club.liberty.asn.au

Hi all,

What started out for me as a downgrade from my 2012 STI hatch is now becoming something more that I didn't expect or plan. Ive always had a soft spot for the Liberty especially the wagons since my very first Subaru an RS wags back in the day. When i found an 08 GT Liberty wagon, tuned by STI version with the 6MT and only 110,000ks I thought it would be perfect. 2 months after owning it I sent it in for its major service only to find out it had a blown head gasket. ...Id been stitched up

SO what initially was just going to be a family car that my wife will mainly drive is now turning into a bit of a build I've been dreaming about doing for many years. The goal is to have a standard looking car, with serious power when needed and reliable drivability as a daily family car. So instead of just doing the heads and making do, I've lost my mind a little and blown my budget out completely.

I will update this thread periodically as it progresses and include photos when I can. But I will make a start.

AJ RS - Sleeper Build.

Vehicle: 2008 Subaru GT Liberty wagon. Spec B. Tuned by STI
Engine: 2.5l Turbo (ej255 tossed at 112,000ks)
Trans: 6MT
Colour: Obsidian Black Pearl

Performance Mods

EJ257 STI short block
EJ255 GT heads reconditioned, decked and lapped
ARP head studs
HD headgaskets
Blouch GT 440XT Turbo (failure at 3500ks only) Now running Precision built TD05-20G 8cm heaps better!
AVO 3" Dump pipe
AVO up pipe
Custom 3" mid section twin sports mufflers.
Mishimoto TMIC
AVO Catch Can
Silicone intake
Grimmspeed 3 port (Removed and running waste gate pressure, new 3 port on order)
Excedy HD Clutch
DW 65c fuel pump
Turbosmart FPR 1200
Stock injectors scaled up to 660cc (Now ID1000cc)
Air Pump delete, air pressure sensor retained
Air Box resonator delete

Other Hardware
Autometer Boost Gauge
DBA4000 T3 slotted rotors front only
Brembo pads (for daily duties)
Bridgestone RE003 tyres
STI pink springs (standard)
Bilstein shock (standard)
Enkei alloy wheels 18x7.5 (standard)



Tune
I have had a road tune with Matt but only to check things were safe during the run in. Was first dynotuned on 31st August by Matt in Coffs Harbour. Achieved 227KW and over 900Nm of torque at 18.5psi. Will post chart when it turns up, MM still has this.
UPDATE: Road tuned with MM (May 26 2016) and it is completely done for now. It is producing more power now since the dyno with this turbo and I have eliminated the boost creep we experienced with the Blouch unit. The 8cm hot side on the current setup seems to be working well with the 2.5l. A max boost for now of only 19psi and plenty of fuel up top and it's just keeps going. Absolutely stoked with the new 20G.

Hey AJ

Congrats on the purchase, they are great cars

I hear you about the engine dramas mate, I had similar happen to me not long after buying mine

Sounds like you are well on track to the 200atwkw club, keen to see your progress

Thanks! Looking forward to getting it back.

Subscribed. Sleeper cars are the best!

Nice work!
so many people with 200 atw now, I think I need to do some more mods

Terrible uck but great excuse

Nice work. You will def be over 200 atw I'd estimate on the Mainline 220-230

Way to turn a negative into a positive. Fingers crossed its a trouble free build and you have a smile at the end of it. Good luck

what did the sti mufflers restrict at? like 230 odd?
Get rid of them, add some id1000 and youd be able to make a fair bit more i reckon!

GONEWALKABOUT wrote:what did the sti mufflers restrict at? like 230 odd?
Get rid of them, add some id1000 and youd be able to make a fair bit more i reckon!

I'll get it to the target of over 200 for now and once I get a few ks on the new engine, and recover from the costs I'm having to pay now, then I'll do the injectors, rear pipes and possibly E85 map on the sports# mode. But that's easily 12 months or more away. Got a little one on the way so I'm lucky enough to get this done.

Engine being assembled tomorrow and all parts arriving also. Blouch 440XT included. BUT!

I emailed MSR and noted the list of things the vehicle will have and the reply was not the greatest of news. I am being told that the engine will need forged pistons to run this turbo. I understand this would be the case if I wanted to run 24psi boost but I don't.
Also that the exhaust won't work so I may have to loose the STI cans on the back. No biggie. And the Grimmspeed 3 port is no good either..

So, I have some major decisions to make before tomorrow. Im leaning to sticking with the original plan and doing forged pistons when and if they fail in the new STI bottom end. Im confident they will survive a few years on a conservative tune between 200.220kw..

Exhaust, non issue as that can be addressed. As is the 3 port.

i thought the sti block came with a semi forged piston but i may be getting mixed up. I would trust MSR, but you can run the turbo, just at lower boost at less efficiency etc but probably not a much above 20psi. Pretty sure a while ago a bloke was selling his tbsti 07/08 with 440xt with 230 atw stock block

Yeah from my knowledge the STI short block assembly pistons are a semi forged. However I mentioned this to MSR and he told me they were CAST and he would not tune my car unless I went forged with this turbo set up. Which is a shame.
I could of gone forged for another $1500 but I'm already deep over budget and I will not be forced to spend that kind of money to satisfy one particular tuner. Like I said, I'm not looking to set the world on fire with this car, just a conservative tune for now.
In saying that I totally respect MSR's decision.

All good but, Ill just have to cruise a little further down the road to find a tuner who will listen to me. Cheers.

AJ RS wrote:Yeah from my knowledge the STI short block assembly pistons are a semi forged. However I mentioned this to MSR and he told me they were CAST and he would not tune my car unless I went forged with this turbo set up. Which is a shame.
I could of gone forged for another $1500 but I'm already deep over budget and I will not be forced to spend that kind of money to satisfy one particular tuner. Like I said, I'm not looking to set the world on fire with this car, just a conservative tune for now.
In saying that I totally respect MSR's decision.

All good but, Ill just have to cruise a little further down the road to find a tuner who will listen to me. Cheers.

The EJ257 sti block has cast pistons not forged, but as far as I know they are alright up to about 220awkw on a good tune. They are the weakest link in the stock block though and forged is a good idea if going big turbo to support more power.

So you are just going to go with another tuner/shop to do the build?

AJ RS wrote:Yeah from my knowledge the STI short block assembly pistons are a semi forged. However I mentioned this to MSR and he told me they were CAST and he would not tune my car unless I went forged with this turbo set up. Which is a shame.
I could of gone forged for another $1500 but I'm already deep over budget and I will not be forced to spend that kind of money to satisfy one particular tuner. Like I said, I'm not looking to set the world on fire with this car, just a conservative tune for now.
In saying that I totally respect MSR's decision.

All good but, Ill just have to cruise a little further down the road to find a tuner who will listen to me. Cheers.

And while i respect your choice, if i could offer my 1 cent.. for a build where forged pistons would only cost $1500 more, hardly anything in the scheme of things. i would definitely choose this option if it was me, but its not. I suggest though if you cant afford to fork out $1500 for the forged pistons and you strongly do not want to, why bother forking out for the 440xt when it sounds like you wont attempt to use its potential in the foreseeable future.

I would either spend the 1500 extra now with the 440xt or if this is a budget build... Dont spend the 1500 and dont buy the 440xt.