High output Type IV or Subaru Options

[TonyAKAVW]

There has been a lot of talk recently about affordable engine upgrades for the 914, namely larger displacement Type IV engines and Subaru conversions.

It looks as though a Type IV with 125 HP will cost about $5000 to do. It also looks like a Subaru conversion, using the Renegade kit (or a DIY conversion) will run somewhere around the same price for 165-180 HP (or more with a turbo engine).

So the poll question is if you had $5000 to spend on an upgrade for your 914, would you rather have a Type IV or a Subaru conversion?

As far as I know, no one yet offers a complete drop-in solution for the Subaru conversion, whereas a Type IV can be purchased and dropped in with little effort.

-Tony

[TonyAKAVW]

Scott Thacher has proved that the engine bay radiator concept works (for an EJ25 motor, putting out somewhere in the region of 165-180 HP) He drove across the US to this year's west coast classic and back. In addition, he drove hard on the Streets of Willow, did the canyon driving, gave a BUNCH of test rides, and never had a problem with cooling. Sure its not Las Vegas in the middle of summer, so who knows if in ALL conditions it would work great. His results at least demonstrated to me that it works. I'm planning on putting a lot of effort into getting the engine bay mounted radiator solution to work as well as possible, because I have a suspicion that an engine bay radiator could cool a turbo engine with some special attention to improving airflow into and out of the engine bay.


Another member here, Mongrel GS did a conversion with an EJ25 and is also running an engine bay mounted radiator. I don't know how its working out for him, but he did his conversion in a matter of just a few months (maybe 3-4?).

-Tony