I am proud to say I have owned my STi since October ‘06 and have properly (respectably) beat the crap out of it since day one, and to this day it is still running the stock block and stock turbo at 135k being protuned at 300whp since 40k
@@tyree9055 ha my saab 9-3 has 205k miles and everything is original. Just do it respectfully and change your oil. People a dumb these days and cars die too young these days. I love Subaru and it will definitely be my next vehicle. It will be my offroader.
My understanding is that the WRX was maximizing its stock parts already, while the STi was “over engineered” and could handle the performance adders. Which is why I wondered why they went for the model that was already maxed in it’s stock form, without complimentary mods.
@@jamesmaddison4546 The WRX 5-speed (indeed the GC8 era STi 5-speed) is already at the max. isn't it? The gears are physically very narrow. Hence why it is recommended to fit an aftermarket gearset, like the straight cut gears my GC8 had, or fit the 6-speed from the GDB-onwards STi.
My guess would be since every one modded or destroyed they’re sti’s the wax was the best option especially price wise. Your plotting to spend a fuck ton to get a unmolested sti. But that doesn’t really matter because the word is still hot garbage
Only the transmission. Not much different with the STI in terms of internals. I think they run a different crank and different injectors. But still, both need some things. Cylinder 4 cooling mod baffled pan oil pickup air oil separator etc etc etc
I think Donut illustrated a good lesson, be knowledgeable about the platform you're getting into. If you just buy a car and start randomly modifying it for power, or try to thrash it, there's a good chance it will cause issues. Most cars CAN be reliable if you maintain them properly, as much as the community loves to shit on BMW's, Subarus, VW's, a lot of it is poor maintenance and planning.
@@JABelms I don't watch Donut Media, but quite a lot of people do Honda K24 swaps, rev them to 8000rpm (even though the maximum safe rpm is 7500rpm) and add boost to 400-450hp *and* yet it still seems to be a while before the engines break, lol!
My 03 VW gti was stage 2 ko4 with 150k with every bolt on possible and I floored it every day at every red light and it lasted me for 4 years even after I crashed it with no issues other than me doing water pump timing belt for peace of mind. My sisters bf had a newer 2014 wrx and modded it and his was knocking in a couple months after he modded it and he sold it. His was slightly faster than the gti I had but obviously wrx are not reliable bc he’s a mechanic and I hardly even changed oil and my gti was a tank
@@xaphan8581 The difference is that the Subaru has a boxer engine. They were always designed for a specific use case and either should remain stock, or you have to change quite a bit. I mean, the engines that are reliable from VW are basically R36, R32 engines, which were small iron-cast V6 engines, originally designed to be Diesel engines with far thicker engine walls. Honda/Toyota basically remained with iron-cast engines until the last few years when they changed to aluminum. Subarus are reliable too, if you buy the right engines. The Levorg petrol boxers that had a timing chain instead of a belt literally lasted, with the correct oil change for the CVT and engine, for 200,000 miles without any issues. Also, I've never heard a complaint from Legacy or Outback users, most likely because they do not beat sh*t out of the car.
I'm actually glad you posted this video. You're forgetting that there are another group of us out here that aren't for, or against Subaru, but are just trying to get the truth about these machines. Good content 👍
“Subaru’s are great cars. You just have to rebuild the entire oil system if you want to join your friends for a spirited drive in the blue ridge mountains.”
The audacity to say that it's your fault for a part failing because you don't know about it being a problem is crazy. You'd expect that the car would be fine like the others you've driven before right? How is that Donut's fault?
@@Boostedm3nace"inspired" key right there. I do agree though. Build a rally car for the masses but leave it plenty of ways to fail when driving in an enthusiastic manner? Sounds like cutting corners for profit.
I’ve been working on vehicles for years mail cars and other customers cars …the oiling system ..junk unless u are a guy who loves to constantly work on his car lol
I think donut did a great job showing what happens when you approach a niche vehicle without tons of niche knowledge. Kind of like how a lot of people blow up rotaries or even import GTR owners. Those cars aren’t simple and they aren’t built to throw tons of hp out of the box consequence free. You really gotta truly love those cars and explore every aspect of what could go wrong and accept the challenge before buying them.
@@dietznutz1 I don't care how many cars they have built, everyone has access to Google. Anyone can look up what are common issues with any car, and get an answer in like 20 minutes max (if you want to dive into forums). They're more just generic influencers then actual car guys at this point imho
@@istvanlorinczi2817 not every niche answer is on google and if you don’t already know there’s a lot of wrong info on the internet even common beliefs everyone repeats that are wrong. I’ve built several cars and a lot of it comes down to experience and trial and error and seeing for yourself how things work.
yeah, I used to watch that channel back in the day, but they've gone full sh!thead since then it seems. I guess they've been smoking a lot of it since it went legal, and it killed their last brain cell. Proud stupidity. They can't drive for sh't either.
@@matthewklein9225 They have an oil pressure switch that throws the pressure light at about 7psi. Ideally the light should come on around 15psi minimum
I’m a tractor/equipment/light/heavy duty truck mechanic and I’m heavily involved in diesels as I’ve loved building diesel pickups since I was young. I’ve never seen the point in hating on brands except just jokingly. Every brand has goods and bads. Every mechanic has preferences me personally I hate working on GM products and I pick and talk my trash but they make their vehicles for the people who like them and it obviously works because they all sell
Ya but maybe ppl buy them cause most of them are cheap and convenient as they are domestic cars and parts are available pretty much at every local part store. With regards however to GM having good cars that's a HELL NO!
@Michael Rearick from my experience working on vehicles fords are typically solid chevy/gmc aren't terrible usually the duramax are a pain though and well dodge are ok if the body holds together and you can keep front end parts in them
Im a small time mechanic and i Find chevys are less of headache than a ford but i find fords drive and perform better in my experience. Owning Hyundais and volvos I hate imports because they are very sensitive and are stupid annoying to work on
This is why I told my sister to never buy a used wrx from anyone. Even with a clear carfax history the engine generade after a week of owning it. People abuse these cars and don't care what happens to the next person in line. Like the man said, if you take care of them they will last you. I've owned Subarus. 1 05 Impreza RS, 3 Outbacks, 96,99, 05. 2010 Tribeca. Now a 2019 Subaru Ascent.
