I've seen a lot of stuff related to modding 97+ cars, but very little to the 90-96 cars (Legacy from 90). I am getting a 94 Legacy Turbo Estate, uk spec, and I want to at least get it to the 240bhp mark of the Jap GT spec cars.

Is there any web pages dedicated to the earlier cars?

In the meantime there are a few things I would like to know?

Internals:
Car has 100k miles on, seems to have had an easy life, FSH, one owner, no tow bar, same discs from new! Given this is a closed deck block, if I do some mods, am I going to kill it?

ECU:
Can I put a 95 WRX ecu in? (Fuel, knock???)
Is a Possum Link any good?
Would John Bank's electronic MAP sensor clamp/wastegate mod work?

Induction:
DO induction kits mess up low speed fuelling on -96 cars like it seems to on older ones?

Turbo:
LAG?
Will a PE Exhaust manifold reduce lag (seems to on Stephen Done's Car)
Can I fit a TD04 turbo? (I can live with reduced boost a 6000+ rpm)

Exhaust:
I'm going to fit a downpipe, possibly a back box, but I don't want anything too loud, (wife & kid to consider).
Does changing the manifold reduce the noise significantly, as Stephen Done seems to suggest.
Does lagging the downpipe reduce the noise at all? I am assuming that that huge cat does a good job of silencing the exhaust.

Cheers

Pavlo

 

Pavlo come and see my legacy it has alot of mods .where is stansted? im in harrow

 

Yes you can tune the older legacy engines very easily. You can get your target bhp with a cat back exhaust swap, a bleed valve, a dawes fuel cut raiser and a diet of super unleaded. Set it to about 1.2 bar peak boost in top gear. The ecu pulls boost down a bit in first and second.

Is it safe? I ran 1.4 bar for 12 months without any problems other than an exploding clutch. Your luck may be different!?

An oil cooler and an uprated charge cooler water pump are good ideas as well.

As you want to keep quiet on the exhaust front, have a look at some of the Jap kit - it seems much quieter than the scooby sport stuff. Certainly mine is much quieter than a scooby sport - I have to keep it practical too.

Why would you want to swap for the smaller turbo? From what I remember the old legacies really move after 3000 rpm.

 

Pavlo,

Internals should be OK provided you don't go mad with the boost - 1 bar (14.5psi) would be a sensible target IMHO given the miles.

Using a Dawes boost controller rather than a bleed valve will reduce the feeling of lag by changing the boost curve to a more aggressive one.

Changing the ECU would be best if you are looking to run higher boost than 1 bar and/or changing the exhaust manifold.

The MAF sensor in early cars is more robust than the latest cars so it is rare for induction kits to cause issues.

Changing the exhaust is a good move as boost will increase slightly as a result of less back pressure and again, the spool up of the turbo will improve. There are a number of quiet backbox options available (Prodrive/STi/Remus etc) - going to a meet will give you an idea of the different options available.

If I were in your position, I would go for a full exhaust, induction kit and a Dawes and then take it from there...

There is an email group here specifically for these cars which has quite a lot of useful info: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BC-BFLegacyWorks/

Thanks

Gavin

[Edit: for clarity! ]

[Edited by GavinP - 5/13/2002 3:19:22 PM]