Holden Ecotec V6 manifold test 
Ecotec V6 manifold development
Extensive development and testing over the part 15 months has finally yeilded a great bolt on for Ecotec V6 owners. Fitted to an 8.2:1 compression 4.2 litre Ecotec stroker engine on our engine dyno the facts speak for themselves. With peak power of 241 BHP @5500 rpm with stock intake and throttle body the new COME intake plenum with billet dual 58mm throttle bodies produced 266 BHP @5500 rpm. The best part however was something we were really looking for and that was the awesome torque curve improvement. At 2750 rpm the stock setup made 238 ft.lbs the COME intake had 264 ft.lbs Peak torque for both occurred at 4250 rpm, 260ft.lbs for the stock intake versus 278 ft.lbs for the COME intake.
Note, the same stock MAF was fitted for both tests. Tests were conducted within one hour of one another and the atmospheric conditions remained reasonably similar with conditions becoming worse rather than better as the day proceeded. Optimum software tuning was applied to both setups and as we expected with the more efficient new manifold, we cut back on the fuel curve to maximise results. Incidentally, stock VS Ecotec #973 injectors were being employed in this baseline test and had plenty more room before running out of fuel flow needs for this engine. This is the same trend we experience with our V8 Twin Throttle Body intake and the results for that piece are well documented.
The Ecotec manifold we have developed will really open up the Ecotec performance potential for all applications including normally aspirated or boost setups. The best part of course is the fact that our intake plenum is a simple bolt on. It bolts on in place of the original plenum on top of the stock intake runner base. The original base is a very effective peice and can easily be ported for maximum effort so there was no point replacing the "good" factory base. The problem all along has been the plenum and throttle body assembly. In fact, bolting one of these new Twin Throttle Body plenums on even a stock Ecotec 3.8 will yeild instant significant power and torque gains. Add a little cam and software upgrade and 50 bhp gains will be easily achieved.
We still have a few small items to finalise in the design, primarily an intake snorkel setup, correct linkage on the throttle body to mate with production accelerator cables, some detailed changes to allow additional vacuum ports and finally an alternative PCV valve system which will be more desireable for strokers or boost setups. Basically, the hard work is done and we expect to have the new manifolds available for sale within the next 6 weeks or so. Final price has not been determined yet. We are hoping to offer the manifold plenum, billet throttle body and intake snorkel for around $1700.00 If a price close to this is finally feasible, this bolt on is the biggest Ecotec power versus cost bargain you will ever find. More importantly it will move this engine into a realm not seen before. The manifold will raise the bar for much greater power outputs for the Ecotec V6 no matter if it is built as a stroker, stock 3.8, boost, N2O or normally aspirated.
As with our Holden V8 engine packages, we will be offering fully built 4.2 stroker engines already fitted with our new intake as changeover engine packages or available as outright buys in the "crate" engine form so common today. There is really no reason now that our typical 220kw Ecotec 4.2 litre V6 cannot now be available as a 230-240kw engine package in normally aspirated form. We envisage these engines to be sold exchange for around $10,000, fully dyno run in and optimised including the new manifold.
1:50:21 PM 
|
