Probably. I don't know much about the rotary's engine mounting system, but the Impreza has 2 engine mounts that are esentiall on the bottom of the motor, which may make mounting the rotary a pain. Plus you have to sort out the tranny, wiring, etc.
If you are talking about a 400hp rotary with 300lb of torque, that is different my friend, now you're talkin Hybrids.
If you want to have fun with that rotary engine, put it on a Corolla 84-87, they are light and keep it RWD, trust me it'll be more fun (and easier to install).
Hybrid? What is that? The engine I have is a 13B REW TwinTurbo from a 93 RX7 R1. Stock figures are 255 FWHP, 195 torque at the stock boost of 10-12-10 psi. From what I have read it has side mounts so that would not jive well with the imprezas bottom mounts I suppose. I don't know much about Corollas, are there AWD versions? Aren't they a bit ummm ugly? I'll look around on the net for more info about Corollas, thanx for the tip.
-Jedon
jedon,
Hey, do you still have the whole car? How bad is the damage. Would you be interested in selling the whole car? I'm looking for a third gen to convert into a race car.
What is a Hillclimber? Like that Pikes Peak "Tacoma"? I have read that it is hard to get a 13B into a Miata because of the firewall and some other problems. I was just thinking an AWD rotary would be cool.
-Jedon
Do you mean low rpm torque? Even stock the 13b has more torque than the RS. Modified a bit with some extra boost and torque is over 300lb/ft! http://anthrax.comedia.net/~pluto/dyno.html
I suppose you would have to be carefull to keep the RPM's up not to bog a AWD, but that must also be true of the smaller engined turbo Imprezas. I am more interested in bolt patterns, tranny connections etc than if the engine will put out enough torque.
-Jedon
[This message has been edited by jedon (edited May 09, 2000).]
I don't know about torqueless. I took my friends ex-Rally RX-3 for a spin and it seemed to get moving pretty damned good. Its got around 180hp out of a street ported 13b, and it flies. But maybe thats because I had it wrapped up to 9k rpm. Bald tires made it interesting to drive as well.
Ask some of your local shops if they are willing to take on the project. All it takes is some creativity. I am sure it can get done. If you were on the east coast near me, I would suggest RalliSpec since they like to tinker on the unknown.
Hmm, interesting project idea. Too bad you're not in Texas as I kinda know alittle about how to make rotaries humm... I won't lie, it does take money to make them really scream but rotaries can be extremely reliable with the proper tuning.
Trey,
You are an (x?)RX-7 guy, and a Subaru guy now, I am trying to decide (after rolling my 3rd gen in the rain) whether to get another 7 or a new RS and turbo it. Any comparisions between a modded RS and a R1? Thanx!!
-Jedon
Two completely different cars if you ask me. I wish I could tell you one or the other is better but it all depends on how you use it. The RX-7 is a pure sports car and personally I think it makes a awesome weekend/track car. Driving it every day is done by a large portion of owners but I honestly think the Subaru is more suited as a daily driver. It's more of a car you can drive rain, snow, or shiny down nearly any road, paved or gravel. With my RX-7, I tend to stick to the smooth highways and high speed sweepers. With the Subaru I'm hitting the bumpy backroads, driving down gravel roads and trying to hit that "yump" just right to get good air. You don't have the same power in the Subaru as you do with the RX-7 but you can't do some of the things in the RX-7 you can get away with in the Subaru.
They are both fun to drive, just in different ways. It all depends on what you're looking for.