@@NotAdamSnider Subaru people tend to always buy Subaru. I got a Impreza and I love it so much! I’m currently in the process to bribe my mom to buy a 2023 ascent.
@@NotAdamSnider I was at a Buick GMC/ Subaru dealership in NYC. I was trained by all 3 and notice the Subarus were growing, (back in 02-04) So that is where passion grew for them. I did take a break from when I heard about the CVTs. But Mr Subaru 1387 changed my mind on them and my 2019 Ascent is a great buy. I had a 04 GMC Envoy XL with 408,000 miles on it before the tranny blew.
Although I agree that knowledge of the vehicle and how to upgrade it is important, the other vehicles they had on HiLow also had what you called "street" parts and they didn't have those dramatic issues. Also what can you expect would happen on older vehicles with unknown maintenance history.
I agree, it’s like he’s saying the wrx has bad parts and shame on Donut for not knowing about all of them. More like it should be shame on Subaru for not making quality parts in the first place. Also he says certain parts are not meant to be raced on. Is the wrx not marketed as a sports car? I’d think a car marketed as such should be able to be taken to the track in stock form. Long story short, I don’t think the guys at Donut should get as much flak as this guy is giving them
Especially the Tacoma, that thing was built like a tank, stock engine and stock transmission even over a thousand pounds of weight on hi-car with how much accessories they put on it lol.
I'm pretty sure they mentioned in the last or pre-last video of the series that they 'obviously changed their oil pan/system in the beginning' because like a gazillion people wrote that in the comments in the first video when the first engine broke down, maybe check that video as well for more details on that
I've seen many ej engines spin bearings on road courses. Always though it was a poor oil supply issue. Thank you for clarifying the causes and fixes for the failure points.
Pretty sure this is how my outback died. It is 2014, was going up a hill at about 90 mph, fairly steep incline, spun a bearing within 5-10 secs up the hill. Only had 94k miles on the engine. Just completely absurd this kind of thing should happen to what is a very good car over something so trivial.
I usually hear people speak about Hondas being the cars that handle abuse. "That old Honda may be beat up, and it might not sound so nice, but it'll take it like a champ and at least run."
20 minutes @ 2,000-3,000 rpm is all you need to break in cams. Everything Mr. Subaru explains confirms that Subarus are very sensitive. AMS will tell you the same.
What break in period? I spent 10 years as a dynamics development engineer for an OE. I probably took 40 cars, brand new from the plant with 1-5 miles, and put 15k on them, with no oil change, and basically at WOT at a handling pad for all those miles. Never once had an engine failure. You know how the cars show up at the dealer with 10-15 miles? Thats cause the car goes on a rolls dyno on the line and they do WOT pulls with less than 60 seconds on the engine to check everything before it even makes it off the line.
@Bad Investment Builds there are many rebuilt engines that require a break-in period. There are many factory engines that suggest a break-in period. There are many variables that may lead to an engine requiring or not requiring one. And, in this case, Donut Media media mentioned one being suggested for this particular build. I would listen to the builder/manufacturer first.
Good video! I was wondering if you would catch wind of DonutMedia! I’ve never owned a Subaru, so I can’t say anything bad, but it’s a damn shame Subaru had so many inherent issues you explain from factory. I get most if not all manufacturers have issues, but let’s face it, someone buys a Subaru for fun and speed, it’s a shame you have to spend so much money on the car (new) then still have to invest more money to fix what Subaru should have already engineered into it.
I think I agree with this but only in the case of the WRX. Since it’s supposed to be for rally (WRX: World Rally eXperimental), you would think they’d put a tougher transmission and a baffled oil pan stock. The other models I think are awesome in their stock form though. My Legacy runs smooth and I love it ❤.
@@makisitonga2530 Yes, the Aisin 6-speed manual should have been standard across the board. Not the Subaru 5-speed nor the Subaru 6-speed (which is just the 5-speed with an extra gear...). US market WRX STi could also have been supplied with the EJ207 with forged pistons instead of EJ257 with hypereutectic pistons. It's clearly cost cutting.
I do like the fact that they went through with buying cars that not everyone knows how to work on them. Yes there are a lot of information out there, but as the same time there’s trolls that don’t want to help out. I also think if they didn’t have a timeline to complete the series, they would’ve done their research correctly.
People just need to face facts. Subie's and EJ's are just not good motors for 99% of people. Yes, they CAN be decent, but this requires a TON of knowledge and research. EJ's, arguably, can be even more annoying and less reliable than Rotaries. You shouldnt need to be a mechanic and scholar to own a mass-produced Subaru and be able to drive it as it is advertised. EJ's are okay in stock form, but the second you try to mod them, they become a ticking time bomb. They are just fragile motors in comparison to most 4-cylinder alternatives in its class. To run an EJ properly and be able to mod it and make it somewhat reliable, you need to invest a lot of time and money and upgrade many of the factory problems. All of my Subaru's were fun but they were a massive money pit. My STI was more money to Maintain than my BMW. Which should tell you something.
@@Maximus20778 Bud, are you trying to say the EJ is a good motor for power and mods? If so, you are in denial. It is not opinion at all. Even Porsche has come out and talked about the drawbacks and shortcomings of a flat boxer engine. There is a reason the EJ and Subaru's have such a bad reputation. And you cant blame it on the owner and driver. Honda's have a 10x worse customer base, and treat their cars far worse, and you dont see K's, B's and F series having this same rep.. And Subaru's key demographic for the WRX and sport models are older males on average with larger incomes. So Subaru has even less to go on in that area.
I don't know...I have my 06 STI at 151k miles... still going strong - original engine, turbo and clutch, also sees redline daily. Been to track several times, front gold Brembos have turned into brown-bos. I do burn 1 qt or so every oil change (3k miles) depending on the oil. Other than typical maintenance, the ones that went bad are - all four struts (replaced with coil overs), power steering pump, radiator, turbo inlet pipe, turbo up-pipe and had a leak on the valve cover gaskets. Not sure how many of these were due to the time at the track. Yes the maintenance is more than a typical Japanese vehicle, but but not too bad.
