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Rampage HY32cc vs Zenoah 290 (engine swapout)

pfrederi1

Well-Known Member
Messages
116
Another head scratcher
So I figured since I have an OBR engine in my Rampage now I could put the engine I took out from the rampage into my buggie which has a smaller engiine(Zenoah 290). I thought for sure I would have instant power gain. At the very least more torque. Came up NADA!!!!! I dnt understand.

The Zenoah 290 sounds like it revs higher as well. The HY 32 at WOT does not seem to rev as high.

Can any experts out there help explain this one? I mean my buggie is lighter as well so i should have seen some type of gain.
 

G-Man

Junior Member
Messages
958
Location
Pittsburgh,PA
A stock HY32 engine in no way will ever compare to a Zenoah g290. It is a downgrade by far IMO. The 290 revs higher since the stroke is shorter. Now if you put the g320 Zenoah in there the torque increase would be very noticeable.
 

pfrederi1

Well-Known Member
Messages
116
oh wow. ok
i alwayds thought there was no substitution for displacement (32cc vs 29cc) but i guess there is. Theres gotta be more at play here as well. Quality, precision and others maybe to name a few. But really no improvement at all?!!! I was really surprised. Oh yeah the Zenoah 290 is a standard motor no special porting or anything

I would like to hear others inputs as well to get a better pictuere on this. But thanks G-Man.
I guess ill sell it if anyones looking. Its new or just keep it as a spare
 

sunoco

Well-Known Member
Messages
169
these 4wd cars for me anyways, do better with a engine with a 30mm connecting rod. never owned a 320 zen so far. agan, a motor that surprises me is a cy f-270. its a 30mm rod motor, big transfer ports its actually 27.5 cc. a very high rpm engine that has lots of torque because of it being a long rod motor. this 270 resopnds very well to a $2.00 part.-- .005" { 0.15mm } copper base gasket- nachi mains- stock crank & porting- long intake manifold- no velocity stack- 771 or 990 carb- 100 octane race gas.- i would guess- agan guess-- close to 5 horsepower and quite a bit of torque from idle on up-- its a poor mans hot rod motor--- oh- and a jet pro rear mount on the very light xb-- it can almost get up on top of tall fesqe type lawn grass cut about 3" tall- when fully wound out- wide open-- using grp narrow tires all round-- knobbies- medium compound.
 

Phill

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,453
Location
The Rock QLD Au
oh wow. ok
i alwayds thought there was no substitution for displacement (32cc vs 29cc) but i guess there is. Theres gotta be more at play here as well. Quality, precision and others maybe to name a few. But really no improvement at all?!!! I was really surprised. Oh yeah the Zenoah 290 is a standard motor no special porting or anything

I would like to hear others inputs as well to get a better pictuere on this. But thanks G-Man.
I guess ill sell it if anyones looking. Its new or just keep it as a spare

Shorter stroke = more revs and less torque.
Longer stroke = less revs more torque.
The 290 has plenty of torque for these cars.
HY = clone.
Zen = quality.
 

sunoco

Well-Known Member
Messages
169
i have read about people going tru 5 plus gallons of gas in the g-290 and they said it was as good as new. I bought one -long block- ddm deal of the day- measured squish clearance-- 0.041" - 1.04 mm. this helps it live a long life too- less stress.- me being a motor head- lol- i bought earth surfer productions modded piston-- ddm part #ca332a. high rev version for air cooled.- its in the engine now-- unused so far. too many irons in the fire around the house at the moment to bolt it up.
 

Phill

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,453
Location
The Rock QLD Au
i have read about people going tru 5 plus gallons of gas in the g-290 and they said it was as good as new. I bought one -long block- ddm deal of the day- measured squish clearance-- 0.041" - 1.04 mm. this helps it live a long life too- less stress.- me being a motor head- lol- i bought earth surfer productions modded piston-- ddm part #ca332a. high rev version for air cooled.- its in the engine now-- unused so far. too many irons in the fire around the house at the moment to bolt it up.

I've been running mine with a 668 and Jetpro rear mount for years.
Can't beat em for reliability.
 

sunoco

Well-Known Member
Messages
169
668 japan it will be for me too- its going into a 2wd buggy. 6k clutch, trying to keep it easy to start and drive- never had a 2wd before. dry slick conditions in summer here
 

pfrederi1

Well-Known Member
Messages
116
Lol thanks guys definitely appreciate the input. This one really threw me for a loop.

It is really a good engine (Zenoah 290). That lil sucker screams in my buggie. eventually ill upgrade though or rebuild the top emnd with longer stroke kit or just newer engine all together.

interesting to see what changes can be made on these engines and what effect they have. although they dnt always make sense.
 
Last edited:

owen91

Active Member
Messages
42
while i give respect to my hy32 stock but my cy29 smoked it

for some reason the stock hy don't make much power compared to cy or zen
 

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