speed daemon

I'm wondering whether I should actually buy a honda/acura, or try an engine swap in the old RX. The engine in it right now is rated at 217 hp. It's a turbo four cylinder. Wondering if anyone had an idea about how much would actually have to be replaced. The '89 RX (like the new WRXs) is a four wheel drive car. Any idea's about how I could find information pertaining to a 4WD front diff. that might be workable on a VTEC, or would the entire drivetrain have to be replaced?
I'm probably going to end up just getting a teg, but it would be fun as a project to stuff a VTEC in an impreza and see what she can do.

haggar

well.. most Honda engines, like the D and B series engines, run the opposite direction of most every other engine out there, including your subaru..

HP ain't everything, anyway. If you put a 217 hp VTEc motor, you'd be disappointed. It would not have the torque of the turbo.

When looking at a light car, like a CRX, a motor like, say a B16 works great. Light car, you do not need as much torque.

You move up to the slightly heavier integras, and you notice the move up the engine size to 1.8 liters.. heavier car, heavier torque needed..

Move up to the preludes, you move up to the torquier H series...etc..

The same reason Subaru has the 2.5 turbo in the Forester XT rather than just go with a EJ20..

Just my 2 cents, but there isn't much point other than to say you did it. If thats you goal, than more power to ya. If your goal is to build a fast car that is reliable and handles well, than stick with something more reasonable.

speed daemon

Well, the VTEC wouldn't stay bare bones for long. Whatever car it ends up in is going to be suped up, strengthened, dressed, and most importantly have some beefy suspension. The only reason that I mention hp is that 217 is kind of a lot for a stock small car. I was wondering if maybe a suped up VTEC could do the job better on that car, or if I should keep the subaru as a zippy daily driver while modding up an acura.

eastbay92cx

It would be a money pit I'm sure. Anything is possible but you won't save any money or gain any performance by putting a honda motor in a subaru, IMO.

VTECVillain

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speed daemon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm probably going to end up just getting a teg, but it would be fun as a project to stuff a VTEC in an impreza and see what she can do.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The power to weight ratio wouldn't be that good since the Impreza is bulkier and heavier. Not to mention it would require a lot of fabrication to pull it off and the rewards wouldn't be much more than a "look what I did."
You would probably have much better luck stuffing in a WRX or STi setup into the 89 RX. Then again I don't know much about Subaru's. This is a Honda/Acura site and I'm not the STi into RX wiring guru.

speed daemon

Decided to just fix 'er up as a daily driver as soon as my pockets fill up a bit, then trade in the Saturn for a Teg to begin building my dream car. The first step is to build a nice warm garage for it to live in.

FYI - The new impreza engines are the same hp output only on a heavier car!!!
New WRX's suck.

Thanks for all the help, that would have been dumb of me to VTEC up the old subaru but without the help of this site I might've tried it. Thanks.