Mid Engine Suspension Research: Considering Miata Parts

In reply to Knurled. :

I built one centrifugal supercharged K20 X.  If there was a turbo one, it was built from one of my kits or built totally from scratch.  

In reply to gastungstenarc :

Ooh!  You could do an 034 and just use an entire Porsche cradle, like they did for their mid engined time attack car.

Knurled. said:

In reply to gastungstenarc :

Ooh!  You could do an 034 and just use an entire Porsche cradle, like they did for their mid engined time attack car.

Pete, I had honestly not considered that.  A complete Boxster suspension would work, and couldn't possibly be expensive.  

Watching and learning...

EvanB said:

The only one i can think of is the mid engine rotary miata built by Randy Zimmer.

 

Ok I need more information. I have a 12a sitting in the garage next to a 95 Miata that needs an engine. I have been considering putting it in the traditional engine compartment but this looks interesting. Please excuse my highjacking.

In reply to Knurled. :

Pete, I went and had a look.  Boxster suspension is basically MacPherson struts like any ancient Audi is.  There is a little more going on, like the forward links.  But those are just there for strength.  I can do strength.  Tons of SAI, though!

In reply to gastungstenarc :

I will assume that Porsche did due diligence with the engineering on that.  Certainly, Boxsters are known to handle okay.

Just because it's a Porsche bit doesn't mean it's going to be hideously expensive.  I've been looking at 996 Carrera 4 uprights for an undisclosed project, because they are cheaper and easier to find than Audi 100 uprights.

Also, my brain keeps parsing your username as Gastung Sten Arc.   Gastung is a word, means "accomodation".  So I think of maybe the German term for controlling the rate of climb when firing a Sten.

The Subaru engine/front transaxle can be adapted to a rear engine set up.

  Factory Five has figured out how to make it a mid-engine set up, front drive axles become the drive axles and the rear tail shaft drive is blocked off so all the power goes to what used to be the front.    Just sayin'...

A lot of boxsters out there with blown drive trains that would be good donors for suspension bits

gastungstenarc said:

In reply to Toebra :

That is definitely not what FIAT did on the X.  The X1/9 rear suspension was designed specifically for rear end duty and was shared only with the Scorpion.  

The X1/9 and the 124 have the same engine and transaxle, or I am fairly certain they did.  I was not talking about the suspension.

Toebra said:

The X1/9 and the 124 have the same engine and transaxle, or I am fairly certain they did.  I was not talking about the suspension.

I assume you mean the 128.  The 124 drivetrain is 100% different.  The X and the 128 have related drivetrains.  The trans is slightly different due to the X's need for a selector rod pointing forward, and the engine was the same when they had the overlapping 1.3L engine.  The 128 started off with a 1.1 and the X finished with a 1.5.  

Knurled. said:

Just because it's a Porsche bit doesn't mean it's going to be hideously expensive.  I've been looking at 996 Carrera 4 uprights for an undisclosed project, because they are cheaper and easier to find than Audi 100 uprights.

 

Also, my brain keeps parsing your username as Gastung Sten Arc.   Gastung is a word, means "accomodation".  So I think of maybe the German term for controlling the rate of climb when firing a Sten.

You're right; the Boxster has been around for (wow) 20 years now, so there ought to be quite a few broken cars out there, especially since the very expensive to repair engine seemed to be problematic.  And it would have the virtue of having excellent rear brakes, a Porsche bolt pattern that would make wheel choice interesting, and the struts are already tipped in nicely so as to fit where they need to go.  Also, there is a chance, since the Boxster trans is 012 (basically a FWD/2WD 01A) and I am going to use a 01E, that I might be able to use factory axles.  That would save about $500 by itself.  

Hmm... That's an interesting parsing of my name.  I assume that you figured out that it is gas tungsten arc. 

Have any of you looked into the Del Sol? Seems like there's been some swaps done in the past

In reply to Dootz :

I've seen a few Del Sol projects.  Those are easy mid engine conversions due to the cabin design.  

Might have missed it, but if you're planning to have a transverse engine, corvette suspension may be another option. The c5 onward had a rear-mount transaxle, so there's a decent amount of space between the uprights and everything is pretty low profile/out of the way. You'd have to fab up your own upper control arm and shock mounts, but this setup is $600 on Ebay right now.

In reply to morello159 :

Longitudinal engine, not transverse.  But that is potentially another idea.  

Also in reply to morello159 and gastungstenarc:

or do what i did and buy a C5 rear frame cut, so you've got subframe mounts / UCA mounts / damper top mounts, all still tied together in the correct spatial orientation.  I'll take a bunch of pix as I slice and dice that into the back of monZora.

In reply to gastungstenarc :

Sorry, that's what I meant. C5 subframe would work better with a longitudinal than transverse.