Hey guys, I have a '97 LGT 2.5L na with 193,000 miles on her. I drive the car to work and put on about 150 miles/day. I'd like to have more power out of the car and was planning on doing the wrx swap, but the more I read, the more terrified I become. With what I read about the wiring having to all be changed out, and the difference in the wiring, having to splice the harnesses, etc...I'm beginning to wonder if I would be better off to rebuild my 2.5L na and add an aftermarket turbo......what do you guys think?

aftermarket turbo and 150 miles a day are incompatible thoughts

if you need reliability a usdm swap is the way to go

Alright Jaxx, so what am I looking at here? Is this going to be a nightmare on my behalf? Am I looking at a weekend job, a 2 week job, a 2 month job? Also, what would you recommend for a starting platform?

Thanks

Also Jaxx, is rebuilding my 2.5 and adding an OEM turbo system an option or would I just be better off to pick up a salvaged 2.5 turbo?

if you want reliability adding a turbo is not a good idea

if you really want 2.5 power start looking for 04 fxt,baja turbos and sti 05+ has the imobilizers


mechanicals are a weekend job
wiring is not
easiest solution is to pull both harness out and ship them off to a vendor who will merge them if you get the right vendor you might get a week turn around

What exactly do you mean by the immobilizers? Any ideas where to look other than here for transplants? Also, any suggestions for vendors to do the harness splicing for me?

Thanks

zepher ecs garagetuning rallispec(maybe)

imobilizer -> the 05+ sti and 06+wrx have rfid chips in the keys the car won't start with out the key the reciever wired in correctly and the key programed to the ecu

like jaxx said, wiring will be your nightmare, so definetly have one of the listed places do it. It will cost some money, but save a bunch of headachs. Also, i dont know if you mentioned whether your car is 4eat or 5spd. If its 5spd, i believe you can just us the legacy 5 speed, if its auto, then you'll need to swap the 5spd tranny,pedel assembly and all the good stuff. If you look around the forum, theres been a few people who have done these swaps who will have alot of info for you. i have the same exact car and im actually getting things around to start the swap during late spring/early summer...

If you're planning on doing this yourself, plan on at LEAST two months of weekends.

Unfortunately you've got a 1997 LGT (like me!) so be prepared for extra hassle. Apparently in 1998 Subaru went full OBDII. What that means to you, is that you'll need a WRX gas tank and all the associated hardware, sensors etc in order to have everything work properly (figure on another $500-$1k for that job). And I'm guessing since your car is now 10 years old, the gas tank is going to fight you tooth and nail considering the hardware hasn't been touched since '97.

Either way, good luck. I've got 30k+ miles on my swapped '97 LGT it's been an absolute blast. The only things that have caused me problems were due to some components sourced from a recycler that ended up being faulty (you win some, you lose some). Otherwise, I've had no problems with emissions, inspections, maintenance, etc, etc.

JD

Dobes,

Fortunately, I live in Illinois where there are no emissions inspections or any of that garbage. Pretty easy to do just about whatever you want. My car has a 4eat, but want to go to either a newer 5eat since it's a driver, or a 5 speed manual. Since 90% of my driving is interstate, 150 miles / day wouldn't be bad on a manual. Nice to know all the incidentals that I wouldn't have normally expected such as the fuel system, etc. Thanks for the info. This project is a while off, but I figured I could do a years worth of research & still have a ton of questions to ask when the time comes! Thanks again!

dobes did you do your swap or did you have someone like ECS do it? and did you do the wiring?

you won't be geting a 5eat unless you swap a complete of LGT in its controlled via can bus

not gonna work

aftermarket turbo and 150 miles a day are incompatible thoughts

if you need reliability a usdm swap is the way to go

:huh:

hey i drive 100 miles a day in some cases with my aftermarket turbo'd impreza. Swap are great and definitly more reliable but don't sell Aftermarket kits short. They can be made just as reliable as anything else.

:huh:

hey i drive 100 miles a day in some cases with my aftermarket turbo'd impreza. Swap are great and definitly more reliable but don't sell Aftermarket kits short. They can be made just as reliable as anything else.

i dont think jaxx's selling the kits short, i just think he's saying that they're not very reliable on that motor, which wasnt made for boost. The amount of money he'd spend making it good for boost would be better spent on a swap for the reliablility he's looking for.

dobes did you do your swap or did you have someone like ECS do it? and did you do the wiring?


I took the easy (and expen$ive) route and paid Rallispec to do it. I'm currently in the process of saving my pennies to perform a similar, but more powerful swap into my Impreza which I'll be tackling myself one day in the future. Like everyone else, the wiring scares me the most but I figure it's more tedious than difficult.

JD

ic ic, yeah the wiring is what keeps me from going ahead and doing it myself with the help of some friends. Im sure we could do it, but it would be a headache and would only add to the length of the project. I'll most likely take it to a shop to have it all done. And if i go with the place that im leaning towards, the hardest part for me just might be the drive there.. :lol:

Alright jaxx, thanks for the tip, so my options are a 4eat or a 5 speed then? Think I'll go with the 5 speed!!