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Turbo for offroad


Scott in Bellingham
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I've never offroaded a turbo, but i've driven enough turbo's to know that i'd rather not have one offroad, the lower compression means its a dog until the turbo comes on, which means no crawling. when the turbo comes on it comes on hard, which may offset the delicate ballance of traction and momentum. if you're looking at more of a rock runner, when you have higher rpm and are using an auto tranny, it would work better, but for the typical "Hatch Patrol" type stuff, i can't see a turbo being an advantage. I guess in the end it all boils down to personal preference.

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turbos are not for offroading. im sure somebody will post some pics of those wrx powered rock crawlers, but thats not us.

 

ej, or er is the only way for big hp offroading.

 

spfi and mpfi and even carbs work well too

 

you say big horses with an EJ???

 

i've got the EJ22 and have very small horses...miniature ponies if you will.

 

what are you doing to get big hp out of an EJ?

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...miniature ponies if you will.

LOL. I think he's just pointing out that anyone w/ an EA can double their HP w/ an EJ.

 

I off-road a turbo. I love it. W/ the lower compression ratio and not boosting, you definately are making less power & torque then the NA's. However, when you are boosting you are making a lot of power (IIRC, EA81T is rated @ 127HP and ~9#TQ). I personally like to hit things w/ some speed and throttle.

 

I would say that a D/R is a must for the turbo's and offroading. I think it's a blast.

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you say big horses with an EJ???

 

i've got the EJ22 and have very small horses...miniature ponies if you will.

 

what are you doing to get big hp out of an EJ?

 

150hp is BIG PIMPIN in an ea car.

 

even with alot of hp you still have to hit stuff at speed with any subaru offroad. they will never crawl without alot of work/parts =[

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Subes with the stock drivetrain don't crawl they jog.

Mines a turbo, the only drawback I've found is that in technical sections on inclined rock the gearing coupled with the lower compression you have to ride the clutch a bit from a dead stop. Not a big deal once or twice but after that you start to have a bit of clutch slip from heat. I've got a SPFI block ready to go with a turbo setup on it and this will be much better.

But the gearing is still a prob. for all of us.

Scott I will ring you when I'm coming down to Victoria next and maybe I could meet you at the ferry. Corey [bushbasher] has a wicked acerage with tons of huge rock bluffs and old road bed maybe we could wheel there? I could head to the US too.

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Subes with the stock drivetrain don't crawl they jog.

Mines a turbo, the only drawback I've found is that in technical sections on inclined rock the gearing coupled with the lower compression you have to ride the clutch a bit from a dead stop. Not a big deal once or twice but after that you start to have a bit of clutch slip from heat. I've got a SPFI block ready to go with a turbo setup on it and this will be much better.

But the gearing is still a prob. for all of us.

Scott I will ring you when I'm coming down to Victoria next and maybe I could meet you at the ferry. Corey [bushbasher] has a wicked acerage with tons of huge rock bluffs and old road bed maybe we could wheel there? I could head to the US too.

 

Van do you have the stock final gearing 3.7?

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Yes, Low end torque is key. Not top end HPs.

Kind of what I was getting at. HP is worthless, torque[specifically at idle] is what you need with the gearing too.

I've only wheeled the turbo until recently when I started wheelin' the spfi I bought. Great torque off the line, very impressed. I hope to have the spfi block&pistons/turbo hybrid in the car by the end of Oct.

Hhmm more torque.

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Really depends on the terrain you drive on. I find my ea81t is fine for mild offroading (cant do much more cos its lower than a standard 4wd!) - they still put out resonable torque at low revs and dont have a huge power surge when the turbo kicks in like some other engines do.

If your going over heaps of rocks etc, with lots of real slow stuff i'd definitely rather have a N/A enigne. You cant beat a turbo for playing in the mud though!

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Kind of what I was getting at. HP is worthless, torque[specifically at idle] is what you need with the gearing too.

I've only wheeled the turbo until recently when I started wheelin' the spfi I bought. Great torque off the line, very impressed. I hope to have the spfi block&pistons/turbo hybrid in the car by the end of Oct.

Hhmm more torque.

 

SPFI compression ratio + turbo would be sick offroad. I think you'll really dig that setup both on and off the road :brow:

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You mean off idle/low rpm's right? Cause I've got over that and then some but it's at 2500rpm, problem is there's only about half that off the line. The SPFI block will help alot but like you said it's the gears.

 

ya, off idle power is the coolest. like 1000 rpms =] with the big motor, its got more rotating mass, so it can crawl a little better than the 4 cylinder...

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I brought my turbo home today . its a 87 gl wagon 119000 miles .silver totaly stock. runs on three cylinders .other then that everything seems to work even the A/C drove it over 45 minutes to get home never got hot didnt use any oil. not sure whats wrong with it scott
Maybe an injector?Nice score!
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well I got the car , its a 87 Turbo 4wd, gos like a rocket on the road, ,

 

plans are to give it a SJR 6" lift , put some Super swampers on it , probably the 27 x 9.5 SSR

install dual range and swap out the rear diff to 3.9

 

once its up and going will sell my 88 I had at WCSS7 , this will be my tow rig to transport the " Utimate Offroader "

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