We’re just a week away from March, so I gather you’ve already enjoyed your fair share of “top cars coming out in 2023” articles. Well, those stories mostly cover new models, which is what most people want, but what about the needs of Ferrari swap fans? Granted, this is quite a particular audience, but I’m part of it, and, dare I say, so are you. Good, we’ve got two Ferrari swaps and a… rotary-animated Prancing Horse to discuss!
The Maranello V8-animated Subaru Impreza WRX STI in the headline is the main focus of this story since it’s the only all-new, Ferrari-swapped machine here. However, before I give you the details of the gravel-eating machine put together by rally driver Sam Albert, allow me to remind you of a Ferrari swap I covered back in January, one that keeps things in the family, at least partially.
That would be a 1973 Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV, which an Aussie enthusiast known on social media as Home Built By Jeff gifted with an F131 V8 from a Ferrari 360. And, for the end of the article, how about the opposite of a Ferrari swap, namely a 456 GT that has traded its V12 for a Wankel engine?
This STI will put its newfound Maranello V8 to actual rallying work
Interestingly, this 2004 STI packs the engine that came after the unit used by that Alfa project in the Pracing Horse family tree. Part of the Ferrari-Maserati engine family that powers vehicles from, well, both brands, this example of the F136 I 4.3L naturally aspirated V8 was lifted from a Ferrari California.
Note that builder Sam has been participating in stage rallying since 2010 and took home the North American Rally Cup in 2018. The former U.S. Army Special Forces Officer is also an instructor at the DirtFish rally school. And the majority of his competitive stages were covered in this Subaru—Sam bought the car new and subsequently converted this into a rally machine.
Interestingly, as he shows at the end of his third Youtube video showcasing the build, the N/A 4.3L V8 only makes the Scoobie around 60-70 lbs heavier than its original EJ257 turbocharged four-cylinder boxer—the car now tips the scales at about 3,020 lbs with no fuel in the tank.
The factory Japanese unit made 300 hp and 300 lb-ft (these were the numbers before the competition conversion). As for the vehicle’s current Italian V8, its stock output sits at 460 hp and 357 lb-ft. Plus, the N/A engine also offers a wider powerband, which is highly desirable when you’re going sideways through the stages.
More importantly for a rally car, the weight distribution of the facelifted second-gen Impreza WRX STI is almost unchanged, with 57.1% of the mass now sitting over the front axle, which can be considered an 0.34% improvement.
But enough with the clues! Sam is willing to campaign his Ferrari V8-swapped Blob Eye STI. With an X-pipe ready to deliver that old-school F1 car scream at the 8,000 rpm redline, we mustn’t overlook the dynamics here. The car’s previously-installed (racing trim) six-speed sequential gearbox and factory AWD with an active center differential are here to stay. And, with the unit protruding through the hood, those red valve covers mean everybody knows what’s up!
In the said clip, Sam explains he had signed up for a test day on February 25. However, before making it out there (fingers crossed!), he has recently had the engine tuned at Washington-based English Racing.
And the man working wonders via a Motec M142 ECU is John Reed. As he explains on Instagram, the wizard himself was surprised to be able to repeat this sort of shenanigan. That’s because, a couple of years ago, he tuned the 4.5L of a Ferrari 458 (the same engine family) for the infamous Toyota GT4586 drift car of American athlete Ryan Tuerck—the pro slider has since moved on to a V10-engined Mk V Toyota Supra as his “spare time” drifting tool.
Getting back to Sam, as he recently disclosed on Instagram, he plans to give the Ferrari-swapped STI its maiden race at the 2023 Olympus Rally (April 22 is Shelton, WA).
Meanwhile, you can get a dyno soundcheck on the Insta vid below. Nevertheless, if you feel like the Italian V8 sounds a tiny bit like a four-cylinder, that’s because an important part of these engines’ soundtrack is owed to the exhaust. And, after the vehicle broke its aftermarket driveshaft on the dyno and the OEM piece had to be put back in, the latter prevented the said custom exhaust from being reinstalled, which meant the V8 ran on dump tubes alone.
However, once the exhaust, which, by the way, features side pipes (easier to route for protection), gets reattached and the ECU tune allows for WOT (wide open throttle) runs, those decibels will get even sweeter.
Update: Here’s the shakedown of the Ferrari-engined STI rally car. Situations where a Maranello V8 is allowed to rev like this, with the tires breaking traction by definition-gravel tends to help-are extremely rare.
So perhaps this engine is enjoying even more freedom than it did with a supercar wrapped around it. As I write this, I realize I’m heels over toes for Sam’s build. And once you hit that little “play” button below, that thought may just sound predictable.
Turbocharged 13B rotary in Reuben Bemrose’s Ferrari 456
As promised above, I’ll end this story with a Ferrari 456 from New Zealand. I’ve been keeping my eyes on this unique build since early February 2020, when I was the first to write about it on the Internet (you can Google “Ferrari 456 rotary” and my name).
For one, it seems the project is almost ready to reach its final form this year. Of course, “final” is a relative term for drift cars, which is what an engineer named Reuben Bemrose built out of this once-a-Grand-Tourer. The man started with an example of the 1990s GT that had already lost its 5.5L N/A V12. And, in the latter’s place, the aficionado, who’s known online as lord.bemrose, fitted a Mazda 13B unit.
While also handling other builds, the man has since added a turbocharger to the twin-rotor Wankel. And since this is the first 456 of the drifting world, there’s no need for anybody to get scarred—the engineer installed a much more sideways action-familiar face to the Ferrari, namely that of an S14 Nissan Silvia (make that facelifted second-gen 240SX in the US).
In a short clip published on Instagram 18 hours ago, the contraption can be seen wearing widebody front fenders for the first time, which complement the ton of custom aero and tech work that has been added to the car.
And while we wait for some slip angle action (previous work of the sort has led to fire and dents) the brap-brap idle soundtrack in the Instagram vid below should suffice.
And this is how Reuben Bemrose’s rotary-swapped, Nissan Silvia S14-faced Ferrari 456 looks with a Split Blood Red Candy paintjob in a July 2023 update.
