I purchased our Legacy GT knowing from the get go that the turbocharged EJ25 was a stout platform straight from the factory. When I had an opportunity an easy 300whp with a GTO but of course the appeal of a family sized sedan with potential power of a C6 corvette won me over. Right from the get go, the Legacy GT has about 250 flywheel horsepower (205-210 all wheel horsepower) from the factory. Pretty tame for my standards but I knew it was being held back by the exhaust and ECU. As the community grew it became evident that the stock top mount intercooler was inferior and was going to have to be replaced with a front mount intercooler. Unfortunately, the platform was so new, that hardly any parts existed, let alone a FMIC kit. So we took it upon ourselves to design and sell the first commercially sold FMIC kit for the USDM Legacy GT.

We tested the prototype at the track and dropped the E/T 3/10ths (20-30hp) with similar conditions to the previous runs. We were onto something as the demand for us to sell the FMIC was high. Adding a Perrin short-ram intake, Blitz SBC i-D electronic boost controller, Perrin downpipe (cat-less), and Turbo-XS up-pipe we were able to get the E/T down another 2/10ths (20hp). Adding the UTEC engine management system gave me the ability to take control and tune timing and fueling parameters, eliminating fuel-cut and thus adding more power. At this point the car was running consistant 13.0's and the clutch was starting to wear. After the stock clutch slipped bad, I was in the market for a new clutch. ACT had a street disc that was designed for the Impreza 2.5 but would fit the Legacy GT when upgrading the flywheel, but this disc didn't have the clamping power I needed, so I opted for the RPS MAX street disc. Its pressure plate had a ridiculous amount of clamping force but it was a race disc. After installation of the ACT streetlite flywheel and a 1000 mile break-in, it was back to the track again. This time the car would run a best time of 12.7 @ 107 mph.

At this point, I wanted big power. I looked at my options and chose the path of least upgrades required. I bought a set of GT-Spec headers and had a custom external wastegate flange welded onto the GT-Spec up-pipe. This mated to a 38mm Turbonetics Evolution wastegate. I bought a Deadbolt sz55 turbo that was easily capable of making 400+ whp. With this much power the fuel system had to be upgraded as the stock 135lph fuel pump and 550cc injectors would not support the capabilities of the new turbo. As it was, I was one of the first to do a public analysis of the at the time new fuel pump housing, figuring out and documenting the caveats of doing a 255lph swap. I chose Power Enterprise 850cc fuel injectors mated with Perrin fuel rails to finish out the fuel system. I also opted to wrap the headers with Thermo Tec copper exhaust wrap to help the exhaust gasses retain their heat/velocity and help with spool.

Also at this time a Speed Density software update for the Turbo XS UTEC was released; and with my Turbo XS Tuner wideband, I spent a couple hours tuning the UTEC learning the new features. I think at some point racing the car at the track that night the pending damage occured as the car ran poorly and was very hard to tune.

It ran ok, making about 350hp, but the tuning issues were still there, as if it had a vacuum leak (although a complete check of all hoses and seals proved no leaks externally.) I decided to get rid of the sz55 and go with a complete race setup; an Ultimate-Racing rotate-mount turbo kit with Tial 38mm wastegate and T3/TO4S (60-1) turbo. I rotated the intake manifold, re-routed lines, and reconfigured the FMIC intercooler piping and HKS SSQV BOV to the front of the car. The new setup was awesome and gave the car a kick to the pants, but unfortunately didn't correct any of the tuning issues I had. It would constantly stall after a free rev, and I could only come to the conclusion was that something happened internally for sure.

It was time for a compression test and to my dismay the number 4 cylinder read half the compression it should have. We pulled and tore down the motor as I expected to see a hole or a missing piece of ringland but under my initial inspection I was surprised to see no piston face or ringland damage. The valves for that cylinder were another matter. The intake valves appeared to be bent and after measuring and watching oil leak past the valve seat it was evident that the intake valves had been bent. I can only conclude that at some point they floated and contacted the piston.

With the motor torn apart, it only makes sense to build it up and the slew of parts ordering began. Aside from the OEM oil pump, gasket kit and valve guides; the order was placed for Swaintech coated 100mm CP pistons, ARP head studs, Eagle rods, Brian Crower oversized intake and exhaust valves, and Kelford Stage 3 cams with springs. The plans are to go big with the heads, high lift cams with larger valves will allow us to move more air top end (8000 rpm). With this much motor we will need to upgrade the fueling system and a custom surge tank feeding an Aeromotive A1000 pump will do the trick. Running custom -6 AN fuel lines to an Aeromotive A1000-6 regulator will take the place of the stock pressure regulator. We will keep the 850cc injectors for now, but plan to upgrade to 1000cc in the future. Lastly, I've sent out the T3/T04S (61mm) turbo to be rebuilt as a water cooled, journal bearing 6776SP (essentially a TO4R) with 750 hp capability

With this motor and turbo combination, we should be able to make the desired 500+ whp with C16 and 30psi safely. Stay tuned as we’ll be updating this page as we progress.

3/4/2008 - Update

We got the last of the parts in this week, including the very streetable stage 2 GSC cams and over-sized Brian Crower valves and now have sent the block off to the machine shop to be worked over and assembled with race ported heads.