O.k time for all those 2.5 haters to stand up and give some evidence . Its just sounds like a lot of hearsay to me and not fact based . So if there is anyone out there that has had a 2.5 that has actually gone wrong or as you lot call it blown up.As the official review sites call it head gasket leaks etc Please post and let us all know the truth. There has to be some rules though. For a start it has to be a car that you have owned and it can not have had any engine mods. Plus to justify it being a worse buy than the 2.0 it needs to have cost more than a 5 speed box cost to repair on a sti or am I just starting some more hearsay about gearboxes . Time to give some respect back to Subaru for the best all round car ever

 

Dude! Get a life and look at the thread at the top of the page.

 

I'll also add that the 6 speed syncro issue is only on the boxs upto 2003 after that they are good for 700bhp.

 

lol yeh there is threads all over the place about it, been done to death. end result 2.5 = chocolate engine, the end. lol

 

Google.

 

Yawn !!!

 

Why should I have to go looking through threads. The thing that bugs me is people on this site bitch about these things all the time and tar the Subaru name . When I don't even think they know what there talking about . I think its just some Chinese whispers that they add too and make worse. P.S does anyone know of a good Subaru site were people don't tell others to get a life and actually like Subaru

 

April Fools day brings em out lol

 

There you go more proof chocolate engines enough said

 

go ahead and buy one we are only kidding on, it is bullet proof and will run forever.
Look here is one forsale lol
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2006-SUBAR...item19eae6f899

 

Yeh i hear Subaruswapshop on facebook is the place to be, you will fit right in with that lot.

 

End of day 2nd hand car you take your gamble, mines is forged wouldnt change it for anything else

 

Mine is a standard hawk STi bottom end and im running 380bhp/412lb ft and the car is near 60k miles and my daily drive, if you want to hear the good stories of the 2.5.

But I know the car is on borrowed time, I knew that when I bought the car, I read the stories, and did my homework etc, and when it does break, I will get it forged, but I know the limits of the car, I would love to do a trackday but I know that would be the end of the engine.

tbh im expecting the worse, so with that in mind, I wont be dispointed when it eventually goes!!!

 

I have a wrx 2.5 not an Sti

Daily driver doing 100 miles a day 114587 mile on standard engine no parts replaced except belts

 

Took the words out of my mouth ,,, knew what I was geting into when I brought my hawk sti ,, around the same power and miles as yours and still ok but I'm planning on the worst and can't wait to feel what a properly built 2.5 can do

 

60k daily driver hawk wrx 2.5 running 334/381 for last 20k+ miles, no problems so far. BUT I have personally heard of a lot of failures and do expect mine to go bang at some point.

Now I have an issue with your comment about tarnishing Subaru's name with stories of failed engines. They have let their customers down badly with lack of support with these ringland piston ring and head gasket failures. It has lead to die hard Subaru fans losing their hard earned cash and leaving the Subaru fold for good. I personally would happily buy another Subaru as I have a good relationship with my local main dealer and other good Subaru specialists like FB Tuning on my doorstep. Also helps that as yet I haven't suffered a failure. If I had I may feel very differently.

 

Cant wait to get stuck into a build myself, If it hasn't broke by xmas, im going to just go ahead and get it done!!!

 

2009 MY07 STI
Early head gasket & ring land NO 2 bank
10.000 Mls
500 +. & 32000 Mls , purrs like a kitten

 

Your very right I should have been more specific but that said one of the worsed is merc and if they can not get it right maybe we could be a little more understanding with it being a relitively neesh market

 

I'll be completely understanding with any supplier until I'm out of pocket for something that wasn't my fault! That said, I have no grounds to complain as I have willingly modified my own car. Any failures now are arguably my fault!

 

2008 sti piston failure at 26500 miles then head gasket at 40000

 

Chris, this isnt hear say, its fact, the 2.5ltr engine isnt strong and the STI ones have a very high failure rate mechanically, either due to the fact the piston rings have gone or the head gaskets have leaked, either way its been vastly documented since 2004 when these units went into the USDM cars and then into the UK/EU cars.
Not only is that documented but also the way Subaru UK treated quite a few of its customers when their under warranty engines let go, ie they did everything to NOT pay up, saying things like "you hit the rev limiter" errrrm like what does that have to do with it? Then we found out there was an issue with the map, it leaned out too much towards the limiter and didnt correct itself so it caused det, yeah wonderful, so they flashed the ECU's when the cars came in for a service.... end of story? Errrrm no.
That actually didnt fix the problem, sometimes when you use the wrong length bolts for the HG's or you dont tighten them up, that causes issues, fantastic (remembering this is an award winning engine ), even Prodrive when doing the RB320 said they were pushing it within 10% of the engines limit of reliabilty, and they know these engines pretty well.

So new car comes out, new engine?
Nope, they have changed a few bits (but not the pistons which were and still are one of the biggest issues), so that fixed this?
HAHAHA (no), same things happened to the Hatch as it did with the hawk, and you wonder if the Japanese knew anything we didnt (they run the 2.5's on auto Impreza's and the Forrester STI's but at 265ps, not 305ps).

And now the saga continues.... again the new model, again the same engine, and you wonder why people wont buy new Subaru's any more?

Back in the early to mid 00's they were shifting 5000+ STI's a year alone, now they move around 5% of that a year, yes that bad, the enthusiasts dont want to buy an unreliable car and that is what they were getting, plus bad service from IM, the new car, bad move with that same engine, they needed to put the new 2.5 in there for it to be a hit with the fan base, but they didnt....

If it wasnt for the yen v pound, we would have more 2ltr JDM twin scroll cars on the road as its a much more reliable unit.

Tony

 

A five year ( no quibble ) warrenty on the STi might have helped sales too

 

Wow what a **** the OP is.

Well mate it takes me 30 seconds to type it out for you, my ******* standard 2.5 hawk STI blew up about three months after its warranty expired, in May of 2010. Head gaskets and no.4 piston were screwed.

I know you're from Manc and therefore a bit daft but it does help to put a little effort into something if you want information, two clicks takes you to a sticky thread that documents many failures of these cars - as does a Google search.

 

Don't think so best 4 options

just doing a lot of drugs

Dealer Bought a 2.5 he thought cheap and would make £4k now he does some research and he will lose £4k

works for Subaru

He is F1fan with new username for 1st April.





Tony

 

Cut the guy some slack there chaps! he's only saying..

Being fair, a 2.5 engine is great to find on a daily road car. Lots of torque with the right turbo and still tuneable if fixed. Like any other situation if you don't like the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

 

Guys, I don't fancy trawling through 52 pages worth of the engine failure sticky, can anyone tell me is it just the 2008-10 models this affects or is it basically all 2.5L engines from around 2005 onwards?

 

In short, all Subaru 2.5 engines (2005 to date) are the same and all susceptible to failures of HG or ringland. However the factory ECU map on 2008-2010 cars is thought to be worse and encouraging these failures sooner.

I wouldn't worry too much. You hear about the failures and there is always a chance of it if you are unlucky. Just drive it and enjoy it. I love the 2.5 engine, makes for a great every day road car!

 

Thanks mate, very helpful much appreciated

 

I have had a question regarding these engines for a while now and I haven't found a definitive answer. The most common failure seems to be the HG, is HG failure what leads to piston failure or can piston failure occur even with the HG in perfect working order?
The reason I ask is I saw a 06 hawkeye sti for sale pushing around 340/390 and in the add he stated that it had been fitted with a cosworth HG and ARP head bolts etc, however no forged pistons. Would having these parts mitigate piston failure or is it still a realistic possibility without forged pistons?