Tbh they all are similar issues with my (200km ej207). Think they are just common issues that anyone with Google and a brain can identify and fix. But most people just want to trash their rides and blame the manufacturer 😅
I’m not in the Subaru community but I have a bmw with 200k on it, the donut guys are after views people would rather see engines blow up then see someone do maintenance
@@ProfessionalRtard If I take a Honda of that same gen and track it, will it blow up like the EJ of this gen? If I take Miata of the same gen?, A Nissan Z, an Evo, an Audi, BMW Porchse, any other high performance model car? This car is marketed a a rally car for the street and thus should not blow up due to bad non-baffled oil pan issue from the factory. People joke how most performance cars are less reliable when modified except for Subaru's which actually require warranty voiding modifications in order to make the car last. (Stock tune running too rich, non baffled pan, etc)
@@SI0AX the wrx is basically a base model car. If this happened with an sti sure, but the wrx is essentially an econo sedan with a turbo on it. Unless you're clueless, modifying a car will always make it more reliable, unless you're boosting something that was originally n/a
@@houseking9211 My comment was referring to both WRX and STI. They both have the same oil starvation issue due to the horizontally opposed engine design and lack of factory baffling in the oil pan.
I've owned many of these cars over the years. I work at the Indiana Plant and have since it opened. Our company is continuously dogged by TFL , Motortrend on and on. I also have never had a failure with mine . There are TOO MANY stories at our plant about horrible mistakes made at quick lubes / owner abuse and etc. I work in the Body Maint. Dept. and I'm here to tell you these cars are built like tanks compared to their competition. I worked on the Toyota line when it was here. Camry is built like a beer can compared to the Legacy. People hate on the Ascent but love the KIA and HYUNDAI >>WTF ?? Mr. Subaru if yer ever interested in a plant tour / let us know.
Proud owner of a 4S4 VIN here :) Subaru is the only Japanese brand I'm confident in buying one of their cars made in America. My 2005 Outback XT is at 400,000km and still going strong thanks to the work you guys did building it way back then !
I don't think you can blame donut too much. I'm coming into the Subaru world with a VB (which I'm enjoying a lot), but I'm learning a lot about how many issues the older Subarus have had. Definitely something that would keep me away from the older gens. Hoping the VB is rock solid. Although the RTV issue is scaring me.
@@onehundredpicks5531 Proof right here. 2001 Forester with 206k on the clock. Maintenance on sked. Still running strong. Had an '04 WRX back in the day which I tracked and autocross pretty much. Again maintenance on sked. No problems.
@@onehundredpicks5531 I know a guy that had over 200k miles on a Dodge Neon. Doesn't mean it's a car I'd own nor a reliable car for the other 99.99% of owners that constantly had issues. You shouldn't need to be a fanboy to keep a car alive and you shouldn't need to upgrade your car just to take fast corners without losing oil. Bad design is bad design and the engines being a pita to work on for even minor maintenance would and should scare many people away that aren't willing to put in the time to maintain a car that comes with issues from factory.
@@sirseriously wholeheartedly agree. I know someone who killed a corolla. Never changed the oil ran about 30k miles with no oil change. But the corolla is known for being reliable. Maintenance is key
Great video! I have an ‘02 wagon since ‘01. Stage 1 tune. Motor went to 176k then burned an exhaust valve. Still had hone crosshatch in cylinders! One rod bearing was down a few layers. Early cranks had less oiling holes for rods. 85k into the replacement oem short block- so far runs nice, oil doesn’t burn or get that dirty in the 5-6k intervals. Run Mobil 1 10w30 or 5w30 since new. Appreciate the oil pickup, baffle, windage tray advice! Tech opted to reuse original oil pump… should have that checked/replaced. Love the car generally! Handles like a sports car, great for snowy trips, practical aside from so-so mpg.
Are you going to do an update video they just released that after the first engine they upgraded the oil system (oil pump , oil pan, and oil pickup) plus upgraded the cooling system because they were told that's also a problem, just seems like these engines aren't reliable unfortunately
Don’t…… I’ve yet to see a person keep a subie longer than 3/4 years. Catastrophic failure after the next with their motors. Only ones that seem to last probably don’t get driven over 55 mph max and 5/10 miles in commutes daily…. And I had a coworker baby his and the motor blew up still.
@@Strider1Wilco „They wouldn’t sell these cars if they weren’t reliable“ doubt, look at the big brands that slowly drop in quality while the price rises because they come with a status
@@Strider1Wilco "they wouldn't sell them if they weren't reliable" >Hyundai has entered the chat >Kia has entered the chat >Nissan cvt has entered the chat
One important missing info: in the beginning of the finally video they specify that they installed baffled oil pans in both cars after the first engine died. But still, they should have monitored the oil pressure.
I believe they reused the oil pans in all of the engines, which ideally shouldn’t be done if there was ever metal pieces in the oil system. It’s impossible to tell if you’ve cleaned all the pieces out before reinstalling
>it's their fault for not replacing every single part in the engine because they are faulty designs >There are full race series based around fully stock crown vics that are hammered every day and all they need is tires. Not sure how you can defend Subaru on this
The fact that these engines are this old and so many people know about these issues and still after all these years, Subaru has still not fixed any of them is MIND BOGGLING.
Donut has done this type of thing before and not really had these problems with a 350z. The oiling issues, only the screws backing out on the oil pump concern me as far as reliability is concerned. But in all reality these engines seem to eat head gaskets on stock engines right around 100k, but that's really about all Ive actually seen. Also if that little accident starved the motor enough to ruin a main bearing, shame on Subaru, I've seen way worse.
They did it with 2 350Z’s and neither the stock VQ’s or junkyard LS or brand new crate LS blew up even after adding turbos and making way more power than the subaru with zero break in. And they used them for drifting which has them bouncing off the rev limiter most of the time. This guy has severe mental issues trying to blame donut
Lol you’re so full of sh*t. It’s the NA engines that are known to blow gaskets, that true. The turbo engines don’t have that as a “common” thing. Yeah, modified, as in getting a bigger turbo, engines do tend to blow head gaskets.
