EricI- 2005 USDM Subaru Outback with JDM 2.0 5EAT - Tuning

Post Reply
west_minist
Site Admin
Posts: 1713
Joined: Sun May 20, 2007 11:08 pm
Location: Barbados
Contact:

EricI- 2005 USDM Subaru Outback with JDM 2.0 5EAT - Tuning

Post by west_minist »

Info
Owner: EricI
Rom: A2ZJD00A
Tyres: 225/55-R17
Car Weight: 1588kg
Driver Weight: 104kg
Total Weight: 1692kg

Mods
XRT Stg2
XRT 5EAT
XRT XTMP
3” HKS catted downpipe w/1800°F coating, turbine blanket
Innovate LC-2 wideband
Grimmspeed 3-port EBCS
Silicone turbo inlet and aftaMAF hose
Reverse-flow fueling (2-4-1-3, opposite of firing order), flows to passenger side rail first to cool it off, and evens out possible fueling pulses
Topfeed rails with TGV deletes and 565cc STi pink injectors
DW65c Fuel Pump
NGK SILFR6A (14x26.5mm), laser iridium in stock heat range
5EAT trans cooler w/180°F thermostat, new OEM radiator
STi engine mounts, Rallitek trans mount insert, stock dogbone
west_minist
Site Admin
Posts: 1713
Joined: Sun May 20, 2007 11:08 pm
Location: Barbados
Contact:

Customer Review

Post by west_minist »

https://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/5693627-post.html
Its been forever since I updated, almost 5 months yikes! It has mostly been because the car wasn't plated and I got discouraged, though I have worked through essentially every possible way to do this swap at this point. Even though I went through all the issues with the exhaust AVCS and got everything JDM working, the JDM ECU simply cannot pass emissions when that testing involves readiness. From everything I've worked through with Ed @west_minist the issue essentially boils down to the JDM ECU not having the proper protocols required by the state's test computers, so even though there was no CEL and it ran well it was still missing information. From a project perspective I'm very frustrated by this, I did and learned a lot and got the whole **** thing running properly only to be stymied by a **** line of code.

Now, how does the car actually feel, after all is said and done? It feels really good! The STI and Rallitek mounts have broken in and the whole engine and trans feel very solid, I get essentially zero vibration at idle and never feel and driveline lash. The engine is smooth and sounds awesome at full goose, there's turbo whistle but its got the EL boxer brdrdrdrd sound that's more exotic than the normal UEL warble, and there's great spool from a stop and transient response when dropping a gear. XRT's 5EAT tuning is pretty epic, the first time I manually went from 1st to 2nd and got the brap-cut-brap shift I **** near giggled, and overall shifting in both D and Sport auto modes seem smoother and quicker. I'm really happy with the whole thing but now I can't help but notice the soft suspension, ugh.

So, after pursuing everything else, I gave in and reinstalled the single-AVCS USDM ECU; I feel dirty, like I licked a stick of butter after eating salads for a week. I guess that's basically the end of this journey, although it makes sense to just keep this thread going for any other stuff I do, hopefully I can just leave the engine alone for awhile. I'm currently on v1a which finally passed emissions today, hooray!, and this was the best reason to finally update the thread. To celebrate I installed the 2.0 badge I got off Buyee a few months ago, its my only subtle nod to the OBXT being modded. I have the upper/lower rear control arms and JDM rear sway to install, then its off to get an alignment, and I'll get around to a few other things at some point...

TL;DR thread summary:
1. EJ255 blew up like they all do
2. import a 2008 JDM Spec-B front clip
2b. buy some needed (but mostly wanted) parts for the project
3. attempt auto-to-manual conversion, keep 5EAT instead, sell 6spd conversion and almost break even on price of front clip
4. find out 2005 and 2008 have all kinds of stupid-ass differences
5. held up on the wiring (2 engine harnesses), exhaust cam sensors (3/2-wire), ECU, BDU, and wrong sparkplugs
6. rebuild the top-end of the EJ20X after installing/pulling to fix trans/reinstalling into Outback
7. get all the parts running perfectly only to have to re-do it, get it running with all the JDM stuff again only to fight with emissions coding
8. finally succumb and reinstall USDM ECU to pass emissions
Post Reply

Return to “Outback XT”