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"Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle" (1500sand535) 09/21/2016 at 19:53 • Filed to: None

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So factory five racing has a mid engined car, I wonder if they’ve pondered creating a 911-esque rear engined performance car. And there was a post on the front page the other day floating the idea of Porsche selling classic 911 reproduction bodies and there no doubt people are crazed for air cooled rear engined Porsches.

It appears there are no shortage of companies selling ready to go performance VW engines. I suppose the hard part would be attracting the type of person that likes a 356/911, while not getting sued by Porsche.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 09/21/2016 at 19:57

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It’s WRX powered. OPPO New England had a meetup there this summer and toured the factory

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > OPPOsaurus WRX 09/21/2016 at 20:00

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Considering how often people put Subaru engines in VWs it can’t be that hard to put a VW engine in Subaru. Don’t know why you would.

e36Jeff now drives a ZHP > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 09/21/2016 at 20:06

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I wish I had a house and some free monies so bad. I really want to build an 818c, but I live in an apartment and don’t have $20k free.

Orange Exige > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 09/21/2016 at 20:07

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I’ve always been under the impression that generally mid-engined cars will be (far) more balanced than rear-engined. So why would you want a rear-engined car that isn’t made by Porsche? Sure you got that extra weight over the drive wheels but I don’t think it’s a secret that 911s can be a bit tail happy...

I mean, not that I don’t trust Porsche to make amazingly well balanced rear-engined 911s, but I’d probably be wary of a less than amazingly well-engineered kit car that may or may not be designed around a particular drivetrain.

WRXforScience > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 09/21/2016 at 20:16

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The 818 is rear engined, you put a Subaru engine in backwards and use just the parts that used to power the front wheels (the axles come out of the middle of the motor). Flat four turbo rear engine rwd spinning dervish. Smart guys run under 250whp, but you can go as high as your are stupid/suicidal.

The Porsche flat six won’t get you anything more except cost (the sound is great, but a $18k engine in a $20k kit car is more than silly).

e36Jeff now drives a ZHP > WRXforScience 09/21/2016 at 20:56

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The 818 is mid-engined, not rear. It sits in the same orientation as the stock WRX engine, just behind the cabin with what used to be the front axle driving the rear wheels. The hubs are in the front of the transmission, not the block. If you turned the engine around, you’d have to use a Porsche transaxle as the Subaru one would then have 1 forward gear and 5 reverse.

Axial > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 09/21/2016 at 22:26

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Why, though? Rear-engine is a technically terrible starting point, made usable only through literal decades of cheats and tricks and billions of reichmarks Deutsche marks euros.

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > OPPOsaurus WRX 09/21/2016 at 23:45

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I just showed a picture of the 818 as its their first non FR car I believe but it is certainly their most performance oriented car compared with their other cars that were essentially kits of non attainable cars. These guys do a 33 hot rod, a 65 coupe, and a cobra roadster; it seems like a 911 kind of car would fit more into those types of cars where it has the look and feel but with some modernity and at a slightly more reasonable cost.

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > Axial 09/21/2016 at 23:46

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Well they also do a hot rod and a cobra knock off, I think they'd probably make money on the nostalgia. I wouldn't buy one, just think it would be a good addition to their line up.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 09/22/2016 at 07:46

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i’m not sure which came first, but they also have this:

LS motor with a 911 dif/gearbox