[James92Scort]

Yep, so Crazy...but I think it´d work... Last night I was wanting to import a Cosworth Escort, and the AWD system, seeing as how a Cossie is like 50K plus the importing, S&H costs, and making it US legal etc etc. WHAT IF...and this is a BIG WHAT IF! What If I could find a Junked out 2002 WRX (i´ve seen a few that got hit and were totalled so far on Ebay for under 5grand) and take out the Engine, ECU, Transmission, driveshaft, Limited Slip Differential (LSD) and everything necessary and have them put on my Escort? I figure it´d take a lot of work and I´d have to find a great shop to do the work. I looked it up on www.subaru.com and the WRX´s wheel base is ONLY 1 inch more than a 2nd Gen Escort. While I´m at it I could get the shifter, gauges, MOMO steering wheel, seats, etcetera.
I could have the ONE AND ONLY WRX powered 2.0L Turbocharged and Intercooled AWD 1992 Ford Escort pushing 5.4 seconds 0-60. That would scare the shit out of any Mustang GT asshole or even Camaro Z28s, and it´d be pretty damned close to a Cossie without spending quite as much as buying and importing one... and the beauty is my insurance company won´t know a damn thing about it

Does ANYBODY think this is even remotely feasible? I´m sure I´d have to get a second job and a second Escort to drive around while I´m taking on this project, but I think it´s possible. Anybody wanna see an WRX powered AWD Escort at the next meet?

 

[siragan]

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... and the beauty is my insurance company won´t know a damn thing about it

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hahaha I say you go for it. If I had the money to burn (and I btw don´t have any money, which is probably why I cart my meat popsicle of a person around in a giant metal breadbox known more commonly as an escort LX wagon) then f*k yeah! I´d do it! Sleepermobiles are the best, we all know that! But hell... the work would be like building a new car. Still... man oh man. You´d pwn everybody! Except me, that is.... we all know I own in my wagon

 

[91sleeper]

Well remember the ford laser tx3 (aka australian escort) is turbo awd and used the gtx engine. There is still literally a full overhaul to convert a US spec escort to awd though. It would not be worth the money IMO.

 

[TheBlade]

I totally agree with Mike. You´re better off using the AWD tranny out of a GTX. The hardest part of the project is running a drive shaft to the back and converting the back with CV´s and everything.

I wouldn´t be that cheap but I´ve put some time into thinking about it. I´m positive it could be done, but I dont think you could lower the scort at all. In fact you may have to lift it just a tad.

 

[James92Scort]

Yeah I thought about the lowering part too. but being AWD the car isn´t going to corner all that well, which, with the major MOD isn´t where my aim is going to be anyway. If I grab a WRX as the parts car then I think using the wrx tranny with it´s engine would be more feasible because I´m not sure just how well a GTX tranny would fit up against the WRX´s 2.0.

 

[TheBlade]

Okay before you get all gung-ho James...realize that the Scooby´s are FLAT opposing 4´s and the trannies are just darn weird to fit up to the motor. The chassis and drivetrain aren´t close to the right size and the things that would trip up the idea the most are the little things like the suspension set up to run the drivetrain. The struts for scooby´s are freakin´ expensive too...you´re better off just rebuilding the WRX you find smashed up.

The GTX tranny has a place to bolt up a driveshaft that would be sitting right under the drivers seat. You would have to cut the body where the seat is make a channel for the driveshaft. Once at the back of the car you would have to have a machine shop fab.

 

[James92Scort]

I realize how the Subie´s are set up. I know it´s a Boxer 4, and it does take up alot of room under the hood. I´d probably end up taking everything out from under the hood of my scort and putting everything from the wrx back into it...with the modifications of course. The car´s aren´t different by a lot. the wheel base is 1 inch off, the length is 3 off, and the width is off by 1.4 inches. IF there was a way to get this to work I´d be perfectly happy redoing things, even if it meant cutting away part of the shell to make room for the drive shaft. But I´m still convinced it won´t even come close to the cost of importing a Cosworth. I´ve seen some wilder modifications to cars.

 

[Beaverboy]

You´d spend at least $50K reworking the suspension, drivetrain mounts, steering, fuel system, hubs, etc.. you´re better off buying that Cossie, or just a new WRX.

Things like the wheelbase are the least of your worries,... wheelbase differences are a simple matter of driveshaft length alteration.. it´s track width, axles, hubs, suspension hard points.. a transmission tunnel!

You see, the engine on a WRX is located longitudinally, not transverse like in your scort. You´re better off trying to find a wrecked VW with the syncro system which also has a transverse engine AWD configuration. I just measured (since I have scoobies and a 93 scort out in the driveway right now) and the engine would fit in the scort´s engine bay, but I don´t think the axles would even reach the front wheels (the subaru engine sits in front of the front axle line instead of on it like the scort). I really don´t think you´d get the exhaust and the tranny/driveshaft under the little hump the scort has.

