Has this ever been considered, how hard would it be, and what is the modding potential?

 

You can mod your car to have less power than it does now. Just pull off half your plug wires for the same effect!

 

I'm pretty sure that the 230K has more modding potential that the 320 N/A.

 

Well when you look at what you'd have to do to get that engine to work in this car vs what you can do to the 320 motor, it becomes very clear that losing displacement and cylinders to add a turbo to get you back to where you were, makes little sense. And to play the back side of that, even if you built that motor for 500hp, the time and money you'd have into it, you'd have been better off going a different route anyways. Now if you asked about throwing in a previous gen straight 6 3.2L, that could make sense if only the thing would fit in our engine bay but no dice there as it's 3 inches too short.

 

it has to be cheaper than a srt6. i just cant stand the 320 engine. it is the weakest most unmoddable piece of garbage i have ever laid my eyes on. I read somewhere the modded 230s were puttin out close to 400. Well, whatever i decide to do, tomorrow im taking my 320 out and dropping it off a cliff

 

Isn't this like a youngster arguing with Carrol Shelby, telling him he should swap-out that little 260/289 V8 in his Cobra for a 4 cyl out of a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe?

Tech, if yanking out your 3.2 and putting in a 400 H.P. Merc. 4 cyl. is what it takes to get you excited, then good luck.
But Rudy is one of the top 3 guys I'd listen to when it comes to engine swaps on this forum. If he says it's a waste of time, then you can take that to the bank.

 

If you where looking for a car with a lot of modding potential then you picked the wrong car. I would listen to Rudy cause he has done plenty of engine swaps in these cars. I know a turbo would be cool and all but it's not worth the money you will be paying. I believe a turbo on these cars is possible but not unless you have lots of money and a bunch of people who really know what they are doing. Just throw a cold air intake, bigger throttle body, and maybe a 40 shot and maybe that will tickle your fancy if you want more power.... then just enjoy the car. I think these cars have plenty of power in their stock form and I have an N/A coupe.

 

Rudy's spot on. Don't waste your time with the 2.3K engine. Have you already done everything you can to the 3.2NA? If not, a few breathing mods can go a long way. If your 3.2NA is still too slow, get an SRT6.

All of the above options would be vastly cheaper than trying to swap in a 2.3K and tuning it up to what the 3.2NA has for power.

 

You need a different car.

 

This is jut to hard to get ones head around. The cheaper route, I think would be to sell your N/A and buy an SRT. That is if you are attached to the Crossfire body style.

If not, then sell your Crossfire and buy something else that has what it is you're looking for.

I can find no fault with the 320 engine, it'll pop off tall 14 second quarter miles and run much faster than you'll ever catch me driving. All this and it still gets a constant mid 21 MPG. Above all the Crossfire has character and you don't see many cars these days that have character.

 

That's absolutely terrible mileage for the performance and power. Both the Z4 coupe and 350z get better mileage than the crossfire with better power and performance.

To the OP- If you want a something that's got some real get-up-and-go, I would listen to the others and get an SRT6 or another car with relation to your intended swap idea. That blown 4-cyl Benz motor is a turd. I'd rather swap in a VW/audi 2.0t with a big turbo kit from APR, if you felt the need to go with a 4-cyl FI motor (despite all the custom stuff that would need to be done). Though, in my mind if I was doing a swap on a crossfire, I'd do it right or not at all. I'd fit the burliest M-B V8 I could afford in the crossfire. THAT would be a motor option worthy of the design of the car! I know there is at least one of member here that has done this.

 

For the sake of conversation, what would have to be done to get that engine working in a Crossfire? Maybe I just want better gas mileage now.

 

Trade your car for a Corolla, or a Prius, or a Smart car then.
The car is too heavy for a 4 cylinder engine (turbo or otherwise) to push around, and get decent gas mileage.

Why do you keep doing this?

Either sell your car, and buy the cars you really want, or just live with what you have.

It is a Mercedes car, underneath all those Chrysler badges.
It is not a Neon.
It was designed to prevent people from messing with the computers easily in order to muck up the works of the car.
If the computer detects that something is out of normal spec range, it throws a code, and shifts into limp home mode, instantly, so that the driver doesn't damage the car.

All of this would be understandable to you if you would listen to what we tell you, and have told you over the longest period of time.

This is not the car for you if you want to have big hp, and turbocharged thrust.

Please give up on ruining this car.

