here's the situation, i just graduated college, i'm finishing my first week at my new career oriented job, so in about a month or so i'll be starting my 12 second car project.

as of now the #1 candidate is a '02 wrx. my search requirements have been an import, rwd or awd, turbocharged, '00-'04, for around 18k. so with that my choices are fairly limited.

i have a supercharged ex ('98) and have traction issues with that. my goal is to get an import into the 12's so i want to stay away from fwd because i dont want to deal with the wheel hop and traction issues.

what i'm wondering though, if an lsd where to be installed on a 12 second setup (probably a hatch), would i get the nice clean launches of rwd or awd? would it really make that much difference?

 

There would be a huge difference, yes. As good as RWD? No.

 

engine mounts and traction bars can do great things.

 

you wont get the clean launches since the FWD will encounter torque steer. but it would be great increase in 60 foots due to both wheels pulling you up to speed.

if you're looking to eliminate wheel hop, that's a suspension and traction issue, not a driveline issue. look into a set of solid motor mounts, better strut/spring combo up front, and some traction bars to keep the strut angle from shifting under load. the civic chassis suffers from "K.I.S.S." by not including a front subframe and radius rods to keep the front LCA's in one spot, as it wasnt designed to accelerate quickly.