Engine options for rans S-21 outbound?

[D.H]

Hey there POA!
New to this forum (any forum really), and I have a question for any rans builders out there or anyone who wants to pitch in: looking at the engine options that rans themselves offers, and the many other options, what do all of you think? I've looked at titan, lycoming, rotax, UL, and viking engines. I'm hoping for at least 180hp, and hopefully turbo (but not required) I'll be using it for STOL and long flights (pros of convertible gear ) and wondering what the best out of these would be and/or any other options. The engine market is absurdly expensive right now, so cheaper would be better (enter viking) but I don't know lots of the history of these company's, and have read some concerning things about some of them (I won't name them), so what is yalls thoughts?

Thanks!
-Dillon H

 

[Salty]

My neighbor put an io-390 on his and he loved it.

 

[Warmi]

From what I read , majority of s21 builders install either Titan (most) or Rotax 915.
I would personally go with Rotax 915 since it is a modern ( and imho better ) engine but Titan will give you more power unless you plan to fly at altitude ( where turbo Rotax starts to shine )

I would stay away from fly-by-night operations like Viking …

 

[D.H]

My neighbor put an io-390 on his and he loved it.

Oh i havent seen that yet!

Did he fab his own firewall forward/engine mount,engine cowling? And how did it perform at a little bit higher altitude? (Planning on some bush mods to gp up to Alaska eventually)

-Thank you!

 

[D.H]

From what I read , majority of s21 builders install either Titan (most) or Rotax 915.
I would personally go with Rotax 915 since it is a modern ( and imho better ) engine but Titan will give you more power unless you plan to fly at altitude ( where turbo Rotax starts to shine )

I would stay away from fly-by-night operations like Viking …

Yea… I've head pretty similar comparisons… and opinions on viking…

I mean correct me if I'm wrong but up in Alaska (where I want to fly most of the time) the highest altitude you really need to fly is around ~10k msl?