[HN Gopher] Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, ...
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       Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Active Aero
        
       Author : PaulHoule
       Score  : 62 points
       Date   : 2025-11-11 18:21 UTC (8 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.thedrive.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.thedrive.com)
        
       | SilverElfin wrote:
       | Looks amazing. How does someone with no car tuning / mechanics
       | skills get something like this premade?
        
         | bigyabai wrote:
         | > someone with no car tuning / mechanics skills
         | 
         | I'm just going to pull the band-aid off, you're probably not
         | the target audience for a drag-race sleeper rig.
        
           | squigz wrote:
           | Just crapping on GP's dreams!
           | 
           | If he wants to believe he's the target demo for a car that
           | would immediately put him into a wall, let him!
        
         | wickedsight wrote:
         | Money, lots of money.
        
           | linsomniac wrote:
           | Just to quantify it, most "restomods" start at $100K USD.
           | 
           | Decades ago I had a buddy that did something similar with a
           | VW Bug that he did "on the cheap" doing almost all the work
           | himself and things like paint through connections he had, I
           | never talked price on it but it was at least $30K I'd bet and
           | probably more like in the $50Ks, and took around a decade.
        
         | hoofhearted wrote:
         | Vermont Sports Car.
         | 
         | They build all the fast Subarus for everyone; Travis Prastana,
         | Bucky Lasik, Ken Block, Lia Block.
         | 
         | The Huckster, the Project Midnight; all them too.
         | 
         | https://vtcar.com/
        
         | DebtDeflation wrote:
         | Honestly, just learn it like anything else. Understand the
         | basic components of an internal combustion engine (block,
         | crankshaft, rods, pistons, camshafts, cylinder heads, valves,
         | intake and exhaust manifolds), the 4 cycles the engine goes
         | through (intake, compression, power, and exhaust), how fuel
         | delivery and ignition systems work. And then there are tons of
         | resources on tuning and you can get the software for a laptop.
        
           | Grazester wrote:
           | Then there is the building of the engine and understanding
           | clearances for specific applications and RPM's, value train
           | harmonics when thing start getting to crazy high revs like
           | 9500.
           | 
           | Still very learnable but outside the scope of standard engine
           | rebuilt stuff.
        
           | yourusername wrote:
           | >Honestly, just learn it like anything else.
           | 
           | If you're starting from 0 that's probably a decade long
           | commitment before you're able to start to execute a project
           | like this. There's a youtube series 'project binky' where a
           | pair of professional car tuners rebuild a mini cooper and
           | stuff a Celica engine in it. They already have all the
           | skills, own a shop and all the tools and it still took them
           | years.
        
             | spike021 wrote:
             | similarly, there's a youtube channel called Mighty Car Mods
             | that does builds also and even the ones they "rush" can
             | take months and thousands of work hours from people from
             | multiple disciplines (body repair, paint, electrical work,
             | tuning, etc.). Not cheap at all.
        
             | jcgrillo wrote:
             | A decade would be very quick. The amount of specialist
             | knowledge that went into every part of this project is
             | crazy.. After a decade's worth of projects I doubt I'd be
             | confident to tackle the steering and suspension design on
             | something like this, let alone all the aero.
             | 
             | I've been working on cars for 20yr, I weld, I have done
             | CAD/CAM/CAE stuff, rebuilt and modified engines, done
             | custom suspension work... there are _so many_ aspects of a
             | project like this that are just completely unknown to me,
             | like I wouldn 't even know where to start. Many aspects of
             | this build are not things you can really learn or research
             | on your own.
        
           | VintageRobot wrote:
           | It isn't that simple. I've been learning to work on my own
           | car over the last few years. I'm not even doing anything
           | crazy just fixing up an older vehicle and modernising some
           | parts of it (mainly interior).
           | 
           | I had to fix the wiper system. The wiper system you would
           | think it wouldn't matter much whether the parts are
           | aftermarket or not. I was very wrong, parts that even look
           | almost identical may not work properly, due to differences in
           | tolerances.
           | 
           | There is also different revisions of particular parts and it
           | will become obsolete. You can lose an afternoon on the
           | internet just doing that.
           | 
           | Then there is the tools. I've spent about a small fortune on
           | tools. I have 3 torque wrenches, 3 sets of sockets, 3 sets of
           | spanners and loads of weird specialist tools like special
           | pliers. There are many jobs I can't do myself because they
           | needs specialist knowledge to do properly e.g. gearboxes.
           | 
           | You have to be prepared to spend potentially years on it and
           | huge amount of money, even on relatively simple projects.
           | 
           | There is a reason that a lot of guys get into old 4x4 pickups
           | and do those up, because they are a known quantity and parts
           | are readily available.
        
