I dont see that much bad news there. Sure, 50/50 is optimal they say. But I think every race engineer would love to accept a free 15% weight reduction, even if its concentrated on one end of the vehicle.
Adopted there are two identical vehicles and the weight of one of them gets reduced on the rear end by 15%, it is clear that the other is the one with the better balanced handling. But would you even say that the one without reduction is also the faster one on the track? Sure, depends on the track layout (or the type of competition), but in most cases I would say the lighter one should make the race.
To be clear with that, I dont want to make a statement that a swaped 86 is faster/better/whatever compared to C7 GS. There are many many more differences between those two Cars than only weight and bias. I wouldnt go out on a limb and make such a statememt.
This beeing said, I realy like the handling, also with the swap. At least that far I was able to test it yet. The slalom videos of @
spitsnaugle also dont make the impression of a car out of balance. Sure, 50/50 is the dream mark and would result in lower lap times. But I realy have the impression that this imperfection is within totaly acceptable limits.
On the other hand it is also possible to do a FI build on the FA20. I did Turbo builds before, for myself a 1.8T 20V in pretty much the same as a Golf Mk4. It was over 400HP and I realy liked the techniques and the Turbo torque and so one. But there were always things running on the edge. Finally it was the gearbox which was the weak point in that build. Everything else was optmized somewhen to hould up daily use and also rough driving. But the trans I had to overhaul or exchange every 8-10k miles. I didnt see any sence in expensive transmission swaps also available for those cars. I just dont want to spend more money for a trans then the whole rest of the car is worth. It came the day I decided to sell this car and save some money to build our house...
Hmm, 2 month later I purchased the 86, promissing to do no modifications on that car to be able to sell it quickly, just in case I need to. Now, find my mistake...
Long story Short, for my perpektive the LS swap was a great decission as far as I can say now. Sure, getting this thing street legal is still an open point. But the engine, the trans, axles and driveshaft can handle the power. They are not running out of spec. Under normal circumstances they will hold up daily use and also spirited driving for a long time. The weight penalty I have to accept therefore is absolutely fine for me. Pricewise a FI build with compareable durability and power is not cheaper and will not consume much less fuel. And the best thing: Turbo torque is nice. LS V8 Torque is just outstanding. I would say no 2L Turbo with 450HP will spool imidiatly the milisecond you hit the pedal at 1000rpm. And for now I just love it. Might be a consequence that Im already used to drive turbos with good torque + power and beeing kind of bored over the years.