NITO Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Has to be a Subaru Impreza WRX. At that budget a bugeye or blobeye UK WRX. Good for 280bhp with just ecutek remap and exhaust/filter. Add injectors and partial decat for 300bhp or upto 340+bhp with a turbo swap and all the aforementioned. With the right mods they remain bullet proof and very easy to maintain and self service with huge parts and aftermarket support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjimknickers Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Yea, I’ve had a wrx turbo 2000 shape, mica red- I loved it, til I got smacked in the back end with it & it bent it all up. Got rid of it before I had a chance to get it re mapped. I do remember no mechanic I knew wanted to fit a clutch on it, so they must be a pig to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saviown Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 11 minutes ago, Bigjimknickers said: Yea, I’ve had a wrx turbo 2000 shape, mica red- I loved it, til I got smacked in the back end with it & it bent it all up. Got rid of it before I had a chance to get it re mapped. I do remember no mechanic I knew wanted to fit a clutch on it, so they must be a pig to do? depends on mechanic I have a carbonetics triple plate fitted in mine, no problem for the guy that fitted mine, the wrx gearbox is weak, not sure how much power it can handle, though big power boys upgrade to the sti box, so for 2k I wouldn't start plans on big powered wrx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjimknickers Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Nah I only ever wanted a re map on mine to finish it off, I just did a panel filter & a de cat pipe- Hayward & Scott. I just regret never finishing it, I’d of been happy with those mods & gains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NITO Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 (edited) The classic wrx 5 speed gbox is good to 320lbs/ft. The later boxes bugeye onwards were stronger and could handle a bit more, though probably about 340lbs/ft. The later 2.5 engines when tuned produced more torque so the boxes would fail quicker on tuned hawkeyes, if the EJ25 engine made it that far . Clutch change isn’t difficult, just more involved as 4wd, but Subarus are actually really easy to work on. The 6 speed box is a heavy item so would add unwanted weight to the car, but on 380bhp plus were pretty much mandatory. I ran a classic at 370bhp and first gearbox took the teeth straight off 3rd gear, I then fitted a P1 gearbox which seemed tougher as it went on to 80k miles when I sold it. My wife’s bugeye was running 340bhp almost from new to 80k miles with no box issues. Both of the above cars was on stock UK engine internals. The EJ20 properly tuned was a cracking engine and very robust. Steer clear of badly tuned examples. New age cars had much better mapping options and stock ecu’s had way more knock control. If they have been ecutek mapped they should have a decent tune. Edited January 18, 2018 by NITO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddfg Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 The only problems with replacing a clutch on a Subaru is the gearbox bell housing seizing to the engine Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjimknickers Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 Yea, I just remembered asking a few mechanics who sort of ummed & ahhed & never got back to me. Then after I got hit I just sold it on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saviown Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 20 hours ago, NITO said: The classic wrx 5 speed gbox is good to 320lbs/ft. The later boxes bugeye onwards were stronger and could handle a bit more, though probably about 340lbs/ft. The later 2.5 engines when tuned produced more torque so the boxes would fail quicker on tuned hawkeyes, if the EJ25 engine made it that far . Clutch change isn’t difficult, just more involved as 4wd, but Subarus are actually really easy to work on. The 6 speed box is a heavy item so would add unwanted weight to the car, but on 380bhp plus were pretty much mandatory. I ran a classic at 370bhp and first gearbox took the teeth straight off 3rd gear, I then fitted a P1 gearbox which seemed tougher as it went on to 80k miles when I sold it. My wife’s bugeye was running 340bhp almost from new to 80k miles with no box issues. Both of the above cars was on stock UK engine internals. The EJ20 properly tuned was a cracking engine and very robust. Steer clear of badly tuned examples. New age cars had much better mapping options and stock ecu’s had way more knock control. If they have been ecutek mapped they should have a decent tune. blob/hawk can handle a lot. lot more torque than 340lbs or sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NITO Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 I’m referring to the 5 speed gearbox and hard track day use with a safe margin. If you run a 5 speed box much higher than that it will fail, just a matter of time at that point. If you’re referring to the 6 speed STi gearbox then yes, it can handle much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saviown Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 26 minutes ago, NITO said: I’m referring to the 5 speed gearbox and hard track day use with a safe margin. If you run a 5 speed box much higher than that it will fail, just a matter of time at that point. If you’re referring to the 6 speed STi gearbox then yes, it can handle much more. "The later boxes bugeye onwards were stronger and could handle a bit more, though probably about 340lbs/ft" ok . just a bit confused by this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NITO Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 On 18/01/2018 at 17:12, saviown said: the wrx gearbox is weak, not sure how much power it can handle, My comments were in response to your comment above ^ merely adding my experience of the 5 speed WRX and its predecessor the classic and P1 gearboxes. I’ve experienced classic, P1, bug, blob and hawk gearboxes as well as the STi 6 speed. Classics will fail at much over 320lbs/ft (TY752 gearbox) which seemed to be their common failure point. Later 5 speeds (TY754) found in P1 and WRX bug/blob/hawk were stronger. After destroying my classic box I went with a P1 gearbox. In mine it was running around 360lbs/ft and hanging in there. I wouldn’t suggest they would go much further for reliable use and suspect mine was stretching its longevity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saviown Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 (edited) 20 hours ago, NITO said: My comments were in response to your comment above ^ merely adding my experience of the 5 speed WRX and its predecessor the classic and P1 gearboxes. I’ve experienced classic, P1, bug, blob and hawk gearboxes as well as the STi 6 speed. Classics will fail at much over 320lbs/ft (TY752 gearbox) which seemed to be their common failure point. Later 5 speeds (TY754) found in P1 and WRX bug/blob/hawk were stronger. After destroying my classic box I went with a P1 gearbox. In mine it was running around 360lbs/ft and hanging in there. I wouldn’t suggest they would go much further for reliable use and suspect mine was stretching its longevity. out of interest,t why all the boxes? hawkeye is the best manual box if you have the numbers, uk, blob box is ok but too short for my car, I was forever changing gear, now with the hawk, I can keep up with the revs Edited January 20, 2018 by saviown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NITO Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 You’ll see on page 1. I only changed out the box on one car, the classic wagon to a P1 box. The rest were on the cars we owned, each one tuned up. We’ve been through a few scoobies over the years cheers Nito Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saviown Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 43 minutes ago, NITO said: You’ll see on page 1. I only changed out the box on one car, the classic wagon to a P1 box. The rest were on the cars we owned, each one tuned up. We’ve been through a few scoobies over the years cheers Nito excellent 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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