I am in the process of accumulating parts to swap a v8 into my 97 a4. The best swap I saw so far was the ahc v8. The fitting of the engine and trains is not really a problem or what I' m concerned about. In new York we still have a pretty strict inspection and my question is there any way to get this car running with a v8 and ECM that will legitimately pass an inspection and keep the check engine light off? When a car is inspected, it gets plugged into the obd port and that vin must match the vehicle. So, if the car will run with a v8 and oem ecu and keep the engine light off, is there a way to program an a4 vin into a v8 computer? Any in put would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Just curious, why would you want a V8 in an A4? How cheap is gas in New York?! :-D

 

here in Missouri, it doesn't matter if the car has a check engine light or not, during a visual inspection, if the motor in the car was never put in it from the factory... ie a v8 in an a4, it will fail


now that being said, you could do a huge v6 or any variation of 4/6 cyl motor you want, as long as it passes readiness... but a v8 is a no no


i'd defiantly check into something like that before doing it, or get it inspected as a 4/6 then swap and be ready to license in a state w/ no inspection

 

Yeah I would double check the laws in your area before investing any more time or money into that project. I believe in VA you can get a car inspected and registered if you use a motor that was offered by that manufacturer during the same time period as your car as long as its 100% complete and passes computer readiness tests.

That is to say, you could swap a 4.7 Hemi into a late model Jeep Wrangler because it was offered by Chrysler in some flavor of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, and get it inspected and run it as a DD. I think it also very much depends on the year of the car.

 

Not going to get a v6 ecu to power a v8. It's not going to know what to do with the extra 2 cylinders

 

Why wouldn't you want a V8 in an A4? Lighter than an A6 and an A8 and the 4.2 will fit in, though it'll be a tad snug.

 

It's been done a few times. Russian did his in his rally car. Has a good thread on AZ somewhere.

Adding a turbo would be easier and probably cheaper. If you can have someone fab you up a pipe tp connect the manifolds and turbo and then a dp, all you then need is a fmu for fueling. This is fine for 5-7psi. Just not for the OP that is screwed either way.

 

I was not planning on using the original ecu. I would run the v8 engine and ecu. My question is, can a 2.8 v6 vin be programmed into a 4.2 v8 computer just for an inspection process and still be able to function as a v8 computer? The fitment, modification, and all else involved with the swap are the easy part for me. I have a complete repair/ fabrication shop but we specialize in older non emissions vehicles where check engine lights and plug in inspections are not a factor. 900 horsepower twin turbo fuel injected big-block in a 70 camaro, no problem. I have just never gotten into this aspect of engine swaps. If it may be too involved, I will look for a 95 or older vehicle to cram a v8 into, I just really like the b5 body-style.

 

I like thus guy. I think here in Toronto, if you do something like that to your car it then falls under the "Hot Rod" category and is exempt from a few emission rules.

 

Don't know how it works in your state but in nj you only have to pass a sniffer test for emissions.. this is relatively new nj used to have crazy strict inspections and when that was the case you could bring your car to a regular mechanic who was registered with the state to do inspections but you had to pay them to inspect it but most places would just slap a sticker on after you paid for the so called "inspection".. another thing I used to do was go to the junkyard with a razor blade and scrape good stickers off cars and stick them on mine.. always worked for me but then again I guess we have much different inspection here..