Outer Limits 4x4 Board

seeing a rotary is going to power one of the new buggies, got an idea.

a WRX motor?

small powerfull, faily light and sit flat for low COG

any thoughts?

generally the motors arnt the ones that have the issues.....

the issue that needs to be looked at is what gearbox to use and transfer case as they play a big part in engine placement and weight bias.

Theres one buggy in the states runnin a WRX motor i think and runs very well

TOM

if a wrx is already an all wheel drive, it should make it relatively simple should it not, as you've already got a t-case

i spose the only main problem then would be gearing, but im sure you could do something, esp with the diffs

i think you could be onto sometheing here

wrx's dont have a t/case as the g/box is actually a transaxle (like a vw beetle) and as such you would need a custom bellhousing to even bolt it to a normal g/box

flyinwall wrote:wrx's dont have a t/case as the g/box is actually a transaxle (like a vw beetle) and as such you would need a custom bellhousing to even bolt it to a normal g/box

true, but there are lots of custom combo's used out there.

The wrx motors would be great. Low, short, powerful. I'd thought about the VW motor before also. Lightweight as its air cooled and a lot is alloy, low for viewing and CofG, short to fit the buggy and with a few parts they make a heap of power and revs if thats what you want. Gearbox & T/F, like the WRX is the prob.

As someone who has owned a fair few Subarus in the past, the problem with most Subaru motors is that they have really bad bottom end torque. They are all very short stroke so are generally only any good above 2000rpm (or 3000 rpm for the turbo units).

What about a VQ35 from a Nissan Maxima? Short, powerful, very torquey and apparently one of the lightest V6s available.

Richard.

A VW engine is alot stronger then the wrx motor. If you are dead set on a flat 4, look for a 2.5ltr scatt vw engine. They used them in speedcar racing befor, dont know about now.

wrx motors are already begin used in a few us buggys with powerglides etc

MARKx4 wrote:A VW engine is alot stronger then the wrx motor.

This said, "VW" is loosely used. Most of the parts are aftermarket. They go hard. A factory crank isn't counterweighted and runs 5000rpm, the c/wed ones go way beyond that. Oversize bores, oversize heads, shelf strokers etc, they go hard. I recall a mate with a 1916cc VW with counterweight crank, duel Webers + a few other tweaks and this thing flew down the 1/4 mile. I dont recall the times but something in the +/- 13 sec region.

dumbdunce wrote:

MARKx4 wrote:A VW engine is alot stronger then the wrx motor.

I based that on that one of my friends had a vw motor that he managed to get 13.5sac quater miles, and another friend done some mild work to his wrx and had to do alot of other crap to make the rest of the motor upto standard with the rest. And all he did was up the boost by 5psi, front mount intercooler and air flow adjustments.

some of the stocker wrx's are doin 13.5's though...

rlaxton wrote:As someone who has owned a fair few Subarus in the past, the problem with most Subaru motors is that they have really bad bottom end torque. They are all very short stroke so are generally only any good above 2000rpm (or 3000 rpm for the turbo units).

What about a VQ35 from a Nissan Maxima? Short, powerful, very torquey and apparently one of the lightest V6s available.

Richard.

been driving a vq35 auto around and it rips pretty hard and is oh so smooth. very nice piece of machinery.