Needs moAr 2.5rs

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PureLife
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Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by PureLife »

Well ... some may remember my history of cars ... it's really weird ... I have owned almost a dozen cars, but only 4 different models ... I always come back to the same thing.

The list goes:
1990 BMW 525i
2000 Subaru Impreza wagon
1990 BMW 535i
1995 BMW 318i
1998 Subaru Impreza L
1997 Mazda Miata
2000 BMW 323ci
1993 Mazda Miata
1998 BMW 323is
2000 Subaru Impreza 2.5rs ... yeah, I'm weird, I like old cars. I like change but it has to feel familiar. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Anyway, the latest and greatest is this white 2.5rs. Bought it one Friday night at midnight in the middle of a corn field (don't ask :lol: ), it had spun bearings. My dad and I pieced the engine back together using a block from a 98 Outback and the original heads. The fix was cheap but very labor intensive ... and it felt really weird doing that on a Subaru at only 103,000 miles. But all the gaskets and seals are fresh, it has a new clutch etc.

Here she is:

Image

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Nothing wild. Very few mods: it has amber front corner lights, white JDM STi shift knob, Kenwood bluetooth stereo, WRX 17mm rear sway bar and an STi 2.5" catback ... and the inevitable P0420 catalyst efficiency check engine light that all of these seem to have.

Not sure that I actually have any plans to mod this further. I enjoy it a lot as it is and since it's rust free and very low mileage, I figure it's worth more unmolested anyway!
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Re: Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by theholycow »

PureLife wrote:Well ... some may remember my history of cars ... it's really weird ... I have owned almost a dozen cars, but only 4 different models ... I always come back to the same thing.
You know what you like and you aren't afraid to repeatedly enjoy it. I can certainly understand that!
Anyway, the latest and greatest is this white 2.5rs. Bought it one Friday night at midnight in the middle of a corn field (don't ask :lol: ), it had spun bearings. My dad and I pieced the engine back together using a block from a 98 Outback and the original heads. The fix was cheap but very labor intensive ... and it felt really weird doing that on a Subaru at only 103,000 miles. But all the gaskets and seals are fresh, it has a new clutch etc.
Cheap score FTW.

How much time do you think you have into it? Do you have a garage or at least a paved driveway? I see in my future the potential that I may need to take out an engine or three, and all I have is my rough, muddy, clumpy yard. I may build a gantry that rides on car tires.
and the inevitable P0420 catalyst efficiency check engine light that all of these seem to have.
Any idea why they tend to be afflicted with that? I have no Subaru experience and every P0420 I've seen has been a simple matter of a catalytic converter that was destroyed (for example by sustained severe misfiring) or removed.
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Re: Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by watkins »

Back when I had my 2.5RS it caught the P0420 too. Still under the extended federal emmissions coverage. Free cat!
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Re: Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by PureLife »

These cars are weird with regards to the p0420 ... my previous one I had, I found receipts for at least half a dozen oxygen sensors and a new cat and it was still throwing the code. :lol: :lol: I am certainly not about to start chasing it ... fuel consumption remains normal, the car runs and drives like it should, so if the light is it, so be it.


I had a couple of days of work in the engine ... my dad works on cars for a living so that always helps. We spent one evening pulling it and taking it apart to the short block, then once we realized it still wouldn't turn freely, we decided to see if we can fix it and spent another couple hours dissasembling the block and all. That's when we realized the bottom end was completely gone and that it's best to just find a complete replacement ... so one Saturday morning we went to a pick n pull salvage yard and pulled a motor out of the Legacy, took the heads off ... the car had a mint looking block (crosshatching still very much there and everything really clean) - it looked like it had a bad head gasket ... the car was DOHC and mine is a SOHC (too much work to convert), so we just bought the block, all the gaskets and we put it back together the following day. Maybe about 20-24 hours total including pulling the motor, taking it apart, pulling a replacement motor and putting everything back together and in the car ... it only sucked that those 24 hours were for 2 of us condensed in about 2 days, but we made it happen.

We did it in my parent's 2 car garage (with the car sitting diagonally in it hood facing the door).
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Re: Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by AHTOXA »

I have always liked these, despite being n/a.
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Re: Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by theholycow »

PureLife wrote:These cars are weird with regards to the p0420 ... my previous one I had, I found receipts for at least half a dozen oxygen sensors and a new cat and it was still throwing the code. :lol: :lol: I am certainly not about to start chasing it ... fuel consumption remains normal, the car runs and drives like it should, so if the light is it, so be it.
I wonder if there's a badly designed or manufactured connector, or a wire that is defective or getting crushed or abraded somewhere.
I had a couple of days of work in the engine {...} We did it in my parent's 2 car garage (with the car sitting diagonally in it hood facing the door).
Sounds like a fun project to look back on, if not to do.
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Re: Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by potownrob »

nice hwhip :!:
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Re: Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by 4onthefloor »

More Subies!!!

I rarely see GCs around here that aren't swapped.
Two pedals, two feet, too easy.

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Re: Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by potownrob »

4onthefloor wrote:More Subies!!!

