According to Autoweek the Baja will be recieving the a 2.5liter turbocharged motor. I wonder how close that motor will be to the STi's?

Given the Baja's towing requirements, the engine will probably be tuned for low-end torque. I would guess an even lower state of tune than the Forester turbo.

I sould say THE 2.5 turbo, but rather A 2.5 turbo. I seriously doubt it will have heads, valves, or internals of the STi. The Forester is getting a turbo and will be rated at 210 hp. That's a far cry from the 300 of the STi, but it's also a far cry from 165hp of the current Forester. Minor tuning shoud yeild 250. That would make a very nice Forester that should spank most, if not all small SUV's. A Nissan Murano had 245, but wiegh nearly 1000 lbs more. I wouldn't mind having a midly modified black turbo Forester sittin on chrome 18's with two 12's in the back, tan leather with wood trim..... BLINNNGG.

Is anyone even buying the Baja?

The thing is so useless with that tiny bed. I got the impression that it wouldn't be on the market in a couple years....


-BrianK

that Turbo Forester is getting AVCS

It is my understanding that the Forester and Baja get the same motor as the STi, complete with the AVCS, fancy, sodium bits and forged internals, etc. I just can't see it being cost effective for Subaru to make three different 2.5L-T motors.

What they do, however, is use different turbos and ECUs, not to mention exhaust setups. As we have seen from the world of WRX tuning, turbo, exhaust and ECU treatments can make a world of difference in power.

Look at the torque ratings for the Baja and Forester motors. They aren't that far off the STi's lofty levels. Both are indeed tuned for bottom-end torque. The turbo Legacy will get a higher horsepower tune of that same motor, to something like 260-hp levels.

Methinks that with simple mods, it will be easy to make the Baja, Forester or anything with the 2.5L-T motor develop more mojo.

As an aside, who ever thought that the WRX would wind up as the slowest performance Subaru? :lol: The Forester's official 0-60 time is .10 faster than the WRX's official time. The Baja will probably be the same.

Kevin

Originally posted by briank
Is anyone even buying the Baja?

The thing is so useless with that tiny bed. I got the impression that it wouldn't be on the market in a couple years....


-BrianK

If my car had maintained its trade in value - that is, if I hadn't done modifications and a lot of offroad driving which has scarred the car from front to back - I would would be buying a Turbo Baja. I don't think I'm going to be able to get enough out of the WRX either by trade in or selling for it to make financial sense right now.

The desire is there, in my case it's just a matter of being paranoid about the economy right now.

Originally posted by briank
Is anyone even buying the Baja?

The thing is so useless with that tiny bed. I got the impression that it wouldn't be on the market in a couple years....


-BrianK

Don't bet on it. I sat in one a the NY auto show yesterday, and everyone I was with were estatic over it. And yes... it's on my short list of next-buys.

Bob

http://www.subdriven.com/features/04_baja_trbo/03_baja_turbo.html

I kind of like the way it looks now:

http://www.subdriven.com/features/04_baja_trbo/01__scaled_600.jpg

Originally posted by 97itr153
Given the Baja's towing requirements, the engine will probably be tuned for low-end torque. I would guess an even lower state of tune than the Forester turbo.

It is the exact same as the forrester's engine.

Its on my list of next buys. I just want the H-6 motor rather than the turbocharger.

Originally posted by gtguy
As an aside, who ever thought that the WRX would wind up as the slowest performance Subaru? :lol: The Forester's official 0-60 time is .10 faster than the WRX's official time. The Baja will probably be the same.

Kevin
Given that the Baja is still on the BE/BH platform, it should be pretty hefty. In fact, that spec .pdf lists the weight as 3605lbs and 3670lbs for 5MT and 4eAT, respectively. Accordingly, it should be a little slower than the XT which will likely be closer to the WRX wagon in weight. If/when the Baja T transitions to the 4th gen Legacy platform, we'll see performance perk up in the future.

AG
May the GT-B with you!

Originally posted by AGscooby

Given that the Baja is still on the BE/BH platform, it should be pretty hefty. In fact, that spec .pdf lists the weight as 3605lbs and 3670lbs for 5MT and 4eAT, respectively.AG
May the GT-B with you!

Yow! Oink, oink! :lol:

Kevin

The baja gets a 210HP 2.5 liter engine. I've only seen them in black/charcoal so far but I'm sure there will be other colors sometime.