             | lewiscollard wrote:
             | As someone building a particularly stupid car in a genre
             | almost but not entirely unlike the OP (a turbo LS1-swapped
             | Rover P5), I am not totally making stuff up when I say that
             | this:
             | 
             | > You have to be prepared to spend potentially years on it
             | and huge amount of money, even on relatively simple
             | projects.
             | 
             | is not at all mutually exclusive to this:
             | 
             | > Honestly, just learn it like anything else.
             | 
             | I didn't really know what I was doing when I started my
             | project. I had an idea and the desire to make it happen. I
             | barely knew how to use a MIG to do the fab work, so I got
             | good (enough) at it. I knew nothing about LS engines, so I
             | learned enough about them at each point I needed to know
             | something about them. I only have a vague idea of how I'm
             | going to do the next phase of it; I know that I can figure
             | it out with enough thinking and by making all the mistakes
             | I need to make. I don't know how to TIG, and it'll be
             | really useful if I do, so I am learning how to TIG.
             | 
             | Start somewhere, and the more you do, the more you can do.
        
         | Grazester wrote:
         | Premade as in have someone built it for you? Well, the same way
         | they did it. You offer up a load of money to a reputable build
         | shop and come back in about 2-5 years depending on how busy
         | they are.
        
         | bob1029 wrote:
         | Unless you would be planning to keep it at a race track, you
         | would not want to own a car like this. It would almost
         | certainly be miserable to drive at legal speeds. That 2.0L
         | engine isn't going to make any useful power below 5-6k RPM.
         | Keeping a turbo like that spooled for any meaningful duration
         | is guaranteed to get you pulled over by the police.
        
           | sandworm101 wrote:
           | It is more than the speed potential. This thing is very
           | likely not capable of running pump gas, and has to be running
           | very rich. The cost per mile, just in fuel, would be insane.
           | Also, good luck passing any sort of emissions controls for
           | road use.
        
             | Reubachi wrote:
             | this vehicle has no interior to speak of, and no lighting
             | to see at night (inside or out)
             | 
             | It has no cats, no EGR system, sequential trans etc etc.
             | 
             | To original OP of this question, this is closer to a racing
             | speedboat than a race car. More expensive to own than a
             | yacht assuming you want to run it
        
         | UniverseHacker wrote:
         | You don't- without that knowledge you would not know what to
         | pay someone to build and why. It's also going to be extremely
         | complex and unreliable, and likely not street drivable or
         | street legal.
        
         | joncrane wrote:
         | Nearly impossible. For the same price and effort, you can
         | probably get a high end Porsche 911 or similar which will be
         | way more practical.
         | 
         | The next level up would be to get a modified car from a company
         | that has very strong ties to the manufacturer, such as Ruf with
         | Porsche, Roush or Saleen with Ford Mustangs, etc.
         | 
         | Trust me either of those options will be more than anyone but
         | the 1% top skilled or thrill seeking individuals can handle.
        
         | jcgrillo wrote:
         | Step 1: Get ~$250k+ in cash for the initial build.
         | 
         | Step 2: Start learning. If you don't know how to evaluate the
         | work of your builder you may have a few false starts finding
         | someone who can actually do it, which will cost you even more
         | time and money.
         | 
         | Step 3: Learn some more. Owning a vehicle like this is a
         | constant development effort. The work will never be "done" so
         | unless you have a mechanic on retainer you will be working on
         | it constantly.
         | 
         | In short, unless you have like a million dollars to spend on a
         | toy and staff to keep it running you'll have to shoulder at
         | least some of the effort.
        
