Introducing myself and my MY14 Liberty GT

Introduce yourself

Introducing myself and my MY14 Liberty GT

Postby helloitsjason » Sat Jul 23, 2022 7:09 pm

Hi all,
After lurking on here for the better part of 5 months I thought I'd finally make a post.

Name: Jason or Jaz
Car: 2014 Liberty 2.5GT
Location: Canberra & Sydney

car3.jpg
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This is my 2014 Subaru Liberty GT Premium (manual transmission), I bought the car about 8 months ago after my hand-me-down shitbox died on me. The Liberty is my first Subaru and I learned to drive manual in it (undoubtedly doing some damage to the clutch in the process :cry: ).

I am the 2nd owner and I bought it completely stock except for the optional factory rear spoiler and exhaust shroud. I'm looking at putting on a front lip and some new wheels but being a complete newbie at modifying cars (and a broke uni student) means I'll probably stick to cosmetic changes for the most part. Although I'm planning on fitting an Invidia Q300 catback sometime in the near future.

There's a couple of glaring things to fix first like restoring the headlights and getting rid of the chrome trims on the door. If anyone has suggestions on what changes I could make to the car that would be appreciated.

I'm looking forward to sharing the evolution this car with you all.


More photos:

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Re: Introducing myself and my MY14 Liberty GT

Postby Yowie » Sat Jul 23, 2022 7:46 pm

Welcome.

Nice car - much better than my Datsun/s from Uni days. Good work keeping goals in line with budget/reality. There is plenty of fun to be had with bite-sized DIY type projects.

When you get around to performance work, the two best value modifications in my experience are a bellmouth-type dump pipe off the turbo and a tune.
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Re: Introducing myself and my MY14 Liberty GT

Postby nay » Sun Jul 24, 2022 4:36 pm

Welcome!

We have the same vehicle and almost same plates!!

Would agree with Yowie. Lots of performance gain with a downpipe/dump-pipe and a good tune, if you plan to go down that path.

Aftermarket cosmetics for the Gen 5 Lib are somewhat scarce and very expensive, but wheels and a front lip would be a good combo!

Also I love the rear exhaust shroud, wish I had that on mine :D
[MY14 Liberty GT 6MT]: Tuned by MSR Engineering | Invidia Q300 TBE | Whiteline F + R Sway Bar Kit | Exedy HD Clutch | HKS Super SQV4 | Silvers Neomax S
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Re: Introducing myself and my MY14 Liberty GT

Postby helloitsjason » Sun Jul 24, 2022 9:41 pm

Yowie wrote:the two best value modifications in my experience are a bellmouth-type dump pipe off the turbo and a tune.

Thanks! If I do decide to go with a downpipe mod should I hold off on the catback exhaust I'm planning to put in and do a full turboback instead?

I read somewhere that having a splitter between the wastegate and turbo exhaust outlet on the downpipe (see attached image) can improve throttle response do you have any experience with this?

downpipe.png
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Also I'd like to keep the car fairly quiet as it is my daily and I do a decent amount of highway driving, would installing a different down pipe affect that?
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Re: Introducing myself and my MY14 Liberty GT

Postby helloitsjason » Sun Jul 24, 2022 10:05 pm

Hi Nay,

I've seen you on the forums quite often and I've been looking at your car for some inspiration. I didn't notice the plates until you pointed it out :lol:

How loud is your car with the Q300 exhaust? I'm looking at getting the catback ones but want to keep the noise fairly low, would you say these are good for getting a slightly more aggressive exhaust note? Also are the tips of the exhaust removable? I noticed it sticks out past the bumper on your car. I'd like to keep the exhaust shroud and I'm worried about the clearance.
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Re: Introducing myself and my MY14 Liberty GT

Postby Yowie » Mon Jul 25, 2022 10:34 pm

Thanks! If I do decide to go with a downpipe mod should I hold off on the catback exhaust I'm planning to put in and do a full turboback instead?

I read somewhere that having a splitter between the wastegate and turbo exhaust outlet on the downpipe (see attached image) can improve throttle response do you have any experience with this?

