Scooterman

hah, when I was typing that I was racking my brain to place the era - I am obviously older than I think I was thinking there was no way that could have been the 80's You are right they were not 1.8's they were in fact 1.5's (slip of the keyboard there) as the rules allowed for up to 1500cc turbo's and 3,000cc normally aspirated engines. There has always been a lot a HP numbers bandied around for those cars. 1500 -1600 at the top end - perhaps measured at the crank. More commonly the claims for top engines (TAG, BMW, Honda) was around 1200+ in qualifying trim and normally less than 1000 in race trim- at the wheels. In any case our 2.0 and 2.5 250hp engines should have some room for improvement...lol

Interesting stuff on the technical side thanks. I do not doubt the 2.5 has some serious untapped performance potential. I know the 2.0 in Japan puts out and extra 20kw (+27hp giving approx 282hp total) as compared to Australia due to merely being tuned for the better gas available in their market. I first had a Liberty RS turbo (2.0) in the early 90's and here I am over a decade later with another one. In that time I have not heard of any problems with reliability of the 2.0 unit either. They are great cars, 2.0T and 2.5T both, and we are lucky there are companies like Subaru around who can think outside the box by making practical, reliable, comfortable AWD turbo cars we can all enjoy! PS: I'm sure all the engines have a lot in reserve. Remeber when they were getting 1200hp out of a 1.8 turbo in F1 in the early 90's:D .

The numbers I quoted are Subaru's so I guess you would expect similar conservatism/rounding as would be the case with the US figures. A bigger motor does normally equal more torque, but obviously the turbo influences that too. Take for instance the fact that the 2.0t puts out 10% more torque than the 3.0i in the H6 Legacy. Despite the equivalent performance, a 2.5t does sound more appealing than a 2.0t for some reason

Aussie warranty is 3 year unlimited distance, what is the US?

You may be right about the 2.5 being less stressed I don't know the techincal/design details. However don't they (and have they not always) used the 2.0 motor in the WRC (and as you said for STI's outside the US)? If that is the case you would expect it to be well designed/tested. If only in the US do they use a 2.5T, perhaps it may be just the 2.5i with a turbo added (I don't know) whereas the 2.0, having had a turbo for 15 years may have been specifically designed for a turbo.

As I said displacement is more important to the US market. the 2.0 twin scroll turbo is 190kw - 255bhp in US equivalent, and the tourqe is about the same. therefore there is no advantage to the displacement in this case due to the more efficient turbo. Does the US 2.5 do better than 0-62 in 5.7s?

wow thanks for all the great feedback. As I said I was interested in how and why Subaru have ended up with different specs in different countries and where they are built may be the key. Good point on the twin scroll turbo in the 2.0, I had not realised that. Perhaps in some later MY's they will have a twin scroll 2.5T engine online. Perhaps the 2.5 is a better option for the Us as there seems to be a philosophy are larger engines being preferable. I also noticed in the pictures that your versions had larger (more American style) bumper overhangs. Some other points on Liberty/Legacy's in OZ just FYI. We also get a 3.0R and a 3.0RB. The 3.0R has 17" wheels and normal suspension. Its has the same interior kit but only in comes in beige leather. The 3.0RB has the 18" wheel and Bilstein suspension with Black leather interior, drilled aluminium pedals etc. All are similarly priced (give of take a few grand).

A better engine or a bigger one? The Aussie 2.0 has more horepower (255) than the US 2.5 does! No seat heating available in Oz, I guess most places are not cold enough to bother with that and most would not want it. The audio is strange. I wonder why we get a premium sound system (refuted as one of the best in any car on the market) and you guys don't. Does that mean Aussies are more interested in audio quality than you guys in the US! PS: Thanks for the Subaru.com suggestion but I was not only interested in spec but wondering what the philosophy for the differences is.

I am new to the forum this may have been covered before and if so sorry, but I am interested to know how the different specs of the GT line up in different countries and why. I am from Oz and downunder the car is a 2.0 Turbo with 190kw (255bhp) and 330Nm(243lb) - manual/standard, with claimed 0-100km/h (62 mph) time of 5.7 seconds. There is only one basic spec in Oz which includes leather seats, 13 speaker MacIntosh sound system with 6 stack CD, sun/moonroof, climate, cruise etc etc. In fact the only options available are colour and really minor after production add ons like mats, headlight protectors, roof rails etc. Price of a GT manual sedan is AUD52,990 (with litlle discounting available) plus on road costs which in most places would put you into the AUD57,000 range (USD42,750!!!). How does this compare to you guys in the US (2.5 engine right) and Canada, Asia and Europe?