Recipe for success (or bad decision)

"CB" (jrcb) 11/29/2016 at 14:09 • Filed to: Bad Ideas

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Step one: Take an RX-8 with a broken engine (any year will do).

Step two: 2.3 litre Ecoboost for a Ford Mustang.

Step three: put 2.3 in the RX-8, along with whatever it’ll take to make it work (and maybe a few performance mods).

Step four: ???

Step five: profit.

But seriously, I think it’d be a fun combination. LS swaps are overdone, might as well mix it up, right?

OPPOsaurus WRX > CB 11/29/2016 at 14:13

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was the RX-8 anything special aside from its engine? I dont really know much about them expect they had the funky 3rd door

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > CB 11/29/2016 at 14:14

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I really want to put a modern Ecoboost (Either 4 cylinder or V6) into a Merkur XR4Ti. I can’t find any photos of it but my dad once showed me a photo of a XR4Ti with a Ford Focus front clip on it. It actually looked really good.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > OPPOsaurus WRX 11/29/2016 at 14:14

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It’s actually 4 doors, but they are really fun to drive. I prefer them to the 86 Twins.

CB > OPPOsaurus WRX 11/29/2016 at 14:15

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Nope. They just end up cheap on AutoTrader and Gregslist because the engines aren’t that reliable. And I dig the style, and people do LS swaps into these all the time, so hey, why not?

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 11/29/2016 at 14:16

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There’s an XR4Ti that comes out to our local autocross events. That thing is a blast to watch/hear go around.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > OPPOsaurus WRX 11/29/2016 at 14:17

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I know top gear once called it the best car you could buy or something.

CB > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 11/29/2016 at 14:17

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If you like that idea, look up Project Ugly Horse, which takes an Ecoboost and puts it in a Fox-body. Then again, it hasn’t updated in forever.

For Sweden > CB 11/29/2016 at 14:24

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Don’t make it harder than you have to.

CB > For Sweden 11/29/2016 at 14:25

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Every good build requires a sawzall at some point.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > CB 11/29/2016 at 14:27

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does it fit?

CB > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/29/2016 at 14:30

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We can make it fit.

3point8isgreat > OPPOsaurus WRX 11/29/2016 at 14:33

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They’re pretty nice to drive. I believe, and I’m sure I’ll be corrected if wrong, that they used a longer wheelbase version of the NC miata chassis. So it was like driving a hardtop Miata with 4 doors, a backseat, and more power to make up for the weight.

DrJohannVegas > CB 11/29/2016 at 14:44

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I’ve done an engine replacement on an RX8. The original engine is tiny and it was still a pain in the ass. The thought of doing any sort of swap just angers my blood.

PS: I think the EB 2.3 is way too tall for that engine bay.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig 11/29/2016 at 14:47

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My dad had a pair of them. A grey 1985 built for G5 rally which had a 3" straight pipe exhaust. It sounded like a diesel at idle (think of standing behind a school bus at idle and the kind of whomp-whomp noise the air moving through the pipes makes) and above 3000 it was all turbo noise. Red line was the resonant frequency of the remaining interior panels so everything started buzzing at red line. He also had a White 1985 which only had 30k mi and was mint. Fun fact: the grey one was serial number 299 and the white one was number 301. They left the line separated by one car and found their way to live together in our garage for a few years.

I really miss this car. My dad says it is one of the best rally cars he has ever driven and that it was extremely stable (he says you could do 100+ on gravel with 1 finger). He managed to single-handedly revitalize RWD rallycross here in NE. In 2010 you maybe got 1 RWD car at an event if any. He showed up offering a Team O’Neil rally school pass to anyone who could beat him in a RWD car. No one was ever able to, but enough people tried that they realized that RWD is a ton of fun and now there are 5-10 RWD cars at each event (Including the orange Plymouth Arrow that Raph drove a while back which I remember helping my dad build the dash in along with making the plexi windows for the rear of the car).

While I had been around rally cars my entire life this was the car that truly got me hooked. I remember helping my dad build it. Memories of bench pressing a T5 transmission up into it, taking the differential in and out more times than I can remember (we never did get it working right), stripping out all the interior bits so that it could be sent off to get a cage installed, numerous rallycrosses. Really wish I was able to keep him from selling it now that I am old enough to compete myself. Would be cool to do a couple of events together. Never got to drive it other than 1st gear as my dad attempted to pull it through 6 inches of slush in the back yard with the Outback so it could be sold. The guy he sold it to apparently screwed the chassis up off a jump recently. :(

Wow I just wrote a ton of nostalgia about an old car...

