rwd conversion - completed

[MSSLGECKO]

I'll second the better handling in RWD thought-

I agree! I have never been fond of the FWD EA cars' handling in spirited driving. I've found that my Brat handles way nicer in RWD and seemingly more stable, plus the added bonus of having the Dual Range transmission which takes shifting to new extremes.

After a short time w/ the RWD setup, I had to make a little trim piece to prevent the 4WD shifter from accidentally dropping into the 2WD/FWD position; once that was in place, I could throw the shifter between Hi and Lo quickly shooting through the neutral position rapidly.

[torxxx]

I agree with the RWD makes soobs more driveable. I drove my 86 wagon and a 85 brat in RWD and I loved it. way more fun to drive, easier to steer.

 

I ran my wagon for a year in RWD and didnt see any ill effects on the tranny.

[simple monkey]

check his gallery, especially the 2nd page:brow:

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=19187&sl=l

very interesting intercooler setup, what type of toyota did you get that out of?

to keep on topic rwd>awd as far as handling. my brother's corolla has 300 pound springs all around (like my car), weighs about the same as my car, and has the same type of tires, and even with open diff, it tackles corners better. rwd gets better gas mileage, less drivetrain parts to power; but awd gets better traction and has better corner exit speed. i guess its all about personal preference, right?

[4x4_Welder]

Forgot to ad-

Myd/r 4speed is on it's way out, it came to me with bad synchros from the previous owner not fixing a clutch issue. Since the tranny is already scheduled for replacement, I beat on it. Hard. Actually, the rear end is starting to clunk around, the bushings on it were all nasty dryrotted to begin with. I have gotten it to burn first, second, and third, and chirp fourth pretty loud in low range, with no damage, no flying parts, just the clunk.

I do have to give the Japanese engineers credit, they know how to put a drivetrain together to last. I'm flogging a 25 year old car that has 196k on it, doesn't smoke, doesn't knock, and goes straight down the road.

Now if only they would build them that tough today.

[Phizinza]

Ah! "Two countries separated by a common language" Or in this case, separated by a generation. It was only a year ago that I learned about the current usage of "drift" and "drifting". I was using the term as Sterling Moss, and Colin Chapman might use it.

 

Traction has its limits, and when on the edge of traction you are drifting. Beyond drifting you are sliding.

 

Right, sorry. I am a bit young and only know what is in my face.

 

Here is what I think of it know that I have listend to all of this. RWD may be better then FWD in a subie (but I put that down to the stupid camber they put on the subies.) But I still won't believe you can corner faster in RWD over FT4WD. I guess if you like the "out of control" feeling it's for you. But I like to go fast, esp around corners.

 

That shiny red is nice... I just washed my car (first time in about 5 months) and it looks so nice all shiny red

[4x4_Welder]

The thing with FT4wd, especially limited-slip center diff systems, is that they "scrub". That is, as you corner, the front tires are trying to turn faster than the rear tires, and can push through the corner without affecting the direction of travel that much. I just really like that you can recover from taking a corner too fast much better with RWD. With FWD, you're only hope is to saw the wheel, play with the gas and brake, and hope that you grab enough traction to not totally loose it. In RWD, hit the clutch, rev it up, pop the clutch and countersteer. Or, if you have enough HP, just stomp on the gas and countersteer, walk it around the corner, and you're good to go.

 

Oh yeah, I learned to drive on a frozen lake in Maine in an 80 Ford F-100 with a three-speed column shift, and no snow tires. You learn slide recovery real fast that way.

 

But I still won't believe you can corner faster in RWD over FT4WD. I guess if you like the "out of control" feeling it's for you. But I like to go fast, esp around corners.