My AWD MAZDASPEED3 Conversion Blog
- Thread starter Jarod7920
- Start date
oaklandopen
Member
im not following what exactly the ECU has to do with the driving layout. as far as im concerned the ecu has no idea where parts are in relation to each other, it only calculates what the senors tell it. the cobalt ss/tc and solstice gxp have the same motor, one is mounted latitudinal and the other is mounted longitudinal. one's transaxle the other is transmission
so, in a nutshell with the ms3, if you take the transaxle off you're down to bare engine, flip that 90 degrees and you have an inline engine. then throw in a drive shaft and rear end
now being that this IS a new vehicle (sensors for everything) i can see how this project is going to be more difficult than just putting stuff in. motor trend or car and driver had their problems when they wanted to do a mazdaspeed5 conversion, and that stayed FWD
i love the project the op is getting into, i wasn't doubting, i was just adding my opinion of making it RWD instead
Making it rear wheel drive is something i have discussed but i am not sure how to block the transaxle in order to keep things from messing up in there. I am not sure how it is done on an evo and such nor have i been able to locate any info.
oaklandopen
Member
you know what would be really crazy, if you just stuck a 13b under there 
you know what would be really crazy, if you just stuck a 13b under there
I have a phobia of triangles!
Darth Vader
Member
Someone should get an RX-8 and put a real motor in it...like the DISI MZR. (yippy)
The awd set up itself will proably total somewhere between 3-4k when its all said and done, with the majority of that being parts. But its hard to say because i am doing a big turbo at the same time.
Check the blog....rear end is mounted in the car. Just need to tub the spare tire well and tie up a few loose ends but the hard part is done. The control arms took us about 3 hours to fab.
Because it will net me the same thing at this point. I am not 100% sure of the suspension route i want to take but i am leaning toward coilovers. So this is a tempory set up so i can see how the car settles. Another issue is that no company i have spoke to will sell me just rear springs. If i did both front an rear the car would have a funny rake to it that wont look right.
Very very (cool) I applaud your efforts (2thumbs)...Would love to see some detailed updates & pics posted here as well...Awesome project...Rock on!
PS...Got videos!?
When it is all completed i plan to make a detailed thread about it, but for now with all the things that i have going on this is just easier on me, as some of the forums i belong to have pictures limits and such. But have no fear when its all wrapped up there will be many pictures and video for sure.
Jarod
I like what you're doing here. I especially like the sleeper side of it. Unsuspecting Vettes, STI's, EVO's......even Porsche's and Vipers with your motor build.
Just an idea, but you might be able to fab and sell a conversion kit afterward. Have all the hard parts you've fabricated thus far repro'd using jigs and an outside firm and spec the other stuff you've yanked from the volvo, CX-7 as parts the customer has to get on his own. Sort of like the Granny's V8 conversions for RX-7 and RX-8 idea. You supply the fabricated specialty stuff and the customer gets the rest. The only hard part is the butchery in the spare tire well and the other chassis welding you've had to do. I suppose you could supply a pre-cut patch piece and a template and have the customer cut according the template and weld in the patch.
Could be more trouble that it's worth....just a thought really.
Just an idea, but you might be able to fab and sell a conversion kit afterward. Have all the hard parts you've fabricated thus far repro'd using jigs and an outside firm and spec the other stuff you've yanked from the volvo, CX-7 as parts the customer has to get on his own. Sort of like the Granny's V8 conversions for RX-7 and RX-8 idea. You supply the fabricated specialty stuff and the customer gets the rest. The only hard part is the butchery in the spare tire well and the other chassis welding you've had to do. I suppose you could supply a pre-cut patch piece and a template and have the customer cut according the template and weld in the patch.
Could be more trouble that it's worth....just a thought really.
I could you are right, but with the lack of interest all around that this has shown....i highly doubt that this will be something people will be dying to do anytime soon. Maybe a handful of other people will attempt it. But we will see what/if anything happens. I am not ruling it out.
