i want a 500 horse RB. 2.5 or 2,6?

[ricers1]

starting this to talk to people that have built rb25s to 500+ and people who have built rb26 to 500+
i am not pursusing a racing career. but i love cars. i want an RB, i want 500whp. there is no feasable reason to have either of these wants. i have a ton of fun in my stock e30. but how badass would it be to have a 500hp RB s13
from my research, for the moment it looks like the 2.6 is the best option, stock internals have been proven to hold that power. rb25? not so much. i probably missed it but i dont think stock interanls can handle 500hp.
adding in all the little costs here and there, for each engine. would it better(for my case) to buy a rb25, stroker kit, cams, turbo, etc etc, or would it be better to rebuild a rb26, turbo injectors, etc etc. for the 2.5 a large part of the cost is the stroker kit. thoughts?

[240z4u]

Either one. 500whp isn't a huge deal on either motor in stock internal form provided it's tuned well.

[Carl H]

a 300hp rb in an e30 would beat a 500hp rb in an e30.

why?

all about traction.
either way both will do it, question is how much money do you want to spend to get there.

[ricers1]

I'm sorry. The rb is goin in my s13. I don't need traction so much. The s13 will be used for drift and highway racing. Pretty much it. I have an e30. Stock as my summer dd

[RRRRB]

id try and find a complete rb26 and just rebuild that to OEM standards, throw a good oil pump at it with a collar, arp head studs MLS head gasket... maybe some mild cams... i wish i had gone RB26 when i first started... now im slowly putting rb26 parts onto my 25.

rb25 will do 500whp, the rb26 will take 500 easily and then some

[240z4u]

I wouldn't bother rebuilding either a 25 or 26 frankly. If you are going to rebuild anything, spend the extra money and find an RB30 block to work with. I don't know a ton about the E30 but my experience with bmw is that they make quite hefty torque numbers, which the RB does not generally speaking. The extra displacement will make a big difference.

[Carl H]

^ this is solid advice.

you can source the 25/26 heads pretty easily...30 will get you to your numbers much easier.
i love my 30, the torque is phenomenal.

[ricers1]

i did consider a 30. but where the heck do you find them!!

[Carl H]

you import blocks...i brought two in at the same time.
my motor has a sister engine in St. Lucia.

[240z4u]

That's the real problem. They aren't exactly plentiful in the US. If my 25 spits a rod out of the block I will either pull the swap completely or buck up for that 30 block. You may find someone who has one, but be careful and make sure to deal with someone who doesn't seem flaky. I don't think they had the 30 in japan, so the motor importers don't really seem to have them as far as I know.

Evan

[Carl H]

the old r31 had the rb30 as an optional engine...very rare to find tho.

[ricers1]

that would be awesome to have an rb30, but if im having trouble finding a used block, what happens when i break something. how long will the car be out of commision. lol i plan on beating the living s*** out of this car, and when i break something i want to buy the parts the next day and fix it!
basically if everyone is saying i can get 500whp out of rb25 stock bottom end, im fine with that. no sence in spending more money for the same result. i plan on breaking this car. alot. once built i will be ready to drive this car off a cliff. metaphorcally speaking.

[240z4u]

You can't go to the auto parts store to get parts for any RB series motor. Keep that in mind. A properly built rb30det will live forever at 500whp IMO. Realistically though, I bet you want more power in the future. If you are going to drop a stock shortblock in, have at it but if you are going to build something there is no choice but to use a 3.0 liter block IMO. If you do use a stock motor, use head studs and a new OEM gasket (NOT METAL). Odds are you will bust the ringlands before the headgasket goes.

My car has lived in the 450whp area for a LONG time. Granted I don't abuse mine all that much but I am not worried about tuning for max power on E85 this spring either. There are a lot of guys making really good numbers on a stock shortblock.

[ricers1]

if i do go rb30, where do i find a short block, and where do i find rebuild parts etc etc. like is there another shop other then raw brokerage that has parts? not that i dont think they are awesome. JW

[240z4u]

Do some searching, this has been covered build-wise.

Motors usually come from Australia. It would be wise if you could front the cash to get a few and resell them once they are here.

[RRRRB]

id like to get an rb30 block myself, but wasnt able to find one..

[Carl H]

is what you probably want...
rb motors are fantastic but they're definitely for people who like to tinker and like a challenge.
if you want easy power with parts store availability then a 2j is hard to beat.

[240z4u]

is what you probably want...
rb motors are fantastic but they're definitely for people who like to tinker and like a challenge.
if you want easy power with parts store availability then a 2j is hard to beat.

I actually really agree here. I wouldn't do an RB30 swap if I didn't already have all the other supporting parts. Procharged LSX would be my first choice now.