I rarely see GCs around here that aren't swapped.
yeah, i personally was afraid of getting a GC when i ended up getting my 2002 (GD) impreza since they looked so old to me (and they were all already over 10 years old). that said, for someone who doesn't mind working on cars now and then, it's an ideal car. call me spoiled or whatever, but i personally ended up finding even my GD too old and raw for my liking. i'm one of those people who would probably end up liking a newer neutered impreza over the older more fun ones.
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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Re: Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by PureLife »

potownrob wrote:
4onthefloor wrote:More Subies!!!

I rarely see GCs around here that aren't swapped.
yeah, i personally was afraid of getting a GC when i ended up getting my 2002 (GD) impreza since they looked so old to me (and they were all already over 10 years old). that said, for someone who doesn't mind working on cars now and then, it's an ideal car. call me spoiled or whatever, but i personally ended up finding even my GD too old and raw for my liking. i'm one of those people who would probably end up liking a newer neutered impreza over the older more fun ones.
Mechanically they are identical to the naturally aspirated GD cars, so really as far as maintenance goes, they are very cheap to run (pretty much the same parts were in production for about 25 years), and since they're fairly robust (any car that can win multiple rally championships usually is), it's a breeze ... especially since this car only has 104k ... it sat for the last 4 years with a blown motor. :lol:


I must admit there is something about newer and "more plush" ... my mom has a GD outback sport at the moment and thing feels light years ahead of the GC with regards to how quiet it is at highway speed, but I don't mind the squeaks and whistles if it means the thing weighs 2700 lbs ... just something about pitching a light AWD cars into a corner and standing on the throttle with no drama. :lol:

4onthefloor wrote:More Subies!!!

I rarely see GCs around here that aren't swapped.
To be honest when I first got the car, I had plans to buy a complete swap and do it, but I thought it might drag out too long and I didn't want this to turn into a project car: I wanted it running and driving. It would have been nice to have another 100hp, but I really don't mind it with the 165 it does have either. It's still a very fun car to drive.
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Re: Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by potownrob »

PureLife wrote:Mechanically they are identical to the naturally aspirated GD cars, so really as far as maintenance goes, they are very cheap to run (pretty much the same parts were in production for about 25 years)...
Well, once they got the 2.5, they kept that drivetrain (til this latest gen got the underpowered 2.0 and the other subarus got a new 2.5); a lot of the ones I saw had the old 2.2. i was weary mainly about age and also the looks of the GC were dated IMO.
PureLife wrote:I must admit there is something about newer and "more plush" ... my mom has a GD outback sport at the moment and thing feels light years ahead of the GC with regards to how quiet it is at highway speed, but I don't mind the squeaks and whistles if it means the thing weighs 2700 lbs ... just something about pitching a light AWD cars into a corner and standing on the throttle with no drama. :lol:
i hear you, despite the highway noise, engine rawness and overall ride rawness being too much for me. looking back, the newer imprezas, despite looking like neutered snails, would've probably been more my cup of tea.
PureLife wrote:...It would have been nice to have another 100hp, but I really don't mind it with the 165 it does have either. It's still a very fun car to drive.
yeah, it's fairly quick with the 2.5 and manual trans. there were times i wished for more power, but the 2.5 was usually enough fun and power for me.
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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Re: Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by bk7794 »

I liked these better than those bug eye ones.

Did these have the head gasket issue?

EDIT: Just did a search and found you mentioned it. Regardless, nice looking car!
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Re: Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by potownrob »

bk7794 wrote:I liked these better than those bug eye ones.

Did these have the head gasket issue?

EDIT: Just did a search and found you mentioned it. Regardless, nice looking car!
i liked the sporty 2.5RS coupe but the others all looked old to me. the earlier 2.5s had problems, not that they were really fixed til the 2k8 gen. the older 2.2 was said to be bulletproof, but it was significantly less powerful (IMO). the earlier subarus didn't all have AWD either, and they had smaller more normal engines. not bashing, just pointing out they used to be more like normal cars in some ways.
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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Re: Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by PureLife »

bk7794 wrote:I liked these better than those bug eye ones.

Did these have the head gasket issue?

EDIT: Just did a search and found you mentioned it. Regardless, nice looking car!
They indeed did have headgasket issues but that's pretty much all Subarus. Thankfully this particular one now has new gaskets, new seals, belts, clutch and everything else as far as the major stuff goes, so I think I'll be good for a few years (if I keep it that long).

I also like them a lmore than bugeyes, but it's all personal preferrence. They're not for everyone that's for sure ... I think they still look good and fairly decent. Sure, it's not all bulging curves and all like the new cars, but there's something about it still (IMO).
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Re: Needs moAr 2.5rs

Post by 4onthefloor »

potownrob wrote:I personally ended up finding even my GD too old and raw for my liking. i'm one of those people who would probably end up liking a newer neutered impreza over the older more fun ones.
I drive a lot of brand new 2013/2014 cars at work and I find even my 2007 to be raw feeling compared to the newer sedans.
potownrob wrote: the older 2.2 was said to be bulletproof
I've got a buddy with a '92 Legacy with the 2.2 turbo in it. He does next to no maintenance on the car, cranks the boost, and drives it like a madman and it never kicks the bucket. The body on the car is rotted out so he's taking out the engine and putting it in a new gen Legacy.
Two pedals, two feet, too easy.

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