rwd protege conversion?

[jay]

Last I checked that was a no-no. Prolly get away with say a lexus v8 in a corolla, but not a smallblock chev in a Z.

[therieldeal]

ah so the GT4 drivetrain would be a no-no for your rally car?

[jay]

Tranny, yes! Engine, prolly not so much.

[jrally]

You have to prove a company connection, engine was offered in a car sold by manufacturer. There use to be an Audi Quattro drivetrain in an 2nd gen RX-7 running down here, back about 7 or 8 years ago. Not sure how they got away with that one.
Jay, what would you think about taking something like an RX-3 and putting a GTR engine in it? RWD, Mazda, small, light weight without the sound of a sick chainsaw. (not a fan of the rotory engine noise in rally cars)

-Jon R.

[Clean 4WD]

You have to prove a company connection, engine was offered in a car sold by manufacturer. There use to be an Audi Quattro drivetrain in an 2nd gen RX-7 running down here, back about 7 or 8 years ago. Not sure how they got away with that one.
Jay, what would you think about taking something like an RX-3 and putting a GTR engine in it? RWD, Mazda, small, light weight without the sound of a sick chainsaw. (not a fan of the rotory engine noise in rally cars)

-Jon R.

That would work since the mazda 808 was a rx3 shell with the 1.6L 4cyl engine in it for US production.. I say DO IT..

[jay]

Aw yeah man that'd rawk and rawk hard. Dunno how much aftermarket support there'd be for suspension and the like for that chassis, but that's what sawzalls and welders are for.

[jrally]

The rear end is a solid axle, so shocks are easy there. The front end, you just need someone to build something crazy for a lower arm... Maybe something like this!!


then build a crazy rear axle like this!!

-Jon R.

[jay]

yah that oughtta about do it!!

[Hadoken]

Are those JDM tailpipes on the Miata?

[driftking988]

Did anybody get anywhere with the rwd idea in a protege?

[Mazda_Powered]

im sure ppl have had their ideas...but nothing solid yet. I remember seeing a guy on youtube getting a tracer? awd conversion to work.

best bet is to start with the awd car, then drop in a miata engine w/ a 6spd trans

[jay]

The trans tunnel won't accept any manner of rwd gearbox as is. Some (or very much) tunnel stretching must be done. Then you have the issue of having to relocate the very inconveniently located steering rack, unless you figure out a way to run that rack through the bellhousing. Looking at how many different ways I could screw up steeering and suspension geometry I decided not to try to swap out the front end of a miata onto the rallycar to turn it into rwd... maybe I should have, given the hassles this gt4 swap has given me, but there ya go.

[808]

I still want to make a G2 Miata... Or a P and eventually a G5.

[jay]

Don't think even with the hardtop that it'd pass tech, that's the word I hear anyhow.

[808]

I had heard someone got permission to do it.. And after reading the R-A rule book I'm not seeing any rule about convertibles.