SUBARU EJ20 / EJ25 - What makes them GREAT? ICONIC ENGINES #13
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2020-06-28に共有
And of course we're starting out with Subaru's mainstay engine, the EJ20 and EJ25 engines.
Although the Impreza made the EJ20 famous, the Legacy was the first car to have it. In 1989 Subaru introduced the first generation of the Legacy and with it the EJ20 engine, which was designed to replace the EA engine. Now the EA engine wasn't bad, but by 1989 it had become a bit ancient. The EA engine was introduced way back in 1966 to power the first ever front wheel drive Subaru car, the Subaru 1000, and from that point onward it powered more Subaru vehicles, most notably the Leone, the Brat and the 80s-tastic XT.
Unlike many manufacturers that first introduce low performance version of an engine and then upgrade it later in the production run the EJ20 was available in three versions from day 1 in the Legacy. A SOHC, a DOHC and a turbocharged DOHC engine, with pretty impressive hp numbers right from the start.
But in 1992 magic happened. Three letters combined to create something beautiful.
WRX. World Rally Experimental. In November of 1992 the first generation of the Subaru Impreza WRX debuted and with its turbo boxer, stiffened up suspension and symmetrical all wheel drive it brought rally inspired technology to the masses. In 1994 letter soup magic struck again. STI, Subaru tecnica international which further enhanced the WRX recipe with even more rally awesomeness. The EJ20 engines in the STI Imprezas churned an impressive 250 horsepower from the 2.0 blueprinted engines. Each of these engines received special attention and dedicated tuning which is why only one hundred of these were made per month back in 1994.
Just 1 year later Subaru proved that it had a winning recipe because in 1995 the EJ20 engines in the rally prepped Imprezas took both the Driver's and manufacturer's championship titles in the Wolrd Rally Championship, bringing these cars international fame. Subaru would take the both titles two more times, cementing it's dominance in World Rally before withdrawing from WRC in 2008.
In 1994 the larger 2.5 liter EJ25 enters the scene in Japan and by 1996 it was on the US market. Designed to respond to the instant torque needs of the American consumer the larger EJ25 started life in the Legacy and the Outback but spread quickly to power the majority of Subaru's vehicles including the Impreza, the Forester and the Baja. Starting with 2004 the larger EJ took over as the engine of choice for both the WRX and STI imprezzas (not in Japan) as well as the high performance versions of the Legacy, Forester and the Outback.
But did you know that an EJ engine also powered a SAAB? Yup, in 2005 the Saab 9-2x was introduced to the US market and as you can see it's not really a SAAB but a rebadged version of the Imprezza. Here's something else you might not know, and that's that the EJ20 engine existed in twin turbo form. From 1994 to 2005 Subaru installed twin turbo ej20s into Japanese Legacys and Australian Liberties.
All EJ engines can be divided into two phases.
Phase I: EJ15E, EJ15J, EJ16E, EJ18E, EJ20D, EJ20E, EJ20G, EJ20H, EJ20J, EJ20R, EJ20K, EJ22E, EJ221, EJ25D
Phase II: EJ151, EJ161, EJ181, EJ201, EJ202, EJ203, EJ204, EJ205, EJ206, EJ207, EJ208, EJ222, EJ251, EJ252, EJ253, EJ254, EJ255, EJ257
Phase 1 covers fron 89 to 98 and Phase 2 from 99 and onward.
When it comes to the engine block all ej engines feature aluminum blocks with cast iron liners and aluminum heads. The EJ engines are an extremely rare example of an engine that can be found with a closed deck, and open deck and a semi open deck block. Early turbocharged ej20g engines produced until mid 1994 featured a closed deck with oil squirters for the underside of the piston. These are pretty rare nowadays. Starting with 1995 open deck block engines appeared and stayed in use for some naturally aspirated and ej205 equipped WRX, but starting with 2001 the vast majority of turbo ej engines feature semi-closed decks.
Compression Ratio: 9.5:1 - 10:1 (9.5:1 - 10.7:1 JDM) Naturally Aspirated
Compression Ratio: 8.0:1 - 9.5:1 Turbo
The block castings for EJ20 and 25 engines are virtually the same despite their different displacement. The EJ25 achieves greater stroke by using a different crankshaft and bored out blocks but uses the same length connecting rods as the EJ20 engines. This results in a different rod ratio between EJ20 AND 25 engines.
