Worth it to boost n/a 2.5i?

I barely see any legacy gt wagons for sale, and a lot of the ones that are, have issues with blown turbos, cylinder misfires, etc. Turbo/supercharger design has come a long way since these were originally made. I can pick up a n/a wagon for a lot cheaper than a turbo wagon, but I'm wondering if it's worth it?

Short answer NO.

 

There are a couple of build threads around you can look up. After all the time and money you MIGHT be as quick as a stock LGT.

If you asked if a 50 shot is worth it, the answer woulda been yes

Definitely not worth it unless you'd be able to source parts and install yourself, and have a good source for tuning when done.

 

If you can find a LGT wagon with a busted motor there are simpler means to get it going and make it reliable. But if searching for a good lower mileage one that's running, I'd say you need some luck and some cash.

 

Search everywhere. There are a couple around me I've seen on FB marketplace

No. It was never worth it.

Here is a little more info, because I know just hearing "no dont do it, its worse" usually would never convince me without facts to back it up.

-The NA EJ253 in the legacy is an open deck block, where as the EJ255 in the GT model is significantly stronger because it is a semi-closed deck block.

-The 2.5 in the GT has much stronger connecting rods over the NA counterpart

-You get DOHC cams on the GT vs single cams on the NA

-If your goal is boost, the NA has higher compression pistons. This does not lend itself well to turbo or supercharged applications, at least when it comes to gasoline. It will make the motor super knock prone and their for will make less power than a lower compression piston. If you use more knock resistant fuels like e85 this can solve this problem, but if you are planning on E85, you have ALL of the previous reasons listed to not even consider using the NA 2.5

-The parts you would needs to swap from a turbo motor to this motor to make the setup work would negate the money you would save just buying the turbo car. If you plan to fabricate these yourself, then disregard this bullet point.

-ECU tuning support is SIGNIFICANTLY better on the turbo models (2002 and up turbo model cars are supported on ecuflash out of the box, NA really isnt supported until after 2007 and even then, its not nearly as feature rich). You might as well factor in an after market ecu to support boosting the motor which can easily cost over 1,000 dollars by itself.

 

I hope this info was helpful.

No.

This gets asked repeatedly. Should be a sticky perhaps at this point?

Pretty much no. Keep looking you can still find decent GT wagons out there. Buy one that’s in decent shape aesthetically, and if it’s got problems with the motor and/or turbo them you can negotiate for a low price and budget for a new shortblock, (get the heads rebuilt), and a new turbo

Check the for sale forum here, there's a 2005 with 114,000 miles for $5000 in NJ. It has a JDM engine.

 

These or not like a Honda Civic from the old day's.

Here is Missouri and the surrounding area, there are so many LGTs and LGT wagons for sale. If it has a problem and your willing to save for a nice rebuild, or fix the issues then it's worth it. I knew straight up that the 06 LGT LTD I bought had a motor problem and it was in great shape and still ran strong. Smokes but no check engine lights till this day. I have a big amount saved so far. I want a several thousand more to cover the STI short block and JMP VF52 turbo, and then send it off to the shop and tuner.

 

I am doing it all cash, and not cutting corners. People just have to know they will need to spend money on these cars if they want to play the boosted subie game. I am not new to this subie life and problems. I still love them.

 

having a nice daily also helps to

Check the for sale forum here, there's a 2005 with 114,000 miles for $5000 in NJ. It has a JDM engine.

 

These or not like a Honda Civic from the old day's.

 

 

The one for sale is for 5400 with a bunch of problems though. Just reinforcing my point that the only ones I'm seeing for sale have issues

Thanks for the responses yall. I will keep looking around or just get a different car if I cant find one!

The 2.5i aren't that much cheaper than a GT. For reliable 4th Gen GT, I would pickup a clean one with blown motor. OBXT's are also much more common, do not command the same premium as the 1 year only 5MT Legacy Wagon.

Lgts up here are less than 4000 CAD

 

 

I dont think it's worth to boost a 2.5i

The 2.5i aren't that much cheaper than a GT. For reliable 4th Gen GT, I would pickup a clean one with blown motor. OBXT's are also much more common, do not command the same premium as the 1 year only 5MT Legacy Wagon.

 

 

Isn't the gearing different on the OBXT making it slower?

gear ratio's.

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/transmission-gear-ratios-and-final-drives-229267.html

The Outback XT has numerically higher, shorter gearing to offset the taller stock tires. If using the same sized tires, the Outback will feel faster due the gear advantage, though it probably isn't. If your chasing every last hundredth of a second in a quarter mile race, the LGT Wagon gearing maybe faster. The sedan is probably faster, because I believe it is lighter anyways.

If you're really worried about speed and reliability then I don't think these are the vehicles for you. I can't imagine there is a huge difference in lgt wagons vs obxt but you can get an obxt with an aux port and steering wheel controls and telescoping steering wheel (I have short arms for my height). Oh and you can find them. I insisted on a manual and a wagon. Way easier and cheaper to find an unmodified obxt and lower it assuming you're planning to mod it anyway and want a manual and a wagon.

 

That said the one I bought had a really good record of care and was super clean and well loved by the current owner who had two cars as it was for just one person. He gave me 30k miles worth of service records and there were no notable issues I could tell. Still blew the engine 1k miles later.

 

 

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And speed is also relative. The first time I put my foot down on the obxt I nearly crapped my pants. I also decided to play around with a challenger on the highway as we raced from 80-120. He nosed me out some but not what I would have expected.

 

If you're looking for a race car then a cheap one with issues shouldn't be a problem. If you're looking for a reliable daily driver, sit on your hands until a forum member gets rid of one that's been heavily gone through. If you're looking for a fast car, well there are a lot of fast cars around.

 

 

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I guess it depends on what your used to but I was underwhelmed by both the stock 2009 OBXT 5MT and the 2012 Legacy GT I test drove. I assumed the OBXT was on 'I' setting of year, but when I test drove the 2012 GT years later, I think that is just how they are in stock form. Adding a Cobb AP woke my GT up.

Oh it's certainly what you're used to. There are a handful of cars out there faster than the lgt in the same era but it seems most are high end luxury cars or sports cars. I think, when these cars were new it was one thing, but I imagine nowadays at 10k more people are coming from cheap cars not things with big v6 in them. Could be wrong though.

 

 

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the biggest thing with subarus are their platforms and their potential.... awd 4cyl turbo, capable of 275-300awhp on stock engine/turbo for that kind of money. Its a true sleeper.. lots of bang for the buck. Not many cars you can get right now for 5k or whatever price it was when it was new with that kind of potential.

I have a random question? How much would it cost to overhaul the OBXT suspension to make it look/handle at least as well as a LGT wagon?

My understanding is that the biggest failure of the obxt suspension is the rear sway bar. Swap that out with a bigger one is the best bang for the buck and should get you close to the stock handling of an lgt wagon as I believe all wagons have problems with the rear struts.

 

As far as the more subtle differences, well those are hairs I'm not in tune enough to split. And there are a number of threads about lowering, and I believe you can swap in stock lgt stuff without issue. So you'd just need some kyb struts and springs. But I can't be sure on that.

 

New rear sway bar is about $250. There is a set of lightly used koni yellows for $500 in the classifieds. You'd need another set of springs. Idk what other modifications you'd need but thats maybe 1k. There's some jdm sti stuff for 1300 used. But we aren't considering bushings anywhere but am lgt would need those too.

 

 

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