are the ej253 worth it?

I cant find anything for my 02 legacy. I found exhaust, I found intake. Thats it. Im looking for cams, valvetrain... something worth getting gains without leaving the 87-89 octane ranfe. Im a little frustrated. Everyone said my 1.7 civic wasnt worth modding until I took aa 98whp car n made 143whp 119ft lbs. I even gained mpgs! I cant imagine why nothing is available for these cars. Id like to see at least 160whp! am I missing something?

Also are these ecu's tunable?

Without spending tons of money on swaps there isn't really anything you can do, all expensive for little gains.

 

Can custom home made intake(box delete) or Cosmo racing makes decent cheap intakes.

 

Exhaust is mainly for sound. UEL header borla or eBay rep. w/ high flow or catless pipe and custom fab shop 2.25/2.5 catback.

 

Bolt ons like manafold spacer, light weight pulleys, and stiffer mounts are all little gains and expensive. An there is cams if you can find rare Cobb spicy cams or do delta grinds for a little more.

 

Ecu isnt tunable. You can do a piggy back but the money spending in wiring, tuning, and dyno the gains aren't worth it plus then you run into ecu delays and stuff

 

Suspension is pretty much your cheapest and best bet for making the car fun get a RSB, links, coils, and some rims and just have a nice DD

 

I pretty much have every mod on mine and there really isnt much differance except turning corners really fast is fun

Ok sounds good. Im fine without huge gains. It already has the torque I was looking for and great daily driver as I drive mostly back roads through s/e pa. Im thinking I will start woth a header and intake setup. Dont want to remove the stock ram inlet though. I just want it to run smoother is all. I believe the manifold is leaking causing a lean/rich condition. Will let the dealer fix it until I get the borla header in. planning on doing piston rings, head gaskets, timing belt, and thermal intake gaskets cone tax return time.

 

For now I want the borla header, perhaps a drop in k&n, and sway bars. What are good swaybar options? I cant find info reguarding my specific model. I can bend my rear sway with one finger though. Seems chincy

As for sways the front is fine unless you like the front peeling out and sliding out on you lol rears there's 20mm 2way, or the really old rare 20mm 3way Whitelines, addco has a 22mm but its fitment is kinda weird. I believe the 21mm cusco for the bh5 fits our cars. An there are rare 22mm rallitek floating around they fit a lot better then the addco's

 

As for endlinks theres a few kartboys are good but a pain to use cause they're solid but doable, our cars really use the ball bearing links but I always hear mixed feelings about whitelines and stuff

That was very helpful^ thanks! still browsing sways. I do agree the front sway does seem sufficient. I would like to maintain slight understeer since I drive with my children mostly. Exhaust will stay quiet as well. Although I did the first oil change today and realized the need for a header. I guess either a previous owner or a shabby mechanic decided that a good way to quiet the heat Shields from rattling was to riddle the manifold with self tappers. Ugh. explains the whistling under load and the catalyst deficiency codes. I tightened the screwsn the light went off temporarily. Its basically squads cheese at this point though. Shame. The car is otherwise perfectly maintained. Even has newish factory filters. Not gonna have the dealer fix it though. I'll just order the borla header.

Yeah the header won't do much on loudness with the stock muffler my buddie had that and it was so quiet you couldn't notice the tone of the header. cause if you look the stock muffler is like a huge boat that's like a size of a tire lol

 

The p0420 you will battle for the rest of your life. Its on a closed loop so it does nothing to performance just emmisions thingy I have catless pipe and mine only goes off when I travil like 40miles on the free way but when I do my 5miles to work it never goes off lol but after header i would work doing a nice little catback to hear the header lol

Yeah the header won't do much on loudness with the stock muffler my buddie had that and it was so quiet you couldn't notice the tone of the header. cause if you look the stock muffler is like a huge boat that's like a size of a tire lol

 

 

If I get a total 10- 15% gains with just intake, header, and small mods im good. Ill probably keep the quiet muffler. May add high flow cats at some point but they will stay.

