Hi guys. I was wondering if anyone had ever tried a WRX Engine and 4WD Tranny. Now before people start telling me its impossible and the rear axle has no room and there isnt enough weight in the back to hold it down and all that. I think it would be incredibly cool!

The engine is forward facing, not tranverse mounted and Subaru makes the narrowest of the newer engines that I know of, and you could probably create the room for the axle with a sledge hammer to the under carriage (very carefully hopefully) and adding some balast to the rear end (some lead weights under the rear of the car)

200 HP, 4WD 1100 Lb Car!
Talk about a race winner!

Just a thought

Paul

 

id love to do that! but im not a classic owner... and i'd not get the wrx engine.. i'd rather get the 2.5 base, and get a aftermarket turbo to bolt on after that... even more hp!

 

just bore man.. my 74 is running over 200 hp bored to over 1400 runing triumph pistons, .45 webber carbs hollow shaft had to rework the front end cuz it shook so much widened the hole stance of the car an inch or two... it's doable without implanting a lame subaru motor, and even easier option would be to put a vzuxhaul (so) motor in her, alotta brits have done that.
note the wide stance
oh and the extra oil and water coolers :(

 

A low CG, AWD Mini sounds neat, except it wouldn't sound neat! Subarus with open exhausts perform well, but sound kind of weird. Definitely not classic British. For me, aesthetics does enter into it, at some point. I was getting ready to do an engine swap in my '75 MGB, but stopped before getting into it. I realized I was planning on slowly turning it into a homebuilt Miata that looked sort of like an MG.

I do want to get a classic Mini some day. If I was going to spend the $ for a Scooby drivetrain, I'd save a some more $ for these instead. 7 Enterprises carries complete 16-valve A series engines, or bits to build your own:





mated to one of these:


5 speed straight-cut gearbox w/LSD. Helical cut is available also, but I like the noise.

like this:


Pricey, but it's still mostly a real Mini!

I'd have to go the DIY route, since I'd want to add EFI and a supercharger, too, if I went this far. Unless I could get hold of a set of the racing twin-throat SUs, like a few of the old D-type track-prepped Jaguars ran. I wonder how hard it would be to custom machine twin-choke bodies for stock HS2 pistons and chambers, that would mount to a DCOE pattern intake manifold?

Did I mention pricey?

 

All these hyper mods on an A-series Mini engine is extreme. The tranny & differential are very weak links and at 1400cc's the block walls become thin even with offset bores...think of them as motors ready to grenade.... reliabilty suffers....that's why folks go to alternate motors...

but what the hell are you gonna do with a 200hp 1400lb car? if I went that way I'd go with the Hayabusa cycle motor w/6spd sequential gearbox, faster, lighter......

http://www.zcars.org.uk/

here's a buddy's Mini powered with a 3 cyl, efi, turbo Suzuki motor w/5spd:

http://www.minimania.com/images/webs.../ministang.mpg

he's also got a Mini estate with a 1.3 twin cam Suzuki efi, turbo

 

The Suzuki Swift GTi drivetrain looks promising too. That would be a good swap for a spridget, too! The only catch is finding a 16V Swift engine at a reasonable price.

As far as what to do with a 200 HP, 1400 lb car? Install a roll cage and take it to the track! Woo Hoo!

 

hehehe listen to indygo man after my own heart, I have the gear box you speak of my man and oh boy it's the sweetest whine in the world... but maybe that's just me

 

The 1.3 twin cam also came in the Chevy Sprint. More of them in Canada than US, but obtainable thru junkyards.

 

Fell in love with this sound myself listening to reworked webcase spridget gearboxes. The case was modified to fit Richmond straight-cut gears. Sweet, but $$$ expensive for a 4-speed box (no point in 5, SCCA production rules don't allow any more gears than the car shipped with from the factory.)

 

ya very pricey, got the one on my car off a rally guy who's car had about had it (suspention got run and I think she was killin alot of gaskets or something) and he was movin on to an evo, got the thing for nothin (relatively) and my dad said it best " I hope you know you'd never be able to aford one of those otherwise"