What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

ECi Titan IO-370 Stroker in my -6 is amazing!

S

Speedy1

I'm New Here
Just wanted to share my great experience with an engine upgrade in my RV-6. in January my IO-320 (1880 hrs, 10:1 pistons, approximately 170 HP) started running rough. after much troubleshooting i discovered the intake cam lobe on the rear cylinders was halfway gone and the metal had damaged most of the internals. Rather than rebuild it, the perfect solution was to install a new, factory built and tested Titan IO-370 Stroker (rated at 205 HP!). It's available with vertical or cold air horizontal induction, but I went with vertical in order to reuse my cowling with the intake scoop. Pmags replaced the original dual Electroair ignition, and they are ridiculously easy to install and time. no coil packs, control boxes, or magnetic pickups to install, and they can be rotated to any convenient position then timed by blowing into the MAP sensor tube. The new engine/prop combination didn't add much weight either. The original empty weight on my -6 was 1,090 lbs. with a standard 72" Hartzell prop, and it's currently 1,124 lbs. with the IO-370 and a 74" Hartzell blended airfoil prop.

The increase in performance is the amazing thing, and it flies like a completely different airplane! At full throttle, full rich, 2700 RPM at 3000' I see 189 KIAS, burning 15.5 GPH. Now that the rings have seated and the CHTs have stabilized I will be able to get some more detailed data to pass along.

Thanks, ECi, I've got that big RV grin all over again!

Danny "Speedy" Kight
 
Welcome to VAF!

Danny, welcome to the good ship VAF:D

Good to hear that your new engine is performing well, there are going to be a lot of folks interested in following your progress with wringing it out.
 
Thanks, Mike. So far the only real squawk is a slight oil leak somewhere from the rear of the engine. (This weekend's project). I also plan to put a larger (11row) oil cooler on it soon. I have a 7 row Positech now, and it maintains 200 deg. F but its still 75 deg. outside. Running hard in August will be too much for it to keep up.
 
Thanks for the update Speedy! I know that Leggs, and Widget are waiting impatiently (!) for their ECI engines.
For some of those that dont fly aerobatics with Team AeroDynamix, they may be interested in cruise speeds, and fuel flow. When you get that data, please share it with guys and gals. Maybe we can get the others to do the same, so potential ECI customers can see the difference between the several engine packages that ECI offers.
(Is it true the Kahuna wants a IO720 to be able to keep up with you?)!
Tom
 
Here is Speedy giving his new engine a big hug. He had a couple thousand hours on his 320, and it was a pretty good engine combo on this airframe for many years. He was mostly not keeping up on cross countries at altitude, and as the team went vertical, the horses really started to show their need.

I had the opportunity to fly off the first few hours of this install. My first ECI Titan Stroker time. Very smooth, easy start, and the power to weight to reliability just can not be beat on any other engine from a factory. To have 205 horse, on a 1120lb airframe, is something. Plus that 1120 includes his smoke system, inverted, and other goodies. Impressive indeed.
hug.jpg
 
Speedy1 said:
Just wanted to share my great experience with an engine upgrade in my RV-6. in January my IO-320 (1880 hrs, 10:1 pistons, approximately 170 HP) started running rough. after much troubleshooting i discovered the intake cam lobe on the rear cylinders was halfway gone and the metal had damaged most of the internals. Rather than rebuild it, the perfect solution was to install a new, factory built and tested Titan IO-370 Stroker (rated at 205 HP!). It's available with vertical or cold air horizontal induction, but I went with vertical in order to reuse my cowling with the intake scoop. Pmags replaced the original dual Electroair ignition, and they are ridiculously easy to install and time. no coil packs, control boxes, or magnetic pickups to install, and they can be rotated to any convenient position then timed by blowing into the MAP sensor tube. The new engine/prop combination didn't add much weight either. The original empty weight on my -6 was 1,090 lbs. with a standard 72" Hartzell prop, and it's currently 1,124 lbs. with the IO-370 and a 74" Hartzell blended airfoil prop.

The increase in performance is the amazing thing, and it flies like a completely different airplane! At full throttle, full rich, 2700 RPM at 3000' I see 189 KIAS, burning 15.5 GPH. Now that the rings have seated and the CHTs have stabilized I will be able to get some more detailed data to pass along.

Thanks, ECi, I've got that big RV grin all over again!

Danny "Speedy" Kight
Click to expand...

Nice! Jealous! Were you flying that engine last weekend doing that formation work?
 
Fly it in the AirVenture Cup 2013

The race to Oshkosh this year is from Mt. Vernon, Illinois. You would be in the RV Gold Class (360 is the upper limit of RV Blue) and I suspect you would be very competitive. there has never been a formation entry before - maybe you could arrange to take off in sequence an join up to the north ... NO BAD IDEA. Glad you are happy with the engine. What drew you to the ECi?

Bob Axsom
 
Walkman, yes I was flying at the formation clinic with the IOX-370 Stroker. That's why I was able to run away after clearing you off on the way home!

Bob, I'll have to see if I can fit the race into my schedule. It sounds like a lot of fun. ECi is a proud sponsor of Team AeroDynamix, so while there was some financial incentive for me to choose a Titan engine, we are very selective about the companies we partner with, and ECi builds a state of the art engine. The power to weight ratio of the IOX-370 makes it perfect for my RV-6, and I still can't get over how powerful and smooth it is!

Danny "Speedy" Kight
 
Well, Len, as a matter of fact they do! If you really want to peel the paint off your airframe you should check out ECi's IOX-409. It's got the same dimensions as the 360/370 and it's rated at 230 HP. Just what you need to overcome all the extra drag from that nose wheel......
 
Same cowling?

Speedy1 said:
Just wanted to share my great experience with an engine upgrade in my RV-6. in January my IO-320 (1880 hrs, 10:1 pistons, approximately 170 HP) started running rough. after much troubleshooting i discovered the intake cam lobe on the rear cylinders was halfway gone and the metal had damaged most of the internals. Rather than rebuild it, the perfect solution was to install a new, factory built and tested Titan IO-370 Stroker (rated at 205 HP!). It's available with vertical or cold air horizontal induction, but I went with vertical in order to reuse my cowling with the intake scoop.


I thought upgrading from a 320 to a 360/370 involves changing the cowling or is that only with a o-360/370 but not a fuel injection engine?
Also did u have to change the prop as well?
Click to expand...
 
The cowling fits just fine but I did have to change props. The 320 has 7/16" lugs on the hub and the 360/370 serries has 1/2" lugs.

Speedy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top