Alright so I had this crazy idea of building a mid mount engine evo 8 using the same specs as the evo just completely different design with a mix of lamborghini + evo 8 style. I know how to work on my evo and did my engine build, repair, etc so that stuff wont be an issue until I hit the custom welds and getting the chassis built.

but I wanted to see what the community thought about it or had any input about it.

 

Coming from someone who built, owns and raced a mid engine vehicle (was not mid engine from the factory), it's not going to be worth it. Unless you got some deep pockets, it's not going to be awd still. With owning both a front engine awd car and and mid engine rwd car, I prefer awd and being front heavy all day long. 2 completely different driving styles but the evo fits me better. Just my opinion though.

 

what about motor in the back to still keep the awd factor?

its basically flipping the chassis around, and I know its going to cost some money which this would be a project over the course of years to complete.

Wanted to try something new and be one of those guys who made their own car. But if you think its not worth it I would rather take the advice from someone who has the knowledge vs listening to what I want to do

worst case if its not worth the time or money ill just get a custom interior built for the car and make it unique

 

Do you have $150-$200k to throw at building what will basically be a prototype vehicle?

 

Using an Evo drive line and flipping it around would work but.... you would have one forward gear and 5-6 reverse gears. I dont think there is a way to flip the ring and pinion in the t-case.

Your other option is to use a trans from a R8/Lambo or even a GTR. Both are not cheap options. Obviously you would have to make a one off adapter for any of those options too.

For my car, I used a typical FWD setup and just moved it to the middle of the car. Way cheaper and easier. No adapters need. Just fab up your own mounts, get custom axles made and seal it off. Easy stuff.

 

The issue is the "custom welds" and getting the chassis build is 90% of the problem. Even if you knew how to do it, it would still be ambitious. This isn't to rain on your parade. I would just hate to see you chop up an Evo and sink a ton of time and effort into a project that probably won't turn out the way you want it. It is one thing to build a car with a mid engine layout. It is another thing to have it engineered so it handles well and actually can be used for something other than driving around and showing off.

This is just my opinion and I wish you the best of luck if you attempt it. Otherwise I would just by a Lotus Elise or Exige for my MR fix.

 

At the local autocross there was a really well done mid engine Golf. Maybe he was still working on it at the time, but the results were uhhh, at the same level as a factory BRZ/FRS if I remember correctly. Incredible engineering and dedication, but hard to say if the performance gains are worth it.

This was probably the car, I mean how many of these could there be? And they even mention it in this article:

"Now... is this car record breaking? No not at all, but it is a blast to drive and I am very happy to know that the car far exceeds the performance of that original R32"

https://www.drivingline.com/articles...e-vw-golf-r59/

 

I would sooner buy a cayman and suby swap that before a wasting time with a RWD mid engine evo. The chassis is good on the evo but its still big and heavy.

 

or do an 818 kit car from factory 5

 

Are you talking about using the Evo Chassis to do this? If so, I'd say it's probably not worth your time. The suspension is designed/compromised based on the packaging layout that it has and as mentioned it is a heavy chassis to begin with.

If you are thinking of building a tube-frame race car around the 4G63, then that could be really cool. You'd probably want to just make it a RWD transaxle though (both for simplicity and performance purposes). As others mentioned, it would be mega expensive.

 

Alright so I had this crazy idea of building an Evo powered hot air balloon using the same specs as the evo just completely different design with a mix of hot air balloon + evo 8 style. I know how to work on my hot air balloon and did my hot air balloon basket weaving, cloth repair, etc so that stuff wont be an issue until I hit the custom basket supports and getting the exhaust aligned.

but I wanted to see what the community thought about it or had any input about it.

 

Now THIS has legs. I vote you convert it to nuclear power, but Evo VIII style.

 

wow what a tool comment

well while im at a bench feeding birds on my lunch break im going to get on my phone and act like im important and make fun of another car enthusiast question with a stupid question

i know people who have built their own custom cars and I was interested in attempting a project to see if its worth the time.

you did not prove a point except you have no respect for peoples goals and ambitions

gtfo

to all the other car enthusiast I appreciate the real responses and decided im going to stick with my car and do a few custom things to it later down the road

 

The Evo's stock weight distribution is already good. I don't see this being cost effective but it definitely would be neat to see one done.

 

Are we talking about the same Evo here?

Our weight dist sucks.