4WD Subaru Offroading      www.OffroadingSubarus.com

Subaru Vortex XT Rally car

I had this idea a while back, but its still a good idea I think. The idea was to get a Subaru XT body and fit it out with WRX gear. I wanted to fit the AWD transmission out of the WRX as well as the suspension and engine. I done a bit of research into it and this is what I came up with.

To fit the WRX transmission to the XT you would require a completely custom gearbox crossmember. Wouldn't be to hard if you had the right tools and gear. I'm pretty sure the engine would fit on the old crossmember with some modded mounts. You may need a custom exhaust or a EA82T crossmember if you wish to run a turbo EJ engine. If you were to keep the XT front suspension you would need some old generation Legacy (known as Liberty in Australia) front drive shaft cups that fit onto the WRX transmission. They would fit the inner race, the bit that is on the end of the drive shaft that points towards the gearbox. So all you would have to do is take the cup off the XT rive shaft, take off the boot and the ring that holds the race into the cup and then use the (90' to 94' I think) Legacy cups and and put the race back in the Legacy cup. I am not sure if that is correct and if it will fit or not, but that is what I read on another website.

As for the rear drive train I am not sure. If your using the WRX gearbox you would need to use the WRX rear diff. That means you need to figure out how to connect the drive shafts to the diff. It may work just like the front, or it may not. You could always get custom drive shafts made up, or as I read somewhere else you can make them your self. Heres how. Just get both drive shafts, one from a XT and one from a WRX. Cut them both near the inner CV (or you may know it as a DOJ, Double Offset Joint) and then stick a lager high grade pipe over on one shaft and stick the other shaft in the other end. Weld the pipe to both shafts and you have a drive shaft that will fit. Of cause you have to get the right messurements and all, but it sounds easy. The guy who told me this was using this method in a Fiat with a Honda motor and was running well over 250HP through the shafts. So I am guessing it can hold quite well. Again, I am not 100% sure if all this is a good idea, but its a idea after all huh?

The WRX suspension would be rather easy to hook up compared to the rest of all this. Yould would need custom plates welded to the top of the strut towers and them drilled, cut, welded, modded, remodded and you should be able to fit the struts right in. Of cause, theres all the messuring and precise welding, but with some good skills it should be easy.

Rear diff mounting shouldn't be to hard. If your using the WRX suspesion I am guessing you would use the rear diff crossmember. And WRX drive shafts. Although, if you use all WRX rear end you will need to flare the body out, I think WRX's are wider the XT's. If your using the XT suspension you would need a custom plate for fitting the rear diff to the XT crossmember.

I make it all sound easy, but if you learn all the things you need to know it should be easy. Just takes time, like most things. I like said before, I do a lot of thinking. So you might say "why is this writin here" because, its possible, and I've put a little time into researching it, so why waist that time. I am just trying to save you time and let you think on a few things. I hope this is at least a little help.