         | lan321 wrote:
         | The best way with finite money is racecarsdirect or some other
         | similar platform.
         | 
         | Cons are you're getting someone else's project.
         | 
         | Pros are they've already sunk stupid money into it.
         | 
         | You can get great cars on there if you have someone in the know
         | to bounce deals off of.
         | 
         | The best way with infinite money is either some very high end
         | small batch restomod or to even commission one of the large
         | OEMesque motorsport shops to plan and build a one off. Smaller,
         | specialized shops are also an option but the amount of people
         | who're learning on customer vehicles is high and they'll be so
         | hyped to get a large project they'll promise you the moon with
         | entirely good intentions and then fail spectacularly.
        
         | VintageRobot wrote:
         | You can't, unless you a Saudi billionaire. These things are
         | completely custom, are hugely expensive (why they have sponsors
         | all over them) and often they will have work lined up for
         | literally years.
         | 
         | You also wouldn't want one. They cannot be driven on the road
         | really as they aren't legal. They will also break a lot.
         | Generally the more tuned a car is the more maintenance it
         | needs.
         | 
         | If you are interested in cars, you are better getting an older
         | vehicle and somewhere to work on it e.g. a garage and working
         | on it as a hobby at the weekends. You will learn a lot more and
         | can actually enjoy it.
        
           | hoofhearted wrote:
           | You can have one built; you just call Vermont Sports Car lol.
           | 
           | Yes, price is a major factor.
           | 
           | No, you are completely incorrect on street legality; and way
           | far from the truth lol
           | 
           | The basis of a WRC rally car is that it is indeed street
           | legal; and is required to be driven on the public roads with
           | a proper license plate in between the stages of the rally.
        
           | acejam wrote:
           | While I agree with your comment about learning more by doing
           | the work yourself, you don't need to be a billionaire to
           | acquire one of these. Yes, they are expensive. A typical pro-
           | level WRC spec WRX STI rally car from Vermont SportsCar goes
           | for about $600k. They are actually very reliable though. And
           | thats a bargain compared to just about any modern hypercar.
           | 
           | Rally cars also must be street legal because they are driven
           | on public roads between stages.
        
         | RajT88 wrote:
         | Buy a hooligan car new (or very lightly used) like a WRX STI,
         | or Lancer EVO.
        
       | madduci wrote:
       | I would like to see a comparison between this and a Lancia
       | Stratos.. They somehow share the same vibe
        
       | stickfigure wrote:
       | Can we just bring back the Brat? A compact 4wd pickup truck with
       | a pair of jump seats in the bed.
       | 
       | Pickup trucks are great, but they're only available in "behemoth"
       | size in the US.
        
         | danans wrote:
         | Something like that:
         | 
         | https://www.telotrucks.com/
        
           | everdrive wrote:
           | If they ever build it I might buy one. Heavily depends on if
           | it has an always on mobile connection and the car is full or
           | screens and stupid garbage.
        
             | officeplant wrote:
             | I desperately want the Slate[1] truck to success because it
             | completely lacks infotainment. I hate Jeff Bezo's but I
             | hope his funding helps them actually create a product.
             | 
             | [1]https://www.slate.auto/en
        
         | bluedino wrote:
         | > Pickup trucks are great, but they're only available in
         | "behemoth" size in the US.
         | 
         | Not all trucks are 1/4 or 1/2 ton in the USA.
         | 
         | There's things like the Honda Ridgeline, Hyundai Santa Cruze,
         | and the Ford Maverick
         | 
         | Subaru had the Baja for a little white but they only sold a
         | couple thousand per year.
        
           | throwway120385 wrote:
           | Wouldn't you need to flag a sheet of plywood in the back of a
           | Maverick? My old '06 Canyon doesn't require that and it's
           | actually a smaller truck than the Maverick.
        
             | fragmede wrote:
             | you'd need to flag a sheet of 4x8 in quite a few of the
             | full sized pickups after you get the extended crew cab
             | which shrinks the bed and makes them more of an SUV than a
             | truck. THeres a platonic ideal of a truck bed holding 2x4
             | and 4x8 sheets, but it's more of an ideal sometimes.
        
