Suggestions for a mate...

[Fury]

Situation:

• A good mate of mine has a current base model "pignose" Impreza, which he got a good deal on for his Mrs. It has now done around 15K km
• After driving it for a while, it lacks power - not that there is any thing wrong with it, he just has to push it. The variable valve 2lt (ej20 ?? I dont know what the current series 2lt is..) engine, only gets going at around 100km/ph. It is serviced regularly and he threw it on a dyno, which confirmed close to factory specs at around 90kw
• It lacks accelleration and driveability around town.
• His son in law ( to be ) has a 02 STI which he drives like there is no tomorrow. ( so I believe)
• Son in law, has big plans, but as he is a full on rev head, ( he also rallies) his idea of a mod is to rebuild the engine and wack on a huge turbo. he has been told - DO NOT TOUCH
• He doesnt want to spend a fortune, or stress the engine too much.
• If he can keep the warranty, this is a bonus.
• He is already running 98 oct fuel, to try and give it more punch.

Your thoughts please....
I suggested a small turbo, operating at not much more than std boost, but He would want to keep the std ECU, ( warranty) and would want to keep any mods strictly subi parts. He probably only wants around 20 kw.

I dont know what an un controlled turbo would do, whithout feeding back to the ecu.

Thanks
Chris

[Outback bloke]

I suggested a small turbo, operating at not much more than std boost, but He would want to keep the std ECU, ( warranty)

As soon as you put a turbo on it, no matter what size, the warranty is only good for a wipe and flush. If he wants to keep his warranty don't stuff with it. It was only a year or so ago that we had a member on here try and get a warranty claim on an Impreza with exhaust mods and not much else with out any luck.

Best advice is sell it and buy a WRX.

[tim_81coupe]

You'd probably find that for what your friend needs the 2.5 motor would be the go. They've got a heap more punch than the 2.0, especially down low.

Unfortunately the current 2.0 is the sore point of the Subaru model lineup, it has twice put me off buying a brand new Impreza and really turned me off the current shape Liberty!

Unfortunately as Brett said as soon as you touch it with a go-fast wand you can kiss the warranty goodbye.

[Fury]

I also thought that he would loose warranty if he touched it at all, so assuming this, can the current engine be tweaked a bit in any direction or is it too much stuffing around? He would loose too much $ to get rid of it and get something else, but at last option , throwing a 2.5 engine is a consideration.

I went through the std stuff like air flow, exaust etc, but really couldnt come up with 20 kw to make it more responsive.
If he was to turbo it, and as the engine really the wrong compression ratio, would it make much difference?

Thanks
Chris