Let's Beat This "Engine Swap" Horse To Death Again
 

Hello Everyone,

I have an '09 tC, runs great, although 3rd gear grinds a little but oh well.

I really like the 2AZ-FE engine, and would love to throw a turbocharger on there and call it done, but the problem with that is I'm looking to move to Cali in a few years and know they have strict smog laws regarding turbos and such.

So.

I did some research and came across Mazda's 2.3 Turbo engine that they have in the mazdaspeed3 and the CX-7. It still is front-wheel drive, and has a 6-speed manual that bolts to it.

With this engine being turbo from the factory, and being a newer year engine than my tC's chassis, that should satisfy a lot of Cali requirements.

My plan is to own a 350z in the future and purpose-build it as a drift/track car, but I would like to retain the tC as a daily driver, and with it's stock 160HP it just doesn't pass people and get me though traffic like I want. (I've got a bit of a lead foot)

Is this engine swap totally asinine? I imagine custom mounts will have to be made, and maybe a bit of tinkering to get a different transmission in the stock location.

Or am I completely missing better options here?

I'm sure it's not impossible but its just not logical to do a swap like that. You are going to need a lot more fabrication work and just engines mounts. I would say stay away from doing an engine swap of any kind and just put a turbo on the 2AZ-FE. Keep all of the stock manifolds and just swap engine back to OEM every couple of years for Emissions. This is what a lot of people do to get around that. Well in my state anyways I'm not sure about Cali. I have heard of rolling smog tests in Cali but I'm not sure if that's ture or not. Also you might be able to get the 2azfe to pass smog with the turbo but I'm not sure on this. I would not waste the time or money trying to do an engine swap that's never been done you are asking for trouble. If you can't do everything yourself like welding modding wiring fabricating and you've got to pay someone to do this I'm sure it would cost over 15k it's just not smart at all. Just put a turbo on the TC and save yourself the headache time and money or sell the Tc and get an STI or Evo or the MazdaSpeed you talked about.

2GR-FE is the most logical swap, but no one has completed it (I've only seen one car where they dropped it in and then disappeared before completion).

Actually, speaking of the 2GR-FE, I've been heavily debating that swap as well, as I do quite like that motor. In my mom's 2011 Avalon it pulls quite nicely, even for a heavier automatic, and I'm sure with a 6-speed and the lighter tC chassis it will pull even harder!

Also I've been thinking maybe about moving to somewhere in Nevada instead of directly in L.A., if most of the stuff I would be doing would be online anyway. I could just travel to L.A. whenever I need to, and I could be outside of the stringent car-mod laws.

Also, the Mazda turbo would be quite more of a hassle than it's worth, I agree. At this point I'm on the fence more just between a turbo for the 2AZ-FE or just a 2GR-FE swap...

I suppose it's more of how do I want to dump away 6-8 thousand dollars, I guess.

The 2AZ-FE would not be worth it.

The 2GR-FE is a natural swap, especially because it has common parts. You can get the drivetrain with the *same* ECU pinout, so it's a literal plug and play install in terms of wiring. There are also several other compatible parts you can reuse. The custom items would be the exhaust (after the header), axles (though it's totally possible you might find some off the shelf that fits), motor mounts, coolant hoses, and air intake. I'm sure I'm missing something else, by those are the most apparent ones.

I also started researching this for my xB but couldn't find a suitable donor vehicle:

google.com/site/paulsxb2/home/2gr-fe-v6-swap

2GR and 2AZ dont share the same bellhousing bolt pattern

you would have to use an E153.

Well yeah, the assumption is that you would swap the engine and transmission as a unit.