I was wondering if you were going to make a response video. Good info. Too bad all the haters commenting on the Subie Hi/low videos won't bother to watch this. I was looking forward to the series but got very disappointed toward the end. They gave Subaru a bad name, unfortunately. They should have done more research before thrashing on them.
But you can't really blame them tho, for example: for the first time when they have to get the baseline , they wanted to get it with the stock car (ie no prep mods for the track) cuz thats the state that someone would buy a subie (although skipping the break in is a very stupid mistake on DMs part)
subaru gave themselves a bad name by having poorly built systems and fragile parts from the factory. shouldnt have to sink money into a brand new (at the time) car just to make it run right
Nah I watched it, and it justified its name. Yes EJ is a great engine when used as intended. But it feels like such a cope by saying the reason probably half of them blew up is because the community proved this engine is a bad platform for anything outside of commuting, and you should install baffling, pickup mod, cylinder 4 cooling correction, and upgrade the oil pump, to be able to track and do something MANY other engines can do stock.
Alot of the hate for modifying these older subarus is because these engines are already built to the upper limits of what the engine can take with out major overhaul of the engine systems. Its not like many of the other imports like Nissan 350z or Toyota supras where the engines were deliberately undertuned and easily had 1 to 2 hundred more horses in the engine before needing to go back over with supporting mods. The trade off being if you do blow it up it is very easy to replace whatever you broke.
Thank you for confirming not to by a WRX. My Corvette did not need engine mods just to do a few track days. Yes , engine break-in is crucial, but your pointing out plenty of issues that should be addressed by the factory.
Ive owned 3 GC8s , first was 145k miles, second was 156k miles both stock blocks and worked perfectly. My third and current one has 125k miles and is a 1993, did change the headgasket but it is a 28 year old car 🤷♂️ Edit: All 3 are WRXs with mods.
My take away was: They didn't break in the engine (Obviously bad, you have to do that) but then the rest was, they didn't change several parts with aftermarkets upgrades. Parts like the oil pans, intakes and oil pumps and simple fragile gearboxes. So if you were comparing cars in your mind (which i'm sure their doing of their experiences) you would still be justified in your bad experiences with these cars. I think its all well and good that these deficiencies with the cars are well documented and information is available online, but its no defence for the car or brand to say "you should have known those designs are bad" "Its your fault for driving them fast" I didn't know anything about the oil issues in the WRX and when I was thinking of buy one, I 100% would have loved to take it to a track day a few times in ownership. I would be salty if the factory designs caused the car to fail and the response was "You should have known to replace the oil pan" Still love the cars though, thats not going to change
Couldn't have said it better. They are criticizing Donut for "not taking into account oem deficiencies" like, bro the thing shouldnt be SO DELICATE. Its not bad its just they didnt do properly break in using rotella oil, a baffled pan, an improved pickup, an air oil separator, a better tune, an upgraded radiator, an extra catch can and so on.. "3k in upgrades just so it doesnt blow up after 2 laps".
Lets be real. Some of this is on Donut and some on Subaru. Regardless of information being out there, the oil system was/is a bad design. Did Subaru really think a WRX wouldn't be tracked or pulling Gs?
Had a 07 WRX, spent a lot of time trying to learn what to do to make a Subaru last while also making it quite a bit faster. Did just about every bolt on you can think of besides a bigger turbo (wanted the rest of the engine ready for a bigger turbo when I got one). Car had about 114k miles and was clearly neglected when i first got it, and at 150k+ with upgrades it ran like a champ and i definitely didn’t baby it but at the same time didn’t drive it like a maniac. The mods i give the most credit for keeping the engine strong and the mods i recommend every new owner starting with are a solid AOS, upgraded oil system (pan, windage tray, pickup), and the GetADomTune cylinder 4 coolant flow mod. Car had 262whp and 332wtq, with trans reinforcement it still blew through 3rd gear. Have an STI now and feels good having some peace of mind being able to apply all I’ve learned to something that’ll handle the power. Long story short, if you plan on modding a Subaru, get an STI.
Hi there I’m owner of 2021 STI with 12k miles on it. Will you recommend doing the upgrades you mentioned to increase the life of my engine? I use it as daily and do regular maintenance on it. Just want to make sure it lasts me for years. Thank you in advance
@@raminramin85 I’m not exactly sure the ins and outs of the ‘21 system or what to add i should say but yes absolutely. Every Subaru’s first mods should be an AOS, oil pickup at minimum for the oil system (i think killer b does a solid deal for their pickup+windage tray+pan system), and especially the GetADomTune cylinder 4 coolant flow mod. After that I’d look into doing a parallel fuel system and ELH but that’s kinda getting into the knitty gritty. Just focus on those previously mentioned mods and do your best to lower intake temps and control overall heat in the engine bay, along with regular maintenance your car will last as long as you want it to
My track 06 LGT 5M has been stellar, has power & weight reduction mods, and 205000 miles on the original block and a stock ish turbo. Burns oil but i hooked it up to an iv and it just won't die. 🤪 Oh yeah, and a big radiator, oil cooler, catch cans, nice baffle and oil pickup.
It is such a joy to watch your content. I have a younger nephew that went out and purchased the exact same crosstrek that I own (2018). It is beat up, parts falling off, etc. The A/C no longer works, extra LED lights all over it. He is the kinda guy that wears flannel shirts and sits in parking lots with his other crosstrek buddies talking about motor swaps, steering wheel swaps, etc but doesn't understand the value of 3k-5k oil changes and maintenance. Your content is top notch. thanks!
I rented a Subaru, once. Had 8500 miles on it. Got 34 miles into the trip, before it blew a head gasket. Came across this video, wanted to hear your take on it. I understand every car has its issues, but you explained a bunch of reasons why a Subaru is unreliable. Paired with all the blown head gaskets on the internet, plus my experience with a blown head gasket in a Subaru, I think you have to deal with all the unreliability of a Subaru to understand how to keep it from being unreliable.
this exactly. I'm not an expert, but it seems like the reasons these subarus tend to have issues is many of the engines are turbocharged, the engines tend to be harder to work on diy because the heads are hard to access, and the oil maybe cant drain back as easily to the sump because its flat. It also doesnt help that the people that tend to own sti's and wrx's tend to hoon them. there i said it...
