Looking to get a Subaru Legacy Turbo...educate me.

[Gripenfelter]

I'm looking for a winter beater.

Saw a 1992 Subaru Legacy with a 2.2L Turbo.

How is this car?

Do they come in manual?

Reliable?

Fuel economy?

Potential mods?

[Sean7]

I've heard good things about these cars, dont really know much about them other than that fueleconomy.gov says the manual gets 19 miles per gallon in the city and 25 highway.

[Gripenfelter]

If I were to upgrade the turbo, would the internals be able to handle it?

Where could I get a crate motor?

[googe]

Originally posted by Gripenfelter
If I were to upgrade the turbo, would the internals be able to handle it?

Where could I get a crate motor?

Very unlikely, Subarus over here have glass trannies. They only put the good stuff in the STi.

[hjr]

The legacy GT. 2.2 Turbo AWD

the best upgrade on that motor is the older wrx motor. But the car has pleanty of power as it is. They do come in standard (5 speed) and are neat cars. basically the same wieght and distribution as the new wrx, but heavier than the older impreza (2.5 rs). I understand they are quite strong cars, very safe and reliable.

[hjr]

Horsepower 160 @ 5600 rpm

Torque 181 @ 2800 rpm

Curb weight (manual) 3140

Fuel economy (manual) 19/25 (City/Highway)

[hjr]

1997 WRX STi v4 EJ20 2.0L Turbo engine - 280 hp.
1994 WRX STi v2 EJ20 - 260 hp.
Ya, you may want to get a wrx tranny too. Im not sure how it all matches up IN the legacy though. But if its just a winter beater, then you really dont need much power....

[Gripenfelter]

Ok thanx.

How do they respond to bolt ons?

Is there a big difference in acceleration between the auto and manual?

[Gripenfelter]

I'll be happy if I can get it to do 0-60 in the low 7 sec range.

[sml]

Originally posted by Gripenfelter
I'll be happy if I can get it to do 0-60 in the low 7 sec range.

Good luck if it's stock! :rofl:

[T5_X]

I was looking into these at first. They were the platform for the original wrx i believe. I don't know how much the engine can handle on stock internals though, I should expect they are certainly strong enough to handle upgrades to get you into the low 7 second 0-60 range. Reliability is extremely strong for drivetrain, though I've heard EVERY one of them has a leaky sunroof (all of them came with sunroofs) and there are just crappy little annoying problems. You might have a bit of a hard time finding 5 speeds, as most are autos. Oh yah, and they came in wagon form too :)
Weren't you the one asking about older volvo 850 turbos though as a project? I can give you lots of advise on turbo volvos if so. T5 handles near 300 HP on stock internals :D chip, exhaust :thumbsup:

[Loose]

My parents have one. 92 Auto.

I love the car. The motor is has good torque, the car handles pretty good, and it has wicked brakes. I don't think you can do much for mods on them, they don't even have an intercooler stock. Not sure about that though.

They've had their's for 225,000 km. It's been quite reliable. They just put in their second set of shocks, it's had a couple leaks (both valve covers), and they once had to replace something expensive.. I forget what, but it was a $1k job. Overall reliability has been great, except the car warps brakes real quick. That's been their only gripe.

I took it to the track when I was young.. ran a 16.7, forget the MPH.

[Gripenfelter]

Cool thanx.

Yeah I was asking about a Volvo before but I just bought a house so my financial situation has changed. :)

[T5_X]

You know most 80s and early 90s volvos (the rear drive ones) came with turbo options too. Wonderful engines, rock solid cars and cheap now too. Plus if you get bored, a 383 will slip right in to any one of them ;)

[Fuji]

Originally posted by T5_X
I was looking into these at first. They were the platform for the original wrx i believe. I don't know how much the engine can handle on stock internals though, I should expect they are certainly strong enough to handle upgrades to get you into the low 7 second 0-60 range. Reliability is extremely strong for drivetrain, though I've heard EVERY one of them has a leaky sunroof (all of them came with sunroofs) and there are just crappy little annoying problems. You might have a bit of a hard time finding 5 speeds, as most are autos. Oh yah, and they came in wagon form too :)
Weren't you the one asking about older volvo 850 turbos though as a project? I can give you lots of advise on turbo volvos if so. T5 handles near 300 HP on stock internals :D chip, exhaust :thumbsup:

tranny is your weakest link. also on older AWD cars bigtime maintenance bills come into play.

[T5_X]

Originally posted by Fuji


tranny is your weakest link. also on older AWD cars bigtime maintenance bills come into play.

I thought that was only on the auto cars?

[Gripenfelter]

How fast will those 80s volvos go with minor bolt ons?

Any crate motor out there for them?

My other option was finding a bagged 240SX and dropping an SR20DET into it.

[T5_X]

It depends, the quickest will be an early 80s 242GT with a late model b230ft engine. With bolt ons, expect up to 220 hp, in a 2 door well under 3000 lbs with large 4 whl disks and 4 piston calipers. Oh yah, neutral steering bias :D

I've heard the late model B230ft engines and B23fts (k-jet) will handle up to 400 hp on stock internals. Any turbo engine in this family will handle 250 hp though easily. Weak link is the M46 tranny, but a t5 can be adapted.

[2000impreza]

Originally posted by T5_X


I thought that was only on the auto cars?

not really. depends on condition of the tranny. goes for both auto and 5-speed.

anyways. the ej22t engine has a lot of potential. closed deck with stronger rods/pistons and oil squirters. with the right mods this engine can put down a lot of power.