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Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Active Aero

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Re: Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Active Aero

#61

Post by mc32 »

whartung wrote: post #46
mc32 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can’t have passengers in jump seats like it’s 1970 anymore —unless you’re on your own ranch somewhere.

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.…

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…

Re: Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Active Aero

#62

Post by deltoidmaximus »

commandar wrote: post #30
AlexandrB wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>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…

> 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.

Re: Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Active Aero

#63

Post by temp0826 »

yabones wrote: post #27

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…

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...

Re: Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Active Aero

#64

Post by stickfigure »

mc32 wrote: post #40
stickfigure wrote: post #11

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.

You can’t have passengers in jump seats like it’s 1970 anymore —unless you’re on your own ranch somewhere.

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.

Re: Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Active Aero

#65

Post by squigz »

bigyabai wrote: post #3
SilverElfin wrote: post #2

Looks amazing. How does someone with no car tuning / mechanics skills get something like this premade?

> 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.

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!

Re: Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Active Aero

#66

Post by 1970-01-01 »

stickfigure wrote: post #11

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.

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)

Re: Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Active Aero

#67

Post by [deleted] »

LgWoodenBadger wrote: post #60
redwall_hp wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

[deleted]

Re: Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Active Aero

#68

Post by xeonmc »

LgWoodenBadger wrote: post #60
redwall_hp wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

Toyota MR2, Honda S2000, Mazda MX-5, Nissan S13/14/15 and 180SX

Re: Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Active Aero

#69

Post by ebbi »

giobox wrote: post #57
redwall_hp wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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...

And restrained power figures due to the 'gentlemen's agreement' they had in Japan.

Re: Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Active Aero

#70

Post by VintageRobot »

acejam wrote: post #59
VintageRobot wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ar…

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 drive…

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