Aside from the cache, why a six over a four with same h.p.? Smoothness?, 1970-1976 914-4, 914-6 Options

[unpolire]

I have never driven a stock original 2.0 914-6. I have driven properly converted 914s with 2.7/3.0 transplants and my own stock 1.7Ls. Aside from the cache of a six in back, if you can have 200-250 h.p. from a four, why convert to a six? Is there a noticeable difference in torque and smoothness over a properly modified four? Can you feel it on the road? A serious question seeking the definitive answer that could save $10-20K later. Let's hear from both camps, pluses and minuses.

[Jake Raby]

You can purchase one of Jake Raby's high horsepower engines that exhibit longevity, but you're going to be into it $11K probably.

Closer to 12-13K in reality these days.. I just updated all the pricing, dyno graphs and etc for my 3 standardized 914 engines a few weeks ago. You can see all of these here
Aircooled Technology 914 Engine Offerings

Here is a good comparison that one of my engine purchasers came up with who was trying to understand exactly what the differences were in stock TIV power and my two engines two most popular 914 engines was and he threw in stock /6 power as well. He ended up purchasing and we'll be testing his engine in two weeks.
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net-1095-1333480298.1.jpg)

I have heard good things about Jakes motors, but I have not heard from anyone that has had one with over 100k miles on it.

You will find a few on my forums.. The majority of my purchasers for turnkey engines are not the social media/ forum type so actual buyers that post are few and far between. If you want to talk to a buyer, just email us and we'll give you a list of folks that are willing to share their experiences with you.
Here is a link with a full post-mortem of a Raby engine with 160,000 miles and 8 solid years of hell under its belt. It includes pics and the story and the entire history of this engine can be searched at the STF from the day that I first dyno tuned it.
160,000 Mile Raby Engine

he's a super nice guy who will walk you thru his shop personally & spend time with you, which is no longer an option with Raby due to their "insurance concerns" last I heard.

Not true. I have since added two more buildings to our compound to include one area for admin and reception. I welcome any serious engine purchaser (by appointment, set up one week prior to arrival) who wants to meet us and see how we create our engines to come spend a few hours with us for a taste of what its like at Aircooled Heaven. I will I am happy to take anyone through the facilities and will show you every part of each building as long as work currently isn't underway in that room/ area. I have potential purchasers from all over the country and world come see us, the farthest to date flew from Australia and left with his name on three engines. Heck, we even teach classes here now and have our own training area, so we certainly allow visitors, but only by appointment or when we have the RAT Reunion every couple of years.. We are a technology company; not a tour company and our work can't get done if we let anyone walk into the door at random~

The /4 built our way isn't for everyone and our way of doing things isn't either. We have provided engines to a certain group of discerning purchasers for the past 15 years and have created an engine program that has met the expectations of those purchasers. The /6 and /4 can't be compared on any level.

Its all expensive and its supposed to be.

This post has been edited by Jake Raby: Apr 3 2012, 01:16 PM