LS1 vs Scooby Options

[HUBBSTER]

Conversion guys

what are the pros & cons of the LS1 vs the Scooby ?

I'm leaning towards the LS1 or LS3 bcus I like American and naturally aspirated

Which engine/trans has the best power to weight ratio ?

Thanks

[Zundfolge]

I've vacillated back and forth on this for some time.

Seems to me, unless you're putting a hot STI Turbo charged Subie motor in, it makes more sense to put a big bore Type IV motor in instead.

V8 (especially the LS motors) have a much higher potential for HP, but that creates a lot of other work that needs to be done.


The big downside for either system is all the hacking up of the car you have to do to water cool it. So I guess for now (I'll probably change my mind back and forth a dozen times before anyone replies to this) I'd say if you're going to go water cooled and you have the money, go LS1, but if you want to stick with a 4 stay with air cooled and get an overbuilt (Raby?) Type IV instead of the Suby.

But again, I'll go look at the anklebiter thread and change my mind (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

[zymurgist]

The big downside for either system is all the hacking up of the car you have to do to water cool it.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) I like 2 large trunks. Kind of a unique feature of the 914.

[DBCooper]

The big downside for either system is all the hacking up of the car you have to do to water cool it.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) I like 2 large trunks. Kind of a unique feature of the 914.

Actually there's not much hacking involved. People say this, but it's not a real factor. For the Subaru conversion it's removing parts of three panels in the front trunk. If you ever wanted to go back to aircooled, which I don't think anyone ever has, any body man could replace those easily, with no more trace of damage to the car than you'd get from simple rust repair or a re-spray. And you actually still have most of the front trunk. I don't use the trunks myself, my car's more for weekend fun, kind of like a motorcycle.

I had all the parts for a SBC conversion when a friend suggested the Subaru. The only hesitation I'd had about the V8 was the weight and carrying it high, what changes that would make to handling, and what I'd need to do to the suspension to get everything back in harmony. The Subaru solved all that. Now the car is like the old 2 liter but with more modern noises coming out of the back and three times the horsepower. I don't know enough about the LS1 conversion to compare, but it's a thumbs up for the Subaru.