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Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr
Not so sure about the greater fuel efficiency, since usually a smaller engine at a much higher RPM may end up consuming the same amount of fuel. But it's cool to hear a Honda CBX 1050 with its straight-6 sounding like a Formula One car...
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I was thinking a BMW K1600 either with some custom transmission gears, or some kind of custom attachment to a car gearbox. It's a relatively relaxed bike engine that should be efficient at low rpm, but you can probably still unlock 30hp from the top end. That bike has a GVWR of 1189lbs so maybe putting it a Lotus that comes in at 1700 with the driver isn't too much of a stretch, it's got dry sump lubrication and has a respectable amount of power even by car engine standards.
The 6th gear on that bike is geared like a car, but the 1st gear is going to be a bit too tall to launch even a 1500lb car with, but I can add some "hybrid drive" to fix that (e.g. starter motor on a normal RWD diff) and handle reverse at the same time. Alternatively, I could have a shorter 1st gear made, or a taller 6th gear with a shorter final drive (probably the taller 6th, I feel like it's not a good idea to increase the torque going through a motorcycle trans).
I feel like it has to be possible to connect the transmission input shaft (which is attached to the wet clutch) to a car transmission. The bell housing would be tossed out, use a spline adapter to connect the two shafts maybe with some cutting, and then an adapter plate can be used to connect the transmission to the engine block casting. An oil seal would have to be added to the shaft so the engine oil doesn't pour out from the clutch area.
The whole shaft drive mechanism is another headache. Campagna T-Rexes use the same engine with some custom chain drive conversion, which theoretically could be borrowed and converted to a driveshaft. The engine is so tiny it will fit in any orientation in any car more or less.