               | AlexandrB wrote:
               | The overall problem is that the ratio of vehicle size to
               | carrying capacity has gotten way larger. Small 2-seater
               | pickup trucks could comfortably carry this stuff in the
               | 80s and 90s and were not that much bigger than a sedan.
               | Modern trucks are enormous _and_ can 't even carry as
               | much unless you choose options that make them even
               | bigger.
               | 
               | Then compare this to something like a Kei truck and it's
               | really quite pathetic.
        
               | commandar wrote:
               | >Then compare this to something like a Kei truck and it's
               | really quite pathetic.
               | 
               | I will forever be sad that Canoo was wildly (possibly
               | fraudulently) mismanaged and went bust before they ever
               | built any of their planned pickup trucks:
               | 
               | https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/features/canoo-
               | pickup-tr...
               | 
               | They were going to be built on the same platform as their
               | vans and the best way to describe them is "Kei truck
               | upsized and uppowered enough to be safe on US roads."
               | They had neat party tricks like a compact bed for daily
               | driving that could expand out to fit full size ply and
               | fold out workbenches on all four sides of the truck.
               | 
               | I'm not even a truck guy and I desperately wanted one of
               | these things. Just such a cool concept.
        
               | ljf wrote:
               | Thset is really sad - I'd seen a review of an early model
               | on YouTube and it seemed like a brilliant idea - really
               | hope someone else can make something similar work.
        
               | deltoidmaximus wrote:
               | > They had neat party tricks like a compact bed for daily
               | driving that could expand out to fit full size ply...
               | 
               | Unless I'm missing something this sounds like the bed
               | extenders which I've seen on lots of trucks that allow
               | the tailgate to be used as part of the bed when folded
               | down. I was initially think they might be allowing the
               | passenger compartment to be opened up to temporarily get
               | full bed size but I didn't see anything like that when
               | browsing the page. The closest thing I ever saw to that
               | was on the Subaru Baja (which was far more a sedan than a
               | truck) and given how short the bed was and the the fact
               | that the back window was immobile seemed like it had less
               | hauling utility than a standard hatchback.
        
               | HeyLaughingBoy wrote:
               | Yeah, but they were 2-seater trucks. Very few people want
               | that these days.
               | 
               | Our truck carries stuff a lot. Bags of feed, bales of
               | hay, etc. But unless you want to stack it unreasonably
               | high, 10 bales is about the limit. For big loads, it has
               | to haul a trailer. If it were only a 2-seater, with a
               | bigger bed, it could carry more, but that would mean that
               | all we wouldn't be able to carry all the stuff that's
               | typically in the back seats for safety or protection from
               | the elements.
               | 
               | Like everything, it's a tradeoff.
        
               | briffle wrote:
               | They have shorter beds, because of the larger cab, but a
               | 1975 Ram one ton could carry 3500 lbs of payload in the
               | bed, and pull a 11,500lb trailer.
               | 
               | A 2025 one can carry 7500 lbs of payload in the bed, and
               | tow 37,090 lbs (some states require extra permits or
               | licenses for that much)
               | 
               | All modern trucks can carry and tow WAY more than they
               | used to.
               | 
               | and the 1/2 ton ones have dramatically impvoved mileage
               | (the modern 3L diesels do about 29Mpg, and the gas ones
               | turn off cylinders when crusing, and can do 20-25mpg when
               | empty. My older small pickup (old ram Dakota) from the
               | early 2000's got 15-16 on the highway.
        
             | alistairSH wrote:
             | Sure, but who cares? Unless you're a
             | contractor/tradesperson, that's a fairly rare edge case.
             | 
             | I've owned a few pickups over the years, owned my house
             | much of that time, and can probably county the times I've
             | needed to move plywood or other oversized lumber on one
             | hand. Add a second hand for times I've moved long pipes or
             | other oversized stuff that required flagging.
        
               | olyjohn wrote:
               | So then what the heck did you have a pickup for if you're
               | not moving around large items?
        
           | AlexandrB wrote:
           | All of these trade bed space for seating space, and they're
           | still larger than my stepdad's 1990s-era Sonoma. As a sibling
           | comment pointed out, you can't carry 4x8 sheet goods easily
           | in these.
        
           | everdrive wrote:
           | The Ridgeline and Maverick are actually quite large compared
           | to a 90s Ranger. Yes, not everything needs to be as big as a
           | modern half-ton, but everything has shifted towards huge.
        
