I have been really studying the 996 Porsche Turbo forums as I just picked up a 2001 996 Seal Grey with a Switzer Performance 700hp package. I have noticed that many of the 996 guys convert their 911's to rear wheel drive and run slicks and say it is much easier to drive and more responsive than they were when they had the AWD in tact. Has anyone done this to a high horsepower evo...my evo project is almost done and I was just wondering about this. Your thoughts?

 

you have $$$$$$$$$$ i see.

 

Les,

Good to see you on the forums, haven't seen you around much.

The problem with a high HP rear wheel drive EVO lies in the transfer case. In most transfer cases or differentials, you have a pinion gear driving a ring gear. In our case it is reversed -- not an optimal arrangement. A bigger gear driving a smaller gear is like on a mountain bike - if you have the front on the large sprocket and the rear on the small, you have to exert alot more torque per revolution to keep a constant speed compared to if you had the front on the small sprocket and the rear on the large one. . .

Hope that made sense. While it might make the car fun to play around with or to drift, in a straight line or road course or highway pull it will still be faster and handle better with AWD.

I would contact Jon at TRE and the guys at RMR (make the RWD kit) and talk it over with them.

One more thing you may look into is the GSC 40:60 center differential. It will make the car more rear biased and let you hang the rear out when you want to.

EVOlutionary

p.s. If you talk with Tym, please ask him to give me a call. I've been trying to set up a tuning appointment for a couple weeks but haven't heard back yet. (this is Jarrod) Thanks!!!

 

the 996 platform is better setup to do this... it doesn't make good sense for an evo unless you either turn the motor 90 degrees or put it in the trunk.

 

Rhys Millen Racing------They set up RWD high HP Evo's . They set up the Tool (not Maynard and the gang) Evo for D1. Check them out. Give RMR a call and see what they can do for you. Post back. I'm curious.

 

You luck git! lol

the Porsche guys will not have any probelms convering to RWD as the 4WD gearboxes can be converted. also it means they can ditch all the 4WD weight out and in 2WD it actually put less stress on the box (less traction).

the Porsche is renound for fantastic rear grip coming out of corners so agian loosing the FWD isn't a problem and will help with the steering dynamics of the car (the front wheels dont have to break turn and put power down! lol).

the Evo is a diffrent kettle of fish. the engine arangement is better siuted to eaither 4WD or FWD. it would have been nice if they had built it with the engine north south as it helps with front rear weight distribution and means you can use a more conventional 'box.

i cant really see how converting an Evo to RWD is going to be better than 4WD. there are alot of VERY high BHP Evos that are amazing track machines!

thanks CHris.

PS. if you ever get bord of the Porsche then i think this car might make a great home for that nice engine and box!

www.ultimasportscars.com

 

Yeah J, I have been very busy with work and growing our buisneses, so very little post and play time on the internet. Anyway thanks for your reply...you have a lot of knowledge on these drivetrain issues and thanks for explaining them to me in terms I can understand. I just was curious not that I plan on doing this, just trying to learn if there were any bennefits to doing a conversion like this on a street car designed for 45-150mph pulls. Also one of my Grand Blanc buddies asked me about doing a conversion like this for his bennefit as well.

PS: Talked with Tym and he is so busy right now working on like 5 projects with deadlines so he told me he would reply to your email asap. Hope this helps.