Hello
I joined the Club Liberty Forum back in 2015 when I was hunting for a suitable Liberty GT Wagon. As scarcity and desperation took hold I ended up getting an SH Forester, lurking here and mainly posting on Ozfoz. With Ozfoz now up in smoke and bigBADbenny's encouragement I'm setting up a build thread here.
I bought this car mid 2015 for a great price with nearly 200,000km on the clock but an engine only 60,000km old (replaced by Subaru under dodgy-bearing warranty for the previous owner).
Intentions were/are to boost the performance but keep it subtle/practical.
(photo taken pre-lowering at a WRX Club of Qld dirt day)
Details
2008 SH9 XT Premium - Maroon
4EAT (Auto)
Black Leather
Mods List
Brakes
Gen V Liberty GT front brakes
Gen V Liberty GT [or Toyota 86 GTS] rear brakes (incl vented rotors)
CUSCO Brake Cylinder Brace stopper (painted black)
Suspension
WHITELINE Adj Rear Swaybar 22mm (middle setting)
Superpro 24mm front swaybar (soft setting)
Pedder Sportsryder lowered springs with KYB dampers
Superpro alloy front lower control arms (more caster)
Replacement of various bushes, slices of pineapple, etc. with Superpro polyurethane items
Engine
New OEM EJ257 bottom-end (Nov 2022)
ARP 2000 head studs (Nov 2022)
Reconditioned & mildly ported heads (Nov 2022)
K-type temp probes in stock intercooler
GRIMMSPEED 3 Port boost controller
PERRIN Silicone Inlet Pipe
Throttle body coolant bypass (though custom temp sensor enclosure)
ported throttle body
Oiling
11mm oil pump (Nov 2022)
Killer B oil pickup (Nov 2022)
Killer B windage tray (Nov 2022)
Penrite "Ten Tenths" 10W40 oil
FB25 oil filter (longer - more filtration media)
Fumoto oil drain tap
Fuel Delivery
Full-time E85
Walbro 255 fuel pump
Xspurt 1000cc injectors
E85-friendly rubber fuel lines
Turbo
VF46 (ported on inlet and far side of wastegate exit for efficiency)
VF52 (Nov 2022)
Studs to replace OEM turbo-to-intercooler bolts
Perrin turbo blanket
Exhaust
port-matched OEM manifolds & up-pipe (Nov 2022)
XForce dump pipe with catalytic converter
Perrin dump pipe blanket
AEM wideband sensor (for gauge only)
Custom mild steel mid pipe (2x louvered 2.5" resonators) and 2x 2.5" mild steel tri-flow mufflers with stainless tips (quiet exhaust with subtle boxer rumble).
Engine Bay
solid/forged battery terminals (bad experiences with "thin strap" style coming loose)
Kobe Motorsports silicone throttle body hose
Kobe Motorsports silicone radiator hoses
"power bulge" engine cover lift to fit inlet pipe
57mm secondary feed (cold air intake) to stock airbox
Lip-removal on OEM over-the-radiator snorkel rest
internal ribs removal from clean side of stock airbox
Kobe Motorsport Silicone MAF pipe (trimmed to fit between standard airbox and Perrin turbo pipe)
two catch cans in series on cam cover breather circuit - Golbys catch can under airbox then Kap Industries catch can next to radiator
catch can - Mishimoto "compact XL" on passenger side strut tower for crank case vent circuit. Internally modified.
Koyorad radiator (all alloy, 2 rows, 35mm core thickness)
Driveline
Engine mounts - Hardrace "hardened - street use" (Jan 2023)
Rebuilt 4-speed auto gearbox
new factory gearbox mount (Jan 2023)
Whiteline pitch-stop mount (March 2023)
Fluid-to-air ATF cooler (radiator bypassed)
rebuilt starter motor (Nov 2022)
Poly diff mount support outrigger bushing - Whiteline KDT905 (April 2024)
Poly inserts for diff "mount in cradle" bushing Whiteline KDT903 (April 2024)
Exterior
LED reversing lights
LED front parking lights
Reversing camera
Bridgestone RE003 tyres
UHF antenna
OEM window shades
OEM bonnet protector (yes they are fine with a bonnet scoop & intercooler)
Rallyarmor mudflaps
Interior
Autometer mechanical boost gauge
AEM AFR gauge
AEM oil pressure gauge
SPA Design dual digital temp gauge (reading oil and water temps)
UHF radio
Air temp gauge - pre & post intercooler
Parrot Android Smart headunit with Torque App
Bluetooth OBD port sender
Fire Extinguisher with Kap Industries bracket (passenger side)
Tune
Full-time E85
Approx 180kw at the wheels by Coyote Tuning with VF46 turbo
Touch-up tune by Matt/Kido (incl gearbox pressure mod)
Ignore the torque dip - this tune was pre gearbox rebuild and it was slipping.
---
January 2023 "VF52 and new engine" E85 tune:
214.6 kilowatts (288hp) on the 16psi "high boost" tune.
186.1kw (250hp) on the 13psi "low boost" tune.
Printed air-fuel ratios are not representative. See notes in post on page 7.