i've tracked down a possible closed-deck donor engine at a reasonable price ($2,000), so an engine swap is looking like a pretty viable option later on down the road...

it's a complete engine, including the turbo, intercooler, a/c, alternator, p/s pump...

what else would i need? i'm assuming it's not quite as simple as dropping in the new engine...i'm guessing the ECU and wiring harnesses are probably different (?)

would the cost of finding and installing the rest of the stuff just turn seemingly relatively straightforward (but complex) project into a nightmare?

*adam*

About another $3000 for the drivetrain if you do most of the work yourself. This is a large scale project. You must be willing to learn a lot about the wiring diagrams especially and put in three or four hundred hours unless you pay someone to do the work. I hear that is about $15,000, although I don't know for certain.

The ECU question can be solved more than one way. ISR (autocaresubaru.com) used the 1.8 ECU for their conversion. I am using a Legacy Turbo unit. Of course, all the after market computers are available; Link, Tec-II, Haltec, etc. A lot more money though along with the advantages.

If you have time and money, or less time and a lot more money, the project is doable. I can tell you from experience there are few accomplishments the equal of putting one of these cars together yourself and driving it. Best of success.

MM

hm. i was thinking this was pretty much going to be a straight engine/tranny deal, with some bits of electrical work to get everything to mate up...

my plan was to keep the car FWD to a) keep the overall cost lower, and b) keep the weight down...even a stock 2.5L engine in my car (2300lb) would be quite lively. ;D

but there are a lot more turbo subaru engines out there, and the performance potential is obviously much greater...

keep the suggestions coming... :D

adam

You do NOT want to keep this car FWD. Epecially not with a turbo engine! FWD is the absolute worst configuration to handle that type of power.. so do yourself a favor, and do it right ;)
I know it's more costly, but it's better to do something properly than to do it in a hurry! :)

It's a long, complicated, time consuming, expensive project. There are days (and nights) when you may question your judgment and sanity. (Maybe we should start a conversion support group!) Don't go with the cheapest solution; do it right the first time. Try to get as complete a package as possible; little missing bits here and there can add up to a lot of money.

Rallispec can do the install for a fair price.

why is it that fwd hondas can handle powerful engines well, and fwd subarus can't? is there something inherently different in the drivetrain?

i'm not going to try and make a 500hp, 18lb/boost drag rocket!

just something a little quicker...

Racecar Riot..

Some reasons why they're suggesting to do the job properly the first time:

1. Your stock brakes will be deemed useless with this much power. IE it will be dangerous and we don't want colleagues on these forums going and killing themselves! ;)

2. Your standard gearbox probably won't last very long, unless you're extremely careful. The band of torque in a EJ20T is flat and fat, the 1.8 and 2.0, even the 2.5s in NA form do not compare! At all!

3. You will have no traction on launching. It will be a pointless excercise.

4. Powering out of corners, whilst on boost, on of the front wheels (I assume you don't have a limited slip diff) will go up in smoke and you'll plough off the road.

If you want a 'bit' more power, a 2.5 conversion will be far simpler, as I suspect there will be little wiring changes. IMHO a 2.5 in a FWD impreza is already dancing on the limits...

Doing an upgrade with considerations of an entire working package will no doubt leave you with a far more desirable vehicle.

I have a friend over here in Sydney who upgraded his GX impreza into an Sti. He actually kept it looking as a GX for a while... a very entertaining car! :) The job required a wrecked Sti jap import. He got this for about $10,000 AUS. He put both cars on hoists and swapped everything.. suspension, brakes, diffs, gearbox and motor, crossmember etc. A very cluey guy... he told me I'd be a fool to omit any of these items.

If you're going to go about it, at least do your suspension (shocks, dampers, swaybars) as the GX items are poor and sloppy, then upgrade your 1 pot calipers and tiny discs to at least some 2 pots with larger discs (not sure if the RS has these, early AUS spec WRX have them). In this form, I'd be going for the 2.5 at a maximum.. the Impreza chassis isn't in fact that good as a handler. We get a lot of benefits from AWD. If I were to go a turbo FWD, it would be a peugeot 205 gti or 306, or maybe even an early 74 golf (yep, they're not bad!) over an Impreza.

Later
rx