So it's done...I'm Going Subie for the new Build!!

Henry just informed me last night that he sold my Air Cooled build to make way for me to switch over to a Subaru build.... Looks Like I will be going with a 2500cc liquid cooled fuel injected 165 HP Subaru motor....Also it will have Porsche suspension... I hear from those of you that commented and from Henry that it is night and day between this build and the Air Cooled I was going with so I am excited. Hoping the sound will be close enough as I do love that air cooled sound, but I think the postitives in terms of longevity and not having to tinker as much (as I am not a motor head) are well worth it... Only problem now is that Im looking at March for delivery....

Congratulations, we SAS owners believe getting "Wet" is better.

Nolan, you are a nasty man... and I like that... LOL... problem I am still air blown... Ah I guess I am just a traditionalist...

Speedster "D" Subie WET... COOOOOOOL

Hey Nolan & David.......have a cold one

That's awesome Chris. Your gonna have a great ride. Hope your a sound sleeper because your head gets full of thoughts and ideas that keep you up at night. We love to see picture updates.

Vince, that's illegal in 49 States!

Chris, you will love the Suby engine. Make sure you check out the EMS systems that will run the engine. I am in the process of changing my Stinger (marketed by Outfront Motorsports) to one from CB Performance. The Outfront model doesn't provide for easy starting, and it is not friendly when going to higher altitudes. Also, CB will enable you to program the computer yourself or with help from CB. CB can even tune your engine over the internet. All you need is a laptop and a telephone. The Stinger has no such tuning feature. The only way the tuning can be changed on the Stinger is to send it back to Outfront.

I have had my 2.5 Outfront-motored Suby Spyder since 2007. Re the sound: I frankly found it difficult to tell the difference.

Alot of people cannot tell the difference in sound. I was at a California get-to-gether (Knotts) and a fellow was waxing eloquently about the wonderful air-cooled sound of a particular car.

It was one of Greg Leach's subie spyders...

I consider it a great act of self-control that I kept my yapper shut.

angela

I don't think the little one approves but look at the face on the guy in back....jeeze...I didn't think she go for it AND, she wanted two of them !!!!

Whatever you decide, Henry will build a great car. I have a Subaru Impreza, and driving it is very similar to my air cooled Speedster, in terms of performance and sound.

Both have 165 hp and a five speed transmission.

This is what a well-muffled EJ22 sounds like, the second video clip. You will love the "wetter is better" parts of Subie power. IMHO.

http://tvvintagevehicles.com/content/please-enjoy-recent-video-made-featuring-hosss-356a-cabriolet

Thanks a lot for all the info. Glad to hear that the sound is similar. Heard Marty's on YouTube and then also listened Ito the link from Hoss... That's a beautiful car and sound! Thanks again. Thanks to this forum I reconsidered and went with the liquid Subie. Feel like I would have missed out on that opportunity were it not for the folks on this site....

Barry, that sounds insane if you can really tune a Subie like that...

My plan is to grab my retired Dad, fly west and try to take delivery on the west coast we can drive the car down the 101 before I ship it back east... Maybe I'll look some of you up when the time comes in March... I appreciate all the info...thank you

sounds great Chris. Porsche suspension..can't wait to see this car.

Thanks. It will be a while, but i'll post pics when I get some.. I'm curious, what are you going with in your SAS for a motor?

most likely a N/A 2.5 with some sort of 'tuning'. The goal is to have around 200 hp. Although lately I've been dreaming about turbo power. 250 ponies or so. The Legacy GT motor to be exact. Imagine a 4 second 0 to 60 time.

Every one knows turbo engines are easily modified. Sky's the limit... Plus there's a Subie repair/tuning shop with a dyno just a short blast down the freeway. I could toss 1500 at it and get close to 250 at the wheels...OR 3 grand and probably get an honest 300 to the ground.

It's a great little dream that usually ends when I see the prices in our town for Premium AND.

I've been down that road before...alot. The one that never ends..the HP GAME. You know the one. It's the game that costs mucho dinero and forces sane men into spending hard earned $$ ruthlessly. I just can't go there again.

200 hp should be fine. I'll appreciate the better torque and manners.

I guess have to I'll play 'lighten the car game'...wheels..brakes...oh no!

I don't need to imagine 4 seconds to sixty. I've put 11,000 miles on it! Way, way fun!

