LS-Swap Porsche 914 Raising Hell In New Zealand: Video
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Here’s a positively stupid build for none of the usual reasons; as LSX TV reports, a New Zealand man has swapped a turbocharged, LS1 V8 into his Porsche 914, because power.
Now, we here at GM Authority are abiding fans of almost any LS-swap. A GM V8 just seems to make everything better, and it’s certainly not the collectability of the Porsche 914 that has us cringing.
In fact, like everything un-911 that Porsche produced from the 60s through the 90s, the Porsche 914 is generally an undervalued car that can be had for cheap, and molested without upsetting even diehard purists.
But shoehorning a turbocharged LS motor into a delicate, petite Porsche 914 seems like a recipe for a twisted frame, or at least for making a car that’s prone to spin at the slightest touch of throttle. As you can see in the video below, the driver can’t even afford to open up the motor, lest he overpower the rear tires and wind up on the grass. His driving is indicative of the sort of practiced restraint of someone who has likely spun the car dozens of times already.
It’s kind of like hacking your 1987 IBM to run Windows 7; you’re not going to get the full experience.
To be fair, this Porsche 914 was purchased in a very rough state, and the owner made the call to LS-swap the car after finding out how much a replacement flat-6 would run. He put in a custom exhaust and 6-speed Subaru transmission, with Wilwood brakes to help haul the car to a shorter stop. Finally, a GT1 front clip was installed.
The car certainly looks the part, with the body, motor, and layout for a proper track star. But if it’s impossible to run at even nine-tenths without flying off-course, why not swap-in something a little less potent?
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Thanks for the article Aaron even if it isn’t quite correct. the reason the driver (me) was not giving it full power was because this was the first time out on anything other than my driveway!! and one would have to be completely insane to go balls out on a first “test session”. Yes , it has the potential to bite, but that’s what testing is all about. The car has aero to set up and I would expect that to take some time yet to reach any usefulness. I am waiting on a brake up-grade so I can continue this evolution process and will be posting progress videos and updating my build thread as regularly as I can. Cheers, Mike de Malmanche
This article was about one of the most useless pieces of garbage I have ever read. I love it when people assume they know what a car feels like and drives like from watching a YouTube video. That makes me cringe. I followed this build on 914world.com and I have to say it is one of the most impressive builds I have ever seen. This guy pioneered using a Subaru 6 speed trans axle from a wrx. The front clip was made from a first gen rx7 race car that got trashed in a wreck. It was great how he incorporated the stock body lines with that piece. He also extended the trailing arms to fit the whole set up. This guy thought way out of the box and built a stunning race car. I applaud him for that. This is a great budget build that could leave supercars that cost 10x more in its dust.
I agree, I too followed this build and as an engineer I am amazed at the craftsmanship involved with this car. I too have an ls1 powered 914 and absolutely enjoy it. Can’t wait to see mikes 914 all dialed in. Cheers