           | pengaru wrote:
           | Sure, but the OG Brat is a tiny truck by modern US standards.
           | It's like the Miata of trucks.
           | 
           | Even my 01 Forester will look big parked next to the OG Brat.
           | Despite looking diminutive next to most modern vehicles here
           | in Cali... It's super annoying how big ~everything on the
           | road has become.
        
           | alistairSH wrote:
           | The Ridgeline is closer to a 1/4 ton like a Tacoma or Ranger.
           | I own one. It's great for what it is, fits my outdoor
           | lifestyle well (towing a small travel trailer, a few mountain
           | bikes, and a large cooler).
           | 
           | The Maverick, Santa Cruz, and the currently-vaporware Slate
           | are much smaller.
        
           | tristor wrote:
           | The current model year Santa Cruz and Maverick are roughly
           | the same size as the Tacoma, and the Tacoma is now the same
           | size as a Ford F-150 was in the 90s when the Ford Ranger came
           | out as a successful small pickup and the Tacoma was sized the
           | same as the Ford Ranger. The vehicle size bloat in the last
           | 30 years has been insane.
        
           | munificent wrote:
           | Agreed, they aren't all _huge_ , but they are all pretty big
           | and the few that aren't huge sacrifice a _lot_ of bed size.
           | 
           | I'm going through this now because I'm looking at upgrading
           | from my ancient 2002 Tacoma Xtracab. Here's compared to 2025
           | models:                   Vehicle
           | Length    Bed         ----------------------------  --------
           | -----         2002 Toyota Tacoma (Xtracab)  202.9"    74.5"
           | 2002 Toyota Tacoma (2Dr)      184.4"    74.5"
           | 2025 Maverick                 199.8"    54.4"         2025
           | Honda Ridgeline          210.2"    64.0"         2025 Hyundai
           | Santa Cruz       195.7"    52.1"         2025 Toyota Tacoma
           | Xtracab    213.0"    73.5"
           | 
           | My Tacoma wasn't even the shortest you could buy back then
           | and it's still shorter than half of the "small" trucks you
           | can buy today. And unlike those, my truck has a full 6' bed.
           | A Maverick is shorter than mine, but the bed is also nearly
           | _two feet_ shorter. I honestly don 't see the point of a bed
           | that's less than five feet long. At that point, it's just an
           | SUV with a trunk that isn't weather-sealed.
           | 
           | Now, granted, it's not like you get nothing in return. These
           | new vehicles (except the new Tacoma Xtracab) all have four
           | doors and full-sized back seats. I can fit a kid in my jump
           | seats but anyone older than that has a bad time. I'm sure
           | they're safer for everyone in the truck too.
           | 
           | But if you really do want to prioritize bed size and still
           | want a short vehicle, that option is just no longer well
           | supported. I accept that my use case is probably a narrow
           | one:
           | 
           | * Live in a dense city with a lot of parallel parking so
           | don't want a long vehicle.
           | 
           | * Kayak fish a lot so want a long bed I can load a kayak in.
           | 
           | * Can get away with a two-seater because we can use my wife's
           | car when there are passengers.
           | 
           | But it's definitely not as well served as it used to be. I'm
           | probably going to end up with a short-bed Tacoma and rely on
           | a bed extender to keep the kayak safe.
        
             | kjkjadksj wrote:
             | Why get rid of your perfectly fine truck? People would be
             | lining up around the block for your truck. As you say they
             | don't make them like that anymore. Here in socal there are
             | still 70s-80s era ford and chevy trucks in service. Those
             | old f150s look tiny today. And in major demand even if they
             | aren't prestine.
        
             | amonks wrote:
             | For what it's worth (maybe not much from an internet
             | stranger), I couldn't possibly overstate how much I love my
             | Ridgeline. I love the trunk under the bed, I love how the
             | back seats fold up for extra in-cab cargo space, and I love
             | how the unibody structure and independent rear suspension
             | make it drive like a car. It's comfortable enough that I
             | can use it happily for longer road trips.
             | 
             | I love it so much that when it was stolen on a trip to
             | Montreal a few years ago, I bought the exact same year and
             | model again without even googling other options.
             | 
             | It is a bit longer than I'd prefer--I live in urban Chicago
             | and occasionally do have to forgo a good parking space, but
             | usually those are, like, Honda Civic spaces that a slightly
             | smaller truck wouldn't fit into either.
        