If you want an AWD car that will do 0-60 in 5.2sec and scare the hell out of some WRX drivers (forget the slowpoke mustanks) buy yourself a barely running ´92 Subaru Impreza and a wrecked WRX.. then transfer the WRX´s guts over (the hardpoints haven´t changed, should take you two weekends and a good wrench/socket set to do it all yourself)... the insurance company will never know that you have a light car (lighter than the current WRX) that can run with the big dogs.

Or you could learn to rebuild and turbocharge your own engine, set up a sick front suspension with some grippy tires and run in FWD to 60 in the same amount of time (AWD doesn´t help the car sprint to 60, raw power does)

Beaverboy

[ This message was edited by: Beaverboy on 05-01-2003 13:43 ]

 

[James92Scort]

So you´re telling me the WRX would hit 5.4 seconds 0-60 if it was only FWD? I doubt that very seriously. Point in case: it takes 223 Wheel HP for a 3000 pound FWD car to make it to 5.8 seconds (Dodge Neon SRT-4). Only 147 HP make it to the wheels through the WRXs drivetrain...that means it´s losing 80 hp between the flywheel and tires. But since the power goes through all wheels it has twice as much grip as the SRT-4 does. THAT is why the WRX is so fast.

There are three points on why I was thinking about this mod in the first place. One is for me to have an Escort that will keep times with WRXs and other cars that it shouldn´t normally be seeing. Two, the very first US Spec AWD Ford Escort. Sounds...cool, doesn´t it? I thought so.
Finally, I wanna see some punk in his ricer car at stoplights, and then show him my taillights when he thinks he´s gonna kick my ass. Like the hokey pokey, Thats what it´s all about.

Besides, if I go and buy a WRX (couldn´t afford one on my life) then my insurance skyrockets and I wouldn´t be able to keep my Escort.

 

[djnk]

So there we r

when I was talking about raceing with "real" people u had a lot against me and now u passed the border and u want somebody to see ur taillights ... what about the story of cossworth is too expensive we r just normal guys....

ur pathetic buy "real" car and then upgrade it etc. I recommend u a guy named Marco in Rome Italy he did some things for me and in past guy worked for ferrrari... oh yeah about 4wd it´s useful for steering but dont be naive a lot of power is lost for all wheels I´am driving since 6 yrs (my uncle has Ford service) so I really tasted a lot of fords european ofcourse and my statement bout Ford europe was connected to car design cause I really dont like american scorts they´re quite ugly compared to European sorry truth hurts. Sorry for my english I drive better than speak ur language

)

 

[James92Scort]

I had something against you when you talked about racing people? why don´t I remember this?

 

[birddog]

Uh why not just build up your 1.8? Lots cheaper. bore the darn thing out the full mil, throw in some dished pistons to bring the compression back down, get Crane or someones else to grind you new cams, get the head done, then turbo the sucker. lots cheaper and no problems trying to swap oddball combos in. if you want an easier all wheel drive setup look for an all wheel drive ford tempo. see what all the tranny will go with. may just work with a 3.0 v6 now have some fun. I don´t know if the boxer engine will fit under the hood of a egt.

 

[TheBlade]

Hey Birddog...here´s the best way to get displacement on the 1.8L

Stroke it baby!....no seriously. Notched pistons that will clear the crank. New balanced crank. Crower said they would make rods that are balanced within a few grams of each other. My friend and I were looking at my motor with the oilpan off...we were thinking something around a 4" stroke. Just on a guess we were hoping to get a displacement of 3.0L.

Then from there...the head. Okay flow it. You know port-polish, deck, blueprint. Oversize the valves. High heat exhaust valve seals, sodium filled exhaust valves, titanium springs. And for the cams yeah a set of cams ALWAYs makes a difference but were thinking about just cam timing gears. That way you can actually idle

I played with the numbers one day. If you could get an extra 1000revs out of balancing the motor (I´ve actually heard of people reving balanced motors to like 11k though)...still 8k redline with everything done. A ball bearing turbo pushing 20psi to redline...it was like 500HP!

 

[birddog]

I didn´t know if there was enough room to stroke a 1.8 good to know that. how´s it go - nothing shrinks time and distance like cubic inches... and balancing the bottom assembly is a must.

 

[James92Scort]

the old addage "theres no replacement for displacement", sad to say, is slowly being dis-proven by Honda. They have cars getting 146 horsepower per liter (Honda S2000). Or even the old 1.6 SI motors, 100 horsepower per liter. OF course they aren´t the fastest things in the world but they´re proving that you can have fun and kill what you couldn´t before at the same time.
Sure stroking an engine will help with power but doesn´t it also make the engine weightier? You´re shoving bigger pistons in there and balancing crankshafts makes them slightly weightier as well. All that stuff you both just mentioned would cost me probably around 10 grand alone. Hey... I got it! I´ll take up a collection the "James is a poor bastard but wants a faster EGT" fund. Donations of JUST a few dollars a day will help this poor boy reach his dream of surpassing his brother in the quest for automotive knowledge and supremacy!! So what´d ya say, headin´ for your checkbook right now?

