z31maniac

I loved the S2000 I drove last year, but they 06+ seem to be appreciating for low mileage nice ones.

But holy ***** that thing is insane.

kaisersoze

iTrader: (8)

I find the fears about EJ engines fragility a bit overblown. All engines are exercises in compromise and have potential failure points. Porsche M96/97 engines have IMS bearing failures(volvo V8s do too), LS7s had issues with dropping valves, LS3 engines may have oiling issues etc. There are no bulletproof engines
That said I blew my stock engine(at 370whp). Yes the EJ has some warts. the sti rods are forged but the pistons are weak. Should it come with forged pistons-of course. If you arent going for bigger power get a tune to reduce likelihood of det. if you are going to modify it get some forged pistons and a good cooling system.

z31maniac

Really enjoyed driving the BRZ, didn't bother wasting his time on the STi since I know I'm not going to drop that much on a car.

It was fun to scare the salesman on the test drive. At one point he literally said, "OK I've had enough."

Jeffbucc

My dad and I did something similar when we test drove his old STI. When he test drives a car, he calls up one of his friends son, who used to race rally cars in Italy. The son is a certifiably crazy good, crazy fast driver with absolutely no fear.

At some point he likes to turn the test drive over to the son. It is so funny to see the salesman being close to voiding his bowels after about 30 seconds of experiencing him driving. Doesn't help that the guy is yelling loudly in Italian what he thinks of the car(my pops speaks Italian) and and if you aren't used to an excitable Italian talking fast it only adds to the fear.

z31maniac

I've slept on it, I'm 99% sure I'm going to pick up a BRZ.

Hopefully I can get the Crystal White "Blue Edition" at my local dealer before it's gone.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

WAIT! If you want a BRZ wait until after solo nationals. A bunch of very nicely prepared street tire ones will be going on sale. And Danny Kao is still trying to sell his, not sure how far along the part out is...

z31maniac

Meh, I'm not interested in an STR build that's been beat on its entire life.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

But its already broken in, and already has balleur coilovers.

z31maniac

That's an interesting thought.

SCCA forums?

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

I'm not sure yet. Probably facebook and stuff. I'm pretty sure Don Slevin's car is gone after nats this year, not sure what forums he posts to. And I've heard of 3-4 more.

ofspunk7

So my buddy owns a subie specific shop. I run all of our track events and I help out with parts. I did the modded WRX game for 5 years and sunk about 12K into my build in parts, which isn't much for the subie world. Remember miata parts are way cheaper than subie parts. With my own experiance and our customers I would not say the EJ motor fear is hype. We have had more than one car spin a bearing in under 5K. It doesn't matter if it was our tune or one of the other local subie shops around town, people tend to end up building their motors because they blow. I have seen a ton of builds coming from people who are only "Stage 2" on the WRX and STI side. This goes for the 2.5 EJ motors (STI or 06+ WRX). Bearing seem to spin or ringlands seem to fail. It is just the EJ way once you start messing with it. Not saying that the stock tune is good by any means. It is pretty common knowledge that a stock tune with the subie is not healthy for the engine. The WRX transmission starts to get into risky territory above 350WHP. Mine held out about that, but I also only had 72K on the car. A lot of our larger builds ended up blowing the transmissions as they climbed towards or above 400. Then they keep going and blow their PPGs or PDKs... lol

Anyways, the EJ motors blow. The shop and local club saying is "not if, but when" and it is talking about the ticking timebomb motor.

I will say I know people with light mods and high miles, but it isn't as common as blowing the motor.

We did pick up a 2015 WRX for the shop and some R&D. I did have fun driving it. It made me miss my old setup. If I had the best of both worlds I would still be DD'ing my WRX and my NA would be my project car.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

Before I challenge your claims, I'd like to know which shop your friend owns.

ofspunk7

NF Performance

Here are a few of our cars


2011 WRX | NF Performance "Stage 1" | Rotated PTE 6266 | - NASIOC

NF Performance's Speeding Bullet 9.96sec @ 139MPH - NASIOC

Quarter Mile: NF Performance GTX3582 05' STI goes 10.2sec @ 137mph - NASIOC

NF: Project Panda | MNSubaru


As I stated. I run the driving events we host and help out with parts. I am not an engine builder or tuner and do not claim to be an expert. However, I do know my way around a subie. I have pulled my share of engines and trannys over the last 5 years.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

Spun bearings on the 2.5 are pretty rare without being accompanied by all the other bearings because the oil pickup tube cracked. Its the OMG cylinder 4 ring land problem, which IMO isnt nearly as big of a deal that its made out to be. The pickup tube problem is, they're all going to break eventually.

z31maniac

Interesting, but moot.

At this point I'm 99% sure I'm going to get a BRZ, or just keep my Miata.

I don't really want another Mustang and I'm not sure the 370Z made enough improvement over my '06 350Z to be worth it either (although I admit I haven't driven a 370Z yet.)

ofspunk7

BRZ has a lot of potential. The friend who sold me my NA was picking up a BRZ as their new platform for National AutoX. It seems to be a popular move right now.

I don't know if you saw the Drive Channel video but it is worth a watch. The thing that stuck with me from this video was when he was talking about putting the same turbo on an EJ motor and making 100 less WHP.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

Ok, so a few points:

- Is the EJ255/257 ringland and spun bearings "all hype"? Probably not, since there are a significant amount of reported/documented instances of this happening, enough to call both "issues". Is it just a matter of when, rather then if? I can't agree with that logic. You have to look at the big picture - how many cars are documented to have suffered from this, of those how many were unmolested, and of those unmolested how many were appropriately maintained? Then compare it to the total number of subarus built/sold/on the road today and working fine for years and years, and all of a sudden the "issue" is not exactly the epidemic that many, you included, make it out to be.

I mean seriously, look at the big picture.

Transmissions were only problematic for the 02's and some 03's, and then again for 06-07 because of the uber low fd and weak 3rd gear. The sti box is a tank, and the 08+ wrx box also handles up to about 400whp without any fuss.

I could go on, but OP looks to have made up his mind about the BRZ, so I won't waste everyone's time. I just don't agree with your statement(s). I'm on my 5th subaru, have also wrenched and tuned my fair share over the years (I do it on the side, not as a primary source of income), and while they have their issues, its about the same as many other cars. By your reasoning EVO's are hunks of junk too, cause they have t-case/trans issues all the time, etc...


OP,

Since you've decided on the BRZ, have you looked into all the issues they have had? I'm not sure if it was the 1st production year or what, but between the HPFP failures, the random CEL at idle and rough idle, and the oil consumption issues, I think its something to be aware of and educate yourself on. I think at one point there was a whole site dedicated to FRS/BRZ documented failures/issues.

ofspunk7

I will shoot you a PM, we can take it offline.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

Cool beans. It's just a discussion anyways, no hostility

z31maniac

I would still like to hear your knowledge on the EJ stuff.

From what I gather most of it seems to be the first year issues. The idle issue was software fix.

I haven't read about oil consumption? Do you think an AOS would be a good idea on this engine even N/A?

I'm liking what I'm reading about the tuning potential of the engine even staying N/A.