New Member from Sydney

by **blackbeauty** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 8:41 pm

Big hi to everyone, hope you all had a great Xmas.

General intro - my name is James from south west sydney & im new to this forum. Working at Liverpool Hospital as a Radiographer, big place so there may be some members who work there

Purchased a black auto 07 Subaru Liberty STI sedan few months back. Reason i initially joined the forum was because I had booked my car in at MRT performance to have an XB kit upgrade. I should be gratefull to all of you because after reading members feedback about MRT I have decided not to let them touch my car! Instead I emailed MSR, and with any luck I may be able to get my car out to Michael early in the new year once he gets back to me. Since i havent much of a clue about the workings of a car, anyone have any advise on what modifications I should start with? Budget at the moment is $5000-$6000 so hoping to get some decent mods with that sort of cash.

Anyways, excited to have joined the forum

Cheers

by **Kekotic** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 8:43 pm

Take your car to PHAT GT (Michael) He is in Sydney.

Best $5000 you will ever spend.

Oh and welcome.

by **Corsair** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 9:34 pm

Welcome James. Look forward to seeing some pics!

by **blackbeauty** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 11:06 pm

This is what Michael from MSR emailed me in response to modifying my Liberty...tell me all what you think

HI James,

Merry Christmas too

I have a few customers with the 2.0lt twin scroll, they are somewhat odd engine, not many parts are made for this model.

The answers i have is to use headers off the wrx/sti/07+ GT liberty's, very common easy to find, the headers on the 2.0lt twin scroll are very restrictive and not many turbo's can be fitted, the turbo is very small and limits power,also have seen a few fail.

Once we fit the other type of headers, this opens up a whole world of turbo's, the best turbo for this would be the new type using a billet compressor wheel, now the other down side is the tmic you have won't work with other turbo's either, so need to fine a TMIC core off an 08-2011 wrx or 07+ GT liberty, then with the turbo that suits the 08-2011 wrx & 07+ GT lib we use an exhaust to suit 07+ GT, this will get us 210+kw easy, very good low end power, and very sharp throttle with the billet turbo.

headers find for 200 odd+ 250 to fit.
turbo new is 1900 fitted ( blouch BBK M billet) , i have used this turbo on many setups and will make 240kw easy, on your setup limits by the scoop hole size for air flow of the liberty's.
TBE is full stainless using Xforce, 1600 fitted.
tune is 900.
TMIC if you can find an OEM one, get for 200 odd, or look at Hyperflow for 800 odd i believe new (suits 07+ GT, 08+ wrx).

This will be the best way to extract the best reliable power, it will have the sound of the later GT liberty, not the twin scroll sound.

I have an 02 RX and looked at the 04-05 GT, and this is what i believe is the best way to get best torque and power, i have tuned a few with std turbo, and very disappointed what can be extracted from them, and no other turbo fits without major mods to the turbo.

Guarantee this would be much be return for your money that what MRT will be selling you

Cheers
Michael

by **Gambit** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 6:48 am

^ sounds like a good plan to me.

by **teflon** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:03 am

Welcome James... Is yours a 2.5L or a 2.0L?

by **blackbeauty** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:33 am

Mines a 2.5L...i was a bit confused by his reply but michael @ MSR overlooked that mine is an 07 model. So no new headers or TMIC needed. Im thinking of going ahead with MSR, tune, TBE exhaust and new turbo set me back around $4500-

Any other small upgrades i should consider?

Also any opinions about xforce tbe system. This is the exhaust system that Michael at MSR included in the quote.

by **teflon** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:43 am

Thought yours was a 2.5L.

As per Keiran I'd also have a chat to PhatGT about what he'd recommend for $5000 (minus the cost of the tune).

Most on here would probably rate Phat's dump pipe > the X Force Dump pipe. X Force catback is about $800 prior to fitting. Phat's dump pipe is about $900. I imagine most places would charge about $200-$250 to fit both. The X Force exhausts are 4 inch I think and I've not heard them in person but the general consensus is that they are loud so either listen to the clips in the exhausts section or see if there is another member's car who you can listen to. I'm a minor brand whore and prefer the jap brands (HKS/Fuji) but they are more expensive (delivered less than $2k as per PhatGT).

Don't know much about turbos so can't help you there - I have the 2.0L and wasn't chasing huge numbers but was impressed with the results from a dump pipe/HKS exhausts/high flow panel filter and hyperflow TMIC + tune.

by **Ben** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 1:17 pm

Two words. Phat GT.

by **cruisn** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 8:12 am

Welcome James.

Just the fact that MSR overlooked the fact that your '07 has a 2.5 would put me questioning....

Contact Michael (Phat) and get a comparison just for your own benefit and peace of mind.

by **hamish_023** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 8:41 am

Phat GT ftw

by **Ric** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:16 am

What was the actual question you asked MSR?
He specifically mentions "07+ GT liberty's" in his answer, so seems to think you have an older one.

blackbeauty wrote:This is what Michael from MSR emailed me in response to modifying my Liberty...tell me all what you think

HI James,

Merry Christmas too

I have a few customers with the 2.0lt twin scroll, they are somewhat odd engine, not many parts are made for this model.

The answers i have is to use headers off the wrx/sti/07+ GT liberty's, very common easy to find, the headers on the 2.0lt twin scroll are very restrictive and not many turbo's can be fitted, the turbo is very small and limits power,also have seen a few fail.

by **msgofast** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:20 am

I had an email from an 05 GT owner same time, which is very different to mod, the 07 i said TBE, BBK M, and tune, good bang per $$.

I find that twin dump pipes make the big gains as a bolt on, but when tuned back to back with a good open mouth, the open mouth makes more torque, much the same top end.

The xforce is the best dump pipe for torque and power i found after tunes, if anyone thinks there is a better option, happy to test it

cheers
Michael
MSR

by **Smithyy** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:36 am

Hey James, welcome to the forum mate

by **stew07gt** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 8:38 pm

Welcome james. hope we can all you help towards a more sexy modded lib.

also .. wish i had $5k to play with now...

by the sounds of it, alsong as you trust someone named micheal, you car will be quick.