Subarus are unreliable either way. There's plenty of engines that can survive a beat down before the "break in period" and still be perfectly fine. Why go through all the Hussle of a boxer that cost more on maintenance than a standard reliable v6, I6, or V8
@@mikeythanos v6s sound like trash and are the most boring worst engine layout ever, crossplane v8s are boring, i6s are great, but unless I had a rb I'd prefer an n/a one. They're interesting and unique, that's a much more admirable reason for learning about and modifying a car than just trying to get as much boost into a cast iron block super simple engine as you can. i4s are a hit or a miss, some are unique and interesting, and others are a 2 liter alluminum block turbocharged i4
Sounds a lot like you're saying "Subarus are piles of shit that can't go on track without extensive modifications to their basic running gear" which is pretty much what donut concluded lol
2004 version 8 USDM STi with 212k miles, original engine and transmission. Bolt ONS - stock tune - with religious maintenance and still runs like a bat out of hell 👍
367k miles on my gc turbo and proper maintenance has kept her running good. Only time it was down was 1 bad fuel pump and a turbo past its life. Other then that she has been good to me and quite liked by the local school community near by.
If you want to go to the track, get a Honda not a Subaru. You’ll save yourself from headaches and most importantly track time. I’m glad Donut made a video about tracking Subarus since it’s the exact experience I had with Wrx’s and Sti’s vehicles. I just went broke and became depressed. After switching to a 350Z and Honda civic si (8th gen), I never had engine problems for the past 4 years 🙏🏼 If you are a subi owner, please review this video and take precaution. Oil starvation kills EJ motors
You shouldn't have to rebuild your oiling system and replace your transmission just to take a car on a couple of laps on a track. The way you defend this engine while saying all you have to do is change all these parts and replace the transmission and they're perfectly reliable is just stupid.
Porsche redlines engines at the factory with 0 miles on them. It absolutely should not be the case that a modern engine spins a bearing just from hard driving in break-in. Is it good for longevity? No, but people buy all kinds of Corvettes, Porsches, BMWs, etc. and track them straight off the lot and they don't spin a bearing at 200 miles. You correctly go through the reasons, but I think that's giving the engine's design a pass. I can go thrash a Yaris off the lot on a little track like they were at and doubt the engine blows up.
We're on our second Subaru. Loved the first one so much we bought another. Like you said proper maintenance will work for all vehicles and don't beat the shit out of a car and expect it to last.
I don't own a Subaru. One day though. I took Donut Media's hi/lo series with the Subarus with a grain a salt considering they admit to not doing things correctly or having no knowledge of Subarus. If anyone is looking for serious "reliability", drive a Corolla. Talk about reliability... ;) :P Looking to get an Outback Wilderness sometime this year. :D
So if I buy a 25 year old C-5 Crvette, Golf, or Mustang, I can immediately take it to a road course for track day, but I need to replace the oiling system and transmission on a WRX because they are poorly designed and fragile. So noted.
I have a 2004 Subaru outback I owned it for about 10 years now and the only work that I do to it has been oil change brake pads and I beat the hell out of it I had it on the never give me any problems I think the car that year it's been the toughes everbilt are all the Subaru and it's still going..
I just want to thank you for educating me on the brand! I watch a lot of your videos and had before I purchased one. I ended up getting a 23’ sport crosstrek and I’m thrilled! Thank you for concise information on the Brand!
@@Taalanos Mods without tunes, people putting cheap Ebay aftermarket parts onto their car, etc etc. (Putting stuff into the car which it was never engineered for.)
Every car has issues lol. Even Toyotas. It's something you need to take care of. And for the record, we have two 2003 Subarus that are almost to 350k, on the orginal engines, and have had little issues (mostly just suspension). They both run like a charm. I'd like to say we're lucky, but I also have a friend who has an older Legacy that's still kicking at almost 300k and no issues.
Coming from a background in motorsports anything heavily modified is prone to breaking. I’ve built many ej255,257,205 Subaru engines it is almost as expensive as my Porsche stuff. They are fun when they work. If I didn’t know how to work on cars, I probably wouldn’t have a modified Subaru. It would be way too expensive. I have a legacy GT with a 20G turbo on e85. E85 has helped so much keeping stock engines together in my experience. I think people also underestimate how much oil a car consumes when you take it to the track with a not awesome oil pan. It doesn’t take very much to cause oil starvation.
04 h6 outback enjoyer here. Donut used to be decent content but since they were bought out you can tell it's just not the same. MCM is the best place for subarus next to the one and only mr subaru.
I didn’t really have any feelings for or against Subaru before this video and honestly the only thing this video decided for me was to stay away from Subaru.
I'm a mechanic... so I get it. But... I can think of a hundred cars that could be taken and "thrashed" without needing to replace the whole oiling system with "race parts". And you mean to tell me that all the Kias and Hyundais and Toyota and Chevys that happen to have factory baffled pans... have "race parts" on them from the factory?. No... just better engineering.
theres 3 versions of the oilpan and pickup 08 up pan pickup ave deeper pan and pickup tend to holdup better noticed one new thing on new va sti motors finding oilpumps over pressure valve binds and stuck in recerculate at low rpm
I know you said you're going off of memory BUT... th-cam.com/video/AG8pveIYpEA/w-d-xo.html at 2:50 They said every engine, after the first one that wasn't broken in properly, had a baffled oil pan. 8:37 Is the full list of supporting mods. They said the supporting mods were comparable and both good brands, the real comparison was on the turbos. 10:39 They got it tuned at Yimi Sport. They specialize in Subaru, 5 stars on yelp, 4.6 on google. Can you give me the link or time stamp for when they "changed the stock oil components and learned their lesson"? Driving hard on a freshly built motor isn't a good idea, even they agree. But what's the excuse for every other motor? I came into this video with an open mind but I wasn't convinced.
So are we arguing that Subaru is good because they can do things most cars can do from the factory after you put a grand in aftermarket mods on them or that Subaru gets a pass because everyone knows about these issues?
