Ghosty has arrived and feeling very lost!

[Ghosty]

Hi guys,

After years of trawling through this wonderful site for every issue or mod I've had with my old Liberty I thought it was finally time to join and interact with all of you like minded individuals. First and foremost, I'd like to thank you guys for all the advice that I've received from you over the years. You may think you're only talking to the other people in the forum, however, many people just like me read every post and learn so much but never contribute. That time has come to an end for me.

I'm learning more about cars everyday. I drive Caterpillar 793 haul trucks that weigh 400 tonnes when loaded so let's just say my knowledge of vehicles is restricted to the larger side of the industry. I've done plenty of basic work to my cars, however I'm hoping to learn a lot more.

Name: Connor or Ghosty
Ride: 2011 Subaru Liberty GT Manual
Previous Ride: 2006 Subaru Liberty 3.0RB Manual
Location: WA, Padbury
Mod: Purely aesthetic so far. Euro Plates and Black Painted Rims. Only had the car a few months
Plans: Require more power! Miss the low end power of the H6 engine
Occupation: Haul Truck Operator
Year of birth: 1985

[Shaheenis]

Welcome Connor and geez that is a seriously intimidating vehicle (the big yellow one ) but I bet the handling doesn't compare to the Lib .

I personally know very little about the Gen5s but I think it is a pretty safe bet to say a tune from Matt (aka Kido) is your first point of call when he is in Perth next and if you are thinking about upgrading anything performance wise (e.g. exhaust) try and sync up when Matt is in town unless you have a local tuner. Matt will quickly and safely transform your car to make much better use of power without costing a bomb. I absolutely love my Gen4 2.5T but always wanted to own a H6 for the low end power you speak of. The performance of the 2.5T is impressive and with some basic mods and tune makes a very quick car but it would be better with more cubes added for bottom end performance. I will eventually go to a larger capacity engine on my next car - Audi V8 would be nice . Besides being newer, what differences do you like between the Gen5 and Gen4 model?

Link to Kido tuning thread.
viewtopic.php?f=63&t=16602

[Ghosty]

Thanks Shaheenis,

I've definitely noticed Matt from Kido seems to be the man in the know. I wasn't aware he comes to Perth regularly, I'll keep that in mind. I am considering a tune to resolve my issues, however as I understand most people install a Turbo Back Exhaust before a tune. Followed by coilover springs. My Fiancee has a fear that i'm going to turn this new car into a bogan mobile if left to myself so she doesn't want me to change the height of it. I don't want anything loud or offensive.

As far as my preferences between Gen IV's and V's I'll tell you how I feel about each of them. Should really include my daily driver too!!

Caterpillar 793F Haultruck.
85L 16 Cylinder Quad turbo engine about the size of a Toyota Hiace Van.
1976KW, Fuel Consumption 3400L/24H
160T empty, 240T Payload, 400T Gross weight
$4,000,000
Pro's: The power and reliability of a vehicle that drives 24/7. The feeling of driving a machine the size of a two story house and the amazing turning circle. Having an almost square footprint these machines can do a U turn in one go in the equivalent distance of a two lane road
Con's: Handle like you're driving a house. Very bouncy, always dirty, Loud (85dB), Terrible seating position.

2005 Subaru Liberty 3.0RB Manual Gen IV.
Pro's: Better handling, lower stance, better power delivery IMO for day to day driving. A sexier looking car in pretty much everyone's eyes. More comfortable seat
Con's: Styling is getting a bit boring after so many years. Lack of high end power. Stereo s prehistoric, can't even play an MP3 CD. Wish it had that GT scoop!

2012 Subaru Liberty 2.5GT Manual Gen V.
Pro's: High end performance, if I wanted to thrash it, this one's more punchy. Wonderful modern interior with all the mod cons. Aggressive front styling, room in the back seat for passengers. Better rims. Turns more eyes than the old Lib IMO. That beautiful bonnet scooooooooooop.
Con's: NO LOW END POWER AT ALL, I mean its like a Camry down low. More body roll and less feedback around corners, Looks like a Camry from behind too. My fiancee loves this car and is becoming very protective of it. She gets a lot of meathead commodore drivers eyeing her off and yelling "Show us Yer Tits!". We aren't fans of these types of guys.

