I am looking at sticking eaither setup in my 86 hatch. This vehicle is going to be used stricktly for Off Roading. What is the better route to go for this, as far as reliability and performance goes in the trails. I also want to snorkle the system, so what setup seals better? Also what kind of extra labor is involved with the EA82T swap? Will all the mounts fit in to place all nice?

I wouldnt suggest a turbo for off-road use. But if you have access to a EA81T you might want to use the EA81T heads with the MPFI system, and use a carbed block with increased compression. The MPFI will give you a much larger advantage for off-roading over a carb, but a turbo isnt always the right answer.

 

-Brian

I'm not going to say that Brian is wrong, but I will say that my EA81T Wagon w/ 5 SPD D/R does quite nicely. The turbo kicks in at about 2100 and that's usually low enough to climb up and out of things. People seem to find that Subarus are the type of offroader that does best when moving fast toward a steep incline/obstacle.

 

Just my .02¢

turbo is usually undesireable for off road because of the rpm's it takes to get boost, even 2k rpm is getting near the point of useless wheelspin, which gives you no traction at all, but it sure is fun, you will usually find that you wont go over 20 mph off-road unless your going baja-new-mexico-style on it. carbs are easier to repair off road than efi. I say neither, but i like EA82's so im biased.

 

 

 

 

~Josh~

Not just the powerband, but the high maitenance. Off-road engines are put to alot of abuse. Any EA81 will withstand the abuse, but with a turbo there are more moving parts, forced induction and alot more things to go wrong.

 

-Brian

Having owned both ea81 and ea81t cars, i believe that both have their off roading advantages. As noah says, the ea81t has plenty of power from 200rpm onwards, and is great for 4wding where a little speed can be kept up. What this engine does lack in, however, is low end torque. The ea81 carb is better in this respect, and is therefore better for offroading where a lot of slow crawling is necissary, such as rock hopping and the like.

so, id say it really depends on what you will be doing the most of!

good luck!

I am mostly going to be doing alot of oregon, costal range trails, so I think I will probibly stick with the carb system. Thanx for the info, any further info would be great. I am going to be sticking 31" boggers on so I definitly need the low end power of the carb.