 

 

The p0420 you will battle for the rest of your life. Its on a closed loop so it does nothing to performance just emmisions thingy I have catless pipe and mine only goes off when I travil like 40miles on the free way but when I do my 5miles to work it never goes off lol but after header i would work doing a nice little catback to hear the header lol

 

 

Why do you say that? The header doesn't replace the cat right? There should be no reason for the code. It merely goes on because the manifold leaking and letting fresh air past the o2 sensors.

I cant find anything for my 02 legacy. I found exhaust, I found intake. Thats it. Im looking for cams, valvetrain... something worth getting gains without leaving the 87-89 octane ranfe. Im a little frustrated. Everyone said my 1.7 civic wasnt worth modding until I took aa 98whp car n made 143whp 119ft lbs. I even gained mpgs! I cant imagine why nothing is available for these cars. Id like to see at least 160whp! am I missing something?

 

 

 

Simple answer is no, you didn't miss anything except that NA H4's aren't/weren't meant to be powerful engines just people movers. You can make power far more easily with a b series engine than you could with a EJ251 or EJ253. It sucks and thats why if you have the slightest desire for moar power in a Subaru by a Turbo EJ

Lol exactly. Thanks gee otto but doing a swap takes months and 5k to 10k+ and might aswell just buy a fully modded sti for that much lol. But having a perfect cheap insurance sleeper is amazing though

Lol exactly. Thanks gee otto but doing a swap takes months and 5k to 10k+ and might aswell just buy a fully modded sti for that much lol. But having a perfect cheap insurance sleeper is amazing though

 

read my mind. My insurance dropped $60 a month. The wrx was a $40 increase plus higher octane

It could be different with other people, maybe there is something wrong with my system. even when I had stock exhaust 2 years ago Ive got the p0420 I've redone everything from new gaskets, rebuilt engine, new sensors, custom spacers, and wrap and I still get the code lol but it doesn't bother me asking as I can trick the emmisions people I'm good lol

 

I think where I live they just test your gas cap and plug in the computer and if you don't have CEL for so many miles your good for 2 more years loo

Lol exactly. Thanks gee otto but doing a swap takes months and 5k to 10k+ and might aswell just buy a fully modded sti for that much lol. But having a perfect cheap insurance sleeper is amazing though

 

So I gave you the simple answer YOu could swap that EJ251 out for a EJ205 for not a terrible amount of money, depends on how much of the work you can do yourself. Ive helped guys swap all the mechanical over (WRX to RS) then have a shop do the wiring. Ive also helped with a full swap that involved the harness as well and had the shop do the tuning.

 

You could boost your EJ251 via a TD04HL using a 5 lb actuator and stay stock. If you can find one, the AVO kit is always a You could find a cheap EJ251 and rebuild it with lower CR internals. Many ways to achieve this goal just need to figure out how bad you want it!

Lol yeah I haven't decided what I wanted to do yet a swap would be a lot better then boosting the 251 but I need to save up and decide what motor to do lol

Lol yeah I haven't decided what I wanted to do yet a swap would be a lot better then boosting the 251 but I need to save up and decide what motor to do lol

 

 

EJ255 ideally but if you can score a EJ22T from a older Legacy that would be most excellent. EJ205s can be had for not that much money as well.

Ej251 Build.

 

Ej251 Shortblock

EJ22 Heads (higher compresion)

Delta 2000 cams

Ej253 Valve springs

Ej253 Intake Manifold

Port Throttle Body

Headers

People say you cant do things to these motors. You can but its not all "bolt on"

Ej251 Build.

