Ever wondered what a Subaru WRX would be like it were powered by a 6-litre LQ4 V8? Well, the owner of the Corvette-powered Civic did, so after he finished his Honda’s conversion he turned his attention to his bug-eye WRX. This guy is crazy. You can view its dyno run here.
– Charles Kha
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OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
*snore*
I like it. I know so many will not. Great work, I wish I had the time and money to build one for myself.
Cool swap and build, but this defeats the whole purpose of a Subaru..
=/
All this and then he put it on rota grids..
I think it defeat the whole purpose of owning a Japanese cars. Whats with speedhunters posting v8 swaps here? It's not always about the power
I would be impressed if he had retained the awd... But without that it just seems like a waste of a good wrx chassis.
Yawn. The only thing worse than seeing an SBC in every hot rod is seeing an LSX in every rice burner. Way to be different!
words can't describe how stupid that is, if only this were a photoshopped pic
Impreza = Ruined.
Nothing beats that raw boxer sound.
I don't think it will handle better with that
^agreed. It seems like LS engines are everywhere these days.
So cleanly done and so left field. For the win.
Enough is enough!!!! please stop with the V8 swaps! Go buy a damn us car if you want a V8!
so wrong, yet so right
nice job dude. Very cool.
not cool at all
Never noticed how much room one of those WRX's have in the engine bay. Very clean install.
Is it me or does it seem the engine is mounted in front of the front axle? Doesn't do much good for the weight distribution...
Car looks great though!
Wow that's pretty sick
Ruined it. I don't care how much faster it is than a WRX.
Very cool! But I wonder, how does it drive like around a track?....
Ehh, whatever. Another V8 swap in another Japanese chassis.
If you wanna impress me, make the AWD work with the V8 swapped...THAT'S unique. lol
if he kept it awd that would be cool
WOWOWOWOWO another ls1 swap feature! cause we havent seen enough of those this month. Yoll should of just called it LS1 swap month.
pretty cool, yeah its a v8 and not a ej but so what it probably was ej and then it blew up and now its not.
Wonder if he changed the rear end over, standard subarus can easily enough destroy the diff, cv's etc.
If you have a problem with V8 swaps then buy a damn car and do a different swap cleanly that works half as good or is half as practical as an lsx powered car. Your most def. gonna fail. This swap isnt very practical because most of the engine sits in front of the shot towers and he used a cast iron block but 90% of ls swaps work FANTASTIC and better than most JDM motors. An LS weighs less than a RB or JZ anyway
This month went from dailys/sleepers to who can put a v8 in what. Part of why most people like jdm cars is because we can tune small displacement engines to compete with american v8s.
@Kevin Cee,
Why would you put rims on your car that you don't like? Oh.....Wait? That's it! It's NOT your car..... GET OVER IT!! Love the build keep it up!
What a waste of time and money spent. I agree that it would be great at least if the guy kept the all wheel drive, but the rotas are really the last thing I expected :/
Good for him, not my gig but atleast it looks good.
rotas + v8 = smh
Is like a bird with heavy bones.
He can't like like before.
This guy has ruined not 1 but 2 jap cars, he deserves a punch in the mouth, idiot!!! Get over this yank v8 crap already!!
weak.
Ruined subaru with a dragster engine.
Haters gunna hate
This is getting predictable..
an lq4 is a chevy truck motor, not a corvette one!
LS engine in everything these days.. Not really impressive anymore :/
Is this v8 month or something?
seriously, a v8 swapped car here or there is half interesting, but really its just another LSX swap over and over.
Maybe change to v8hunters.com?
Sounds Like shit.
"LSx engines weigh less, have great aftermarket, blah, blah, blah"... but it is not too original, is it?
To the hell with your crap engines and lack of creativity. Subaru EJ>>>>>>>>>Chevy V8
I really respect this car from a fabrication stand point. Great work! I bet this is a blast to drive.
Props to him for the time and effort. Haters will hate because Daddy and Mommy bought them the "best" for their muffin.
This would be epic if it was a horizontally opposed H-8 motor thats right I said BOXER Fu#$in eight mate!!! **Looks around while rubbing his hands together. Muahahahah**
Coming soon......f%^k heads.
There is more to a car than torque and power. Few understand that.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
I'm into people doing left-field things with their Rigs as long as they are innovative and do more for a cars performance and handling and chassis. This seems to have done backwards step on a perfectly good WRX chassis, would have more respect if he stuck to the AWD and V8. Could have spend the money on the original product or even put a H6 out of the Legacy and turbocharged it keeping the AWD. I give respect for the originality but so much more potential could have been done.
Look... It's a Subaru that's producing 400hp and it's not eating its own engine like most subarus will do without a budget of 8 million dollars.
wow gm created the lsx thinking that itd revolutionize the automotive industry that you'd see em swapped in everything, they really werent lying now its getting old...... i used to love the ls rx7 but the playing field is about to have no diversity, when every car on the starting line will have als rumble
@ synthmax
I love my jap motors too, but are you on crack? Those small-displacement engines are NOT competing with even the least of the V8s. Hence why everyone is changing?
Oh wait. The SCIONS are still holding up the 4-cylinder end of the deal. HAHHAHAAH how do you guys like THAT?? A SCION!
BTW Speedhunters, it is getting a bit heavy on the LS engines. Just sayin'.
Made of win. @Tizer the original EJ motor was mounted over the front axle......
still....boring...
here's why its boring....the engine didnt do the car any good at all....it's now heavier, slower, and only 2 wheel drive.....I'm sorry fellas....I believe an RB26 would have been a better swap...I would have RESPECTED that....
