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ej22 Performance Upgrades


muddblood
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I am VERY new to Subaru performance and upgrades so please forgive me for asking questions I am sure have been asked billion times.

 

I keep seeing posts and articles saying this block, these heads for building power on a ej22 (NA). I would like to know what the easiest and best block combo would be. I've heard on other forums that ANY ej25 will fail head gasktes every 100k miles or sooner, and I keep hearing ej25 heads on ej22 block, and then throw in the difference between ej22E and ej22t, and then dual port and single port heads...it's just all so confusing.

 

My car needs more power, cut and dry. It is an 93 Legacy with a SOHC ej22 (NA) and produces a published 130hp at the crank. My first thought was to just drop in an ej25 to gain a quick 30hp (160hp), but the ej25's are VERY prone to head gasket failures...I need reliabiliy. I don't NEED 200+ hp (althught it would be nice), just 30-40 hp (for now). I read intake and exhaust would help, but by how much? And in the past, I worked at a Subaru dealer and was told by the lead mechanic that a wet air filter, like the K&N is NOT a good idea as the oil will kill the MAF. ANY thoughts on bolt-on's to get 30-40 more horses would be extremely welcome!!!! It is my daily driver so it cannot be down for more than a weekend or so.

 

And the reaosn for the needed hp is the car struggles badly going up the mountain passes here in Colorado...like down to semi speed. I need more power to get up them...or a tune or something.

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Automatic or manual transmission? If its a manual just down shift when needed.

 

One thing you can try is removing the intake silencer(white jug in the passenger fender) as it gave me a bit more pull over 3k rpm.

 

If that doesn't help you can always get a set of delta cams for it.

 

As for the K&N filters fouling the MAF, I don't believe that for one second.

 

2 reasons:

1. K&N put out a notice saying that their filters do not harm MAF sensors when properly oiled.

 

2. I have been running a K&N filter for over a year now with no problems.

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  • 1 year later...

I removed my intake silencer and added a flexable hose attached to the stock air box, with a K&N filter, and ran the hose down to one of the open vent in the front bumper. Basically its a forced induction, cold air intake. I did notice an improved acceleration from 1st to 5th and on the freeway at 70 plus, around 3000 rpm. It really jumps at that rpm. Its a 97 ej22 in an Impreza outback sport with 259,000. The hose, a flexable universal cold air with aluminum couplers on both ends, I got from Amazon and it only cost me $20 plus about an hour to install. Def worth it, plus it sounds a lot better.

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  • 4 months later...

Weapon R makes a short ram intake that doesn't throw a CEL

 

You could bolt on 1.8 heads no problem, no change in compression, which have the dual port head to allow the moutning of a Borla Header unit which run about 120$

 

Cams would be an option.

 

To turbo the same block you could use the 2.5 heads with the dual port making the engine approx 2.35L with slight drop in compression allowing you to run approx 5-6lbs boost safely into the same block. Just run the 1.8T trubo components, or 2.2T or 2.0T turbo components just dial the boost down to 5-6lbs. May need to run independent engine management.

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  • 7 months later...

Also found and removed my intake silencer, those things are terrible. Currently have some flexible 6'' hose running to the air air vent.

 

I too have a  93 Legacy, and even with the head gaskets going it has plenty of power.  Are your cats fouled? That will turn your vehicle into a gutless wonder.

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  • 6 months later...

Sorry for dragging up an old thread, but I've just bought my third 1995 Liberty ("Legacy" outside Oz) in three years, so that's one Subaru per year, ha ha! My first car was my $450 auto front wheel drive Liberty with the EJ22, it has lived a hard life at the hands of several young guys with more testosterone than sense, so not one panel on the car is the exact same shade of green as the other, but the engine is a gem, and with (as far as I know) only a louder end muffler, not only sounds fantastic, it has tons of torque, revs like a motorcycle engine, and goes really well.

 

My 1995 AWD Liberty with twin turbo EJ20 engine and 5 speed manual box out of a Legacy GT(?) was a bargain at $500, even though it had a blown head gasket, leaking seals etc, is now a joy to drive, so much so that my son wanted it more than I did, but I still get to "test" drive it for him, as the resident mechanic.

 

I gave the old green Liberty to my Mum (Mom) as she's 86 and her 40 year old Triumph TC2500 is starting to become a little unreliable due to an electrical fault which has recently manifested, so I looked around for another Subaru for myself, and found a minty 1995 two owner Liberty AWD auto for, once again, $500. The car was bought new and driven daily by a couple right up until May last year, and when the old guy died and the little old lady moved into a retirement home, the home's maintenance manager bought it. He only drove it until the registration expired, then put it on "Gumtree" (like Craigslist) where it sat for several months until I came along. The car's always been maintained by the first owners, and it's last service was in January.

 

My first drive impression was that it felt a little restricted compared to the green car, so I've bought a set of unequal length stainless 4-2-1 stainless steel headers, and a pod filter and adapter. I can't install it until after I get the car registered, (it's currently in the shop having some remedial repairs done after it failed it's "Roadworthy" inspection due to a cracked windscreen, torn steering knuckle gaitor, and sadly, an oil leak) but I'll take it around to a muffler shop and get them to install the headers and a freer flowing rear muffler, and I'll fit the pod, and hopefully that will make it feel a little peppier.

 

I also own a Ford Explorer V6 SOHC and one owner managed to get an additional 19 BHP on the dyno just by adding a pod filter, so if I get anything like that with the improved intake and exhaust system, I'll be really happy! Sorry also for the long post, but this is an interesting subject. Cheers, Terry. :)            

Edited by Terry in Oz
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Well the I got the car back from the shop around lunchtime, so I paid the registration and insurance, and took it for a drive. It goes really well, but needs some more pep, so tomorrow I'll fit the pod filter and drive around to the muffler shop and ask them to install the headers and a new muffler.

 

It's a pity I don't have access to a dyno, (they are few and far between around here, and last time I had a motorcycle dyno'd it cost me 300 bucks) so I'll just have to dust off my "Seat-of-the-pants-o'meter", and make an (un)educated guess at the improvement. Cheers, Terry. ;D

 

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