2.5 engines - do WRXs have the same issues as STi's?
 

Hey all,

As above really.

We've all heard that there are some issue on Hawk 2.5 STi engines - head gaskets and occasional pistion ringland issues.

Talking of a PPP WRX, but with no other mods, do they have the same issues as the STi's?

cheers for any thoughts.

Andy

Andy I had the wrx-s and I asked this ages ago, the answer is no although it's the same engine it's a diff map,

That being said some one on hear may have heard diff

Basics are the sti of which I own now has more power and diff map there is the engine thread on here that would put anybody off.

So far no 2011 s I don't think have had the ring land fail due to Subaru sorting the map out

The earlier sti map was I hear poor thus caused many to blow, that as well as the guys modding them with aftermarket parts

The pistons don't help

But for the record my wrx-s did 14000 miles on 95ron and didn't miss a beat

My 2011 s now on 6500 and the same but I'm running 99 vmax

We haven't personally yet come across a Hawk STi with those problems, although we've heard of one or two. I wouldn't say you'd have to worry just because you owned one, any more than any other device that uses an internal combustion engine.
EG one of our fleet of old bangers is a Mitsubishi Pajero 1989 vintage.
Apparently they blow head gaskets and crack the heads.
Ours obviously doesn't know this, as it's done 250,000 miles with no bother whatsoever. We aren't about to mention it, and I'd suggest you do the same with the WRX you're looking at.

Cheers Alan. Fair point - it may not be as common as people suggest. Nobody will come on to a forum to say "I've had my car for 2 yrs and it hasn't blown up!" ;)

Did you hear of any distinction between WRXs and STi's on this?

Andy

Cheers for the info on the mapping Littleted. Is that not seen as a 2008 on issue only? (I could be wrong!)

I've had my 2006 STi Spec D for 4 years and it hasn't blown up :D

Good to hear 53! ;)

So, main differences between (STi) Spec D and PPP WRX?

- TD04 v VF43, 10bhp more than PPP VF43
- 5spd box v 6 spd box
- Subaru brakes v Brembos
- engine internals? Pistons etc different?
- inverted suspension design on STi?
- part leather seats on Spec D plus better stereo
- Bigger Scoop

Any other significant differences that I've forgotten about?

Andy

Larger ARB's and funky droplinks
Alloy Wishbones
114.3 Hubs, stronger
Larger Wheels 17x8
Larger Tyres
DCCD-A with Yaw sensors
Uprated Stereo
SatNav/Traffic Alert/Tracker
Black carpets
Full leather seats
Leather Door Cards

And more finer points I can't recollect in my tired brain :D

Scoop is the same accross the Hawkeyes :)
Engine, not sure but there will be differences beyond the short motor :)

Ok, ok! I remembered the stereo! :p;)

Alan will correct me but the first 2008s had a bad map where the fuel was too lean on Boost, when fuels too lean, as with remote control car engines they get very hot thus things fail same principle other factors were probably in there but Subarus pistons aint forged thus probably wont take as much hammer as forged would, that being said even forged pistons will blow if fuel maps too lean.

The way i look at it is the STI was mapped to the limit any deviation unless done by People like ALan and co wasnt advised, back in the day of the Type R and 2000 turbo it was diff they could throw stuff at em, today things are diff more regs have to be met etc.


One thing to note on the 2008 wrx and wrx-s is Iain at Lichfields told me if you wanna mod it your nearly at the limit due to the weaker gearbox and small turbo ( dont let this put you off though i thought it wasnt that much diff than my STI to be honest )

which car you looking at ?

Andy they did a recall on them in august 2008 i think to change the map, some did fail however after this but its touch and go if they wernt modded etc, i spoke to 5 garages with this concern myself and most of them said each one that failed thats come in has either been modded or razzled on track days, only a few have genuine faults, but that can be said about any car really.

Cheers mate.

One of my pals is looking at a PPP 2006 WRX. He definitely won't mod it, so was trying to get an idea how bad the problems were on those cars.

There's link on my other thread on General. ;)

ahh well your outside of the 2008 issues,

im unsure if this was a problem with that model.

i heard head gaskits were sometimes an issue

anyone help him ?

my WRX had head gaskets issues

my 2007 sti with only ppp had issues which required a new short engine and other parts under warranty at 12000 miles after 2 1/2 years old now on new engine having done approx 6000 miles

When i was a nipper there was a gang of us that rode Yamaha Rd125 LC's. A fair few of us modded our bikes with allspeed exhausts K&N filters, reeds ect. Some of us fitted upjet carb kits and some did not. The standard bikes ran fine, The modded bikes with the carb jet kits also ran fine. The lads that modded without upjetting found they melted the piston.
Re-mapping is like a modern re-jetting. To get these cars into the country subaru have to run them quite lean due to immissions homologation law's. By fitting filters that breath better and exhausts/de-cat that dont give as much back pressure they run the engine even leaner which will cause more heat which will cause gasket and or piston failier.
There is nothing wrong with the Hawk 2.5 engine, many have done thousands of problem free miles modded or un-modded. My bet is DIY and modding without a new map suited to the mods fitted. Of course many owner's will not admit to this and will instead blame the engine saying its made of chocolate.

my 2008 sti was bog standard no mods 2 engines replaced, my 2007 hawkeye sti again bog standard is now in getting new head gaskets so yes they are chocolate from my experiance.

Pal is looking at a 2006 WRX, PPP, 23,000 mls. Was thinking that if there were going to be problems they would have happened by now?

Well i don't know about the 08 hatch. from what ive read they needed a new map. This says to me that to get it into the country and pass type testing they pushed it to far with a lean map. By re-mapping i believe it comes under modification so is now not subject to the type tests.
Maybe your unlucky with your hawk, Is it truly totally bog standard, no back box, panel filter, always run on 99 ron ?
Was your head gasket an internal or external fail ?

most failures are on either standard map or a badly done modifed map, get a good 1 done, according to my mapper this solves most issues, not all of ofc

The earlier Hawk engines appear to have slightly less of a reputation than the later Hatch versions.
I would say it's the sum of all the issues, rather than one single instance of a problem.
The difficulties seem to arise when the situation switches from "normal" to "marginal" when it comes to the longevity of the complete package.
It's like jumping up and down on a tree branch. Yes, generations of us kids have done it, and some haven't got away with it!

Have a look here https://www.scoobynet.com/scoobynet-...chocolate.html. Mines been a nightmare and in the garage (still!). You can see from here that it depends on how well the car has been looked after, mine wasn't cared for that well. The service book is full of regular service stamps all through Subaru. I haven't heard of one WRX that has had the same problems as me though.

Both my hatch and hawkeye are and where bog standard not a single mod both serviced as per the book. Niot sure if it was internal or external fault still at the garage getting sorted out.

It would be interesting to see where the gasket failed, internal / external and whether this was at the lower part of the cylinder. I read somewhere that flat/boxer engines can suffer if there not used as the coolant sits on the gasket unlike a virtical engine arrangement. A friend of mine had a classic 2 liter and later fitted the short engine. Both had HG issues but his was far from standard. Cylinder stud stretch can also cause this.

ive a 2007 hawkeye wrx sl and mine is modded to 355bhp,

i changed a lot on the car,turbo,tmic,arbs droplinks,brembos and 6spd set up ,

oh and mine comes with leather and heated seats oh and a sunroof as standard lol

,my friends 2006 wrx was remapped to 285bhp on the stndard turbo and never had a problem with it it the 4yrs she owned it, only sold it to get an estate car with baby on the way