I have owned Subarus for over 10 years now and have professionally worked on race engines and tuned them for about 7 years now. I agree with most of your points, a bit of time spent looking into these cars would tell you that they have terrible track engines. They need a lot of work to be made reliable for circuit racing (I personally track mine but I log oil pressure on the first couple laps of a track to see if there are any corners that pull too much g and I have a spare engine for when mine goes). Also if you track any car you will blow an engine eventually, racing is unbelievably hard on a car. I can’t agree with the proper break in though, almost every race engine in the world is started then the oil is changed then it’s thrown on a dyno and cranked to the max. There is a proper way to do it to get maximum ring seal but they do not get 1000 miles of run time before they are thrown on the track. They’re lucky to get 10 miles of run time, so either they had a bad engine from their rebuilder or a bad tune (which the factory tunes are atrocious on these cars) or they were on a track that had a long sweeper. It is an inherent problem with flat engines and the reason Porsche runs dry sump oil systems in their track focused cars. That and the tune are on Subaru.
I love Subarus. They are some of the most fun cars to own in the world, I’ve owned 4. But they are not reliable in comparison to other brands. This whole video is just saying “they’re super reliable once you replace a bunch of parts on them and don’t thrash on them” yeah, that means they aren’t that reliable. Needing to do work on an engine to make it work properly is figuratively the definition of unreliable. I barely watch Donut, but if a team of car enthusiasts and mechanics had to replace 5 engines it’s probably not because they don’t know what they’re doing, it’s probably because the engine wasn’t built well for todays standards. Every car has some common issues, most dot result in needing a new engine. That’s why I don’t drive a Subaru anymore until they make a new engine.
I have stopped watching fatbread media over 18 months ago and do not regret it. Thanks for the tipp for the baffled oil pan and the oil pump. I'll have them checked and/or modified on my WRX on it's next service.
I stopped watching a while back also. I found the channel early on and it seemed good but the fat guy yelling random lines would get annoying. Seemed like the more popular the channel got the more the fat guy would do his spontaneous yelling and I finally had enough. Unsubbed and moved on.
"It's all Donut's fault they kept blowing up Subarus! Oh by the way, the oil pickup, oil pan, oil pump and transmission all came bad from the factory for a sports car expected to be pushed hard. But shame on Donut! Subarus are reliable cars as long as you fix everything they did wrong from the start!"
@mrsubaru1837 They actually just uploaded an update video. The car they totaled broke a timing gear, and an intake valve got bent from slapping the piston.
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They did the same things with Toyotas, Nissans, even the BMW, and didn't have that many issues 👀
GREAT timing for these videos, I hope that the vast majority of people don’t see what we do in subarus and the prices don’t continue to go crazy. I honestly hope the subaru memes stay around so i can afford my dream subarus 😂
I mean as long as all these issues were addressed in new models it's understandable. On the other hand when you make a performance advertised vehicle like a WRX it probably should be made to go on the track from the get go. I love that this video tells you which parts are actually weaknesses that can easily be addressed by DYIers.
As someone who has been driving a modified, tuned STI, (spiritedly) for a year and 9 months with no issues, I laugh at all the trash talking comments. I had a new engine in mine too. It had about 1-3k on it. Almost 2 years later I've had no issues besides my t-stat going out which was a $20 fix. This is my 3rd Impreza and I have almost exclusively learned to work on Subarus. They do have their quirks.. just like ANY other platform. Thank you Mr. Subaru for spreading awareness and being a trustworthy voice in the subi world.
Bought the new Wrx with the brand new shiny fa24. All the research shows these engines are built to hold power reliably. Aaaaaaaand now it’s coming out that the oil pickup in these engines are getting clogged with excessive rtv gasket sealant that’s seeping into the oil pan. Lovely Subaru, you are the gift that keeps on giving.
I know some reputable guys (subaru engine builders) who have taken theirs apart because they kept hearing pepple bitch and basically explained how it isn't a big deal and people should chill out on it. Its their shop track car.
They did a follow up video to find out what went wrong with the one they totaled. Turns out, James didn't clutch in when they wreched and it turned the wheels the wrong way which forced the engine the wrong way. It grenaded a timing gear on the lower right cam shaft and caused valves to contact pistons and slightly bent one of the intake valves.
I can 100% respect that proper maintenance and knowing how far to push your engine goes a long way but i just wanna throw this out their. Ive seen LS engines get boosted, engines that wer never meant to see boost, and just absolutely eat the abuse. I love donut media but i do think they messed up skipping the break in stage, multiple times 😂 cars are pain man. Ive seen ALOT of subarus blow up, mostly none turbod ones at that. But ive also seen my fair share of them go 300k with just a head gasket replacement. Like i said, proper maintenance goes a long way
This is exectly why, if not me, I only let a former Subaru technician with 20 years of experience who owns his own shop solely dedicated to Subarus work on my car.
I’m not trying to be disrespectful but the guys at Donut have pretty decent knowledge and I think they know what they are doing. They only built those because they wanted to have fun, not to be serious. If you watch the whole series you would know they are having fun and making memories.
Appreciate the video, I like Donut Media, good entertainment channel. I mentally questioned the oil issue and rod bearing issue and just never looked or thought further. I own a Subaru and recommend them highly to friends, for the amazing AWD and reliability. Glad this issue is a racing only type of deal. I didn’t Google it cause I knew I would get thousands of they are horrible or just mod it etc comments vs the straight answer nothing wrong if you use it normally.
You subaru guys really know how to cope about your terrible engines. The WRX and BRZ would really be great cars if they had quality engines powering them. Everyone I've ever known who's had a Subaru sports car has had major engine issues or failure. Driver's meeting at the last track day I went to, they joked that the red and yellow striped "debris" flag means another subaru has blown up on track. The word is out there and the inherent defects present in both the EJ and FA series engines are as a result of poor engineering and are not acceptable.
I know this video is old, but this guy based half of his theory on Donut's abuse of the car with a factory oil pan, but they just came out with another Subaru engine rebuild and they stated that they had used aftermarket oil pans on all of their engine which kinda shoots down this whole guys theory.
