Subaru Selection

Nolan drove his silver Subbie SAS from Miami to Carlisle for a few years (before he moved to TN).  If it's too long a drive, drive to Sanford, Fl and put it on the Amtrak Autotrain to Lorton VA --- couple hour drive with local DC guys up to Carlisle, PA. 

 

So Subbie trans?  I like the machined reverse R&P for it but ouch big $ --- guess no real difference over a refurbished Porsche 901.  How about a 914 5 speed and mount the Subbie engine in the back seat?  A used 914 transaxle can be had for $250 or so - if engine is in rear firewall/seat area no need to reverse R&P. 

My new spyder has an 07 2.5 suby donor with a brand new short block, reworked heads and cam and it is completely bad ass.  The sound is incredible and looking forward to the reliability of a water cooled car.  So far could only get 130 miles on her...only 20 of which are mine but a fun 20 miles!  Both my speedsters were air cooled and fun, but not like this.  Power all the time.

Greg, if you're going to do mid-engine, why even bother with a 901/915?

 

It is easy enough to convert a 4WD Subaru trans to 2WD, then no adapter needed and the gearing is already done for you....

 

If I ever do a coupe, it will be on a custom chassis and be mid-engine and have a full cage inside.

Agree - the Subbie cable shifting is whole lot easier than complex rod linkage. 

so far very happy with my Rancho mated up to my suby motor.  It was built to fit.

Yes, Todd, for a Spyder, the Rancho VW is a great choice.

 

But, if you're going IRS and need CV joints anyway, it is just easier to do a Suby engine/trans combo and get VW/Suby hybrid axles.

Better, maybe. Easier... probably not.

The 5-speed Suby rig is probably real nice. But if you're trying to build it backwards, and attach it to a fortified VW pan, well, good luck. 

 

If you've got a Beck I guess it can be done: just take the body off and start welding.

 

And if you want to do the SAS style then even "easier," as Danny says. The Suby engine and transaxle are already ready to bolt in. 

 

It's all so easy, which is why Steve at SAS keeps cranking them out . . . 

 

OK, so seriously: you say you want 160 horses? Then why are you trying to find a turbo? Turbo Subys are for guys who absolutely have to have 260 horses or better.

 

150-160 horses from a Subaru is gotten as follows: 1 NA EJ22 + 1 set of Delta grind 220 camshafts + polish the heads + build an exhaust without too many tight bends. 

 

If you are not named Zagar, Beck, or Reisner and you would like such an engine to be running in a Speedster-looking vehicle that you may drive upon public roads during the foreseeable future, do yourself a mighty favor and order a nice pro-street VW transmission from Rancho or someone like that. Spring for the 3.44 ring and pinion. Either the .89 or the .92 4th will work fine. Buy the IMI starter and the KEP adaptor and screw it all together. Stroud's cooling system appears to be the thing to copy.

 

A 5 speed gearbox is a wonderful thing but it is no way necessary in a 2000-pound car with 130+ ft-lbs torque from 1800 RPM all the way past 6000.

 

This kind of engine does not care what gear you choose.

I hope i did not come off like i wanted to build a monster. The HP range I'm looking into is relative, 130 to 160 seems to be a basic subi setup of what I'm looking for, yet non of this is set in gold. I will be doing frame and subframe changes as i go and as i feel are needed. Danny i saw those hybrid axles they have in subigears i will look into them. I think its ED, but to answer your question why i was looking for a turbo? Its some what simple really, the model years legacy i listed was by far one of the most reliable and strong small engines they had and more so on the turbo version due to the heads. Do i need a turbo, No, but if it comes with that engine stock ill take it. I do a lot of evening and Sunday morning driving on the expressway (cruising) going the long way to get coffee and the tranny i have now is screaming at 70mph. I know! change the gear set up. The 5 gear subi tranny is matched to that small engine from factory for a small car and by the time I'm done adding rads/pipes/ac and i can't forget the luggage rack, it will be a tight race. Besides who says i need to use 5th, but its nice to have it. I am trying to keep it simple ed and i might end up with a rancho setup, but if someone has had success keeping the engine/tranny combo to work stock with subigears change over i would rather do that. Thanks todd, you Spyder guys have a lot more engine room to work with. Wolf my girl says the back seat is hers for groceries and if i do mid engine i walk . The cooling system on strouds and a few others seems the way to go. So back to the question at hand what subi engine/trans package is working good out there? or are you all meshed with porsche or vw trannys?

My SAS is straight Subi, engine and tranny, as I think they all are from SAS.  However, since you're not going mid engine, not applicable to your setup.  As others indicate, the lower the HP, the easier the cooling job.

With mid-engine although you loose back seat --- you actually gain a real trunk! Pushes you to a tube chassis though so more fab/welding work.

Yo-Adrian: "screaming" at 70 mph is a common problem in cars with 3.88 R&Ps. The 3.44 plus an .89 4th will get you 75 mph at 3000 rpm unless you do something imprudent with the tire/wheel combo.

 

And, again, I repeat: the stock EJ22 spins easily and with fervor to 6000. That's 140-odd horse at about 5400 rpm. The Delta cam set is like $200 and will perk it up a little, maybe to 155 hp at 5800. Something like that. The thing to avoid is the low rev-limit that came on the 1995 Legacy. That's I think what I have. Bangs it at 6000. The other years let it go to like 6400 or something. 

 

The early turbo engine case is better than the NA because it had the closed deck and the oil squirters below the pistons. There are two bits of bad news about the EJ22T, however:

 

1. the heads were not as good as the NA version, for some reason.

2. They pretty much all got beat to death by 22 year-old heshers 20 years ago. I'm not saying you can't find one anywhere in good shape but, again, if you're aiming to have a Suby-powered Speedster within a reasonable amount of time and for reasonable cash outlay, rebuilding a 22T back to proper spec or waiting to find the last one in Portland owned by a mid-aged lesbian couple who usually ride their bikes everywhere is probably not the way forward.

 

Alls I'm sayin'.

Late '90's JDM  EJ25's are plentiful and can be had in Montreal for only $600. Get my EJ 22 heads redone at a friend's shop in town for $400. Figure out my clutch chatter issue and try a new clutch disc. I'm in the cheap so well I may even spring for powder coat on the manifolds and new engine mount. And, I'll be good for how many hp, Ed, right out of the box ? And torque ? It's just nuts. I can easily go around 90 degree intersection turns in fourth gear right now with my junkyard EJ 22. The EJ22's are getting hard to find so the 25 is the common sense alternative.

 

I'll have to spring for a slightly beefed up transmission too but it won't break the bank with the kind of driving I do.

My friend just bought a '97 Impreza with a 2.2 in it for $400. The whole car! Great deal for a conversion, but we are going to use it for rally-cross, the off-road version of Auto-X.

Or:

Wow!

 

Is there an engine under there or am I looking at the back side of a microwave oven?

 

You let me know when your smelling my fumes at Carlisle, LOL

Well, I guess four cylinders are okay...

 

 

microwave exhaust cool