Wayno5

Hello all
I am a new member seeking info.
Used to own the Bugeye 2000 WRX and loved it.
I am now looking at buying a 2012-2013 2.5 litre WRX.
Have heard issues with Piston problems regarding Ringland which
can cause heaps of damage.
Can any owners put me on the straight and narrow.
Should i be concerned about buying one of these great cards or not.

Thanks from Wayne in Adelaide.

NGBZ

They can be problematic if not serviced properly or modded by someone who does not know what they are doing. At the end of they day, the 2.5 is a decent motor if treated with respect.
Get one with a known service history and no mods and you'll more likely to have no issues.
There are a lot of misconceptions out there but didn't put me off getting a 2016 STi.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

You're a braver man than me.

Yep the world sure is full of misconceptions but the Subaru 2.5L engine ain't one of em!

Fill your boots Wayno...

https://www.scoobynet.com/scoobynet-...-failures.html

Matty81

As what ngbz said. Great cars when they are serviced properly. some 2.5's are bad some are good. Aslong as you treat them with respect you should be alright. Sti 2.5's seem to go more than the wrx's, but I think that's because the wrx piston compression is different to the sti.

clyne 08

Just buy one which has been forged already, as a lot have! this will save you money and tears down the line.

Tidgy

the 2.5 is a great engine when built right, problem is they weren't. In standard form they have a habbit of breaking ring lands and blowing headgaskets (make rovers look reliable).

It's pure pot luck whether they go or not, i've seen high mileage cars treated like crap still going strong and i've seen low milage well looked after cars fail under 10k miles, it's just how lucky/unlucky you are rather than how well looked after or anything else.

Once they have a bit of love, decent rods, pistons and head studs they will be very reliable even at 450bhp and make a cracking road engine. Even to the point of i have had a forged, closed deck one put in my type R with the goal of running it between 500 and 550

domino46

properly forged they are a great engine with endless torque and I prefer it to the 2.0 , mines currently 530bhp

Blue by You

iTrader: (23)

Have to agree with this.
The torque from a built 2.5 is endless. I wouldn't trust a standard one, but if you can find a car with a properly forged 2.5 you won't be sorry.

ossett2k2

iTrader: (9)

A bit of a thread hijack here but do 2.0ltr heads fit straight on to a 2.5ltr block or is there more to it?

Gambit

iTrader: (6)

its the 2.5STI which is more prone to breaking. 2.5 WRX isnt as problematic

SmurfyBhoy

" I Think" that machining is required as different chambers ,

Tidgy

I'm running v5 heads on a 2.5 block, It had to have a load of machine work to sort out valve seats, valve guides etc, but I'm not aware of it needing any work specifically to fit. Doesn't mean there wasn't i should add, i'll ask.

Does work well as a combination though,

banny sti

iTrader: (68)

You can fit them straight on if you want, but better if you open up the combustion chamber to match the larger pistons.

ossett2k2

iTrader: (9)

Love this graph,you must have strong neck muscles to drive that car

Tidgy

haha

i want more though, in theory if i hit 500bhp its gonna be knocking on 600ftlb if it goes up the same way it has at previous stages.

Gav81

im buying a 2007 STI Hawkeye 68,000 on clock should I be worried regards some comments with the engine?
Cheers newbie gav

Steve001

iTrader: (7)

When I bought mine I was fully aware of the issues and went with it, you might get lucky

But, and this has to be taken into account, how easy will it be to sell when the time comes? When running well the 2.5 is an awesome engine

Gav81

Im hoping to be keeping it for a good while do some bits to it and treat it well,
what would you suggest to do to help prevent having to have a engine rebuild at some point? That isn't going to soar the earth now

Steve001

iTrader: (7)

Stay off boost seriously just service regularly and enjoy the car, some 2.5's have gone over 100k miles with no problems, however, you must be prepared for the worst.

Tidgy

As above. It's pure pot luck. Seen some abused and never go, seen some babied and go in very short order.

Bear in mind it's cheaper to sort it rather than fix it, so could always budget for a rebuild when you buy and have it done straight away.

big-kev

Drive it until it breaks ! that's if it ever does break and then worry about a rebuild

Gav81

Won't be able to stay of the boost lol like it to much, I will just drive it till or if it does go bang not point worrying now I guess a put a big deposit down so I can't back out now otherwise I will lose it,
cheers for the advice guys

Steve001

iTrader: (7)

Pics, how much?

Vxr2010

not all 2.5 break , luck of the draw plus good servicing and sensible warm up , of heads go do a full rebuild as bottom end very likely to go with in a year or so , on the 2 litre the bottom ends tend not to fail as much after a rebuild

Tidgy

Most 2.0's are getting on in miles now, so since your 75% of the way there may as well do them.

john banks

Wishful thinking is that 2.5 failures are due to poor mods or servicing by others. Until it happens to you.

Strikes me that the EJ257 was a cheaply adapted design from a normally aspirated engine, forced on them for emissions reasons for their target output.

A lot of failures in the aftermarket that were supposed to have been done properly never reached the public domain.

Tidgy

you could point to alot fo reasons, no longer use forged pistons, inferior head gaskets, poor map etc etc. If it was one thing that was easy to identify then would be alot easier to sort.

andy97

iTrader: (1)

I had a 2.5 with a MD321T, it was stupidly fast but ultimately unreliable unless carefully mapped. It failed the last time whilst it went to a third party mapper up in Carnforth-he paid me out !

My engine builder was also steering away from 2.5 blocks for big power and recommending 2 litre (ideally CDB) with a stroker kit to make 2.1

Do people still modify Subaru anymore? Mine went years ago and wont buy another, I just see the odd older and older rust buckets around these days

Tidgy

define big power. 2.5 closed deck converted will do 550 reliably, beyond that then you need to look at the whole engine package anyway.

Vxr2010

a 2.5 with a sensible map about 1.3 bar boost and forged is a good lump , plus slow warm up and regular service , the torque is much greater than the 2 litre , and cars are a lot more driveable , use arp or like head bolts or the hg issue can return more easily , 2 litres are stronger but lack the torque , a 2 litre stroked engine could be best of both worlds but i don't know if there are downsides of stroking them ?