October 16, 200520 yr Used to be some info on hopping-up the 2.5L legacy L around..I think it delt mostly with breathing improvements and possibly a micro-chip upgrade..anyone have some links or advise?
October 18, 200520 yr You can find a lot of information about performance upgrades at the forums at NASIOC.com. The people there are more in to that. You can make more power than stock, but it's at the expense of having a noisier car, using more gas, reduced driveability, and/or reduced longevity. I find most of the compromises Subaru made were reasonable. Though I might someday replace the intake baffling (black ABS box in the right fender) with a straight pipe. *Forced induction is too risky. *Running rich all the time (such as with a resistor replacing the IAT sensor, or with more sophisticated chipping) will reduce the service life of various components that live in your exhaust, and the gas will find its way in to your oil, requiring a shorter oil change interval. Besides which, you use more gas per horsepower the richer you're running. *The factory Subaru air intake breathes cold enough air through a pretty big filter, so there's little room for improvement there. *The exhaust seems big enough, considering the size of the engine. So, you can do a few mods if you like, but I don't think they'll end up making the car powerful enough to justify the cost, in general.
October 18, 200520 yr Really the only performance modifications you can do without breaking the bank are cams, intake, exhaust and custom tuning based on your mods. Cams aren't gunna be cheap and they're gunna need tuning. Expect to spend $700 easy. Intakes are fine but I've not been able to determine whether they do a whole lot of anything on the NA motors except diminish low end torque and kill throttle response at lower rpms. Like $200 for a real one. Or you could make one... A bigger exhaust will probably net you more horsepower and possibly better fuel economy, but it'll hurt the bottom end and make it louder. If you cruise alot and are into the sound, great. If you don't and aren't, keep the stocker. Cost varies with application, on average $500. Besides that, swap in a WRX motor and spend a month wiring?
October 18, 200520 yr Based on what I've read, the above advice is right on. The only thing I have to offer, is there ARE things that will make the car handle better. You just need to abandon any thoughts of drag racing, and concentrate on the twisty or the off-road stuff. AutoX or RallyX is where you COULD have some racing fun. A nice combination of improvement comes with lighter wheels. Less unsprung mass, less total mass and less rotational mass - along with better looks! You will likely feel the difference in acceleration if they are really light. If you didn't mind the speedo-odometer being off, you could get more down low grunt with smaller diameter tires. Highway travel will mean higher RPMs and likely worse mileage though.
October 18, 200520 yr bump for link to discussion of rotational mass (lighter wheels); http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=825517&highlight=rota+weight
October 19, 200520 yr If we're talking about making the Legacy better at cornering, then we're in a different ballpark. I kind of got the idea from what I read that he was interested in making it teh_fastar in a straight line. You can definitely do some of that for fairly cheap. I know you can look a bit around on http://www.subaruparts.com, specifically here and get some suspension bits; bushings and whatnot. They also have fairly cheap adjustable swaybars there. That'll help. Incidentally, you should be able to get some flatter cornering on the cheap if you snag the swaybars (I know the front works, not sure about the rear) from an Outback and stick them in along with their associated hardware. Outbacks, Gen 2's anyway, came with an 18mm swaybar, much heftier than your 15mm (16mm?) Legacy bar. Poke at salvage yards.
October 19, 200520 yr If we're talking about making the Legacy better at cornering, then we're in a different ballpark. I kind of got the idea from what I read that he was interested in making it teh_fastar in a straight line. You can definitely do some of that for fairly cheap. I know you can look a bit around on www.subaruparts.com, specifically here and get some suspension bits; bushings and whatnot. They also have fairly cheap adjustable swaybars there. That'll help. Incidentally, you should be able to get some flatter cornering on the cheap if you snag the swaybars (I know the front works, not sure about the rear) from an Outback and stick them in along with their associated hardware. Outbacks, Gen 2's anyway, came with an 18mm swaybar, much heftier than your 15mm (16mm?) Legacy bar. Poke at salvage yards. Yeah, we shoulda asked him what he wants to do in post #2! hah!
October 19, 200520 yr Author Yeah, we shoulda asked him what he wants to do in post #2! hah! I'm listening..go for it?
October 19, 200520 yr Author Good stuff gang,that's what was needed. I have learned the muffler does restrict and it's an easy fix and hopefully will not add to much noise,was also advised not the change the exhaust pipe diameter from there to the engine..leave it stock sized. Not sure how much improvement this will make I'm still looking for that miracle micro-chip though ;=)
October 19, 200520 yr I'm listening..go for it? OKaaaay.... What are your plans for the car? race dedicated? drag.track or rally? Daily driver? surface streets, highway, mix? how much can you spend? spread out or dumped all at once? Do you have another car to drive? are you doing the work yourself, do you have access to tools and a helper, etc.
October 19, 200520 yr Used to be some info on hopping-up the 2.5L legacy L around..I think it delt mostly with breathing improvements and possibly a micro-chip upgrade..anyone have some links or advise? Talking with many serious subie enthusiasts, the #1 improvement on your subie should be handleing, I know, I know, you want it teh fastar, but trust me on this one, if you are doing anything SCCA or the like handleing will be your best dollar performance ratio, if you want to go teh fastar and impress the girls, just get a fart tip and be done. As far as go-fast goodies, i'd get a complete exhaust and the "perfect power" chip from Rallitek, and have them tune it for your exhaust mods.
October 20, 200520 yr Basically the only thing you can do to NA Scoobs without spending buttloads of money in parts and tuning is the suspension. Really, the cheapest worthwhile engine mods are exhaust and cams, which will run you $500-$1000 and about $750, respectively. You also will kill your gas milage unless you cruise alot. You might also cause other problems, especially longevity problems. Suspension mods won't do that. They'll increase NVH and make the ride more rough and possibly intolerable. Many people are in to that, though. Furthermore, in all honesty, I think it's more fun to drive a nimble car than an obsurdly powerful one. Anyone can go in a straight line really fast. It takes da skillz to turn. if you want to go teh fastar and impress the girls, just get a fart tip and be done." I would like to point out that this isn't the Fast and the Furious. Girls don't care. They like expensive cars, not riceburners. Trust me. I've asked several. They don't care about your car unless it's truly a piece of crap since they won't want to be seen in a beater or unless it's something expensive and interesting in and of itself, i.e. a Mercedes. Though, I did have a girlfriend once who was a gearhead. She cared, but about stuff that mattered. Like superchargers and oversized pistons. Cams, exhausts, you know. Hated ricers and let me know every time she saw one. She was not a typical female human, though.
October 21, 200520 yr Author OKaaaay.... What are your plans for the car? race dedicated? drag.track or rally? Daily driver? surface streets, highway, mix? QUOTE] A daily driver would most describe it and I'm looking for the combination of better fuel economy and/or better performance but I'm almost at the point of thinking the 2.5L is quite capable out-of-the-box stock but has limited mod opportunities.
October 21, 200520 yr Can you sacrifice any weight? seats, run without a spare/tools, etc.? some say every 8 to 11 lbs removed is one hp - I dunno. Again, lighter wheels - I dunno how much your stockers weigh, but likely you could find some Rotas or , if you have the funds, some SSRs that will give you better looks, better ride/handling AND better 'butt dyno' power. Running 5w-30 (and/or synthetic) might give you another mpg or so, if you don't use it already. check the legacy and NA forums at http://www.nasioc.com
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