A Guy did this here in NZ a couple of years ago with a Lexus 4.0 v8. He finished it, got it complied and sold it 8 days later. The guy who bought it crashed it on the way home and KILLED his friend in the passenger seat. However, turned out whilst doing the original swap the builder had moved the steering rack 40mm. This gave over 100mm bump steer. The effect was that when the suspension compressed any steering input was effectively doubled at the wheel. Instant tank slapper. Moral? Check the bump steer on any major mod!!! Dont move the rack unless you KNOW what you're doing.
I love the Impreza. And I love the Corvette.
But, why for god sake would you change this glorious 2.5L Boxer for a 6L (fairly outdated) Motor?
Keep it in your muscle car and stop ruin these beuatiful cars. There is a very good reason,, why japanese has never put such huge engines in their cars.
Yes, it's probably well made. But done way too often nowadays. And most of the time completly unneccesary. M3 with LSX Engine, RX7 with LSX Engine and Impreza with a LSX - Engine.
Why would you changed the 3 most iconic engines ever produced for something like this?
Straight Six beats Muscle, Rotary beats muscle and Boxer beats Muscle. Period.
I think it's a cool swap, I have a slight preference to AWD but putting that aside it's a good powerful motor going into a strong chassis. So many people that don't know anything do ridiculous swaps. And some people just dislike this swap because it's not JDM, it's not a different subaru motor. It's something completely out there. But the guy did improve the overall vehicle with what they did, and if you don't at least do that then there's no point.
This is pretty sweet cept look how far it sits in front of the front wheels. Looks sooooo noise heavy!
Seems like LS swaps are the new fad... cant wait until it ends
Next month ej25 in a corvette zr2.5
Lol @ the people getting mad and hating. Probably the same kind of people who get pissed when somebody hates on stance and Hellaflush.
Subaru engines are finicky when they make high horsepower...I should know as I own a 2005 STi. Chevy V8s make very reliable horsepower and are easy to work on. Not a very practical swap but I can respect it.
I'd imagine people do V8 swaps into other cars because they don't like how the cars that originally had the engines looked. I'm don't like Camaros, Firebirds or Corvettes but I'd love to have their engines in a car I like such as an FD RX-7 or a E28 BMW.
This kinda defeats the purpose of having a Japanese performance car.
And what's an LQ4? Is that a Vortec out of a Silverado?
i can't stop laughining at all the guys talking about how the LS motor is inferior! the reason the flat head, then SBC and now LSX motors are getting shoe horned into EVERYTHING with wheels is beacsue it's the SUPERIOR engine package. it's light, (460-500lbs fully dressed) makes STUPID hp&torque mith minimal mods(500hp+ is just getting started and for less than 3 grand) AND it's fuel efficient and RELIABLE!
i have messed with my fair share of JDM turbos and i'm sorry to break it to ya, as fun, cool, quirky and innovative as the RB, JZ, SR20, VG/VQ B series, K series, and even 13A and Bs are, they don't hold a candle in the ease of pwer/cost per dollar/reliability metrics that seperate the dominaters from the also rans.
in short, the LSX swaps are in everything because in every areana the enter in they crush the compeitition. the only down side is an encroaching sense of loosing diversity.
and for all those guys whining about ruining a "great handling Suby" get real! the EVO and WRX are nose plowing understeering pigs! AWD is NOT a performance cars friend. it just lets no talent street hacks feeling like driving gods when pushing the car 7/10ths. don't confuse trick computer gadetry for great chassis tuning.
RANT OVER!
haters gon hate
JzEllis hit the nail right on the head.
This is being done because people want a power plant that is cost effective and can produce as much power as you want to get out of the platform.
Recently one of the muscle car magazines threw 2 turbos on a stock LS that had racked up a large number of miles to see how much HP and TQ the thing would produce before it had a mechanical failure. The result of the test was over 1,000hp on a well seasoned STOCK LS block with nothing more than two turbos.
According to the magazine they did over 80 dyno pulls on the engine without any sign of mechanical failure.
Name one Japanese engine for the same price that has done that...
Like it or hate it, at the end of the day it produces the power required to have a good time and offers more potential for less money than any Japanese engine.
The LS can be tuned to do just about anything and has a huge aftermarket following. It's a great engine and to say anything less is simply a matter of being uneducated on the subject you are speaking.
this thing must fly.. that engine is as strong as an Ox by most 'sensible' accounts..
guys we are children of the world and transplanting and american heat in to a Japanese soul(car) is not a bad thing
LOL at all these haters, man its like pre-school in here. "But mommy I love my EJ-25."
Hey, sutble must be your middle name. Great post!
Guys...Im not hating...I'm sorry it just doesnt make me jizz me pants...quite the opposite...
It's not appealing at all...and I know it made the car worst in every performance way...
Why spend money to go backward?
Fuckn player haters!!!!!!
What a monster!
Fantastic and unique
Is the LS a better motor than the EJ? Absolutely. It's cheaper, about the same weight, much stronger and much more powerful. There's only one metric where the EJ wins, and that's the ability to fit in a Subaru engine bay with an AWD drivetrain behind it, which is kind of the reason the STI is a better chassis than a Camaro in the first place.
Generally a big fan of LS swaps, not a big fan of this one because there's no way this car handles or puts down the power like it did stock, or even as well as a comparable muscle car would.