Has anyone here tried building a max power NA street EJ22?

[WRXish]

Hi all, looking for information about what to replace my current engine with when the time comes. The car is a 91 Legacy l wagon with the 2.2 motor in it. I am considering several possibilities including replacing the engine with the exact thing that is in it and living with its relatively low power. That is not my first preference. I would love to do an update to that engine, maybe a combo of parts that would allow a 2.5 engine NA as a bolt in swap. I have no idea if that is even possible or not, but I want to look at all reasonable possibilities. This car gets used as a daily driver and as my tow vehicle for my motorcycle trailer. In that duty it is adequate, but just barely. A bit more torque and horsepower would be greatly appreciated. If it isnt possible to do an easy swap of a 2.5 in that car, then what is the expected max power I could plan on with a well built 2.2? Looking forward to what you guys who have done this stuff with these cars have to say.

[1996Battlewagon]

NA 2.2s are built for longevity and economy - not power. I would truthfully just ditch that idea all together. If the engine in your car is fine now, buy a JDM EJ25D off ebay and do a headgasket upgrade while it's out in the open. I had one with Six Star headgaskets and basic bolt ons and a low-temp thermostat and it ran like a stabbed rat and stayed cool as a cucumber. Swaps should be a direct bolt-on for your car albeit you'll have to deal with an OBD-II conversion I think. I believe you can just swap in the ECU from a BK/BD/BG and you'd be fine.

[setnev]

I heard the EJ22 can withstand a few lbs of boost. Maybe a max of 6-8 lbs. Which is enough to give it some pep, but the small HP gains on the motor would be leaving you wanting "moar booooost". You'd be better off swapping in an EJ25 or building a EJ22t with EJ25D heads and boosting the crap out of that.