legacycentral bbs

hello my friends , just joined bbs last week, been on the forum for awhiiiiille tho.
so down to business
i have a 1991 subaru legacy turbo 2.2 usdm
the lame part is that its an auto 4speed. nice for stop and go but i like to DRIVE cars, and im not in a position to do a 5 speed manny swap, (all though it is a dream of mine for this car) so i move to my questions
what kinda power can i put into the 4eat before i start to do harm to my car or trans. cars stock as far as no upgrades, k&n drop in filter but thats about it. bkus its an auto im not sure if i want to work on improving the power or the handling , leaning more toward handling, either way would love to hear what other people have done on either side of the fence

on the handling side i was thinking of doing new shoes for summer comin up. myb some stock wrx rims with 50 series sidewall , strut towers and sway bars myb an h brace.

for power i was thinking new headers from a wrx or something but beyond that im lost
any ideas anybody


thanks : taps

Welcome to the BBS.

My recommendation for any and all auto trans cars are to change the trans fluid and put in a good synthetic ATF fluid that will be able to handle heat better. Redline D4 is good stuff. Also, adding an external trans cooler is a good idea. It's good to run the fluid from the trans to the external cooler, and then back into the cooler in the radiator to help keep the fluid warm during colder months.

Welcome #2,


Your questions about performance can be answered by Searching and looking under the Turbo and Engine sections. The 'What/How should I upgrade' question gets asked every week, so there are lots of posts. I highly recommend you do some more reading before spending $$ so you get what you want the 1st time around. BTW, WRX headers are a waste, from what I've read.

Suspension questions: Check-out the Sticky under the Suspension sections. Should give you something to work with.

RE: the turbo 4EAT (not lame! )- It is a strong transmission AS LONG AS YOU MAINTAIN IT. As Josh stated, heat is the killer! Also, when you change the fluid it's generally NOT recommened to get a FLUSH - just do a drain/refill 3X, w/a drive in between, to get the fluid exchanged. A flush can loosen deposits that are keeping your seals from leaking.

I have a turbo 4EAT in my car, multiple upgrades, pushing about 180HP/230Torque @ the WHEELS, and the Trans has held up fine for the last 2-3 years - I do NOT power-launch it, and run an extra cooler in the summer.

I'm due for fluid change so Thanks (again) to Legacy777 for the Redline 'heads-up'......kinda spendy ($40/gallon!), but cheaper than a new trans!

Gl,
Td

Yeah, the Redline is not cheap. I definitely cringed a little bit when I did mine....and I bought mine by the quart. It's got to be cheaper by the gallon.

shwaaat, 180/230 kinda gnarly , that would be an enjoyable amount of fun. ill run out to the local shop and snag some of the redline snyth. ya, being only 21 its not like im made of money so reasonable fun mods for this car, just want to make it a lil more snappier, was ridiculous in the snow since ive had it. but yes, ive viewed the forum for since i got the car, this website and sli. both helped out majorly with diy stuff.
***
wrx headers garbage?, ive always read that the stock 2.2 headers were crap and flo like crap? i am known to be wrong every once and then.
thanks for the knowledge, taps.

Sounds like you're confusing HEADS w/the HEADERS>> as in Exhaust manifold? Yes, the stock SOHC Heads aren't known for big power....but some on here have seen 250HP @ the wheels w/them, which is in stock STi territory.

Td

that is exactly what i was talking about, sorry for the confusion. space cadet over here. and as for the AT cooler, im going to have to snag one of those this paycheck, thats not a bad ticket on one. hmm.
and just for clarification,
No flushing the trans fluid, DO-drain, refill , drive, reapeat x3 correct?
thanks again, taps

Read THIS - look for a post by Rooster -from the USMB, which is where I learned about the 'don't flush'. They don't do as much w/the turbo as here, but since Legacy's/Imprezas/Foresters from '90-99 were so similar there's a lot of relevant info over there.

As stated, don't overfill and when you refill - DON'T RUSH - it takes very little to go from Low to Full - about a Pint (not a quart).

When you put in the cooler be prepared to fight the hose from the trans line - it can be a PITA. I put the AT cooler in BETWEEN the trans and the Radiator's AT cooler, IIRC, based on advice here or there. Just one hose to remove......unfortunately, I don't recall which one is the OUTput vs. INput (back to the trans)...research on that, too....probably want to use the Upper one, but double-check.


For Heads, the WRX will work, but there are some challenges w/the newer, '02+ USDM, heads as the Intake Manifold (IM) must match the heads (SOHC IM only works w/SOHC heads, etc), and the newer stuff isn't wired the same (the harness that runs across the top of the engine for the sensors/injectors/etc.)

The older JDM heads are much easier to work with. As are the USDM EJ25 DOHC heads from '96-99 (Legacy OB/GT/LSi)....start reading up on this if you get motivated....but this is down the road from what you're stating.

GL,
TD

Sweeeet!! Thanks muchos