Why do people do wild swaps(RB, LS1), when u can just buy a Porsche, Ferrari, etc?

[fooddude]

Just curious who else thinks spending grip loads of money on a wild and crazy engine swap (Corvette, V8, RB, JZ, etc.) on their Twin is something they would never do if they had the money?

I think it's really cool, interesting and all. But, if I was rich and if I had the money, I don't think I would ever do it.

I would just go buy something that is already built, fast and well engineered...like a porsche or maybe even a second hand ferrari or some other fast car..

I mean..the Twin is very cool and all - it's light, well balanced, has a great suspension and chassis design...but, once you swap a humongo engine in it, it is nowhere as light anymore and the balance would be super jacked up. Additionally, once you modify the suspension bits on it to fit 285-315+ tires and 11-13" wheels on it, the suspension geometry will be all out of whack as well. Lastly, no matter what you do it, how much you dump into it and modify it, it's still an econobox at it's core.

Once you fit a Corvette/RB/JZ/V8 engine in a Twin, with 11-13" wheels, an ugly rocket bunny kit...you end up with a ricey, super unbalanced car with suspension parts/geometry that can't handle those wheels, nonstop daily troubleshooting and as reliable as a yugo or pinto. Not to mention tens of thousands of dollars to make that happen.

...why not just get a car that already has a powerful engine, with wheels/tires/suspension designed specifically for that badarse engine and chassis?

..why not just spend that money on a clean, reliable, well built and engineered, proven performance, no daily troubleshooting, already built, fast car.. like a Porsche or other cheaper supercar?

All you really need to do is maybe swap in some Penske coilovers on the Porsche, upgrade wheels/tires, and maybe a few other easy bolt ons...and it'll surely beat the pants off an LS1/RB/JZ powered Twin at the track...no? ...and it'll be perfectly DD'able too


If you were rich or had money to do these crazy swaps, but would rather buy a better, already built, car..which car would you buy? (idk anything about expensive cars lol..so I am curious as to what car you would get that's reasonably priced for a super car...all I know is the porsche lol)


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[chiefshayan]

I think I've heard this saying around this forum, but it's cool to BUILD a unique car that not everyone has, instead of going out and buying a car that thousands can go down to their local dealership and pick up. Goes along with the quote "Built, not bought". Any rich dweeb can purchase a vette or a 997, but to swap the engine, change ECU's, change trans, and even manufacture your own parts, to me, is the coolest thing a car-guy can do.

When I see a v8 swapped miata, or a 2j IS 250, I stand back and am in awe of the serious man-hours behind these builds.

Just my 0.02

[suaveflooder]

I'll add that the engines you mentioned are pretty low maintenance and reliable. You ever look up what it costs to maintain a Porsche or Ferrari? It's pretty insane.


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[fooddude]

Originally Posted by chiefshayan

but to swap the engine, change ECU's, change trans, and even manufacture your own parts, to me, is the coolest thing a car-guy can do.

Good points.

Ya..but, any rich dweeb can pay a shop to do those things too. And, that's the way it usually is

[Jesse@JDLAutodesign]

One of my good friends owns a pretty larger dealership that only does exotics and other very high end cars. He's always driving turbo lambo's, porsches, etc you name it...the one car that he hasn't parted ways with in the 9 years i've known him is his 8 second street class honda civic lol.

[fooddude]

A 240z or 510 with a nice engine would be super sweet doh. It's already an old chassis with old technology, so it'll never be as fast nor as good handling as let's say a modern porsche...so no need to try nor expect it to be super modern in performance. To me this is cool - it's a classic car that can be made fast; but not trying to be a super duper car because it knows it never can. But when it's about twins out there with a V8, idk lol.

[FRS_FIEND]

Simple answer, Because They want to. Just a thought :P

[OICU812]

Money and ambition knows no boundaries.

[vc86]

Coz "Built not bought"

[EAGLE5]

Why have plain sex with a model when you can hire a cheap prostitute, dress up in a bear suit, and bring in some chains? Different strokes.

[car_roll]

"Built not bought" and "To each his own"

That's the way I see it. Some people like to see progress in the car they bought, including me. I personally would not be satisfied in simply buying a ferrari.

[cdrazic93]

I like the whole "im unique" scene, but seriously as far as engine swaps go, find something more exciting. Sure you can swap an LSx or 2JZ into the twin. You can also swap those two motors in just about any other car possible and safe bet its been done. Find a more obscure engine to work with, the unique factor will go up, the challenge of bulding it will go up...it just gets better and better.

For shits n gigs, pull an engine from a porsche in a junkyard and plop that sucker into a twin and talk about unique and challenging.

*attempt to find an EJ205 (206?) From the JDM legacy B4.

...if you can swap a LSx (5+ liters) then why not a cummins engine?

toyota tundra V8 stroked (1UZE i think?) If you wany serious power.

*become a master mechanic then attempt a ferrari F355 engine swap...then you really can put that ferrari badge on the car lol

Think out of the box. Dont just think out of the box right back into another box.

[fooddude]

...let's change it up a little. I think this is gravitating towards more building a "unique" and "custom" car, or trying to put the biggest engine possible in a little car.

I really meant as in the performance/suspension/handling/engineering/racing aspect and not really a show car, drag car, custom unique car, etc.

Plopping a huge engine in the twin doesn't sound like it'll do too well around a circuit/track. It also doesn't sound like it'll be good for anything other than drag races or entering import showoff lol. Am I missing something? Crazy huge engine swap builds sound just like another form of those cheesy 90s rice cars with darth vader body kits; only difference is it is obviously more extreme since you need a lot more money to do these insane builds....but..for what? to just have a show car and maybe drag races? Obviously these builds won't be tracked nor raced nor really used; so why even use a twin when it'll be exactly the same no matter which small import chassis you plop it into? Plop an LS1 into let's say an S13 and it won't be much different than an FRS - S13 and FRS is similar weight and will be so F'ed up in balance after the swap you won't even know the diff between a twin chassis or any other rwd chassis of similar weight, etc. Not to mention they'll both handle like utter sht around a track.


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[cdrazic93]

Originally Posted by fooddude

...let's change it up a little. I think this is gravitating towards more building a "unique" and "custom" car.

I really meant as in the performance aspect and not really a show car, drag car, custom unique car, etc.

Plopping a huge engine in the twin doesn't sound like it'll do too well around a circuit/track.

A porsche H6 might provided a bit of ballast in the back to offset any weight imbalances while keeping COG low.