speedracing944

If there was a light weight tube framed kit car which would use the suspension and drivetrain from a 944 in what configuration would you want it in. What specs would you like to see in regaurds to weight, wheel base, front, mid, rear engine. would it seat 1, 2, 3 or 4 people. What I am thinking about is how Facory Five Racing changes the drivetrain of a Mustang into a Cobra Replica. Any thoughts?

Jason_86_951

1400lbs, mid engine, 2 seater, I would think the wheel base would want to be about the same as a 944.
I'll thought about this very idea for a very long time.
Just don't make it look like a$$, like those Lotus7 copies.
I'd buy one.

MachSchnell

Um - if you're gonna go that route, can you get rid of the antiquated torsion bar rear suspension at least? Can we have a 4 or 5 link like modern cars? :P

A great idea, I just think including the rear suspension that is fairly outdated and not that impressive to begin with is like all those cobra replicar manufacturers using a Mustang II front suspension and brake setup - a waste!

speedracing944

So a double wish bone suspension is a must? What kind of body style? hard top or open car?

Geo

I'm probabaly going to get flamed, but a kit car based upon a 944 would be a bust.

The engine, while stunning in 1982 is a dinosaur today. Not to say it's not a good engine, but there are MUCH better engines to use in a kit car. And the suspension is antique for crying out loud. The front Mac struts are horribly pedestrian and the rear is a joke. Definitely not modern standards. Porsche made the 944 a wonderful car, not by using state of the art suspension, but by building a rigid chassis and tuning it better than the better than average bear. The engine as I said was great at the time, but purely pedestrian today.

If you build a kit car, you get rid of the single greatest feature the 944 has, a very rigid chassis.

The brakes on the 944 are still great for a production car, but for the money, you can't beat the offerings from AP, Wilwood, and others.

The only that might be cool is if the engine would mate up directly with the gearbox. That would be cool for a mid-engine car.

Sorry to burst anyone's bubble. The 944 is still a fabulous car, but it's better than the sum of it's parts. Once you start separating those parts you're not left with a lot you'd want to use.

speedracing944

What i am pesonallly thinking about is a replica of a 1960 Formula Junior race car (Apache, which was built in California). A single seater open car which would be updated to have fenders, lights, bumpers and other road legal must haves. It would weight around 1000 - 1200 lbs.
I know the 944 isn't the ultimite car by any means. But there are plenty off them which can be had for a song and a dance. I have always wanted to build a F1 style car for the street and with the low prices for crashed or neglected 944 it may be a fun option for myself or others. If I design it on the same wheel base with all the same suspension pick up points it would be simple to assemble. Now this is just my idea of how to use old 944 parts. I just wanted to get a feel for other peoples interpretation of what a KIT car using 944 parts would be.

Happy dreaming

speedracing944

If FFR can turn a heavy, bad handling Mustang into rocket I am sure a 944 can be turned into much much more.

Devildog2067

Geo's point is: by throwing the Mustang powertrain into a kit car, you keep the best part and throw away the rest.

Throwing the 944's powertrain into a kit car throws away the best part and keeps the merely average parts.

Think about the Formula Fords with the 2.0 L Ecotec (I think? The contour/mystique motor) perform. Just about any modern engine would be a better choice.

For example: the Celica is a mildly exciting car to drive at best, front drive, sloppy handling, pedestrian Toyota. But if it was 1400 pounds, mid engine/rear drive, would we still make fun of it? Of course not. We'd call it a Lotus Elise and drool over it.

TaylorSea4

Gotta side with George on this, bud. Hell, even considering the 8V Turbo's and the big 3L twin cam, these motors are at best pedestrian by today's standards. Hell, Honda has a new Accord V6 hybrid that cranks out 260hp for Chrissakes.

Maybe it's different in Wisconsin, but there aren't any 944 boneyards down here in Texas with scads of donor cars. You wanna build a badass kit car, build one that uses VW engines and weighs less than 800 pounds with proper race car suspension. Oh wait, someone's already done that. Radical Engineering has those LMP-insipired race cars powered by 1L superbike engines.

J Berk

Wow....may not support the kit car idea....but Geo and devildog make a pretty good case for a V8 transplant......take the small, pedestrian motor out and drop in a modern ( ok...the basic motor is not at all modern...but the electronics are) chevy V8.

Just kidding!

I happen to agree that the magic is in the whole package...and that the engine and suspension alone are by today's standards not so impressive and not exactally inexpensive to repair. If I were going KIT it would be either VW power on the small side or Chevy V8 for the BIG power....I woild love to build a BECK spider once my kids are grown!

Geo

Actually, Taylor has the hot hand here. If I were building a kit car or whatever, I'd start with a bike engine. They are super light and very powerful for their size. Lots of race car builders (mostly in England) are building sports cars around bike engines. You just cannot go wrong there (assuming you choose wisely).

speedracing944

I have thought about the bike engine for years. How would you mount a bike motor to a conventional transmission? What transmission could you use? Is there a web site which would pint me in the right dirrection. There is nothing like a engine screaming to 13K RPM and beyond!

Geo

Well, why use a conventional gearbox? Bikes have nice light weight sequential gearboxes. Most sports cars that use bike engines have chain drives from the gearbox. Or perhaps you could fab a driveshaft and torque tube to mate with a differential.

I know there are Brit manufacturers (including Quiafe) that make gearboxes for some bike engines and engines derived from bike engines like a super light weight 2 liter V8 made from bike engines. If you want to learn more about this, I suggest reading Racecar Engineering magazine. You may want to buy back issues. Be advised, the magazine is NOT cheap in the US. I pay $8 an issue. I need to subscribe, but I choke at a $90 subscription.

Matt H

Speedracing, you need to check out Formula SAE, they use bike motors.

You can go from a 90HP 600CC to a 140HP 1.3L, they rev forever, anr very easy to fix and are throw away items (i.e. cheap).
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Geo

Heck, you can get 140 bhp 1 liters!