The "practical" car I have (ie back seat) is a 5-spd '94 Hyundai Elantra with a 1.6 L Mitsubishi engine. For what it is, it actually goes pretty good. I've often thought that a built-up 2.0 L version of this engine would be great in a Fiero.
Very cool. Interested in what he does for a decklid and bumper, if he does. Also a video would be cool.
He's planning to build a rear window louver out of aluminum to cover the engine, with the thought that the aluminum will act as kind if a heat sync and pull heat from the engine bay. I think that's all he's planning to run for a rear bumper. His plans are to finish up and smooth out the body work this winter. He barely had time to get some kinks worked out and everything together to pass tech to do some road race events this year.
Matt Farah drove it this weekend at Gridlife and is going to be posting a "One take' video on his YouTube channel TheSmokingTire.
[This message has been edited by zmcdonal (edited 06-13-2016).]
I kinda like the rivet look, wonder if he'll keep those.
He probably will. He wanted to keep the flares as separate pieces in case there is ever damage to one at the track, that way it can be fixed or remade and not be a huge deal to remount. I think they're actually Allen bolts that go into like a rivet nut. The whole front clip comes off as one piece with a few 1/4 turn fasteners and can be easily carried by one person.
If memory serves me right I believe he tried to start a thread/post on PFF but was quickly met with skepticism about his build and stopped. None the less, great car and talent.
If memory serves me right I believe he tried to start a thread/post on PFF but was quickly met with skepticism about his build and stopped. None the less, great car and talent.
This doesn't surprise me, if it is true. I have seen a lot of unique ideas posted by people get shot down by the "You should swap in a (enter engine here) instead..." crowd.
If memory serves me right I believe he tried to start a thread/post on PFF but was quickly met with skepticism about his build and stopped. None the less, great car and talent.
Facebook doesn't seem any better. People should just do what they do. Anyway. NBD
If memory serves me right I believe he tried to start a thread/post on PFF but was quickly met with skepticism about his build and stopped. None the less, great car and talent.
Coincidentally, I've been skipping this thread figuring it was going to be a bunch of people asking "why bother." Morbid curiosity got the better of me and I finally clicked on it. Hell of a build - that car is gorgeous!
"...a DG63 Mitsubishi engine that's capable of 750 horsepower. It uses a gigantic turbo, so boost doesn't kick in until very high up in the rev-range. Seeing as how the engine's in the middle, applying power in anything other than a straight line must be fairly terrifying."
He's making it sound like mid-engine is bad? It works quite well for the high-horsepower, big buck cars from Lambo, Ferrari and Bugatti...
Originally posted by fierosound: He's making it sound like mid-engine is bad? It works quite well for the high-horsepower, big buck cars from Lambo, Ferrari and Bugatti...
He doesn't really have much experience with mid-engined cars, but the Italians tend to have much more wheelbase than the Fiero, and are often a bit wider. Also, the newer Lambos, and I think Bugatti are AWD. Not to mention the huge difference in suspension between a 2012 super/hyper-car, and a 30 year old Fiero that's been hacked up to put a 20 year old Mitsubishi drivetrain in it.
Originally posted by dobey: ... a 30 year old Fiero that's been hacked up to put a 20 year old Mitsubishi drivetrain in it.
According to everything I've seen about this car, the only thing "Fiero" about it is the body. The suspension and running gear is all built from scratch. (I would think that that's a good thing, depending... But one never knows. )
Edit - You may remember Matt Farah driving Steven Snyders '88 track car. He had all good things to say about it. Of course, it didn't try to kill him, like this one.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 08-09-2016).]
Originally posted by Raydar: According to everything I've seen about this car, the only thing "Fiero" about it is the body. The suspension and running gear is all built from scratch. (I would think that that's a good thing, depending... But one never knows. )
Edit - You may remember Matt Farah driving Steven Snyders '88 track car. He had all good things to say about it. Of course, it didn't try to kill him, like this one.
Well, Steven's car is a mild 3.4 DOHC, and N/A. The 4G63 with that huge turbo makes a pretty big jump in power output right in the middle of the RPM range. From the article linked in the original post, it says the car finally came out at about 2500 lbs, with a 56% rear bias. That's a little increase over stock, and this is an 86GT, The front suspension looks totally custom, with coil overs, but the rear looks relatively stock, with coil overs. Since it's an 86 car, the bumpsteer and similar issues are probably still heavily in play there.
Edited this post because I found some more pictures of the build. The front upper arms look to be Arraut bits, the front lower control arms are stock modified to take coilovers. Rear control arms are stock with aftermarket struts. The least impressive thing was the use of wheel spacers to widen the track. I love the mitsu motor swap and the body work. The other thing I found interesting was the way it appears that he cut off the upper front frame rails and replaced them with a tube frame that also forms the mounts for the coilovers. Everything frame wise under that appears stock. I have considered a similar mod for my car but I want to take it one step further and cut the whole front of the frame off and scratch build a sub frame and suspension. I would like to find more info and see what he has done lately but to keep it better planted for a road course he needs a big a#$ wing and a front splitter.
[This message has been edited by wftb (edited 01-04-2018).]
Edited this post because I found some more pictures of the build. The front upper arms look to be Arraut bits, the front lower control arms are stock modified to take coilovers. Rear control arms are stock with aftermarket struts. The least impressive thing was the use of wheel spacers to widen the track. I love the mitsu motor swap and the body work. The other thing I found interesting was the way it appears that he cut off the upper front frame rails and replaced them with a tube frame that also forms the mounts for the coilovers. Everything frame wise under that appears stock. I have considered a similar mod for my car but I want to take it one step further and cut the whole front of the frame off and scratch build a sub frame and suspension. I would like to find more info and see what he has done lately but to keep it better planted for a road course he needs a big a#$ wing and a front splitter.
He actually made his own upper control arms because he thought he could build stronger ones with better geometry for less than Arraut charged for theirs. I know he used the coilovers from his first gen eclipse in the rear and possibly even up front.
For what it is, it actually goes pretty good. I've often thought that a built-up 2.0 L version of this engine would be great in a Fiero.