 

[CosworthWannabe2]

Subie trannies are REALLY wide at the bellhousing and the ears are wide for the front CV shafts. If I don´t sell mine I´m gonna do a Merkur drivetrain changeover. I checked out some basic measurements for the rear suspension assembly and it´s not that far off. The only other major part is I would need to throw in a GTX gas tank to clear the driveshaft. Putting a hump in the rear floor is not that big of a deal grafting the rear pan from a RWD car isn´t that big of a deal.

 

[Beaverboy]

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So you´re telling me the WRX would hit 5.4 seconds 0-60 if it was only FWD? I doubt that very seriously. Point in case: it takes 223 Wheel HP for a 3000 pound FWD car to make it to 5.8 seconds (Dodge Neon SRT-4). Only 147 HP make it to the wheels through the WRXs drivetrain...that means it´s losing 80 hp between the flywheel and tires. But since the power goes through all wheels it has twice as much grip as the SRT-4 does. THAT is why the WRX is so fast.

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No... sorry, a stock WRX with the rear driveline removed and a locked center diff (conversion to 2wd minus a few lbs) wouldn´t get there as fast.. but neither will the off the shelf 4wd version hit 0-60 in 5.4sec more than a few times unless you like broken axles and stripped gears. That 5.4 sec time was made by some of the balls-out drivers at Road&Track, right? They had a press vehicle that they weren´t planning on becoming attached to so they don´t mind doing a 5000rpm full throttle clutch drop to get a blazingly fast 0-60 time. Launch like that at every stoplight where you happen to pull up to that mustang cobra, the cobra is going to win one of those times and you´re going to make a call to your friendly towing co.

The WRX is fast... very fast. Street start 5-60mph in less than 7.5 seconds (C&D) is a better indication of the acceleration you can expect out of one without the full drag launch. You can always rev it and slip the clutch to get a faster time.. maybe 0-60 in just over 6s, but your clutch replacements will occur often. Also, remember to factor in that car manufacturers place their gear ratios so that the shift from 2nd to 3rd doesn´t occur until after 60mph these days.. this is solely for those wickedly hot sounding 0-60 times. It helps if you´re racing to 60mph, but little else in real driving.

Now, as for that 3000lb SRT-4, yeah, you could beat it. 3000lbs is damn heavy for a compact FWD car.. and I hope your scort weighs a little less than that. Weight (like those speaker boxes) has the worst effects on your car´s dynamic abilities, whether it be braking, cornering or accelerating, and is one of the best things going for the scorts. Throw in an appropriately sized turbocharger, some sticky front rubber and 0 front camber.. work out your launch technique and you´ll give a WRX a good run for his clutch dropping money... on dry pavement.

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Besides, if I go and buy a WRX (couldn´t afford one on my life) then my insurance skyrockets

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Like I said, buy an old impreza and perform the WRX transplant on it.. the insurance company will never know

 

[James92Scort]

The SRT-4 weights roughly 2800 lbs, which is 400 plus more than our Escort GTs. I´m sure if it wasn´t turbocharged it´d still be slower than the EGTs. All Neons before this have been slower, besides the R/T model.
"That 5.4 sec time was made by some of the balls-out drivers at Road&Track, right?" Maybe so, but it was proven by many more people. That 5.4 seconds 0-60 has been proven by the manufacturer, car magazines (autoweek, car and driver, sport compact car), car shows, and car-stats.com, and I doubt thats with some 5000 rpm clutch drop. I´m pretty sure you could regularly hit 5.4 seconds revving it up to 2000 rpms everyday on the street. Buy me a WRX, and I´ll happily show you everyday on the street

"Also, remember to factor in that car manufacturers place their gear ratios so that the shift from 2nd to 3rd doesn´t occur until after 60mph these days.. this is solely for those wickedly hot sounding 0-60 times. It helps if you´re racing to 60mph, but little else in real driving."
Well that´s also because not every car manufacturer wants to have their cars wind out to 9000-10,000 rpms.
If you´ve studied this car as much as I have then you know it like I know it.
Like I said if I do "MY" Idea for a swap then the insurance company won´t know anything, if I start buying Used Imprezas my insurance still goes up. That was the point of the whole damn crazy Idea.

 

[Zeemax]

James, you would likely still need to declare the Cosworth engine to your insurance company. It´s not a grey or parallel import because the Cossie engine was never offered in the Escort/Protege chassis. Importing a BPT from Corksport is valid because it´s the same engine family. But putting a Cossie pinto motor in your car would require the extra insurance coverage. Otherwise, should you have an accident, whether your fault or not, you could run into serious legal troubles. If you put a non-qualifying engine in your car, your insurance company could argue that they are no longer liable for your coverage. Leaving you to pick up the tab for whatever damage an accident may do to your car, and possibly the person you hit, or who hit you. It IS a great idea and I for one would love to see it, but would hate to see you get caught up in a legal liability nightmare for your creative efforts. Remember, the US is the litigation country of the world.

 

[93scortluv]

I have a stupid question, But I thought that american escorts (mine) didnt have a hump in the rear floor for the driveshaft... I do have a hump in the floor. is this normal???? and what is a lx3???? Thats what my sticker on my door says, I sound like a newbie but I am not, just never looked at this stuff before.. Oh I need a tranny for a 93 lx 5speed...