Beginning next summer, I should finally be able to start building my dream car. I plan on using either my 1992 Civic VX or buying a second hatchback for this project. The goal is to end up with a "grand touring" style car with relatively high amount of comfort, so I'll need air conditioning for sure, but also a fun amount of power and something to make it feel unique. Are AWD swaps faster than FWD cars on a road course? I do not drag race, and this car will likely not see much track time, but I love to go for a spirited drive in some twisty mountain backroads. Part of me wants to go with a RWD setup, but I have no idea if that would result in a better/worse driving experience than FWD or AWD. Any advice which direction to head with this? Maybe an AWD system that is primarily RWD but sends power to the front when the rear slips?

 

I'm sorry but if you have to ask this question you're not even 5% prepared for what it would take to complete an AWD swap on one of these platforms. Let alone a RWD swap which would require almost entirely custom built parts, mounts, fabrication, etc. You will need VERY deep pockets to pay for everything, and a lot of knowledge to get it done right unless you literally threw tens of thousands of dollars at an experienced shop to do it for you.

AWD will 99% of the time outperform FWD both in terms of straight line speed and cornering. RWD is it's own argument. FWD is fun and can still be capable, but relatively unarguable that it's the worst drivetrain configuration for performance driving.

 

Haha, that's the reason I haven't done any swap with the car yet! I've owned this car and it's been my daily for about 4 years now, but I haven't had the money, time, or tools to do any of the work myself. I am a decent welder with MIG, but don't currently own a welder or any metalworking tools, so I'd have to invest pretty heavily to be in any position to fabricate this stuff myself. I am slow but competent with basic parts like brackets and other sheet metal assemblies in SolidWorks and Fusion360, so I can also design my own parts and have them laser cut for me in order to make sure I get what I need. Again, not that I have the time to do that now or the tools to make the parts. Next summer I should be in a position to seriously begin work on the car, though. I'm in school full time+ in addition to working full time, and my wife just started working again after being out of work with our kids the last few years. I'm graduating next May, so I'll have 30+ hours of my time back each week in addition to freeing up all that money I've been paying for tuition, plus my wife's income will really free up some budget space as well. I already bought the car I'll drive while the Honda is under the knife- good ol' 1996 Geo Metro, best $600 I've spent in a long time!

I'll likely have the majority of the work done by somebody else- not sure who yet since I haven't wanted to bother any shops until I know I've got the money to actually begin work. The way I see it, I could spend $40-50k on a newer car that would be fun, but the same cash would get me damn close to having this car built the way I want. Bodywork and the engine itself will be the most expensive things, I'm guessing $30k to get those done, probably $10k on interior and electrical, and another $10k on whichever drivetrain layout if it's not FWD. Depending on quoted prices for certain specific things I want to do with bodywork, I may spend next summer/winter doing some of my own prep and minor stuff to save some money and push the main build out one year. A stretch goal is to have a slight widebody look to the car, but with custom fenders and welded-in rear quarters. I can weld, grind, and sand sheet metal to be paint-ready, but I've never formed any rounded surfaces like a fender before- lol might be time to take an auto-body class in town to learn how! For the most part, though, I've kind of come to terms with even though I'd love to do most of the work myself, it will likely not save any money once you factor in all the tools I'd need to do it myself (welder, air compressor, painting stuff, tube bender, band saw, consumables, etc...) and it would probably add a couple YEARS to see the end result.

As for the FWD vs AWD vs RWD thing, I just don't have any good way of knowing how the car will handle with a drivetrain layout change. I've never driving a swapped Civic before. I know the FWD cars can be really quick around a track (there's plenty of examples of successful cars in events like GridLife Time Attack). I love the AWD concept, but part of me wonders how big of a hit to gas mileage that's going to be, while a RWD might be a more simple and efficient setup for lots of driving. I'm hoping somebody with some first-hand experience can say for sure what the pros/cons of each is.

 

I'm glad it sounds like you're at least prepared to take the build seriously.

RWD is a completely different animal as far as what it takes to convert these cars. AWD is a cake walk comparatively, and is the direction I'd focus on. You could potentially even build your car as a "stage 1" proof of concept and get your engine and car running with the swap keeping it FWD, with plans for an AWD swap later on.