           | olyjohn wrote:
           | Regardless of the capacity, the Ridgeline is not a small
           | truck. There are no small trucks anymore. The Ranger and
           | Colorado are not small trucks, they are mid size. Compare
           | them to the pre-2019 Ranger, and the pre-2011 Colorados and
           | S10s.
           | 
           | Sure, the Maverick is kinda small. But and does fine for most
           | people, but it's not really built like a truck. For some
           | reason, I can't handle this thing, because it's replaced real
           | small trucks. It's just an Escape under the covers, and
           | nobody considers the Escape to be a workhorse. Yet, I can
           | give the Baja a pass, because it was honest in the fact that
           | it's a car with a bit of a utility bed.
        
         | officeplant wrote:
         | Blame the chicken tax. Ruining small trucks in America for
         | decades.
        
         | mc32 wrote:
         | You can't have passengers in jump seats like it's 1970 anymore
         | --unless you're on your own ranch somewhere.
        
           | whartung wrote:
           | We used to travel with folks in the back bed in beach chairs.
           | It was quite comfortable, and you could fit four in a small
           | Toyota truck bed. We would face each other, and talk, and
           | it's was a fun and social way to travel. Six adults in a
           | short bed Toyota, with 2 in the cab.
           | 
           | With just two of us in the back, we'd have the chairs against
           | the cab (like the Brat did). Riding backwards in a vehicle is
           | surprisingly relaxing. You can't see the traffic ahead, so
           | you have absolutely zero interest in where the car is going,
           | how fast, how close, missing exits, etc. You're just
           | cognitively out of that loop. Even as a normal passenger,
           | even if we stay silent, we're all firing off those "back seat
           | driver" neurons a bit.
           | 
           | But riding backwards, where it's all out of sight and out of
           | mind, it's a noticeable reduction in that. On one trip, we're
           | heading to the mountains, my friend and I in back of the
           | truck. Suddenly, the truck is braking very hard. We, of
           | course, have no idea what's happening. I said "Well, this is
           | it, good knowing you." "Yup! You too!".
           | 
           | Obviously nothing happened, but it was a curious incident to
           | say the least.
        
             | mc32 wrote:
             | Definitely not a place to be during a rollover. Same reason
             | they don't have seats at the rear of cars facing back. Not
             | best place to be when getting rear-ended even though it's a
             | great place to be as a kid watching traffic and making
             | faces to passers by...
        
               | olyjohn wrote:
               | The Tesla Model S has an optional third row that faces
               | backwards.
        
           | stickfigure wrote:
           | Why not? Jeeps are basically the same when you remove the
           | top. The original Brat had a faux rollbar but you could
           | integrate a real one into a new design.
        
         | whalesalad wrote:
         | I got my eye on the Slate - https://www.slate.auto/
         | 
         | It answers the question, what if Framework made cars?
        
         | 1970-01-01 wrote:
         | The roof rack is the new small pickup for US market. Put a good
         | roof rack on your Subaru Outback and call it a day.
         | 
         | https://sherpaec.com/products/olympus (no affiliation)
        
       | yabones wrote:
       | When cost and reliability is no concern, you can do truly crazy
       | things...
       | 
       | > 2.0-liter boxer engine ... 670 horsepower and 680 lb-ft of
       | torque
       | 
       | Those are V10 numbers coming from something the size you'd find
       | in an econo-box.
       | 
       | Obviously unlike your Camry this thing is not going to do 300,000
       | KMs over its lifetime, and will be rebuilt frequently. This is
       | the extreme end of the engineering tradeoff, and it's interesting
       | to see what happens when the scale tips all the way over.
        
         | sandworm101 wrote:
         | 2 liters is hardly econobox, even without a turbo. A new honda
         | civic sedan is 1.3 liters (NA). 2.0 is more typical for sedans
         | imho. The 2.0 turbo in this biuld originally turned 250+ hp
         | (wrx) which is well beyond econo anything.
        
