2001 subaru legacy gt limited sedan

[Budden]

how yall doing,

i am new to the forum and i was wondering if anyone can possible help me figure out wat kind of performance parts i can stick in this car.

 

i was searching for awhile now and i cant find much

is the impreza rs the same engine? if so can i uses headers from that or the cai?

can i use the sti shocks for front and rear?

 

any help will be apprciated thanks

budden:confused:

[Siper2]

Hi there. I can help out a bit, if not much.

 

Struts won't be interchangeable. The Legacy uses a multilink/double-wishbone rear suspension, whereas the Impreza (up until 2008) used MacPherson struts on all four corners. I'm not sure if the fronts will swap; my gut tells me no, but I could be wrong.

 

The engine is essentially the same. There may be a slight difference, but it's basically an EJ251 or EJ253 perhaps with the later years. Performance is the same, about 165hp.

 

If you aren't looking to swap the engine, then go for headers/exhaust. Skip the intake, they're relatively worthless. A couple are more promising than the rest, though, such as the Injen CAI which had some actual tests done. Still, it might only earn you a couple horsepower on a good day.

 

Exhaust-wise, Strömung is a perennial favorite. Get their catback, and a high-flow cat pipe if you want to really free up the throttle response. But, the HFC does add quite a bit of noise, and you WILL get a constant P0420 CEL (oxygen sensor). Which never goes away. O2 bung spacers have some success, but not much. I had an HFC for a while, but it was extremely loud and I didn't like having a CEL every day. So I sold it. It did, however, add nice throttle response while I had it.

 

As for the headers, Borla makes some for the RS, but there was some history of them cracking. Some later revisions have a better track record, but it depends who you talk to. There's some Borla replicas that pop up on eBay from time to time. No warranty, which the Borlas have, but many RS guys say that the quality is better. And they cost a lot less. (Hop over to http://www.RS25.com to search the forums for threads on them. I'm a Mod there, we welcome the company!) Those are both unequal length headers, which will be more rumbly, but not perform as well as an equal length (EL) header. Most of those cost more, though. There aren't a lot of options for EL headers for the EJ251/EJ253 engine. http://www.techworkseng.com makes some, but they're over $1,000 which is absurd for non-turbo headers, if you ask me. Very high quality, though.

 

You might be able to get a Crawford ECU, to bump the power up some. They were produced by a company called i-Speed, who got bought out by Crawford.

http://store.crawfordperformance.com/store/categories/249

 

Be sure to check with them that the engines are in fact compatible, though.

 

 

So, I'd say go with a catback, maybe a Crawford ECU if it works, a good set of tires, struts, and a brake upgrade. For brakes I'd just swap out for 11.4" 2002-2007 WRX front rotors. You can keep your OEM calipers, just getting the new brackets to space them out. Then some DOT4 brake fluid, and decent pads - the Hawk HPS is popular with most of us. Suspension-wise, you may have to do some hunting. I know the KYB GR2 is popular as a base upgrade from OEM - slightly stiffer, but not much.

 

www.fredbeansparts.com (for the brake parts)

www.tirerack.com (for the KYB GR2 struts)

www.boxer4racing.com (for the exhaust)

 

That's what I'd do. Nice car, by the way. Almost got an '00 when I bought my old RS, back then.