high flow water pump? anyone have experience or input?

hey, i am planning on changing my water pump soon. recently on my stock part checks... i found a high flow one and got me curious.

has anyone installed one or know more information?

i think the main difference is the open vs closed impeller discussion... but nothing super specific to our cars.

another hidden comment is most of the high flow pumps are some version of the wrx pump? but i don't know which one they are referring to?

anyways, pictures show open and closed impeller designs? i am wondering if there was just some marketing BS and people trying to sell the closed one has a super duper one? according to what i understand, gates make open... subaru makes closed... and there is no real high flow model?

thanks for any input.

Subaru makes both. The closed is a cast impeller. The open is a stamped impeller. New cars have the stamped (I think)

There are some thoughts the cast version cavitates less and might be slightly better for cooling at high RPMs.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4766804

I think reliability and longevity of the water pump is more important than some minute differences in flow numbers. If your engine is running in the correct temperature range, higher flow provides no real benefits.

People make a big deal out of cast impeller vs. stamped impeller because they think the stamped impeller is an inferior design that was done just for cost-cutting reasons. Cast is actually the older design.

I would choose the current OEM part because they seem to last longer and have fewer quality issues than aftermarket.

OEM water pump doesn't seem too bad to me..

@760rpm it moves 5.3 gallons per minute

@3000rpm it moves 26.4 gallons per minute

@6000rpm it moves 52.8 gallons per minute

yea i figured as much... thanks guys...

i am just going to just get the oem one the dealership calls out as the newest if i need it. i am sure it will be fine.

looks like i have a small leak in the area... hoping it is just my thermostat.