           | yabones wrote:
           | Heh, very true. These days most new cars have a 1.0-1.5 turbo
           | (or hybrid) rather than a larger 2.0 NA. And even 20 years
           | ago most European cars were around 1.5 or less because of
           | their higher fuel prices and registration taxes.
           | 
           | I'm a bit spoiled with the beefy 2.5 in my Mazda... Though
           | it's still about 480 HP less than this beast ;)
        
           | redwall_hp wrote:
           | That was a big thing with Japanese sports cars in general:
           | proving more cylinders was a dead end and just extra weight.
           | Pretty much all of the big JDM classics of the 90s and 2000s
           | are 4-cyl (aside from Mazda's rotary engine cars) putting
           | down 200-300hp range with favorable power/weight.
        
             | giobox wrote:
             | Sure, if you completely disregard the legendary straight
             | sixes from Toyota and Nissan (RB, JZ...). I agree 4 bangers
             | are huge historically in JDM sports cars, but so too is the
             | straight six - the classic Z cars, Supras, GT-Rs...
        
               | ebbi wrote:
               | And restrained power figures due to the 'gentlemen's
               | agreement' they had in Japan.
        
             | LgWoodenBadger wrote:
             | I can't think of any from the 90s that weren't 6 cylinders.
             | Nissan 300Z, Nissan Skyline GT-R, Honda/Acura NSX, Toyota
             | Supra, and Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 were all 6 cylinders.
             | 
             | The only exceptions I can think of are the Subaru Impreza
             | WRX/STI, and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.
        
               | xeonmc wrote:
               | Toyota MR2, Honda S2000, Mazda MX-5, Nissan S13/14/15 and
               | 180SX
        
               | LgWoodenBadger wrote:
               | A majority of those made in the ballpark of 150hp or
               | less, with the exception of the S2000. A few variants of
               | the MR2 and the Nissan made over 200, but not many.
               | 
               | None ever came near Japan's gentlemen's agreement of
               | "276" hp.
        
             | olyjohn wrote:
             | Yeah except the LS engine is still lighter than most 4
             | cylinder turbos. It's lighter than a lot of NA 4 cylinders,
             | in fact.
             | 
             | The reason they stayed with smaller engines in Japan was
             | because of taxes on displacement.
        
         | officeplant wrote:
         | Crazy thing is those numbers are low enough to actually be more
         | reliable.
         | 
         | We've got locals pushing 1,200+ HP out of K24's in their
         | civics.
        
         | driverdan wrote:
         | People have been building 700hp WRXes (2L boxer) for decades.
        
         | temp0826 wrote:
         | BMW had a 1.5L turbo inline-4 that made 1300+ hp (called the
         | M12) used in some F1 cars
         | 
         | Edit- though, its redline was about double this Brat's...
        
         | kjkjadksj wrote:
         | You should look into what they were building for group B rally
         | 40 years ago. Absolute monsters.
        
       | spacecadet wrote:
       | Waiting for my Honda Goldwing powered hybrid with 4-wheel hub
       | motors in a Vanagon Syncro chassis.
        
       | hoofhearted wrote:
       | Here is a pretty recent and in depth video by Larry Chen of the
       | Subaru WRX STI Project Midnight car built by the same company.
       | 
       | For those who are underestimating just how advanced Vermont
       | Sports Car is, this should open up your eyes.
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/5GklA8AXQvU?si=9pZwanLVpbVw_cWq
        
       | HeyLaughingBoy wrote:
       | Holy crap. Ken Block died????
        
       | ge96 wrote:
       | not a fan of the design but for rally I like the stratos or a
       | Focus hatchback/Volkswagen style
       | 
       | active aero seems silly on a truck-design but ehh
       | 
       | regarding cars I did enjoy this video (comparing C8, GT3, GTD)
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw7tDXLyLVo
       | 
       | admittedly not much of a track guy currently
       | 
       | personally I drive a 2 liter 4 banger as well with a turbo,
       | fastest I've gone so far is 150mph, next car I'm trying to get is
       | a supercharged Lotus Exige in orange
       | 
       | I know if you want speed it's cheap with a Corvette C6
        
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