After owning three imprezas i decided to be civilised and go for a m3, what a mistake to make which was sold after 6 months of ownership!!

I only do about 2k miles a year and am thinking of getting a Scooby again,

RB320 do these have engine problems being a 2.5ltr?

P1 engine problems especially as they are getting dated!

WR1 no faults known but a tad expensive!

JDM Sti very rare and may take ages to find one!

Do all the 06-07 2.5ltr engines have faults or just the 08-10 ones?

Advice appreciated I need to get back in the saddle!!

Cheers

 

Welcome back, personally i'd avoid a 2.5 unless it's been forged, the thread at the top of this page will tell you all you need to know about the 2.5 engine.

As your only doing 2k a year i'd consider a modded Type r over the P1, that or a JDM STI running 450bhp gets my vote,

You don't mention budget.

 

wrx ppp for me

 

My opinion will be very bias but i vote for an RB320. Fantastic drivers car and as a point to point road car it would be very hard to beat.
They do have the 2.5 engine which it know for head gasket issues caused imo by the weak head bolts and piston ringland fracture if the car is modified for more power. I know of several that have done over 100k without issue but it is always better to get one with a forged re-build, or budget for the work when buying the car. The 2.5 is a fantastic road car engine when fixed. The RB can be easily tuned to 380bhp and 440 ft/lb of torque. If fitted with forged pistons, ARP studs and cosworth stopper gaskets the engine is good for upto 450bhp. So running 380 ish on the standard turbo will give a nice safety margin.

 

Is that the one with the awesome 5 speed box and fantastic subaru oak brakes ??

 

so all you need for 450 bhp is an engine rebuild

jdm sti or uk 2.0 will run this power without any problems.

the 2.5 is sh1te in standard form.

 

and the better suspension, its great unless you want to drive fast

 

WR1...will never under-steer due to DCCD.

 

Thats what i said tubbs. Nothing wrong with the 2L and they make great power on standard internals. If you like to drive around with the revs up or dropping gears to over take its the preferred choice. Personally i like to just pump the gas in any gear with no revs to over take, hence why i think its a great road car engine

 

but you have to pay 3k to rebuild it before its a reliable engine.

 

Most RB320's i know of have already been forged. Many as preemptive rather than they went bang. It's a bit more viable to spend the money on a car with a higher resale value. Spending 3k on a car worth 18k is more of a no brainier than 3k on a car worth 6k.

 

nah you will never convince me the 2.5 engine isnt crap, having to spend 3k on a rebuild is just plain stupid when you can get a 2.0 car with the the same spec and it will be reliable.

 

I hear what you're saying, in fact you have said it so often i'm starting to feel brainwashed But There is no guaranty any car you buy will not need money spending at some time. A 2L will be just as expensive to rebuild as a 2.5 if its knackered. 2.5 is great when re-built. 2L was great when it was young. Many are a bag of nails now and you will have to spend a premium to buy a good one, just like buying a forged 2.5. Apples and oranges really.

 

no guarantee any second hand car will be ok but still better than buying a 2.5 which you are 99% sure will pop and cost 3k at some point.

there are loads of low mileage 2.0 cars about.

 

Usual arguments prevail, its a difficult choice! I have about £15500 but would prefer to buy for around £10000 - £12000, im done with the modding game and would prefer to buy a ltd edition and keep it as standard as possible, I dont drive hard as I like my cars to last with just the odd weekend of fun!!

Im thinking of looking at a spec c or going for a jdm wr which are a bit cheaper!

 

RB320 on standard internals. Completely standard car.


There actually quite reliable if you leave then alone. Start modding and your inviting problems.

 

JDM STI if you're willing to wait

Or the RB320 as chopperman said. Just factor in a forged rebuild and it makes for a very quick road car.

 

lol the 2.5 is NOT reliable at all in standard form do a search of its failures on here.

one managed 100,000 thousands didn't get to 30k.

 

To be honest you can find some awesome forged cars if you want a 2.5. Subaru should have made the engine this way to begin with as when it works it's fantastic and forging makes it as reliable as any engine out there.

Have a look on Hurst Cars they tend to sell minters but when I last looked a couple of low mileage forged UK hawks were going for around £12.5k and a forged hatch low mileage for somewhere around £16k if I'm not mistaken.

However if you want a standard car go for a 2.0 model you are unlucky to have much in the way of problems with one. WR1 a nice car in isolation but only comes in one horrid colour and is not as good as the widetrack STi PPP that came out six months later.

 

only 1

Is there actual data on how many 2.5's were built vs how many went pop, or is it based on scooby nets one thread.?

 

OR....buy a car with a 2.35 forged engine and get a stronger engine with the better torque characteristics without the tendency to crap itself at higher power
You could of course go 2.1 for a cheaper alternative.

 

Locally, I know of one hatch that went pop on the road (but after being mapped - not aggressively mind), and a hawk that died on the dyno.
Subaru actually issued a press statement about them warning people not to "tune" them outside the factory settings as it would be outside safety margins.

 

fair play, I'll have a dig around for that.

so do they pop if not modified then?

 

yup

 

I believe most of those reported here were 2008> hatch models. subaru bought in a map revision to try and address the issue. Head gasket failure was more common on the 2006 cars prompting subaru to revise the head gasket. Its true to say non are immune but its also true to say certain issues were more common within certain years of manufacture.

 

don't forget the oil pickup pipe which also fails on the 2.5 and kills the engine.

another 2.5 failing

 

Fanx

 

And after how many miles should I expect that to fail..... 30K?

 

the 2.5 is a ticking bomb
https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...feel-sick.html

 

One of the RB320 oc members asked the engineer at prodrive who built the cars about the power limits on the engine. He said the 316 bhp 320 ps was within 10% of it limit. So on and after 347bhp your taking a risk. Most RB's i know of that failed were tuned above this (mine included). I know of several standard cars still munching the miles. My honest advice is either keep completely standard or forge.