A friend of mine has one of these sitting in the back of his new GSX. I have heard different reviews of the SBR motors, do you think he should use it?? He is also thinking about dropping in a 2.4L, do you think that would be any better?

Please help him decide what he should do to get the car running again.

So is it in the car already? Or he just has one in his possesion? Does the motor have any known problems? Overall, SBR is definitly a huge DSM vendor, and so they will certaintly have some complaints every now and then. I guess it also depends on how much power he is planning on running. If he wants to make sure he won't blow an engine (although there is no such thing as sure with DSM's), then he could certaintly build up a 2.4 himself...

Either will be great if done correctly but does he have the resources to build a 4G64 on hiw own? Is the SBR bottom end pre-assembled? If yes then alot of headaches get thrown out the window if you get my drift.

Yes he already has the bottom end pre-assembled from SBR. His 2.0L is shot and he has a performance company in town willing to build him a 2.4L and install for $3K.

My opinion on stroked motors is too much torque for the AWD unless it's a drag car and the driveline is built up as well to handle the added stress. A properly built and tuned 2.0 4G63 is plenty of power for most anybody's street car and is also plenty of torque already for the AWD. I would save the extra money spent for a stroker and build the 2.0 with a FP 3052 or 3065 ball bearing turbo.

The SBR motor is not a stroker, it is just a 2.0L shortblock.

Originally posted by FlyinEsi
The SBR motor is not a stroker, it is just a 2.0L shortblock.

Crap, my bad. I haven't followed SBR too much. Guess I shoulda researched before assuming.
After checking the SBR website and never hearing much bad publicity about them, I'd say put that SBR block in there.

I rode in a friend's 2.4L 4G64 GSX this weekend and it was awesome. The added torque really helps spool the turbo and get the car moving off boost.

He built the engine himself with a '91 Expo block and 4G63 head. He has built many many 4G63s and his opinion is not to trust SBR's machine work as he has first hand experience working on a few cars that have had SBR engines installed. I would tend to agree with him. I would rather know who exactly is doing the machining of my engines rather than buying them pre-packaged over the internet.

Originally posted by Jeff_99gs
I rode in a friend's 2.4L 4G64 GSX this weekend and it was awesome. The added torque really helps spool the turbo and get the car moving off boost. He built the engine himself with a '91 Expo block and 4G63 head. He has built many many 4G63s and his opinion is not to trust SBR's machine work as he has first hand experience working on a few cars that have had SBR engines installed. I would tend to agree with him. I would rather know who exactly is doing the machining of my engines rather than buying them pre-packaged over the internet.

I agree 100% with the pre-package observation. My initial thought was that he has that SBR block in hand, but if your friend has personal experience with their work then I'd trust that opinion.

so I see it this way, he already has it, why not use it? Granted, it could work well or it won't. Whats he going to do with it if he doesn't install it? Sell it? Well, then if it's bad, he has to deal with the person he sold it to and he'll be out money either way.
From what I've heard, SBR is not good with the warranty on their motors. There's always an excuse as to why something went wrong and the usually blame it on the person who owns the car.
If I were to buy a pre-assembled block, it wouldn't be from anyone other than Shep...

Here ya go read this thread on rmdsm.org. This guy, Seth, Has had 3 motors from SBR and all messed up. I found the 2nd one they screwed up and he mentions the first one the screwed up in the thread. Im still looking for the 3rd one cause he got the 3rd motor from them and they denied any warrenty with the 3rd motor. He tore it down and check everything to make sure it was good. It had a standard size crank and .020 over rod bearings in it. If he hadnt torn it down it would of been instant spun bearings and also possibly ruined the forged rods. Considering one person getting 3 motors from them all with something screwed up, I would stay away from their short blocks. http://www.rmdsm.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2810

EDIT: Id like to add I would by parts from them, but nothing they assembly before being sold.