[Wishin4RS]

New guy here....

I currently drive a Focus ZX3 with some minor mods, about 6 months ago I test drove the WRX when it first came out and fell in LOVE. A friend of mine purchased a 99 RS, brought me for a spin, and that just made me want a Subie even more.

Im currently looking to buy this summer. Im looking for a 99-01 Impreza RS, then hopefully turboin it right away.

I don't know much about turbo's, Im not exactly an idiot either. I've done minor mods like, installing headers, CAI, Exhaust systems, springs, etc. My question is: Would I be able to build a custom turbo (following these parts lists) with a mechanic friend? Or should I buy an aftermarket turbo setup and get it installed for me?

I really like the fact that you guys save so much by going custom, somehting I wouldn't mind doing. By summer I should have an easy $5000 (Cnd) left over for the turboin process.........

Let me know what you guys think

Thanks

 

[Graham]

Check out this thread here:

http://www.rs25.com/Forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2028

This is my custom RS setup. All the piping you see is custom made.

Oh, and by the way, this ended up costing me a heck of a lot more than previously estimated. Going a custom route is fun, though can be time consuming as well. My car was down for three weeks, though most of this is due to the fact that I did the install.

I was in the same boat as you, had a mechanic friend to help out, but did roughly half myself (and the help of my brother).

I'm happy to answer more questions.

Graham

 

[yamarocket630]

By summer I should have an easy $5000 (Cnd) left over for the turboin process.........

That's what, like $10.17 US now?:lol:

 

[Wishin4RS]

That's a good one

 

[RaceCarRiot]

i dunno...if i had a car that was just barely 2 years old...

(and yes i'll be hung for heresy for saying this)

...i would just keep the focus and turbo it. the zx3 is kinda like the old-skool impreza, minus AWD...a light, cheap little car blessed with a wonderfully capable stiff chassis and decent OEM suspension, both being very european in design...and being designed with the WRC in mind...

the SVT and RS are similar nods to both companies' rally cars to please their US enthusiast base. and until ford catches on, their US enthusiast base will be forced to make due with a (flame suit on) "stop-gap" N/A model (sound familiar?), since europe gets the supa-bad turbo focus RS. :drool: in their original intent, they're very simliar.

if you've got the money for it, by all means, get the subaru!

but don't count your car out...it's definitely a capable piece of machinery, and there's a huge aftermarket for it, which is always a plus...something that until recently really couldn't be said for the first-gen impreza.

besides, when you get too eager, and your turbo RS eats it's first tranny, blows it's first engine, etc. etc., you'll need a nice cheap daily driver in the meantime! :lol:

 

[Wishin4RS]

Reliability

I would keep my focus, but due to the fact that I've had 7 recalls in the past year of owning it, Im very concerned about the reliability of the car. I previously owned an 88 CRX, and it saw the garage a lot less than my 2000 focus. Even my 85 RX7 didn't visit my garage as much as my focus did.

You mentioned something about blowing trannies.......is this something that happens frequently to RS-T's....I heard these cars were very reliable once tuned properly.

 

[spshultz]

The 5-spd tranny's in our cars can be fragile once more horse power is attained. If you really bang through them hard then more than likely you will have problems. But if you are easy on tranny's then the likelihood of it happening is much less. I have an auto so I hope someone with a 5spd posts. When going FI you will want to replace the stock clutch with an aftermarket one.
By the way all, which gear is it that has the problems, 2nd or 3rd?

The auto's can handle a lot more power than the 5spds but to make better use of the forced induction system you will want to upgrade the Torque Converter, get a tranny cooler and add some better tranny fluid. But then again you can't row through the gears on a nice twisty curvey road.

For what I do with mine now, which isn't much I prefer auto.

 

[RaceCarRiot]

7 RECALLS??? jeeeebus...that's inexcuseable for a car built in the last 10 years, american or not... :lol: i stand corrected.

...the only problem i was aware of with focii was that the insurance is higher than comparable cars, because the bumpers are expensive to replace in minor fender-benders...but 7 RECALLS...i would have to agree thaty ridding oneself of such a vehicle is wise.

