The lightweight sporty wagon thread.

What's next, the lightweight sporty wagons with three doors from the Ukraine built on Tuesday thread?

I second the focus wagon

Focus Wagon (2003-2004) (2.3 duratec)
141hp
149tq
25/33mpg
2700lbs
Engine swap options: the 2.3 duratec is the best option
Trans swap options: i think there are more aggressive ratios out of the 05 ST
Aftermarket: Decent ~160whp i/h/e manifold would bump it up to ~180whp Suspension: McFail on front twist beam in the back

One phantom I thought would be fun, but just couldn't quite pull off ...

Cosworth Kammback

Other ideas:

What's a BMW 3-series wagon weigh? Probably not much more than a P5. Still a strut type front suspension; I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

From the department of crazy, does a Nissan Pulsar Sportbak count? Light weight but NO aftermarket.

If you're in California, VW Squareback. Not sure what they go for nowadays though.

Aeromoto wrote:

That's really bad.

In reply to ProDarwin:

Yeah, the Hornet haunts me still. You can go a few ways with it. Personally I'd like to do a 258+4.0HO=4.6L I-6 w/ EFI in one, and add a turbo. Lower it, widened steel wheels, leave the woodgrain.

Superlight would be damn tempting though. You can buy the entire front end in fiberglass (hood, fenders, bumper, valance), swap in a 5.0 HO/T5 (the T5 was originally designed for the small AMC chassis so it literally bolts in), and do a tubular coil-over front suspension. Might even get some decent MPG out of that.

And then part of me wants to say screw the weight, drop in a 401 with a 727TF and go find some idiots to take money from at grudge night on the strip.

I miss my Saturn SW2.

A lot of 3 door hatchbacks or more or less wagonish.

Honda EF Civic Si

Geo Storm Wagonback

Suzuki Swift GTi/GT

BMW 2002tii Touring

More proper 5 door wagons:

Honda Civic Wagon

BMW E30 Touring

BMW E36 Touring

HStockSolo wrote: BMW E36 Touring

I wish I didn't know that this exists and I can't have one.

In reply to Josh:

I KNOW RIGHT! GD germans keeping the good E36 M3 for themselves

I could dig a Focus wagon with all the SVT bits swapped in.

I don't need to think about that any more. I'm already making mental calculations on cost, and I don't need any more cars.

I don't even need a wagon. For anything. But now I want to build it just for fun.

I was hoping more of you would be busting out wagon-porn. Thanks to HStock at least.

Clarifications:

Lightweight: I am going to arbitrarily draw the line at 2750lb curb weight stock. Not ST trim, not post swap, not after gutting.
Wagon: You know what I mean. 2 door = hatchback.
Must be available in the U.S.
Year: 1990 or newer
Gas mileage: EPA rated at >30mpg highway

I will update the first post and add some of the suggestions that meet the requirements later.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: KL swap can be pretty much bolt in with some parts bin engineering (also read: don't do what i did), and will get you up to 200hp out the gate.

More info plz. How much weight increase would there be? Can A/C and P/S be kept? Will the Escort Wagon fit a bunch of tire w/o fender mods?

The BP wouldn't interest me, because going through the pain to swap a motor and ending up with the same amount of power as the Saturn or other wagons doesn't seem worth the effort.

SHO Focus?

failboat wrote:

My feelings exactly.

In reply to ProDarwin:

Not much weight increase. The kl longblock weighs a little more but you could expect to be done with a 100lb or less penalty. Use aftermarket headers.

Yes to powersteering and a/c is possible. Might be tight up front but there's room. If you want all that i cant stress enougb to have an mx3 gs donor on hand. Just use everything.

As for tire, 225s can be done somewhat easily. Anything more and you're talking body mods. 225s will require a roll, coilovers, and the perfect offset in the rear.

I can honestly say that id rather have a cavalier wagon than several of the other options in this thread.

But this is a cool thread, im not dumping on it. Carry on.

Why the '90 and newer? Is it because you don't want to look for an '81 Toyota Corolla wagon, which is about the ultimate small wagon?

Wasn't there a Mazda GLC wagon as well?

failboat wrote: dont forget teh focus wagon. it ditches the multi-link ("Control Blade") for McStruts but the rest is pretty much the same I think.

Fixed that for you.

The Escort wagon is the same chassis as my ZX2. 8" wheels and 225s will fit, the rear is tighter than the front.

double-shot post deleted

Fools. Everybody knows the Volvo Amazon wagon was the pinnacle of wagonnyness. All wagons before were leading up to its greatness; all wagons after fall into it's shadow.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: Fools. Everybody knows the Volvo Amazon wagon was the pinnacle of wagonnyness. All wagons before were leading up to its greatness; all wagons after fall into it's shadow.

Crazy talk.

Actually, it's a pretty awesome body style. Not many have that tidy, modest look.

ProDarwin wrote: Lightweight: I am going to arbitrarily draw the line at 2750lb curb weight stock. Not ST trim, not post swap, not after gutting.

So even lighter than an S2000 but in wagon form? That's going to be tough. There's probably like 2 or 3 post-1990 wagons that light. If that many.

dculberson wrote:

ProDarwin wrote: Lightweight: I am going to arbitrarily draw the line at 2750lb curb weight stock. Not ST trim, not post swap, not after gutting.

So even lighter than an S2000 but in wagon form? That's going to be tough. There's probably like 2 or 3 post-1990 wagons that light. If that many.

I think all of them listed so far are close to that. I know the Elantra wagons were 2600lbs.

Bobzilla wrote:

dculberson wrote:

ProDarwin wrote: Lightweight: I am going to arbitrarily draw the line at 2750lb curb weight stock. Not ST trim, not post swap, not after gutting.

So even lighter than an S2000 but in wagon form? That's going to be tough. There's probably like 2 or 3 post-1990 wagons that light. If that many.

I think all of them listed so far are close to that. I know the Elantra wagons were 2600lbs.

This. We've already established the Elanta, Saturn, Focus, Escort, Corolla and Protege. 3 of them are <2500lbs. I guess I should include the civic-wagovan thing as well (which I don't like that much because its tall/goofy).