Subaru WRX Hawkeye 2.5L

[Robinder1969]

looking for a Scooby around £5k (ish). How bad are the Hawkeye engines and are there specific years to avoid like the plague. I had a 2004 Blobby and it was great but prices for tgese are keen to say the least.

Thanks in advance.

[vxr2010]

2.5 engine is a weak spot , not all fail , look for a forged engine , more power not a good tune , then a higher chance of failure

[anonymous-user]

I'd go for a 2.0 personally.

[vxr2010]

the 2 litre in a jdm sti plus a twin scroll is a good engine , the 2.5 out of the box is a great engine to drive but has its weakness

[PomBstard]

I'm not sure of the differences with the 2.5 in the Hawkeye, but my car is a 2012 with the 2.5 giving 195kW/261bhp from the factory. Its now 8 years old, with 135,000km on it and still running fine - uses no oil between services and runs sweet. Google tells me that a Hawkeye of 07'ish vintage would be putting out about 169kW/225bhp as standard, so should be OK.

The proviso on all of that is the maintenance that's been carried out, when and by whom.

[Pupbelly]

Elatino1 said:

I'd go for a 2.0 personally.

This^^^

With a 2.5 its not a case of 'if' it fails it is 'when'. Depends a lot on maintenance, state of tune and fuel used, but even then they are a concern for long term ownership.

[vxr2010]

The 2.5 are prone to failures , not all have broken as you often only hear when they break rather than people saying they are still working , there are cars with forged engines out there , a standard 2 litre v a standard 2.5 both remapped is streets apart , the 2.5 produces much more torque and power and is a lot more drive able , the nearest you can get to a 2.5 with more reliability is a twin scroll 2 litre so there fore a jdm sti , the benefit of twin scroll is the reduction in lag , my fsti is in full boost around 2200 rpm which makes it very drive able , i have had to get a couple of 2.5 rebuilds done (always do a full rebuild as if hg has gone bottom end will go ) but my choice would always be a 2.5 engine , so worth looking for forged engine cars based on who built it , arp head bolts are a must

[Robinder1969]

Terrific guys thank you. I am limited to buying a "no more than 10 years old, less than 120,000 miles" car due to finance reasons but all the above is great.

[Scooobydont]

I have no association with the seller but this looks quite nice (except for the alloys!) and it's forged with brembos:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/subaru/subaru-impreza-wr...



I am guilty of having a non forged 2.5 running 350bhp, no issues (touch wood) yet, any excuse for a pic:

I have money set aside if the worst does happen, the car has had a fortune spent on it both mechanically and cosmetically prior to me owning it, I plan to keep it along time:





I am not brand loyal but this is my 2nd (first was a blobeye WRX estate), they are truly amazing cars, nothing else I have ever owned drives like them.

[anonymous-user]

vxr2010 said:

The 2.5 are prone to failures , not all have broken as you often only hear when they break rather than people saying they are still working , there are cars with forged engines out there , a standard 2 litre v a standard 2.5 both remapped is streets apart , the 2.5 produces much more torque and power and is a lot more drive able , the nearest you can get to a 2.5 with more reliability is a twin scroll 2 litre so there fore a jdm sti , the benefit of twin scroll is the reduction in lag , my fsti is in full boost around 2200 rpm which makes it very drive able , i have had to get a couple of 2.5 rebuilds done (always do a full rebuild as if hg has gone bottom end will go ) but my choice would always be a 2.5 engine , so worth looking for forged engine cars based on who built it , arp head bolts are a must

The 2.0 twin scroll JDM STi produced more torque than the 2.5 litre STi out of the factory.
I did a lot of work with Owen Developments to produce a series of great bolt on twin scroll turbo's for the STi, i wouldn't touch a 2.5 given the choice now.

Stock 2.5 STi's can be reliable, but the 2.0 is a much better bet.