I mis-posted this into a new thread, and wanted to move this here:

Apparently "Weapon's Grade Performance" has outfitted a BRZ with an LS2 V8 from a GTO:

http://jalopnik.com/5968227/is-this-...-brz-with-a-v8

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...99950489_n.jpg

That car doesnt run, yet...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLK8lUYneyY"]BRZ w/ LS2 hood drop.wmv - YouTube[/ame]

Why the LSx? Toyota already makes a perfectly serviceable V8 in the form of the 5.7L from their Tundra trucks.
That would prove to Toyota that this was supposed to be the next Supra.
Except for using the power.
I have 2 gripes with this car, primarily that it wasn't designed to fit adequate tires.
It's not just the need for a wide body kit, but what a 4" wider wheel does to scrub radius, bearing life, et cetera.
As for the LSx, It's not that earlier versions are heavier, they're not.
Later versions with VVT and AFM are heavier.
The weight issue comes from the available / affordable versions being iron-block pickup-truck engines.
And why not? The weight penalty is just 65#, nothing you can feel, it doesn't hurt emissions, it adds durability,
and truck versions can be had for under $200 complete.
And not that these cars could use it, but twin T76s on a salvaged truck version has proven capable of 1200 HP,
with a short-block assembly stock except for re-gapped rings.
My second issue with these cars is the asking price.
It seems to me they don't really comprehend the advantage of 3 quick nickels over one slow dime.
Rip out the trunk carpet, and in fact all the sound deadening and insulation.
Delete the sat nav, the radio, the speakers, and the air conditioning.
Get the price under $20,000 with the V8, it'll sell.
It's a huge gaping abyss of a hole in the market that noone is trying to fill.
And not just in America.
Human nature being what it is, a cheap, powerful, lightweight, no-frills stormer is universally craved.

To everyone who says they hate it, or it's sacrilege: Please, grow up. The LS motors, are very small, light (Much lighter than any Toyota V8), and could most certainly be installed with minimal affect to balance or weight distribution.

I'm not even a GM fan; I've never even owned a domestic car. I do have an appreciation for the packaging and power available with an LS motor though.

Pushrod engines like the LSx line are a lot smaller than OHC engines like Toyota's V8s. While I'm sure it wouldn't impossible to fit the Toyota engine, it will be much easier to fit the GM one. Just for fun, here's a couple examples of OHC and OHV engines:

http://i.imgur.com/8DCvitx.jpg
The foreground is the 1.6L I4 out of a Miata. The background is a 5.7L V8 (LS1). Obviously perspective is skewing things a bit, but the idea still there.

More relevant to this discussion:
http://i.imgur.com/GNLdQKO.jpg
Both Ford engines, the left is the 4.6L Modular DOHC V8 engine and the right is the 4.9L 302 ("5.0") V8.

Hartley V8 or bust!

This car wasn't meant to be the next Supra. This car was meant to be the next Sprinter. And it fulfills on that. It's very light (and no V8 swap will come out the other side the same weight-- driveline parts would have to be upgraded for durability, quite apart from engine weight), exceptionally balanced and chuckable.

It's a sportscar, not a tourer and not a supercar. I don't want this car for $20,000 with a V8, myself. And it's not slow-- it's faster than a bigger (Supra sized in fact) 330hp coupe around the Top Gear test track with its standard, cheap-thrills, tyres for Christ's sakes. Why everyone keeps complaining about how "gutless" this car is and comparing it to an MX5 is fucking beyond me, truly.

There's a Supra replacement coming, Akio has demanded it and development staff have confirmed it. If you want a hot footed supertourer, wait for that, and quit ragging on the lightweight corner buster. I can't use a supercar here, here where you lose your licence for twenty miles over in a sixty-five zone (in miles -- it's KM/h here) -- I don't want a supercar.

I want to go out and fang a car at its limits without losing my licence or paying out the ass in speeding fines. I want a car that feels fast and playful at the limits without being ridiculous. This car -is- "three quick nickels". Forget the numbers and go drive the fucking thing already.

*volkswagen motor
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_944"]Porsche 944 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Read that carefully-- The 944 has an all-Porsche engine, the 924 has the Audi/VW sourced engine.

its still an iteration of the vw developed motor, just made alot better by porsche. unless its a 968cs then its better off with the lsx. i hate them all. just too small. i fit much better in a 964.

No, it's a Porsche developed engine, freshly developed, the parts are not interchangeable with the exception of some ancilliaries. It's a complete other engine.

I'm not saying it's great, I'm just saying it's a totally different engine to the Audi/VW one. Different block, pistons and heads. Not the same.

EDIT; Really though, I can think of a dozen other engines I'd prefer in a 944 (just keep the transaxle! Gotta have the transaxle.)

Also worth noting is that our stock weight distribution, at 55/45 is not all that spectacular, and pretty poor, in fact, from a sports car perspective. Even a V6 Dodge Ram pickup is better balanced, at 53/47:

http://www.motortrend.com/oftheyear/...500/specs.html

With a swap, a builder has the opportunity to succeed where the engineers at Toyota failed, by getting the engine and transmission set back far enough to get the weight distribution they promised us before the car was being sold.

A builder succeeding where Toyota engineers failed , really did I just read that correctly? :confused0068:

Does the Ram pickup truck have a center of gravity below 18" even though as you say its better balanced, better balanced for what?, spectacular is not measured only in weight distrbution but the sum of the whole,...your omitting much in your comments when refering to what makes a sports car handle.

He meant where Subaru engineers failed. Heh... Toyota engineers got better weight distribution on a super long, iron-blocked Supra than the twins.