22 Lou

hey all,

i'm writing from across the pond and need any info on the subject. I'm getting an STI Ver V drivetrain installed into my U.S. impreza, the whole thing: engine, turbo, IC, ECU, diffs, gear box, transmission. it's a type R MY99 i've been told. here in the U.S. we don't have the ability to grey market vehicles into the country like you lucky stiffs so i obtained it from a wrecking yard in England(someone grey marketed it into the UK)
my basic questions are what experiences have you or ppl you know had with this particular car. links to specs, known weak spots, strong points, upgrades that take to it well; pretty much anything you guys know would very much be appreciated.
i know that this particular car is not available in the UK but since you can grey market them in, i figured you guys would be the ones to ask.

thanx to all in advance,
-Lou

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Most important thing is to run it on the highest octane fuel that you can buy.

The biggest weakpoint of the Sti V engine in the UK is that fueling is marginal and the ECU is not good at retarding ignition effectively. A number of engines have let go due to detonation problems.

If you can get it, run it on at least 100 Ron fuel - you will need to check this because I think that our Ron measures are different to yours!!!! So 100 Ron UK.

Also, you can get some form of knock sensor fitted to give you visual warning that all is well - well worth the $200 or so it will cost you.

Finally, the best mod if you get good quality fuel will be a BPM or Scoobysports catless downpipe. Probably no more illegal than your car! Gets the turbo to spin up by 3000rpm - on my own STi V I have moved peak boost from 4000rpm to 3100rpm and can probably get it lower

Cheers,

R

22 Lou

R,

hey thanx man.pretty informative stuff. i didn't know that a number of engines have suffered the terrible fate of detonation. unfortunetly the highest octane rating here is 94 ROM, which i'm told is like 98 or 99 RON, just short of the needed 100. but to combat this i'm putting in a water injection sytem which (fingers crossed.. ) should keep engine temps lower and make the 98 appear to be 100.
thanx also for the info on the stock knock sensor. i've always heard that the stock sensor will dial back ignition a few notches to deal with the lower octane pretty well, but now a little preventive messure like an xtra knock sensor sounds like a good idea.

anything anyone else can tell me would be cool. differences in the type R from the other STI V's is always something i was curious about too...

thanx again everyone,
-Lou

mattski

you could always put 'octane boost' such as Millers into the tank as well as your high octane fuel, I do this in my '94 WRX and this makes it run a little better, as well as (hopefully) avoiding the dreaded detonation.

ta,
Matt

Damon579

hello fellow american!

you have piced a great engine! the type-r and the RA model cars have the strongest engines to mod. i suggest going to

22 Lou

of course damon! that would be cool with me!

your right, i do know and frequent the US BB quite frequently, but i had forgotten about the links section, thanx for the tip on the web site. i'm having rallispec do the install and since its their first time they've run into expected and unexpected snags. fortunetly they are extremely talented and cool guys, so the finished product should be good. when its done i'll post the sum-up in the I-club...and here if you guys want it, but you can get the <I>whole STI car</I> in the UK so an engine transplant is not as exciting as here in the states (again...you are a bunch of lucky buggers! )

matt, thanx for your suggestion, but are there any detrimental affects to using octane booster with every tankful? if not, then that's a good idea for track days..

thanx again everyone!,
-Lou

22 Lou

hate to *BUMP* up this thread, but i have one more question for anyone that can answer. the gearbox. is it the weak point in the WRX powertrain as i've heard? if so is the STI type R a little better. and hows the tranny? how much HP and torque can that clutch take?

thanx to all in adavance,
-Lou

mattski

hiya,

Apparently the older WRX's (94 etc) have the strongest motors, apparently have Legacy block and GrpA rally conrods, but not shot-peened

ta,
Matt

oh, you could always get an AP clutch

NDT

Big end bearings are the other weak link on this engine...
I trashed an engine when a big end went on my STi V4,and I think it's still an issue on V5.
Several engine builders I spoke to reckon it's a common problem........
Good luck!
Nick

NDT

BRAKES!
just thought - the type R runs an in-car adjustable centre diff, and has no ABS.
Apparently the ABS can't function properly using a variable centre diff.
Can't think of anything else......
cheers
Nick

22 Lou

thanx everyone for all the responses can the big end bearings be changed pre-emptively? the guys are doing a light engine rebuild before they put it in. is the end bearings something i should tell 'em to change while their in there?
thanks in advance,
-Lou

NDT

Lou,
when I was looking for someone to rebuild my engine (cos I was too chicken to do it myself) views seemed to vary on the bearings......
some places said "we've got a mod that fixes the problem,which is oil feed related."
others said "it's a contamination issue, change the bearings and it'll be OK".
I don't know.
If they're stripping it anyway......get them to stick in new bearings - not much extra cost compared to a stripdown.

Sieze

In the UK we run our STi's on 97 octaine fuel with no problems (they were really designed to be run on 100 octaine as in Japan.) The general consensus is that running on lower octaine than 97 will give detonation.

The type RA impreza has a stronger transmission (expecially diffs)and the car itself is lightweight (ie. no aircon, sterio, ABS etc). The most signifgicant thing with an RA is that it is much lower geared than a normal impreza (90mph is 5000 rpm with RA). The accelaration is better but it revs alot. Ideal for forest stages and traffic lights but not so good for economy/sound on interstates.

22 Lou

hey thanx seize,
but i have a type R. is that the same as the RA for drivetrain purposes?
thanx to all,
-Lou

Sieze

The following is taken from the SIDC faq. I think "type R" and "type RA" must be different. It sounds like the type R is just a 2 door STI as compared to a normal STI saloon. Whether or not it has stronger diffs like the RA I don't know...it has the same gearing as an RA though (as it explains in the FAQ). Maybe someone else knows....

By the way there is an inherent problem with oil delivery to the number 3 cylinder big end bearing with impreza engines. It is only applicable if a major ECU remap is done. The general thoery is that an oil cooler will prevent it seizing. In Japan the engine tuners install an oil cooler before any major tuning (apparently).

22 Lou

wow! thanx seize...i was thinking of maybe putting in an oil cooler(always good on turboed engines) but now i will. so that makes an xtra knock sensor, an oil cooler, and a water injection system (to offset the lower octane) to add to my shopping list. thanx guys!
in gratitude,
-Lou

pwebb

DIW - Dodgy Information Warning!

firefox

Paul - lol

J.

Sieze

Are you disagreeing? The oil cooler/bearing info was quoted by scoobysport in last month's Banzaii (jap import mag).