by maj » Wed Jul 14, 2010 3:23 pm
Judging on the amount of 300,000km+ WRX and STi's out there that still pull hard, shows you can get longetivty out of the EJ20 with regular maintenance, as well as preventative maintenance, Subaru are generally good at keeping the engine running well (mine pulls hard still with just over 175,000kms under its belt, mostly highway kms). If you want to be sure, take the car to a boxer engine specialist.
Personally I plan on keeping mine for a very long time (it'll turn into the future "family car" when I buy something else), USDM legacies report ~150,000 miles out of the stock turbo so this is something to keep an eye on; make sure you let the engine warm properly before boosting and give sufficient idle time after spirited driving to cool down the turbo and it will last a long time. I intend on doing an engine rebuilt sometime after 250,000kms, more to restore performance than accommodate mods, although you can't rule out turbo + TMIC upgrade when the stock turbine finally goes.
Get yourself a Tactrix (or similar) cable and monitor the car every so often using software like RomRaider, best way to really know the engine responds to your driving.