To Subaru, or not to Subaru?

[Jadewombat]

Great discussion here. I tend to agree with Wally on this, weight is very easy to add to a car but much harder to take off as I've found out. I run with a basically stock 1600 in autocross (slalom) racing and am able to keep up with cars with far more hp than I have. Why? My car is so much lighter and nimbler through the course. A better handling car in this type of racing will beat a car with more hp. It depends upon what your goals are though.

I'll take a similar example, a stock Porsche 944 in todays terms. This was as is an excellent handling car and very good on a road course (still is actually). Very neutral front to rear, big 4 cylinder with good torque. Guys come along and want to drop an LS1 V8 in there instead because then it would be a monster. 400+hp should be better than the original 150, right? Really? The LS1 weighs the same as the original 4 cylinder--really? Even if an aluminum block V8 weighed close to the same as the iron block 4, what about the transmission to go with the V8, or the headers/exhaust, or the rear end or even changing the front to rear bias/handling? I just don't think there's a free lunch in any of this, whatever engine is used you have to really compare the power to weight advantages (direct-injection being the exception the last few years--which has really managed to squeeze a lot of hp from engines).

At one point I was going to do a 911 swap in my car but now we have a child so the amount of time I have to invest in the car is a lot less. I sold the '76 unit I had a few months ago, it had the oil cooler mounted on the engine so no need to route up to the right front fender. The main reason I got this engine is the torque output (this is what pulls the car off the line). Engine puts out 165hp at 5800rpms and 180ft./lb at 4000rpms, not bad for late 70s technology. No matter what you do to a VW 1600 T1 or T4 you will never produce squeeze this type of torque out of a four banger, sure 165hp is possible with a T1 but 180 ft./lb. ain't gonna happen unless you're revving in Honda territory ($$$$) which isn't where I wanted the power. For comparison:

EJ22 Subaru motor
2212cc SOHC
Horsepower: 142 bhp @ 5600 rpm
Torque: 149 lb·ft @ 3600 rpm

EJ25
2457cc
DOHC (1996) - SAE - 155 hp @ 5600 rpm
140 ft·lbf at 2800 rpm
DOHC (1997–1999) - SAE - 165 hp @ 5600 rpm
162 ft·lbf at 4000 rpm

This is nothing against Subarus, I've heard nothing but good things about how solid the engines are (OHC a big advantage vs. the T1, T4). Don't the STIs and Evos take a higher amount of maintenance though because it's such a highly tuned 4 cylinder? I remember coming across something about this as well. The last couple of years, the new models would gain only a few hp over the old one.

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2011/..._of_ownership/

If only the POLO engine were more affordable,

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...tor-912-a.html

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