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AWD -->FR Conversion...

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Old 06-18-2005, 07:52 PM
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AWD -->FR Conversion...

Has anyone ever heard of this being done for a resonable price. Converting a EJ205 AWD to a Front engine rear wheel drive setup.. or would it be easier to get the STi drivetrain?
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Old 06-19-2005, 09:45 PM
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why.
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Old 06-19-2005, 11:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Natoe
why.

or a better question.. Why not.


The Real answer...
Because I have never heard of anyone doing this except for the JGTC, and more to the point a few guys that I build cars with wanted to know and they did not feel like asking themselves, one because they do not know the subaru Awd system and two we build Hot Rods and Street Rods, and my reason is not to discrace the Japanese workmanship with American parts.
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Old 06-21-2005, 05:08 PM
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And that D1 car has it done with a skyline rear-end.
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Old 06-22-2005, 05:51 PM
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Originally Posted by sykosis
And that D1 car has it done with a skyline rear-end.
Do you have any more info on that D1 car?
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Old 06-22-2005, 08:18 PM
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there was info in a sport compact car mag. 2 years ago about someone who did this. basically he had to upgrade the drive line because it was too weak to handle all the power, and for the center diff he put in a custom setup and made it full time rwd. he also removed the front axles. check it out you might be able to find it. i belive it was a white bug eye. i tried to go to his site back in the day but it was down....google search!
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Old 06-26-2005, 10:51 AM
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Originally Posted by adrian
there was info in a sport compact car mag. 2 years ago about someone who did this. basically he had to upgrade the drive line because it was too weak to handle all the power, and for the center diff he put in a custom setup and made it full time rwd. he also removed the front axles. check it out you might be able to find it. i belive it was a white bug eye. i tried to go to his site back in the day but it was down....google search!
i have that issue. the guy works for Apex'i Integration, and his car was a test mule for a replacement center diff that would route all the power to the rear, leaving the front axles redundant ( he did not remove them though ). the dude was a drift nut, and couldnt drift his WRX with AWD, so he did that. heres the quote.....

" Its the way the power gets to the ground that sets this Subie apart. A chance meeting with Design Craft Fabrication led to the most unorthodox idea; convert the car to rear wheel drive. The concept was simple enough: Eliminate power to the front axles, spin tires, be happy. Since spinning tires reduces load on an otherwise iffy transmission, be doubly happy. "

and...

" Converting a Subaru to RWD can be done in a number of ways. The two most common solutions involve either completely locking the stock center diff, then removing the front axles, or by swappin out the center diff for a part like DCF. "

the only thing to watch out for is the fact that the driveshaft was only rated to take half the power you'll be giving it, assuming the car is bone stock. modified raises the chance of snappng it. if you want more info, you can reach the company at DesignCraftFabrication.com
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Old 07-20-2005, 12:47 PM
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Thank you very much. I will contact them. My mechanics and I are getting an old 2.5rs and trying this with it first before we do my rex for scca and solo.

By the way is that the curent url?
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Old 07-20-2005, 12:53 PM
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It looks like I am not the only one....

http://www.rs25.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16737
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Old 07-20-2005, 01:08 PM
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https://www.i-club.com/forums/sacramento-reno-116/moment-silence-56k-beware-86277/

S-Squared made a RWD drift car out of an old Legacy. It unfortunately ended its life in a guard wall at a drift event, but until then the RWD conversion seemed to do pretty well.
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Old 07-21-2005, 05:57 PM
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DesignCraftFabrication.com is for some reason no longer available. Any other sugestions?
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Old 07-21-2005, 06:19 PM
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we've done this before also.

Project L

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Old 08-07-2005, 04:12 PM
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yeah, been done many times by many people by replacing the center diff with one that locks all power to rear wheels.

most of the time the car ends up one of two ways- with broken rear ends or going back to AWD.
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Old 08-08-2005, 04:20 PM
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To LIC and S-Squared:

How did you guys do your RWD legacy and impreza? What were the characteristics of the car? Did you have to dial in a lot of toe to compensate for lack of dynamic toe w/ lateral links? Did you use a 13mm rear sway bar? Was the car on a knife edge or easy to loop? I'm considering doing this to my car, being a 1.8L it shouldn't be braking driveshafts or diffs/axles any time soon. The only things I'm really worried about is having an iffy rear suspension (fine for AWD, possibly iffy for RWD)

Thanks for any info you can give me.
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Old 08-11-2005, 02:43 PM
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if my logic is correct, you'd want a STIFFER rsb if you'd be converting to RWD. if you had a weak rear anti-sway, and no LSD(your 1.8 shouldn't have one) you'd get really bad power over inner wheel spin. it's important to remember that a RSB is meant for transferring suspension load more evenly between inside and outside unsrung weight(wheels and suspension), and will actually help keep the rear end tighter and more balanced... which is the reason it promotes oversteer... not because it 'pushes' the wheels more or less from side to side...

still i'd like to hear opinions on RSB's from anyone with a RWD swap.
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