To sum it up I prefer driving the Gen IV 3.0RB but prefer to be in the Gen V 2.5GT

[bigBADbenny]

You'd want to log n LV the GT to see if it has any issues, as the stock power delivery should be tailored to low end oomph, afaik.

[Ghosty]

You'd want to log n LV the GT to see if it has any issues, as the stock power delivery should be tailored to low end oomph, afaik.

Please excuse my ignorance but that could be chinese for all I know. What do you mean by that? The car runs fine, no signs of any issues, just used to the 3.0L powerplant

[alexeiwoody]

You'd want to log n LV the GT to see if it has any issues, as the stock power delivery should be tailored to low end oomph, afaik.

Please excuse my ignorance but that could be chinese for all I know. What do you mean by that? The car runs fine, no signs of any issues, just used to the 3.0L powerplant

Ben is saying you might want to scan and log your ECU for any issues that might not be obvious otherwise, as "the stock power delivery should be tailored to low end oomph, afaik". Need an OBD dongle from eBay or a BDSSM dongle or a tactrix cable to do so.

In any case, assuming there are no issues, you should probably get yourself a dump pipe and a tune and it should sort out the low end as much as possible. Not sure if the Gen5s benefit from a silicone turbo inlet pipe (maybe ask a gen5 owner ), if they do, great mod for low end and midrange too.

Your turbo and it's mounting should be perfect for low end torque and getting off the line. Stock tune is certainly not the greatest and the stock dump pipe will also hold it back some.

Car looks great Just needs some bigger rims IMO

[bigBADbenny]

You put it in caps, right above the (hopefully) random comment about bogans.
I'm kinda surprised by that and would suggest looking for issues, before inquiring about a tune...
Unless you mean it's gutless eg in higher gears under 3000rpm.
It's fairly common knowledge (maybe?) to avoid going wide open throttle in 2.5T Subies at lower revs/higher gears.

As regards tuning, logging, LV, there is an FAQ link in my signature if you're interested.

[Ghosty]

Thanks guys,

That's some really good info and a great place to start. She has plenty of balls when you get going but for general driving where I just wanna be a little bit faster off the line than the guy next to me, she is a bit lacking. I'll look into getting one of those dangles to check for any issues. Is a dump pipe the same is the first part of a TBE or am I completely confused? I don't want to pump more than 3 or so grand into it. Is it possible to do a dump pipe and tune for this amount? Is a TBE a better option? If so what ball park figure would I be looking at installed? Just so I can slowly hide money from the missus!

[bigBADbenny]

A tune from Matt ThrottleHappy aka kido tune is affordable, that and any combo of 3" dump, mid pipe and muffs is a great start to wakening up the stock response without sacrificing reliability, assuming your expectations are realistic.
Just do heaps of research before you begin and stick to your budget!
I'd start by looking at member mod profiles specific to the GenV.
Use a google site search (link in my sig) to get the info you need.
https://www.google.com.au/search?output ... +dump+tune
^example

[agan]

Welcome Connor, great to see another from WA come on board.
Defs do your research, but Matt is the man to go to - regardless of mods its a one off fee with life time tune revisions (but please check to confirm this as I am unsure if that has changed).
Turbo back exhaust will definitely wake the engine up
So, you can always get a tune before the modding begins

Handling - either go sways and lowered springs...or just go all the way to coils LOL.

*edit: just saw that you weren't looking to lower it

Either way, have fun modding! There's a facebook group if you haven't already found it.

[ferret89]

Just a quick note, you say that your Fiancee is afraid you'll turn it into fully sikk commodore spec so I'd suggest instead of doing the full turbo-back exhaust just do the dump pipe and tune and put some slightly lower springs (sti come to mind) in. She won't even notice the different ride height and it wouldn't be much louder than stock either

If you did want a bit more sound but not too much change the mufflers as well and that'd turn it up a bit without being over the top

[Shaheenis]

Connor me again. Even if you don't want to do an exhaust to start with just get Matt to tune it. As someone said he will retune it free of charge when you get an exhaust (check first). The factory tune is quite poor on most of these Subaru's and not for safety either, just shit tunes - believe it. Matt will bring your car to life and make it safer at the same time.

No matter how much you modify a 2.5T it will never feel the same as a large capacity donk on first throttle. It is that immediate power on throttle response which a turbo just can't replace. With that said, within 1-2 seconds you are leaving the H6 (and probably a lot of V8s) behind .