I'm in the process of getting my stuff together so I can plan out and build my stock longblock EJ257. The longblock is out of a 2005 STi and had only 30K miles on it. It is in IMMACULATE condition. The cam lobes in it are flawless and look like they are brand new. WJM has confirmed that this engine is in tip top shape. Now I would like to leave the engine itself stock for it's initial install. When it wears out then I'll worry about building it. I want to push 450 hp. If more can be done reliably then great! The turbo I plan on using is FP HTA35R. This turbo hasn't been used on a Suby yet but by the time I'm ready it should be in several (1 - 1 1/2 yrs). The Evos are having EXCELLENT results with this turbo. Simply swapping from a standard GT35R to the HTA35R (the turbo is the ONLY change), the Evos are getting 300-400 rpms faster spool and a whopping avg of 50 hp across the board. At 5000 rpms 2 evos experienced 120 more hp. Tq increases as well. The HTA35R is the same price as a GT35R. So my question is this....would a HTA35R be pushing the daily driver reliablity of a stock EJ257 engine? I'd think not with Milo using a SZ65, LiquidForce using a T3/T04S (but he has forged pistons), JDMSTI with the Red and soon to be GT35R, and several others. I drive the car 60 miles daily so it needs to last
I lost a piston at around 420 on a stock STi block and then lost another 3 months later. After that I went with the forged pistons. All of this was on a hybrid with over 9:1 compression. With a STi longblock I would imagine the limit would be higher. I don't think 450 would be pushing it too hard. I would add though that if the heads are off or you planning on removing them for any reason before you install the block I would go ahead and swap the pistons.
That's my delimma right now. THe block is completely sealed and the heads have never been removed from the engine. The only open part is the valve covers and oil pan which I will soon close up (the engine is all wrapped up in plastic at this time with tons of oil and WD-40 to keep everything lubed up). I was gonna drop the heads and install some forged pistons but Siegel told me that he didn't think it was neccessary and that he would run it until I 'need' to drop the heads and do the pistons then. That would save me a ton of trouble. So yeah Mike I'll be running the stock 8.2:1 ratio so it should be fine. There's plenty of people pushing 500 hp. I plan on staying between 400-450 hp daily on pump gas only. Then when it's time to play, the Hydra has the ability to switch maps on the fly for more aggressive tunes with alky or race gas
Wait, does this reference the age of the turbo, or your timeline on getting all of this setup and running? cause thats a lot of time...
600hp seems to be the 'limit' thus far. I say leave it stock and let SS AND Doug tune it for reliability. Otherwise...other tuners have been known to crack pistons at STOCK power levels. The tuner makes the difference.
The 1 - 1 1/2 yrs is when I'm planning on doing everything. By then there should be several HTA35R's out in Subies. It's very recently been released by FP. It was designed by David Bushur for the Evos but similar results should be seen by the Subies as well.
I do not want a stock location turbo. Later down the road I will drop in some pistons and push the car more so why spend money on a GT30R when later I will upgrade and need to buy another turbo. The difference between a GT30r and a GT35r is only 200 rpms.
Depends on who you ask and who tuned it. I've seen variances all over the place which is what makes it so hard. Also it's very possible the GT35R was tuned a lot more aggressive than the GT30R tune on the same cars when you research. Needless to say the HTA35R spools like a GT30R on the Evo. I know comparing the Evo isn't right but if the HTA35R acts the same on the Subie it will spool just like a GT30R.
thats certainly more true than saying there is water in the ocean. :rofl: However, of the few GT30R cars and GT35R cars I've driven...the 35R's spool around 4300~4500 and the 30R cars around 3500.
Matts GT30R doesn't count....it's a freak :rofl: :rofl: My buddy Zach's Perrin GT30R (it was one of the first ones though) was a late spooler. It didn't hit until 4500 rpms and you looked at it yourself Will. Both you and Scott fixed anything wrong with it and it still spooled late.
There is no magic turbo, I can assure you once you drive the FP turbo its not going to spool like a 30R
GT30r and a GT35r with the same hotside if pulled from a low RPM will spool up within a 200rpms of each other. Now the onset of boost or time your foot goes to the floor from cruise, is where the 30r reacts quicker due to the lighter wheel. I have guys running around on 450-500hp completely stock blocks road racing them without a single issue. Now you do have to be carefull about letting them warm up completely and not running them on track for extended periods that would break down the oil. With those thing in mind the stock block is a very stout piece. I would suggest running one of our turbo kits that we are releasing this spring. It would have been out sooner but I want a few more track days for testing before I give it my thumbs up. Right now I am running a 35r that gets full boost at 4100rpms and pulls very hard to redline. I also will be trying out the HTA35r but with the Tial v-band hotside and let you know how that does. Motors and turbos aside... you biggest issue will be with the stock WRX ecus. They are very limited in the amount of safe power you can run with them. I would suggest buying an AEM or Hydra for your car and running it on that.
AEM controls AVCS. The AEM is a rebadged GEMS unit. GEMS units are used on Group N and Group A rally cars around the world.
Thanks a TON for your input Doug and Scott. The WRX Ecu is nothing to worry about for me....I'm going HYDRA and HydraMist all the way! What I will probably do is take a day off and travel to TopSpeed since either Scott or Doug (hopefully both will be there) will be tuning the car, and have a nice talk with the two of you guys to hash out the final plans for the car. It's very hard for me to talk over the phone as Scott well knows I'll be very interested in your kits you will have released. Are they custom spec'd turbos that you put together Doug?
All the Group N and Group A cars around the world running it has it working. What you really meant to say is that no one that has it working has actually POSTED about it.
Also Scott and Doug I intend to do NO drag racing and NO track runs with the car. Those days are over. Simply a powerful daily driven street monster....so the stock block should suffice just fine from what Doug has said. When it goes then I'll build it stronger.