club.liberty.asn.au

Hi All,

On Friday I will take delivery of a 2009 MY10 Gen 5 Liberty GT Manual. It's an out of warranty/lease stock with 60k wearing all the depreciation that the ugliness of the MY10 attracts (when I am sitting inside it I am not looking at it am I?)...I am looking to get some mods to it, having some good previous experiences modding an MY08 WRX ( still ashamed of buying the worst Rex ever) and an MY09 Forester (the missus loves the dump, tune and many other mods to make it fun!).

Having spent some time investigating with Mercury Motorsport in Brisbane on the MRT TBE and TMIC XB upgrade vs Process West TMICS and VANEX solutions for a reasonable upgrade, as well as googling and reading blogs both here and elsewhere here is a bit of what I have gleamed to date regarding the MY10 GT:

1. The Turbo is a revised VF46 (now called VF54) which is a better low end performer due to its short pipe bottom end fitment, but is hard to upgrade. It's better than a TD04, but does not have the top end of the VF52. However even going to a VF52 stretches the relatively weak pistons in the engine when tuned to the VF52 limits. Hence should stay with VF46, unless upgrading internals to a BNR 18G solution, as the new location of the turbo has not been developed all that well.
2. Standard TMIC is better than MY08 WRX or even MY09 Liberty GT to the point that with the VF46 there is little point in upgrading the TMIC as it is ok up to 230kw ATW, and with standard internals you should not go past 200kw.
3. TBE's now here's a quagmire! The MRT solution is good (it has the split flange recommended for the VF46), but bloody expensive. Varex seems to be the go though given noise flexibility vs performance gains. Still unsure here.
4. Tuning does not appear to be extensively documented other than the facts that with tune bottom & mid range are vastly improved but top end tapers off similar to an MY08 WRX (although at higher levels) with top of 186kw ATW. TBE and std turbo and internals peak at around 200kw atw max. hence looks like turbo just can't breathe at the top end.
5. Little to be found on impact of Whiteline sways and ALK, at least the DB4000's fit under wheel arches unlike in the WRX and Forester!
6. Short shifter only improves performance by 10% which is way less than previous models.
7. At the end of the day a tune maintaining stock internals will create a great GT cruiser (little power difference between 4000rpm and 6500rpm - hence low end grunt without top end rush), but it will never be a rocket ship without major internal mods.
8. No news (good or bad) ref. the 5+1 manual gearbox.
9. STD tyres are 225 width 18s, Can I get some wider tyres on std wheels? Can I get wider wheels put on with wider tyres? I know the drivetrain can handle 245 width, but just need to know how.

Please feel free to confirm or disagree with on any or all of the above with your experiences or expertise to assist me with distributing the $5k on various mods that The One Who Makes The Decisions is allowing me to spend on the car. At the moment, I am thinking the Vanex and Tune, skip the TMIC, Sways & bushes, ALK, flexible strut bar, skip the short shifter, upgrade brakes when due for swap (another 20k), upgrade tyres (and wheels if required), braided brake lines and maybe an AOS.

Looking forward for your feedback!

Coil overs are a must!

Well not really, but I just fitted them to mine, and it is really good now.

Also, fluffy dice.

Sounds like you have a good start on the research.

I can't add any input on the gen5 but will add the second somewhat useless post to this thread by saying your username is winning.

Contact Garage 88 for some Jap made goods.
From the gear I've seen them fit to a few Gen 5's are really well made and provided good gains once tuned.
If your Sydney based pay them a visit.

Get whatever G88 tells you to get, then bring it to me.




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SegR wrote:Sounds like you have a good start on the research.

I can't add any input on the gen5 but will add the second somewhat useless post to this thread by saying your username is winning.

I take it you are referring to my post - how are coilovers a useless suggestion?

Dump pipe & tune

Seems like what most the guys on here are getting thats the best bang for your buck.

Gen5is wrote:Dump pipe & tune

Seems like what most the guys on here are getting thats the best bang for your buck.

+1 to what Eric said

If I had another Gen5 GT to mod, the sequencing I'd follow is: (to get maximum smiles/grins each time)

-1) Make sure I get a wagon..... they are just sexier and more practical
1) dump pipe, followed by tune. while getting dump pipe installed, I'd get the front and rear swaybars installed
2) if you can do as same time as (1), to upgrade LCA bushes and gets springs/coilovers
3) cosmetics - each to their own taste
4) brake upgrade - lines, good pads, rotors, and if budget permits, upgrade to BBK
5) exhaust

Ive got a Xforce Varex TBE and has been tuned by Matt from Kido, its loud when you want it and quiet when you need it.Best bang for your buck!

VF54 does not require the splitter, the twinscroll system flows quite well on WG vent

Manual will make 220kw with a TBE + Tune, they make nearly 200Kw with just a tune in stock form but as stated, the low rpm torque delivery comes on a LOT earlier. These ECU's also have per gear boost control available, close to full boost in 1st gear, full boost by 2nd gear while reducing boost spikes in 5th/6th gear etc

I picked up the car on Yesterday - Awesome!

Thank you all for your feedback. I have made some notes and will keep asking more questions!

I have purchased all the whiteline gear (got a 30% discount off list price so decided to pre-purchase), in readiness for the tune. Still not decided if I am going to do TBE with Varex, or just Dump, or just tune. Two points I have noted in relation to MY09 Forester XT:

1. In terms of gear spacing there is a bigger gap between 2nd and 3rd in stock form. Doing 40 in a 40 zone has 2nd spinning too high, and 3rd slightly starting to labour. I think the tune will fix that.
2. Jumping out of a tuned MY09 Forester with dump and tune pumping out 140kw ATW (they both weigh within 25kg's of each other), you can certainly feel the the additional top end power of the stock MY10 GT, but low end and mid-range punch is way better in the Fozza. I am really hoping the tune fixes this - and given dyno print outs it I have seen, it looks like it might!

Any other comments?

Wait till you have a TBE and tune, its a different car

lump_a_charcoal wrote:

SegR wrote:Sounds like you have a good start on the research.

I can't add any input on the gen5 but will add the second somewhat useless post to this thread by saying your username is winning.

I take it you are referring to my post - how are coilovers a useless suggestion?

Sorry, didn't mean to sound offensive - just your short response of 'you must do this... no not really' paled in comparison to the detail of the first post!

No offence taken, but I would hate the OP to overlook coilovers based on your post.

For $1200, they have transformed my boatish wagon into something that looks as great as it drives (in my opinion).

There is barely any body roll now, and I (personally) would not consider doing any power mods until the suspension is somewhat sorted.

Anyway, continue with this great thread.

lump_a_charcoal wrote:Coil overs are a must!

Well not really, but I just fitted them to mine, and it is really good now.

Also, fluffy dice.

To Coil Over or not to Coil Over - that is the question!

This was part of the decision of 'do I spend $30-35k on a MY08 STi or on a MY10 GT'. I thought about what I wanted the car for, and given the amount of highway and family driving the car does and decided that the creature comforts, space and longer 6th gear meant more than outright power and 'on rail-tracks' awesome handling (with compromised bucket seats) of the STi.

Hence in the theme of why I bought the GT and in the GT moniker in general, I don't think I will do the coil overs unless the bilsteins conk out for a reason or I am convinced otherwise!

Plus after the boatiness of the Fozza and the std MY08 WRX - in comparison, this has a great ride/handling compromise anyway!

I would love some feedback from existing 5th Gen owners, and not just that you 'love' a mod, but what changes it made to the car both the changes you wanted (ie the improvement) and any changes that are not important to you (ie the compromise if any).