WTF am I thinking but I fancy trying for the OMFGWTFBBQness

[Dr Boxcat]

Find a salvageable Impreza - take out engine, gearbox, diffs, associated gubbins. turn the car backwards. lose the tub, sell what I can. fabricate something to support it all. rear/mid-rear engined 4wd (death trap) track toy.....???

Or am I really stupid to even consider the idea? or have I just come up with an ultimate new shed project.

thoughts?

[randlemarcus]

One forward and five reverse gears?

Are you Italian?

[Caulkhead]

If you do that it will have one forward gear and five reverse and be rear wheel steer. . . . .

[Dr Boxcat]

See it's things like this that I need to understand more of, now that you point it out it is blazingly obvious. I know SDR have made a kit car using an impreza engine. Is it an impossible dream that I once sketched on a piece of toilet paper then!

Edited by Dr Boxcat on Thursday 30th June 14:23

[renrut]

It wouldn't be mid engined. It would be rear engined. Which means it would possibly handle like a 4wd 911 without the 40+ years of development to make it stop trying to kill you.

The steering thing would probably be easily handled with swapping which carriers go to which driveshaft and worst case custom shafts (£1000 tops).

TBH I'd just put it into a better looking 2 seater shell, as someone is gonna have to find the new basis for kit cars cos there ain't many sierras left!

[Dr Boxcat]

doogz said:

It could be made to work. But it would be tricky, the fact that on the Impreza, the front diff, and as a result driveshafts, are inside basically the gearbox casing makes it more complicated, it's not as easy then to add an intermediate gearbox to reverse the drive. You have to have the gearbox attached to the engine, you could't put your engine up front, gearbox at the back, with a prop shaft running back up to the front diff, R35 style.

Can i ask why you'd want the drivetrain reversed? any particular reason?

^^ weight distribution. I guess as was said above italian. Gearbox between the engine and the driver. Damn, wish this idea was as simple as it was in my head

[Dr Boxcat]

thanks for the replies guys, I will go back to my hole to ponder more Splendiferous ideas of madness.

[jon-]

If you move to Australia the engine will run backwards and you'll have no problems.

[zaphod42]

jon- said:

If you move to Australia the engine will run backwards and you'll have no problems.

Upside down, surely?

[Dr Boxcat]

jon- said:

If you move to Australia the engine will run backwards and you'll have no problems.

[Dr Boxcat]

http://www.sdrsportscars.co.uk/images/builders-gal...

pinched from this thread - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

there is hope !

[stevieb]

Or just buy the Murtaya Kit and use the impreza stuff in that?

Edited by stevieb on Thursday 30th June 15:18

[The Black Flash]

stevieb said:

Or just but the Murtaya Kit and use the impreza stuff in that?

^^^^^ This.
Or head of to locostbuilders and get some ideas. Some wonderful scratch built projects done over there.

[Dr Boxcat]

I just was drooling over those very nice indeed!!! thanks again guys

[Fetchez la vache]

stevieb said:

Or just buy the Murtaya Kit and use the impreza stuff in that?

How weird, I was wondering what happened to these just the other day.

Has anybody heard of anyone who bought one?

[stevieb]

Fetchez la vache said:

How weird, I was wondering what happened to these just the other day.

Has anybody heard of anyone who bought one?

I believe a PH member has one (P1doc). I considered buying a kit, but decided to go the whole hog and get an Ultima Kit!

[snotrag]

You'd end up with a 4 cylinder 911 with 5 reverse gears, wouldnt you?

OT but OMGWTFBBQ? is a brill acronym

[Alfanatic]

doogz said:

Dr Boxcat said:

http://www.sdrsportscars.co.uk/images/builders-gal...

pinched from this thread - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

there is hope !

That seems to be a 2WD set up, which would be a lot easier to do than a 4WD set up, unless you plan on retaining the standard front engined layout.

That's the best idea. Like Doogz said in his first post, but instead of getting the front wheels connected, just dump the 4WD bits from the propshaft backwards and make it a mid engined RWD vehicle. The engine would be great for that, since it's a flat 4, so it is short and also low.

[Triumph Man]

Here's a stupid yet potentially splendiferous idea, for a mid engine kit car, take the longitudinal engine and transaxle from an Audi A4/Passat etc, and mount it in the middle of some sort of space frame chassis. The complicated bit will, I suppose be gear selector mechanisms etc, but if made to work could be quite good, and a range of engines to choose from.

N.B. I do not know if this has been done before!

[Liquid Knight]

I've offen though of a Covin Porsche replica that's Subaru powered. You would need to take the transaxle gearbox apart and flip the diff over for it to work though. A common conversion for Alfa P4 powered sandrails but I don't know if it can be done with a WRX one though.