I'm really bugging Steve about 2.0 turbos in two of the speedster projects. When we get to that point, maybe I'll just buy the donor car and say "here's the donor car" - LOL!

angela

OK maybe not 4 flat..4 flat would be supercar territory.

It might not be that hard to pull off. Like just pop in a stock 300 hp STi engine and gearbox. If that doesn't do it then start 'modding'

A stock LEGACY GT weighs 3300 lbs. and goes low 5's. I don't think it's a stretch to get that under 5 seconds with the 2.5 Legacy turbo in a featherweight speedster

So your dreaming of a 4 cam WRX 2 liter..who isn't yeah!! Then again why not just go with the 2.5 DOHC STi. You get a beefier engine, drivetrain, bigger brakes, and a much tougher 6 speed to boot'.

On the other hand maybe a slightly modified 2.5 N/A with all the low end would be more fun to drive.

Then again I've only driven SUBARU Imprezas with all that power. Never a light little tub with mass boost. Do you feel the turbo lag as much?

If it's not that much $$ more I might be inclined to go all out and make it a TubSTi.

Chris: I drove the car 300 miles home yesterday, after the computer tech had worked for three days on the EMS. Lordamighty, the car has power I never knew existed, and I pulled 36 mpg driving 75-80 on Hwy 5. Pat Downs did a fantastic job with the new CB EMS system, using my car as a prototype. A Subaru engine that is set up properly makes driving the car almost scary!

My question to the future Speedster Suby owners: Where do you plan to put the radiator? Mine's up front, but the grill in Spyders is indigenous to the Spyder. Speedster's don't have such a grill....so where is the radiator to be located for maximum cooling?

Barry, they lay them down up front, where the front beam is, and draw air from underneath. Fans pull up, then the hot air bounces off the underbody and naturally flows backwards. Spyders are just lucky enough to have a "correct" grill.....

You have a 2.5, right? 165 hp stock, probably closer to 200 horses now in your car, no cats, shorter exhaust, less restrictive intake, and power-based mapping instead of economy. Impressive mileage, BTW! Do you know how much your car weighs?

Barry that's so cool to get that much fun/mpg at the same time! Most 'sports' cars are really not that practical. Steve says some of his cars are up around 40 mpg.

Barry, sounds good! Hows the sound?? Does it compare to Air Cooled?

Barne, I got 39.1 on a recent highway trip with my scrap build Soob conversion.

David, have you computed your average mpg for your last long trip? On the Carlisle trip, I had a "high" of 42 mpg, but the overall average was 34.5.

Chris, the sound is similar to the air-cooled, but may differ slightly, depending on which mufflers are used. I owned a Beck prior to owning the Suby-powered car, and I frankly don't remember that there was much of a difference. In any event, the Suby engine will more than likely require that you wear ear plugs. Most of the noise I have encountered is probably due to wind noise, rather than engine sounds, but this is at freeway speeds. At low speeds, the engine noise will win out over wind noise.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Spyders+with+Suby+engines+on+YouTube&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

The clip with the old guy wasn't really much of an example of the sound, and the one with the 2.0 Turbo really sounded so quiet that I couldn't get a good read on the sound. Needless to say, I couldn't find anything that really comes close to the sound my car makes. If you want the car to be "quiet," you will be disappointed, but heck, sports cars are meant to provide a bit of noise.

Giday 2 Bolts. I didn't check enough for overall average, just a couple of times to check highway mileage...too many eyeballs on the temp gauge most of the time with the unproven cooling system.

Thanks goofyCat.  

 For me the louder the better.... Thanks for the info. I am sure  I wil love the sound!!!!

Don't worry, you won't be disappointed. The sound is loud, but a bit more mellow than that of the air-cooled version....at least that's the case with my car and the muffler setup provided by Vintage Spyders. You might want to consider ceramic coated vs. stainless steel. Mine are ceramic, but at the time I didn't consider stainless. Maybe the members have some opinions.

My headers and mufflers are also ceramic coated on my Subaru setup.  I would post a pic if I knew how to get to my file folder?

Thanks Barry and Marty. I am looking forward to the sound of the Subie. I will post pics throughout the build if you have any  interest..I don't like how you can't see the members name when they make a post like before without having to click on their profile...

 

Thanks again.

 

Chris 

All they have to do is include a first name in their signature.