How much different is the handling?, of a v8 conversion to a standard 914-4 Options

[turnaround89]

i have been searching all night, and can't seem to come up with how much different the car will handle with the added weight etc etc...Thinking of doing a v8 conversion but if the handling of the car diminishes greatly, i won't really want to do it. Anyone want to share some info?

I know how well my 914-4 handles, but what will change with the v8?

[DBCooper]

That's an almost impossible question to answer. I have a friend who's done two SBC-914's, one nice street car, one more race/street with flares, racing slicks, etc. Since you're adding a lot of horsepower and torque you can't leave the tires, suspension and brakes stock, no matter what else you do. And once you've made significant changes to the suspension and brakes you have what is really a different car, making it almost impossible to compare. He says the V8 is like having a passenger along all the time, if that tells you anything, plus an additional 200 horsepower.

I CAN tell you that I didn't make any suspension changes with a Subaru WRX motor, though I did do a brake upgrade. No real difference in the handling, maybe the equivalent of keeping the spare tire in the trunk or taking it out. Not enough to comment. But even so I do drive the car very differently with all the extra horsepower, less momentum, more throttle and brakes. And I"m sure that's the case for anyone with a six or an eight. That also makes it very difficult to compare them to an original four cylinder car.