The Man with Many Questions

[I-WONT-TELL-U]

Hey guys,
My name is James and I actually don't own a Subie as of yet. I am actually looking at getting one in the near future but wanted to do a bit of research before committing to buy one. As a mitsubishi owner, I don't know much about Subarus so I hope you guys can help answer some questions for me.

The car I am looking at is a 98 Subaru Liberty RX Wagon with the EJ25 NA engine.

What I am looking for in my next car is something that is practical (which is why I'm interested in a wagon) but also something that can be modded extensively should I choose to do so. As the car is right now, I don't want to do too much to it as it will be my daily driver so I would only look at doing rims, lower, exhaust and then get into more suspension (bushes etc). I want something with a bit of go to it when I need it so I'm hoping this car has it.

I will of course test drive it before committing to it to see what the driving experience is like.

Now on with the questions:
1. I have heard that Subarus have great transferrability between cars (in terms of parts), is this true for the RX wagon also? I will be looking at upgrading the suspension (as stated above) and being able to use parts from other cars will be a great advantage.
2. Although this will be a daily car, I will be looking into doing performance mods somewhere down the track. Is the EJ25 NA a good platform to work with? If not, what sort of engine swaps can be done with this car?
3. I have heard the boxer engines can be a little hard to work with (in terms of access to everything), is this true?
4. What would be considered good kms for these engines (basically how long do they last)?

That's all I can think of for now but I'm sure I'll have more questions later on.

Thanks for the help

[HardwareBoB]

The car I am looking at is a 98 Subaru Liberty RX Wagon with the EJ25 NA engine.

Thanks for the help

Welcome!

1. I have heard that Subarus have great transferrability between cars (in terms of parts), is this true for the RX wagon also? I will be looking at upgrading the suspension (as stated above) and being able to use parts from other cars will be a great advantage.

Yes, there's a bunch of different things that will fit it. I'm not that familiar with that generation of cars, but there's a lot of things that work.

2. Although this will be a daily car, I will be looking into doing performance mods somewhere down the track. Is the EJ25 NA a good platform to work with? If not, what sort of engine swaps can be done with this car?

No. Subaru NA engines aside from the EZ30 are basically a waste of time from a performance/mod perspective. You CAN do things, but you would spend a lot of money and be slower than a stock turbo with a tune. Everyone will tell you that you should buy a turbo if you want performance, engine swaps will be expensive and annoying.

3. I have heard the boxer engines can be a little hard to work with (in terms of access to everything), is this true?

Yes and no - it's much harder than say.. a nice north-south inline engine in a big engine bay, but it's better than a cramped turbo East-West FWD hatch. Some stuff is easy, some stuff is hard (like anything)

4. What would be considered good kms for these engines (basically how long do they last)?

if they are well maintained - they can last for a long, long time. Generally failures are due to specific problems, and depending on your definition of 'last' (ie, the headgasket may go) the bottom ends will last for 400+ kkm.

TLDR:
If you are looking for a reliable no fuss daily for hauling crap around, it's a perfect choice. If you are looking to go fast, look elsewhere, or get a go fast car as well.

[I-WONT-TELL-U]

Hmm alright then, I was thinking say an STI swap would be kind of easy. Well thanks for you honest answer mate, thanks a lot for your help.

[shav]

Hmm alright then, I was thinking say an STI swap would be kind of easy. Well thanks for you honest answer mate, thanks a lot for your help.

Insight is a wonderful thing. Better to be disappointed knowing now than to be disappointed flogging more $$ than you intended to later.

[I-WONT-TELL-U]

Hmm alright then, I was thinking say an STI swap would be kind of easy. Well thanks for you honest answer mate, thanks a lot for your help.

Insight is a wonderful thing. Better to be disappointed knowing now than to be disappointed flogging more $$ than you intended to later.

That is true, I'm glad I did my research first lol