Also I'd like to keep the car fairly quiet as it is my daily and I do a decent amount of highway driving, would installing a different down pipe affect that?


Great questions.

One person's "too loud" is another person's "too quiet" so this is a tricky area.


Based on evidence and trusted opinion I've come across, the critical area is just after the turbo. The tightness or openness of the exhaust further downstream has a much smaller effect on performance (but quite an effect on noise).

As such, one option for you would be to get a bellmouth dump pipe & high flow cat upstream section, then connect it with a smooth transition to the stock rear section.

If noise and budget are less of an issue, go for the full aftermarket exhaust system from a brand you trust (or have researched) to be the noise/look/quality/price you like.

Personally (on my SH Forester XT) I run an Xforce bellmouth dump pipe (no splitter) & high flow cat upstream section, then a custom mild steel mid and rear section with two resonators in line then twin "tri flow" mufflers. It's quiet by aftermarket Subaru standards but sporty by "normal car" standards. It's not a solution for everyone. Occasionally I wish I hadn't sold-off the X-Force rear section.


“Whatever happened to the Popular Front, Reg?” “He's over there"

SPLITTER!

The splitter option (or indeed the "divorced wastegate pipe" option) seems to be the subject of much internet debate. That on its own tells you that the issue isn't settled and the differences are either marginal or nonsense.

In the "pro splitter" camp, people say that the wastegate exhaust exiting next to the main turbine exhaust will somehow get in the way of that turbine flow and make the turbo sad.

In the "splitter suspicious" camp, people will recommend you look at the way the wastegate flap opens and how it interacts with the extra internal wall (which could be worse than no splitter).

Personally I would err on the side of "no splitter". If your best dump pipe option has a splitter then do your research about how the wastegate flap on your turbo opens (eg right into the internal wall?) to form a view on whether it's counterproductive.

Internet argument on splitters probably incoming in 3...2....1.... :P


Other thoughts:

(a) the wastegate is only open when the turbo is producing enough compressed air for the job at hand (needing to literally bleed-off excess exhaust energy under "wastegate open" conditions). Under such conditions are minute differences in post-turbo exhaust flow going to make a measurable difference? (as opposed to big differences like "stock dump pipe VS bell-mouth with 3" piping and big cat").

(b) As a rule, most people do (and few argue about) the stuff that is proven to work. Conversely, if internet heroes are arguing the toss on a modification making a difference (or not) it pays to research a bit harder and keep "bang for buck" in mind. Obviously do whatever aesthetic, fun or quality-of-life improvements you want, just don't get hung up on whether Perrin or Cobb engine bay trims make the car faster.

(c) A lot of us car enthusiasts need to take a chill-pill and keep in perspective the differences between something that is the theoretical optimum for a tight-rules track racing category where every 1% counts VERSUS a getting a bit more "go" out of a 1700+ kg AWD road car with full stereo, sunroof and leather seats on a reasonable budget for a bit of fun.


With item (c) I'm sort-of lecturing my younger self to not spend stress and worry on theoretical optimum stuff (at significant cost) when "pretty bloody good" will do just fine for a heavy daily-driven road car.

If either of us are ever running a formula open-wheeler race team we can go back to sweating the one-percenters. Or, do the one-percenters at home (for fun) where the only cost is your time.
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Re: Introducing myself and my MY14 Liberty GT

Postby Tonic » Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:34 am

Best bang for your buck to me is a good tune. For the cost you will save in fuel efficiency over a couple of years and have a better responding engine.
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Re: Introducing myself and my MY14 Liberty GT

Postby ScotterSim200 » Wed Nov 16, 2022 9:33 am

Nice car
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Re: Introducing myself and my MY14 Liberty GT

Postby bigBADbenny » Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:51 am

What downpipe?
The GenV GT has a front low mount turbo with a short horizontal dump pipe…
They’re so different from gen4 that it’s probably worth looking at some GenV upgrade FAQ eg:

GenV upgrade path fifth generation

Subaru Legacy Forums

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread. ... 59192.html


;)
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