Turbo upgrade for 05 Legacy and possible FMI?

[Dead91silvia]

I have a customer thats wanting an upgraded turbo. He has an 05 Outback Turbo, 5 speed, with 118K and the turbo is not as good as it once was. He wants more power but with just doing a bolt on (no injectors, or anything else other than maybe a FMI). He's a mild driver for the most part, but still likes to have fun with his car every now and then.

If any of you have suggestions, let me know. I'm the one that will be installing and I want to recommend a good upgrade, without braking the bank. I told him he might be looking at $800-1200 for a good name, BB Turbo. He wants more power, but nothing crazy. Also something that wont kill MPG...

Also, are there any GOOD front mount intercooler's out there for the same car? This is kinda an after thought that I said as a possibility to do with the turbo that could ad some more power.

[DarkPhoenix]

If he goes with a bigger turbo, he should get bigger injectors and at least the ECU flashed. A good upgrade would be the STi turbo, since that is essentially what he has in that car, and STi engine. I wouldn't do a front mount, but I would upgrade the factory topmount. It isn't the easiest thing, but I think an STi unit can be put in with some minimal mods, and can really give that OBW a kick in the pants.

That is the car I would want. The only way to get a turbo Legacy wagon in the states with a stick was the Outback XT.

[BG5guy]

If he goes with a bigger turbo, he should get bigger injectors and at least the ECU flashed. A good upgrade would be the STi turbo, since that is essentially what he has in that car, and STi engine. I wouldn't do a front mount, but I would upgrade the factory topmount. It isn't the easiest thing, but I think an STi unit can be put in with some minimal mods, and can really give that OBW a kick in the pants.

That is the car I would want. The only way to get a turbo Legacy wagon in the states with a stick was the Outback XT.


i agree, no need for the front mount unless he plans on pushing some major power. Ive seen many subarus with front mounts that actually notice a loss of power due to the longer pipes and no supporting mods. Bigger turbo should almost always equal injectors but its not absolutely needed. Def. get a walbro 255 fuel pump and upgrade the TMIC. the STi tmic will fit, can be found for cheap, my recomendations are to reinforce the ac lines because i have seen many chopped in half over time from the bigger tmic.

[chuckthefuk]

The above is all true..

You cant make more power when your limiting fuel.

Fuel + Air = Bang!! More of each will make a bigger Bang!!

FMIC are a bling factor.. Even the FFIM (Front facing intake manifold) are bling factor.

Everyone complains about the extra lag from longer pipes but no one ever takes into consideration 0% heat soak from a FMIC / FFIM.

There are some cheap kits available for piping the FFIM but the core is where the money comes into play. The amount of bars / depth / end tanks / material / etc... will make or break the intercooler setup.

VF28/34 ... if i am not mistaken the size of the VF-series turbos have pros and cons, many people swear by the lower number series since they out perform the bigger untis but again with pros and cons.

COBB flash will generate the proper power band with his current mods that for
1) will feel like bigger numbers
2) preform efficiently and *may* increase fuel economy since there is no wasted fuel.
..

Hundreds of forums will say the same thing over and over again.. " you can throw bags of money on parts but without a proper tune it will make the car worse "

Cheers
-Chuck

[Dead91silvia]

All good info! So you guys know, I'm only really up on Nissan systems so the Subie stuff is all new to me..

What I'm reading is for any performance/hp increasing upgrade, he will need injectors to go with the turbo? I know on SR's, you can do a mild upgrade without injectors. The one thing he said he wanted was for it to spool faster with a little more kick. Will the STi turbo do that, without needing injectors? The main thing I'm looking for with his car is longevity with him wanting a little more kick.

Like I said, I'm a Nissan guy when it comes to turbos, so this is all new. I do understand the fuel pump, but what that be needed for a mild upgrade?

And if all else fails and too much is needed for an performance upgrade, what would a close to stock replacement be? At least good BB turbo... we wont have to worry about.

[BG5guy]

if you upgrade to the vf39 sti turbo, id highly recomend rings, injectors, and walbro255 pump. It can make good power and can easily see around 300hp on a good tune. However, those 3 parts can be spendy if bought all at once. A good option for little additional $$$ and mods could be upgrade his stock td04 to a td05 turbo. Not sure what you could see number wise but the td05 should spool up a tad quicker and allow for a little more boost

[Huffer]

If he's just looking for a little more power, then replace the turbo with a similar factory one, and get an upgraded exhaust system (up/downpipe, 3" catback), plus an ECUTek retune. That's it.

[ouch1011]

If he is looking for a small upgrade but still bolt-on, I'd go with a VF52. That is the original turbo for the 08+ WRX, which uses the exact same intake/intercooler setup as the 05-09 LGT. Most aftermarket bolt-on turbos are not actually bolt-on, as they are turbos that are modified to "fit" the LGT. The VF52 will flow more air than the stock fuel system can handle, but still has almost the same spool characteristics as the stock VF40.

Honestly, there is no reason to replace the stock turbo with another stock one. Replace it with a VF52. Fits the same as stock, works the same as stock on the stock tune, but is much more capable when you add modification.

Wouldn't recommend a FMIC unless you are comfortable carving up your customer's bumper cover. But I would also recommend replacing the stock plastic tank intercooler, because the crimps around the plastic tanks tend to allow the intercooler to come apart, especially with higher boost levels.

Tune will be necessary to make the most use of the new turbo. Even a tune on a bone stock car is worth it. Don't bother with the Accessport...get a Tactrix cable, find a good stage 1 tune on the Legacy forums (there are several out there) and flash it yourself. Or, you could get an e-tune, and still be way less than the cost of an AP for basically the same thing.

A catless up-pipe is also a good idea since any bit that comes out of the cat in the up pipe will ruin the turbo. All STIs and any 07+ turbo Subaru uses a catless up pipe.

[SilentRacer]

^^ completely agree, I'm going vf52 is my turbo blows. Bolt on for the LGT but remember the exhaust is his main robber of power. Hes got a possible precat on the upipe(varied by years), 2 cats on the downpipe, and two gigantic mufflers. Just by changing the downpipe and getting a tune he can get another 20-30hp without getting anything else.