Your attitude makes me wonder if anyone on the forum has actually ever met you, and if you are just yet another internet troll running around loose, stirring up crap to get your jollies.

BC.

 

While I think I understand what you are saying, your comments don't at all address his questions about the swap. I don't understand all the hate here. Obviously the kid bought the wrong car. It happens to the best of us on occassion.

Your comments don't really make much sense either though--at least as I read them. The crossfire weighs 3000-3100 lbs (depending on the source) and yet, that's the same weight as most hot hatch cars that have the same or more power from a 4-cyl turbo. If we get away a bit from compact cars, into even bigger vehicles, you have the Hyundai Sonata which has a 2.0L 4-cyl naturally aspirated motor with 200hp, gets awesome mileage, and is quick enough for the street--or you can hit up the turbo model which is just as quick as a crossfire in a straight line and absolutely destroys the crossfire in mileage. Did I mention that the Sonata weighs more than the Crossfire. Or what about the Audi A4 Quattro that weighs a hell of a lot more than the Crossfire, but has a 2,0t motor and runs as quickly to 60 or the quarter mile as the crossfire? And it gets 21 mpg CITY. And let's not talk about the Mitsu Evolution which gets similar mileage (a smidge worse) as the crossfire, but weighs more and is in a whole different world of performance. I could keep doing this all day, but I think you get the point.

I also don't really understand your correlation between troll status and meeting people on the forum. I've never met anyone here (though I have done business with people on this forum), but I don't consider myself a troll. I speak the truth about the car, IMO.

Trying to get better mileage out of the crossfire is a wonderful idea, but throwing in a horrible 4-cyl is going to make a less-than-optimal situation far, far worse.

 

Best way to get rid of the 320 POS engine is to buy sumtin' else.

Chevy Cobalts and Mustangs are much easier to mod. Get one of them and dump your poor Crossie on somebody who likes the C32.

And then you won't have a guy like Rudy giving you good advice.

roadster with a stick

 

One has to understand the automotive period in which this car was designed / built, the intended demographic and the overall intentions of the vehicle.

Just topping 200hp for sport/sporty cars was the norm in the early 2000's i.e. Eclipse GT, Integra, Mazda 6 Sport etc. Heck, even the 4rth gen Mustang was only 260hp from a v8. The 200 range allows for spirited driving without higher insurance premiums, along with a civilized behavior which makes for a drama free ride through the country side.
Mitsubishi admittedly addressed the somewhat high weight of the Eclipse GT by explaining that the demographic for that car preferred a more solid ride feel.

As we all know, the Crossfire is a classic designed automobile that carries an air of sophisticated performance, never intended for the drag strip or race track (NA that is) per se, but rather to instill a sense of bygone character, invigorating performance and solid Teutonic engineering.

Comparing it to new high performance cars, or boy racers does not do the Crossfire justice.

My 2cents.

 

Thank you alleuro. Will the rest of you leave my reasons alone, will anybody please just tell me more about the swap. I will never get a V8 because they are heavy and overpriced. Rudy gets 20K to put in a V8. TVT quoted me 1200-1600, but theyre too far away. A 230 K engine can be bought for 1300 and modded to have more power than the 320 could ever hope to be modded to.

 

Sorry but that is ridiculous. If you think a shop can do it for less than 10k you're nuts. There is 40-50 hours of wiring and other misc things that need to be done on these cars and you're talking about going from one gen ECU to another. That means everything has to be re-pinned and you have to pour over schematics and diagrams to determine where all the wires go because there is no conversion for dummies book at your local library. You know how long it takes to put new ends on 100+ wires and then make sure they all end up in the right place? I hate telling people that it can't be done because anything can happen if you have the time, money and patience but you're lacking two of the three prerequisites. Best advice I can give you is take your car and trade it in for something that better fits your needs. I'm sorry to say this as I wouldn't want anyone to get rid of these awesome little cars but at some point, you have to realize that this might not be the platform for you to do your modding on.

 

320 motor can be built for performance N/A. Cams, higher compression, Headers(when done properly), tuned length intake manifolds,dual throttlebody,or even independant throttlebodies with the right lenght velocity stacks. That alone would get you past stock srt-6 levels... and make for a fun road car.

Remember this is a motor like any other and can be built for performance.

 

What is harder and what would you charge more for? a v8 or an I4 conversion. And I sure do like the sound of this. YouTube - SLK intake & exhaust