[Confusedfigure]

I was told by a friend that it is possible for the escort to be turned into an all wheel drive car. I was wondering if this was true?

 

[Rob-from-Ottawa]

In theory, it´s possible. The japanese Mazda 323GTX and an Autralian version of the Escort (both second-generation) had not only the BPT engine (turbocharged version of the EGT´s 1.8), they came with all wheel drive. I asked a speedshop about the conversion and they claimed that it would involve expensive modifications to the rear floorpan in addition to replacing the driveline and the whole rear suspension. Between that, the extra 200 lbs it would add to the car, and the effect that AWD has on handling (unless you have a centre differential that can be tuned to keep understeer in check, it´s hard to rotate the car), I gave up on that dream, myself. It would be cheaper to start with one of the AWD DSMs. An American Eclipse made 20 more HP than the GTX anyway (and on 92 octane), though I don´t know the weight difference.

- Rob