 

Ej251 Shortblock

EJ22 Heads (higher compresion)

Delta 2000 cams

Ej253 Valve springs

Ej253 Intake Manifold

Port Throttle Body

Headers

People say you cant do things to these motors. You can but its not all "bolt on"

 

thats the kind of info im looking for! Is there info to back this combo? Id try it. Just need specifics on milling, gasket thickness, etc. im not a noob to building motors...just Subaru motors. Ive rebuilt trannies and beefed up motors internally. Including custom fabbing to make parts fit from other models/ making smoother transitions and exhaust gasket matching etc. mostly Hondas/acuras b18/d17, Chevy 3.1/3.8/3.8sc/&4.3l v6's, chevy /Isuzu turbo 6.5L, ok I dont need to list it all but I tend to pick oddball engines to work with.

 

The thing that makes me smile is the legacy is torquey like a Chevy v6. I miss the the tug midrange from a real engine. when I have a Honda like just wait.....ok....aaaaaaaaand vtec ok here we go. I want throttle response. Im content for now. Just need to figure out thr clunking on/off throttle n the wandering suspension/steering. Ordered a borla header, trying tl decide on suspension parts. keeping an eye out for a wrecked wrx/sti for a parts car.

 

Im going to assume noone read this far into my midnight rambling. If so then sorry I am so scatterbrained. Lymes really taking its toll on my mind.. cars are my release.

Yea..I come from the NA world of Subaru before I got a legacy gt. I still miss my 95 Impreza that I built a nice 2.2 for using all OEM parts to make it faster. Cheap and fun. I too am a V8 kinda guy (AMC to be exact) and there is nothing like a NA engine down low.

 

This build thread is from RS25.com. This guy has one of the best NA builds i know of

http://www.rs25.com/forums/f145/t120446-240hp-n-wagon-big-carbon-wing-rebuilt-dccd.html

 

Anyone can say the swapped in a 2.0 wrx motor. It takes another to say they built a 200hp EJ251.

God wish I would of known that info before my rebuild I would of done it lol but its okay ill just keep what I have as a DD and focus on a newer car lol

What NA H4 is torquey lol?

160+ftlbs is good torque for an n/a 4 cylinder. Like I said its a lot better feel for a dd car. Ive had fast cars..., but im looking for something mild with healthy mid range and throttle response. Dont bash me for liking my car the way it is lol. If I just wanted to go fast I wouldnt have bought a mid size sedan with a 4 banger. ***realizes hes getting old*** my goal is to make improvements on a car im already happy with. Just want to tighten suspension and get smoother acceleration with a little better flow up top.

 

Ill keep record of what I do and post it when im further along

^ +1 that's my sentiments exactly.

It could be different with other people, maybe there is something wrong with my system. even when I had stock exhaust 2 years ago Ive got the p0420 I've redone everything from new gaskets, rebuilt engine, new sensors, custom spacers, and wrap and I still get the code lol but it doesn't bother me asking as I can trick the emmisions people I'm good lol

 

I think where I live they just test your gas cap and plug in the computer and if you don't have CEL for so many miles your good for 2 more years loo

 

It's old school but you can rig up some MIL eliminators and solder them into your o2 signal wires and it'll get rid of that code! I passed inspection doin that. Light is back on but I'm 90% sure its due to a loose header bolt (housing is stripped, taking it to a shop within the week)

160+ftlbs is good torque for an n/a 4 cylinder. Like I said its a lot better feel for a dd car. Ive had fast cars..., but im looking for something mild with healthy mid range and throttle response. Dont bash me for liking my car the way it is lol. If I just wanted to go fast I wouldnt have bought a mid size sedan with a 4 banger. ***realizes hes getting old*** my goal is to make improvements on a car im already happy with. Just want to tighten suspension and get smoother acceleration with a little better flow up top.

 

Ill keep record of what I do and post it when im further along

 

Def didnt intend to make fun of a EJ253 build or anything I guess when the EJ255/7 make good numbers for a H4 one gets skewed to reality hell most I4's barley make over 115 ft/lbs

 

Anyhow a build is a good idea and when deciding what ECU to use the EJ253 has definitions and can be tuned via Tactrix cable and your laptop

Wait so the ECU can be tuned?