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2009 2.5i EJ253 to turbo swap


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Alright, I know I'm going to get flak for this, but so be it. I know many of you have seen this question a lot, and the best answer before was, sell and buy a LGT. However, the newest 4th gen is now 6-7 years old, and I am extremely wary about buying a used turbo car.

 

I DD my 2015 WRX, but I kept my trusty 2009 2.5i cause it's one of the best looking cars Subaru has made IMO and frankly, I'm attached to it. The suspension is set up pretty well (RCE Tarmac coilovers, sway bars, etc) and it turns pretty well on the track. Also, I know the completely history of the car since I am the original owner. But since it's completely paid off and just sitting in the garage, I want to make it faster.

 

The options...

1. Return to stock, sell, and buy used LGT, swap my parts on. Only thing is the potential of having to rebuild the engine on the LGT soon.

 

2. Get AVO turbo kit and build from there (any limitation on the 2.5i ECU on tuning? Bottom end and etc can be changed to support increasing power)

 

3. Do complete STI swap (longblock + 6 speed)

 

4. Do something else crazy, like those Buckarus/LS swaps.

 

I'm not scared of doing swaps or wiring or whatever. I won't rush a swap and I'm not even going to count my receipts haha. These cars really are like legos. It'll definitely be easier than when I swapped my 1MZ into my MKI MR2 (I miss that damn thing).

 

What would you do?

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  • 2 weeks later...

The easiest solution is to buy used LGT & swap your suspension parts. It's probably the most cost effective.

 

i would probably do the AVO turbo kit as your next option. The AVO kits seem to make stock LGT power, if your looking to make more than that it's probably not the best option.

 

Unless you really want a big project I probably wouldn't do the STi engine/6 speed swap.

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The easiest solution is to buy used LGT & swap your suspension parts. It's probably the most cost effective.

 

i would probably do the AVO turbo kit as your next option. The AVO kits seem to make stock LGT power, if your looking to make more than that it's probably not the best option.

 

Unless you really want a big project I probably wouldn't do the STi engine/6 speed swap.

 

I'm leaning away from used LGT. They're old now and it might blow up soon, requiring more money that I would spend in the first place swapping. I think.

 

Buy a rolled GT or Spec B, swap everything.

 

eff a bunch of AVO stuff. Too much money and work for too little gain.

 

This would be nice, if I could find a totaled car!

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http://www.copart.com.

 

they sell 'em every day. You will have to go through a broker if you're not a licensed auto dealer/dismantler. Broker adds about $2-400 on the cost of the vehicle at auction (and copart will add another chunk on the final auction price, plan on $3-500 for a car in the sub $4,000 price range). I've used J&L Autobrokers in the past for states where my license was no good. they're pretty reasonable to deal with.

 

http://www.jlautbrokers.com

 

Buy the wreck, use what you need, sell off your old parts and the stuff you don't need.

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Buy a used LGT. For the amount of money you are going to dump into a swap or turbo kit, you can do all the maintenance/ performance mods to the LGT and have a much better performing car for the same or less money, with most likely many less headaches.
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As much as I want to agree with just getting an LGT, I do want to see someone complete a swap. I say go for it. Do something different. You've already said you have another car you can drive in the mean time and this one is just an extra. If something goes wrong, you'll have time to fix it. Best of luck!
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Yes, I think a couple years back, it would have been wiser to buy a LGT. Like I said though, this generation of LGT is now old and probably WELL used. If I am going to rebuild an engine anyway shortly after acquiring a car that I don't know the history of, I can use that same money to do the swap on a car that I DO know everything about. Labor will cost me zero, so it would only be parts costs.

 

Maybe this summer once I move to a place with a garage.

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never forget that power goals are different for us all I would have loved 200 awhp out of my 2.5i and I would have never bought a LGT and out of my LGT i never wanted anything more than a smooth implementation of the stock power levels vs the the stumble :lol:

 

Like the pioneer 1stick2pedals, I too value a boosted stock known car vs a different factory turbo that will always be a ? until #inansb :lol: How you view the equation and how much ? you want out of your turbo vehicle. I loved my 09 LGT but after reading MrTris threads i knew that one faithful day #inansb would come.

 

So known car + boost addition or unknown car with a somewhat unpredictable engine + rebuild

 

OR

 

power vs moar powahh

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