what other 2.4 do u guys suggest

Thu May 09, 2013 10:36 am

I've seen a lot of these motor run in the desert and I'm not impressed I'll keep my honda

Thu May 09, 2013 10:36 am

I've seen a lot of these motor run in the desert and I'm not impressed I'll keep my honda

Thu May 09, 2013 10:55 am

I'm not 100% sure, but I bet he reason so many suggest the 2.4 ecotec is because there's a sealed version that's legal in a lot of the race series.

The nice thing about a sealed engine is it's relatively affordable for a race engine.

Please note that no race engine is actually affordable, we just convince ourselves that they are.

Fri May 10, 2013 9:55 am

Pro's:
2.4 makes about 30hp/tq more than the 2.2.
2.4 reportedly has stronger internals that are capable of holding up to 400ish HP stock.
2.4 is a newer motor, so a junkyard buy will have lower mileage.

Con's:
2.4 I believe all come with throttle by wire. You either need to convert to a cable throttle body (not sure what the ECM needs for that), or buy an electronic throttle pedal for your buggy.

SUPPOSEDLY, you can buy a junkyard 2.4, send it to an approved builder, who for $3-400 will inspect your motor and seal it. This is 3rd hand from a very reliable person who is great friends with a guy who did this for his race buggy.

And yes, the Honda will make more HP, but it's generally a much more expensive swap. The motors are expensive because they are in demand from the Honda crowd, you need to buy hardware to tune the ECM, etc.

I don't race, but a stock 2.2 Ecotec is PLENTY to kill all of the occupants in my friends 4 seat trail buggy.

Sat May 11, 2013 3:51 pm

I'll put my 2.2 up against yer Honda :lol:

Sat May 11, 2013 5:05 pm

Mr. Unpopular wrote: Pro's:
2.4 makes about 30hp/tq more than the 2.2.
2.4 reportedly has stronger internals that are capable of holding up to 400ish HP stock.
2.4 is a newer motor, so a junkyard buy will have lower mileage.

Con's:
2.4 I believe all come with throttle by wire. You either need to convert to a cable throttle body (not sure what the ECM needs for that), or buy an electronic throttle pedal for your buggy.

SUPPOSEDLY, you can buy a junkyard 2.4, send it to an approved builder, who for $3-400 will inspect your motor and seal it. This is 3rd hand from a very reliable person who is great friends with a guy who did this for his race buggy.

And yes, the Honda will make more HP, but it's generally a much more expensive swap. The motors are expensive because they are in demand from the Honda crowd, you need to buy hardware to tune the ECM, etc.

I don't race, but a stock 2.2 Ecotec is PLENTY to kill all of the occupants in my friends 4 seat trail buggy.

The 2.4 will only run using MEFI 5 programming... this is because the newer Eco's utilize the 58x reluctor instead of the 7x found on older Eco's... this in addition to individual "cop" ignition system on the newer vs wasted spark on the older... these issues make it impossible to run stand alone without using the MEFI 5 Engine Management System even if you use a cable throttle body and adapter plate.

This MEFI 5 system is $1500.00 bucks plus the price of a good tuner to sort it all out.

Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:41 am

Im running a LE5 in our buggy, with E37 ecu and stock pedal. There is no need for aftermarket ecu, the factory E37 controller from GM works very well. There are a few settings that need to be adjusted, but i like it more than the 2.2 that was in there (for a month).