So in order to race my rally racing car I have to completely redo the oiling/cooling system because from stock it’s not good and has problems even though it’s marketed as a rally racing car
@@user-los247 mean It doesn’t look good for the Subaru fans that in order to actually race this car reliably I have to fix major issues with the damn car from factory by the time I do all it this i could of been bought a different car and begin throwing some power mods and shit at it 🤣
This is s a good thing. We are missing the fact that this will help us get more subarus for us, lol. I, for 1, was looking for an older STI project. Hopefully, this drove down some cost.
It should also be noted that despite 06-07 running a lower I.W.G spring pressure(5psi) than 02-05(7psi), aftermarket turbos all say they are compatible with 02-07. So if you buy an aftermarket turbo, and just throw it on without checking or swapping anything, there is a good chance that you destroy your engine with over-boost.
Japan/Aus/NZ are all good examples of how good and reliable Subarus are long term. I've owned many Subarus, including a '89 Legacy GT, '95 GT twin turbo, SVX and now currently an OBW. Subaru of North America did itself no favors with the head gaskets in the early 2000's, but they've come a long way since then.
They still break till this day…. You’re talking old platforms these cars don’t have the old motor designs. Since 2010 Kia Hyundai Subaru has the most engine failures out of any brands for their most popular cars.
"Subaru's aren't bad, their stock oil pan is just horribly flawed and can ruin your engine and so can the oil pick up rod. It's completely reasonable to expect people to replace such a basic item on a car."
No matter what you say, Subaru isn’t know for reliability. They don’t do as well as other Japan’s car engines. But donut legit didn’t even try to do them decent so it really did make them look extra bad
Question: Are engines really that sensitive to starvation? Im asking because you mention the car being on two wheels which caused it, but it was only in that position for (im guessing) 1-2 seconds. So starvation can be detrimental even for that short of a time-lapse?
well they were on a track so lets say they were high in the rpm range. If the car were to go on its side and starve of oil for even just 1-2 seconds the bearings in the bottom end of the engine would spin against the block and the pistons over 100 times. The metals in these bearings are very soft so 100 revolutions with no oil would grind away a good chunk of that bearing due to the extra heat and friction. Tolerances in an engine are extremely tight, so if even just a little tiny bit of metal is shaved off of those bearings the piston would start to wiggle and move on the crankshaft, and while you may be able to drive it for short time like that, eventually those extra forces would have a catastropic effect on the engine components. Not to mention the metals that ened up in the oil causing the oil to become abrasive as well as potentially clogging the oil pickup or filter depending on the size of the fragments.
Thank you for doing this synopsis, it confirms plenty. I'm a fan of both Mr. Subaru and Donut Media, for several years now. Maybe because I am in love with my Subaru, I didn't catch on to any disrespect from DM when I watched the Hi/Low series, but I did find it suspicious that they were having more issues than they usually do when they try to apply an amateur attitude to car stuff. (I believe they intentionally maintain a casual approach to hands-on topics to convince the audience that anyone can get their hands dirty.) I could see them have dilemmas on a few mods because they couldn't find a "wide gap" in the prices of component groups, and I can tell they already know expensive does mean better. I sensed that they delayed on the oil pan upgrades because mods like that don't fall into the general categories that folks would be doing to their own project car, of various makes. Also, it would have been the same brand and cost for both cars, most likely, which throws of the point of this show. This car choice really threw their series format down the tubes, and I think that's because there is already a clear Correct Formula to tune out the WRX, and any other way is just a failure. They have to pick a car that has multiple configurations that are possible, so that they can experiment easier. Thanks again for doing what you do, Mr. Subaru.
Donut has crapped on Honda, who has been one of their partners, way more than Subaru. If I remember correctly Donut had baffled oil pans, at least on the original few engines, from the beginning.
It’s honestly the same nonsense as that guy who makes “better” versions of fast food. What if you buy 300$ meat somehow you can make a better sandwich than Wendy’s? Who knew. They blow up engines because blowing up engines is dramatic. They race the cars because that’s the lowest common denominator for what someone can think of for “well is a car better”
Personally I believe they hate and try to trash Subarus because they can’t deal with actually how great they are. I don’t listen to clown section….what do they know?
I don’t think cracking jokes about Subie’s poor reliability is the same as hating it. I crack subie jokes all the time, but I love them. I’d get one if they could handle mods more reliably, without building up a large expense in support mods like oil pan, oil pickup, oil pump, etc… But there’s many platforms roughly around the same price range that will make just as much, if not more power for a lesser cost, because they don’t require as many support mods. There’s plenty of unreliable platforms that people love, for example Mazda rotaries. But if you love something about the platform enough, you’ll put the time and money in to make it more reliable. I’d buy a Subie as a second vehicle any day if I had the money to do the right mods to it. But I don’t, so I chose a more reliable platform that can handle mods and still be a reliable daily that can also handle a few laps around the track without starving itself of oil. But yeah, y’all just gotta embrace the jokes. I embrace the jokes about the poor reliability of my German car’s over engineered electronics. Vehicles have their notorious problems. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy them, and find ways to fix them.
Out of everything in this video, the part where high-siding the car and starving the engine of oil is the most concerning. No engine should suffer a full failure from a few seconds of oil pressure loss. I've tipped over four-stroke snowmobiles, quads, and adventure bikes, with the engines running for quite a number of seconds at times, before I could shut them off. None even suffered even minor damage for the brief oil starvation. Heck, the old Detroit diesel in my one machine doesn't even indicate oil pressure for over a minute on startup. Clearly, Subaru engines have some sort of vulnerability that most other engines don't exhibit.
Yeah, as a member of a multigenerational Subaru family going back to a '70s DL two door hatchback, I was super excited when the first episode of this series came out saying they were building WRXs. Then they started having problems and it was clear that none of them were experienced Subaru owners or mechanics. After they wrecked the first car and ended up on the third engine I found myself hoping they would do a collab with you and have you inspect both cars and properly rebuild both engines with the bare minimum needed for track use, and THEN finish doing the expensive vs. cheap parts comparisons. Would have saved them a lot of money and headaches.
I can see where they’re coming from, you grab a similar year 350z and it won’t give you those issues. And it’s just weird because? It’s a Nissan and they’ve been crap for a while. Meanwhile my buddy is on his third engine and second trans.