 

[JZ oo7]

The 5-spd tranny's in our cars can be fragile once more horse power is attained

it's not only scoobys, but AWD trannys in general are fragile. i know a galant VR4 owner that went through like 7 trannys. well, he was running low 12s.

jz

 

[Graham]

I do know that Ford has been working with Jackson Racing and is in the process/has developed a supercharger kit for the Focus. Its gonna be a low boost kit, and good for something around 40 horsepower. Not sure if it voids the warranty or not.

Graham

 

[Wishin4RS]

Not keeping it......

The JRSC is not really impressive at all........knowing how my car runs, it would probably break something anyways.....I went to my dealership last night, and my salesman is going to locate an RS for the end of summer.

Now I just got to find a buyer for my car.

 

[ImprezaMan]

You don't just have to worry about the transmission when turboing the RS. The engine block is aluminium so it's not as strong as a steel block and our pistons are fairly high in terms of compression ratios. You wanna keep boost to 10 psi or less if you wanna have a reliable daily driver. At least this is what I've been hearing for the last couple of years.

 

[Wishin4RS]

So how is the reliability on these cars? .......I plan on getting the ludespeed Stage II Turbo sys. That is if I can't convince my buddy to help with a custom...

Will I really have to worry about reliability issues with this kit.

 

[RaceCarRiot]

heheh, i read the article on the jackson racing focus in C&D and it's a JOKE. drop almost $4K on the s/c, and you're still slower than the SVT focus...

the test car was a stripped ZX3, with the supercharger, exhaust, dialed-in suspension, etc. and only managed a mid 16 second 1/4mi. my L is faster than that, even with dead suspension (= zero launch traction) and a failing clutch. :lol:

anyways, there's a large number of variables when turbo-ing any car that was never designed to be. start conservative. unless you've got $10 large burning a hole in your wallet, there's no way to get the boost (yes, this is kind of meaningless in a way, but it's the measuring stick everyone uses) into the double digits right off the bat.

engine management, engine management, ENGINE MANAGEMENT. (hint hint)

plan for the worst, and hope for the best. as someone who went mod crazy on their last vehicle and paid through the nose for it, let me offer this piece of advice. start with the BORING things first...stronger clutch, upgraded fuel system, etc.

 

[Graham]

The Ludespeed kit is alright I guess. The first generation kits weren't too impressive, but then again the newer ones have better intercoolers, optional uprated fuel systems, and more electronics to offer. There were some really good threads over on i-club.com about Ludespeed. One thing you MUST have when doing any type of turbo on a Subie is TIMING CONTROL TIMING CONTROL TIMING CONTROL.

Hayscoob here on this board just blew his motor in his RS, on only 4.4 psi! He had no timing control or electronics to protect his engine against detonation/pinging, hence the blow up. His case is a classic example of just how important this is.

Oh yeah, he was running a LudeSpeed Stage II.

I've been in a car with a Ludespeed Stage II and they're FAST, quite a bit quicker than my car and I'm only @ 4 psi, and the one I rose in was around 7 psi.

Graham

 

[HondaH8er]

Second gear is the weak one in the manual transmissions, especially if you start getting up around 250 hp. But this gearset: http://www.imprezars.com/chalak.htm takes care of that problem, and it's sychro'd, so it will work in a daily driver. But aside from 2nd gear having a tendancy to break if you abuse the tranny, the rest of the car is ver reliable. Mine has only been in for warrenty work one time, and that was for the factory CD player giving me problems. Mechanically, Subaru's are very reliable, and there are tons of them out there with over 200,000 miles (that's 321,868.8 km for you canucks ) on them. If I remember correctly, something like 93% of all Subarus ever sold are still on the road.

 

[zoinkssooby]

you are correct h8er, 93% of all subarus ever sold are still on the road. the only crummy part is that reputation is gonna drop like a rock when all the high skool'd kids trade in to get the wrx and throw them into a ditch.:curse:
on another note; does the 5spd problem stay consistant on all years of the 2.5?