alternative to six-ing it up..., turbo + waterboxer ??? Options

[dtravni]

hello, 914-ers - i'm sure this is not a new topic - the problem is that i'm new to 914club. anyways, here goes.

my son & i bought a pretty nice 'california car' coupla years ago & we're debating pros/cons of pushing in a 911 6 - not exactly a glide (& not exactly cheap, either). it seems to me that a worthy alternative might be
a 2 (or 2.1) 4 cylinder watercooled Vanagan engine (waterboxer) -
all things considered, a better alternative. in fact, if the aircooled 914 4
could take the thermal loading, adapting a turbo in IT would be even better. i'm of the opinion that the performance would be comparable to a
2.7+ 6, and a whole lot more agreeable in the installation (transmission, motor mounts, cabling, etc). the plumbing (exhaust, intake, & cooling seem to be more straightforward too, compared to the adaptation required for the 6-er).

i'm sure that there are some out there that have considered/done this
installation - i'd be most interested in hearing your advice & tales of joy/woe.

[dmenche914]

My 86 Vanagon with a 2.1 wasserboxer and 175,000 miles is more reliable than ANY 914 I have ever owned (and I had some damn good ones too) Many many miles of pulling the grade upto Tahoe with a trailer in tow. Hydrolic lifters are a joy to behold. The head gasket seal "problem" is a lack of correct maintenance issue. If you fail to change anti-freeze every other year, or use phosphate antifreeze (see owners manual recommendations) then you flirt with problems, stick to the correct antifreeze and change schedual and no problems.

I have heard than many Vanagon owners with bastard subaru engines sometimes switch back to VW power! There are stores that offer performance upgrades, I see 2.4 liters at Go Westy Co. However for many Vanagon owners, they still must put up with smog laws (ie original equipment only thank you) so the ultra high performance market is not there yet, unless you get folks putting wasserboxers in non-smoged cars such as buggies and such.

The wasserboxers were the most refined flat motor sold by VW. They are a big improvement over the air cooled motors. Only big issue is adding a radiator to the 914. I think a wasserboxer 914 would be neat. They have performance potential.

however, they are a relitivly short run engine design, and as stated, most of the vehicles they are in are subject to smog laws, sot he aftermarket is not that big on super performance stuff.