The tuning aspect of the EJ engines is unfortunately filled with misconceptions that refuse to go away and resulted in a reputation of weakness. Fact is that the vast majority of EJ engine failures isn't due to design, but due to the wrong tuning or the wrong parts. People with actual know-how build these engines to well over 1000hp today.
A special thank you to my patrons:
Daniel
Peter Della Flora
D4A merch: teespring.com/en-GB/d4a-merch
Patreon: www.patreon.com/d4a
#d4a #ej25 #ej20 #iconicengines
コメント (21)
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Support d4a: driving-4-answers-shop.fourthwall.com/ Racing rod and main bearings for the EJ: amzn.to/2NHpWzF Intercooler + BOV kit: amzn.to/3igax7s AEM high flow fuel pumps: bit.ly/2D4Ahighflowfp D4A merch: teespring.com/en-GB/d4a-merch Patreon: www.patreon.com/d4a
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Refreshing to see someone not talking smack about the EJ platform, great video.
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They made 555 of the Subaru WRX STI EJ20 Final Editions because of the tobacco/cigarette company “555” that sponsored them in rally. The “555” can be seen on the famous Colin McRae livery of blue and gold
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Can confirm mechanics here in Japan absolutely hate working on my twin turbo EJ20 inside of my legacy B4 😂
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555 for the WRC livery. Also 22b is the hexadecimal of 555.
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Subaru's EZ family of engines are just as amazing! The EZ30D and EZ36 are amazing powerhouses that I'm exceptionally surprised aren't far more popular. I do love my EJ22T and EJ255 engine cars immensely as well though.
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I've never owned a car that I like better than my second gen legacy wagon with the ej22. The engine is amazingly well designed and without any glaring flaws. It's what normal car engines should aspire to be. Performance is another matter, but the world doesn't run on performance engines, it runs on daily driver engines.
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the thing i really like on an EJ25, is the way the con rods come flying out of the block. makes it much easier to access them 👍
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When in doubt. FLAT OUT. Words from a Rally Legend.
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My 04 STI is still on its original engine 229,646miles at the time of this post. Upgraded turbo to a 16g with EL headers I made 287whp seems like my compression is holding up. Oil changes every 2,500 since I bought the car at 116k. I love my Subaru ✌️
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Scotty Kilmer needs to watch this and learn a few things about Subaru and boxer engines. Great education video. Thanks for making it.
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My dad had a manual Subaru GL wagon, 1984, that ran for 22 years, through Germany, Texas, California, Italy, with over 230k miles on the meter, before selling it to a college kid. I now own a 2018 Forester, manual, of course, and am trying to learn all I can on the history and specs of the car and brand. Very insightful video. 👍
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Great in depth vid! Thanks for all the history of this great engine. I have a 94 Loyale with EA82 and 2 EJ25 Outbacks, love the feeling of history and continuity of these cars. All are over 180k miles and run great from hot summer to -15 degree winters. Dodging deer, tourists and boulders these keep us safe and are fun to drive every time!
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Great video. We have had 8 EJ25 Liberty (Legacies) in the family since 1999 in both non turbo and turbo editions. With correct servicing and keeping the oil up to them they last forever. The most we have got out of 1 engine without any modifications was 420000 km. Only then it was the gearbox that gave out. My wife currently has the EJ25 B4 Spec B with the special tune in it and it flies. Super reliable and a fantastic vehicle with 240000 km on the clock at the moment. Brilliant cars. Great engines.
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Really love this series! Eagerly awaiting the next ICONIC ENGINES!
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Mad props to you for remembering the Citroën GS boxer 4-cylinder. I did my apprenticeship working on them. No engine ever leaked more oil, but some of the early versions had needle roller crank bearings!
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Outstanding video. Completely full coverage of the subject. Like all of other videos. Thanks very much✊
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last july was my 31 years in subaru and i work on them too
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Congratulations on research well done, pretty much all of those dates, power figures, models etc were all correct! Hats of to you good sir, good job.
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Thanks for all the great info. Love my 2017 sti. Just went stage 3. I will keep it forever.
