I have Canadian cdi engine, drivetrain, SAM, ECU, wiring harness. Anyone ever hear of a successful swap of a cdi into the pretty little model 452 Roadster??
I understand the Roadster is built on a stretched ForTwo chassis, and shares many of the ForTwo mechanical/electrical components.
Yes, engine is out of a Canadian 450 cdi model and yes I think the platforms are essentially the same. My concern of course is the programming (if needed). Swapping the parts out is straightforward..........but making it run properly, that of course is the trick.
Anyone have a MB Star machine for sale? Or a lead on one?
Talk to Leroy about Star machines. He can advise you on the pitfalls. Your name is familiar. I thought you might be smartsellerrob on Ebay but you are in NM and he is in Pennsylvania. You both are dealing in CDI's.
I have Canadian cdi engine, drivetrain, SAM, ECU, wiring harness. Anyone ever hear of a successful swap of a cdi into the pretty little model 452 Roadster??
The roadster weighs 130 pounds more than the fortwo. So putting a 40 HP engine into a roadster chassis would be a bizarre project. The fortwo cdi is dog slow to begin with! Far better would be to use an original roadster engine, with either 82 or 101 HP. Those original engines are superficially similar to the G&K smart 450 gas engines, which of course G&K did certify for the USA.
Yea, I am after the unbelievable fuel economy that only the cdi can provide. I drive a cdi now (commute at least 105 miles per business day) and yes the performance is modest......but adequate......for me anyway. We have some pretty good elevations here and the cdi scoots right up them. The cdi has noticeably more torque and maintains a reasonable road speed in sixth gear, hills or no hills.
The Roadster 452 model is soooooo pretty, combine that with the fuel efficiency of the cdi engine and wow I think that would be a very superior combination. True........ slow but getting there is also half the fun! The 450 model certainly won't win any beauty contests!
Anyway that is my plan. My Roadster 452 Champagne remix will hopefully get my Canadian cdi diesel engine implant. And then I will have a drop dead pretty daily driver that gets crazy fuel economy.
Aside from weighing more, the roadster is less aerodynamic than the fortwo 450. The Cd of the roadster is 0.41 and the 450 is 0.37. However, the roadster has slightly less frontal area. That body would be working the engine really hard!
The roadster-coupe had a better aero rating, 0.39 IIRC.
You would need to design a new exhaust or at least heavily modify the regular one. You would need to find room for a fuel cooler, which on the fortwo cdi, sits under the passenger seat. The roadster is too low to have room there for that. w/o a fuel cooler, the injection system would suffer and eventually fail prematurely.
It would be no problem to put the CDI in the Roadster. If you use the Roadster fuel tank you would not have to put the fuel cooler in the car. The 2009 smart diesels have the bigger fuel tank and they did away with the fuel cooler. You would also need to change the fuel pump and modify it to fit into the gas tank. Use the 4X2 diesel wiring harness minis the Canadian add on stuff. The Roadster will work if you take out the catalytic converter inside of the muffler. Now the dash could be a different story as with the air bags and anti lock brakes. The problem is the VIN numbers on all the parts have to match to keep the check engine lights from coming on. It can be done if you use new parts and then program them to match the SAM and ECU VIN numbers.
Thanks Gentlemen for your valuable insights and opinions. In my experience, any engine swap can be done and is just a lot of hard work. (That plus sufficient money and dogged determination of course).
I have seen some amazing conversions come out of the least likely backyard garages. Ever been to India and witnessed what those self-taught, but extremely talented and creative folks do there with Diesel conversions? They make things happen!
Most likely no. US border customs usually are not fond of Roadsters. I reckon the few that have leaked through were cars that overstayed their visas or brought over by members of the military and again, overstayed their visas.
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