CB > DrJohannVegas 11/29/2016 at 14:47

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We can solve that.

DrJohannVegas > CB 11/29/2016 at 14:59

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Gonna need one of these, too:

CB > DrJohannVegas 11/29/2016 at 15:00

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And one of these to see over it.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > CB 11/29/2016 at 15:09

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I think this is a great idea. I’ve had the same idea for years since I had the opportunity to drive an RX-8 and experiece the torqueless wonder that is under the hood. Mazda has a very nice 280 HP 2.3L turbo engine that might even be bolt on, would still require the saws all to fit it under the hood, but carbon fiber hood scoop would do the trick.

CobraJoe > CB 11/29/2016 at 15:11

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Give me a V6 instead. I like NA torque.

CB > CobraJoe 11/29/2016 at 15:12

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I’ve heard the V6 in the Camaro is nice. That could be alright to swap in.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > 3point8isgreat 11/29/2016 at 15:19

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I do believe the RX-8 and the NC Miata shared a platform.

CobraJoe > CB 11/29/2016 at 15:27

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Honestly, I was thinking of the Ford 3.5L Duratec. It’s torquy enough to push our Edge, but makes a decent 265hp. Of course, a 3.7L would make more power and is already in a Mustang for RWD trans sourcing...

I would imagine that a newer Camaro V6 would be roughly the same in feeling.

But... for an affordable and “realistic” option, I’d take the 3800 out of a 4th gen camaro. 200hp in stock form and enough of an aftermarket to get it to breath a bit better.

RotaryLover > CB 11/29/2016 at 15:30

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NO! Go rotary or...STAY HOME!

CB > RotaryLover 11/29/2016 at 15:37

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Dude, with a rotary you’re probably staying home, too.

/comedy

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 11/29/2016 at 15:45

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I love stories like this. Thanks so much for sharing!

RotaryLover > CB 11/29/2016 at 15:45

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Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 11/29/2016 at 16:07

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This story is all kinds of winning.

I really want an XR4Ti rally car, but I’d even settle for an NA 4cyl Fox Body. haha

Eberle-Hills-Cop > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 11/29/2016 at 16:09

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Wait is your dad’s name Tim?

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 11/29/2016 at 16:14

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Uhh.... want to help me build my RWD rallycar??

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Eberle-Hills-Cop 11/29/2016 at 16:26

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That would be my dad.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 11/29/2016 at 16:27

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MR2 rally car? MR2 rally car.

Eberle-Hills-Cop > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 11/29/2016 at 16:41

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Small world.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Eberle-Hills-Cop 11/29/2016 at 16:49

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It is. When I went with AERO to bring our electric race car to the mini maker fair up here last year I ended up running into one of my Grandfather’s old rally friends from the 80s. I had only met him once before and I was a toddler at that point but I am a slightly shorter version of my Dad and he recognized me.

Dusty Ventures > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 11/29/2016 at 18:19

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I don’t know if your dad ever told you about the big jump on Goose Pond, but basically the new owners went over that flat. I looked underneath after. Bad things happened for sure

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Dusty Ventures 11/29/2016 at 18:38

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My dad had mentioned it to me while we were actually putting the lights on the Mini. I haven’t seen many photos of it since my dad sold it but based on the condition of the blue one it was replacing I’m not sure if I want to.

I still remember when my dad and Emilio Arce brought Emilios 2.5RS back from STPR with the front of the car pushed about 3 inches up after nose planting it on Waste Management.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Dusty Ventures 11/29/2016 at 19:06

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Because I can’t edit my last comment: It is at least good to know that it is off getting used properly. Sure it may get beat up which makes me sad but rally cars are going to acquire damage over time.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 11/29/2016 at 19:08

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I want to do Mount Washington next year, but don’t know how to make it happen because I think my chassis’ fucked and it needs a cage anyway. Everything else is great.

Dusty Ventures > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 11/29/2016 at 19:10

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This is the jump (the Merkur isn’t in the vid)

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Dusty Ventures 11/29/2016 at 19:21

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The Escort and the Mazda made me cringe. It’s an ugly one alright.

pip bip - choose Corrour > CB 11/30/2016 at 05:00

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success!

Panther Brown Tdi Volvo Shooting Brake Manual Miata RWD Wagon Stole HondaBro's Accord. > RotaryLover 01/01/2017 at 00:37

1

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RotaryLover > Panther Brown Tdi Volvo Shooting Brake Manual Miata RWD Wagon Stole HondaBro's Accord. 01/01/2017 at 14:22

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LMAO!!!!!!!!