Thanks for reminding me to sell my WRX. Piss poor engineering.
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I am proud to say I have owned my STi since October ‘06 and have properly (respectably) beat the crap out of it since day one, and to this day it is still running the stock block and stock turbo at 135k being protuned at 300whp since 40k
My 2002 WRX with 150,000 miles is still going in the Appalachian Mountains, and you know I enjoy driving it on those curvy mountain backroads!
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@@tyree9055 ha my saab 9-3 has 205k miles and everything is original. Just do it respectfully and change your oil. People a dumb these days and cars die too young these days. I love Subaru and it will definitely be my next vehicle. It will be my offroader.
I got a 2004 WRX that's been running a stage 2 OTS Cobb tune for over 10 years
@@204_mod_shop u should get a protune eventually😅
‘02 Bugeye at 185k miles and pro tuned to 300whp on pump gas (93) still runs great lol. We all just take good care of our cars!
My understanding is that the WRX was maximizing its stock parts already, while the STi was “over engineered” and could handle the performance adders. Which is why I wondered why they went for the model that was already maxed in it’s stock form, without complimentary mods.
@@jamesmaddison4546 The WRX 5-speed (indeed the GC8 era STi 5-speed) is already at the max. isn't it? The gears are physically very narrow. Hence why it is recommended to fit an aftermarket gearset, like the straight cut gears my GC8 had, or fit the 6-speed from the GDB-onwards STi.
My guess would be since every one modded or destroyed they’re sti’s the wax was the best option especially price wise. Your plotting to spend a fuck ton to get a unmolested sti. But that doesn’t really matter because the word is still hot garbage
Only the transmission. Not much different with the STI in terms of internals. I think they run a different crank and different injectors. But still, both need some things. Cylinder 4 cooling mod baffled pan oil pickup air oil separator etc etc etc
I think Donut illustrated a good lesson, be knowledgeable about the platform you're getting into. If you just buy a car and start randomly modifying it for power, or try to thrash it, there's a good chance it will cause issues. Most cars CAN be reliable if you maintain them properly, as much as the community loves to shit on BMW's, Subarus, VW's, a lot of it is poor maintenance and planning.
They did the same exact thing with several Nissans a civic and a miata never had problems. Just saying
@@xaphan8581Isn't their civic a piece of shit too?
@@JABelms I don't watch Donut Media, but quite a lot of people do Honda K24 swaps, rev them to 8000rpm (even though the maximum safe rpm is 7500rpm) and add boost to 400-450hp *and* yet it still seems to be a while before the engines break, lol!
My 03 VW gti was stage 2 ko4 with 150k with every bolt on possible and I floored it every day at every red light and it lasted me for 4 years even after I crashed it with no issues other than me doing water pump timing belt for peace of mind. My sisters bf had a newer 2014 wrx and modded it and his was knocking in a couple months after he modded it and he sold it. His was slightly faster than the gti I had but obviously wrx are not reliable bc he’s a mechanic and I hardly even changed oil and my gti was a tank
@@xaphan8581 The difference is that the Subaru has a boxer engine. They were always designed for a specific use case and either should remain stock, or you have to change quite a bit. I mean, the engines that are reliable from VW are basically R36, R32 engines, which were small iron-cast V6 engines, originally designed to be Diesel engines with far thicker engine walls. Honda/Toyota basically remained with iron-cast engines until the last few years when they changed to aluminum. Subarus are reliable too, if you buy the right engines. The Levorg petrol boxers that had a timing chain instead of a belt literally lasted, with the correct oil change for the CVT and engine, for 200,000 miles without any issues. Also, I've never heard a complaint from Legacy or Outback users, most likely because they do not beat sh*t out of the car.
I'm actually glad you posted this video. You're forgetting that there are another group of us out here that aren't for, or against Subaru, but are just trying to get the truth about these machines. Good content 👍
I didn't even know about the oil pan issue so I learned something new, plus learned there are higher quality aftermarket options.
You can destroy any car if you try hard enough.
They didn’t even try to, it was strait negligence.
Or it'll fail if you don't try hard enough to do it right
You can destroy any car if you are ignorant enough too.
I tried to destroy my old da integra and it made it past me and onto a new owner lol
@@RipstickMaster1998 lol you didn't try hard enough
as a subaru owner, i also have to admit something. They did the exact same thing with a nissan and they had no problems.
The 350z? Those blew up too. Thats why they LS swapped them.
after they put after market turbo's@@nfsfanAndrew
@@lastfrog5941exactly
@@lastfrog5941they also put aftermarket turbos on the subarus.
@@nfsfanAndrewtook em a lot longer and those where stock old engines. I'm fairly certain they had both rebuilt and built Subaru engines that blew up.
“Subaru’s are great cars. You just have to rebuild the entire oil system if you want to join your friends for a spirited drive in the blue ridge mountains.”
The audacity to say that it's your fault for a part failing because you don't know about it being a problem is crazy. You'd expect that the car would be fine like the others you've driven before right? How is that Donut's fault?
@@cannedsand1878 it’s mind blowing that you can’t take corners too fast in a rally inspired platform lol
@@Boostedm3nace"inspired" key right there. I do agree though. Build a rally car for the masses but leave it plenty of ways to fail when driving in an enthusiastic manner? Sounds like cutting corners for profit.
I’ve been working on vehicles for years mail cars and other customers cars …the oiling system ..junk unless u are a guy who loves to constantly work on his car lol
You're exaggerating. A "spirited drive" isn't what happened. They were thrashing the cars in heavy racing.
Sounds like a pile of excuses of why an engine was designed crappy.
I think donut did a great job showing what happens when you approach a niche vehicle without tons of niche knowledge. Kind of like how a lot of people blow up rotaries or even import GTR owners. Those cars aren’t simple and they aren’t built to throw tons of hp out of the box consequence free. You really gotta truly love those cars and explore every aspect of what could go wrong and accept the challenge before buying them.
or completely without a knowledge 🤣
@@morgan_1899_ they have built more cars than you have owned
@@dietznutz1 so why are they still shit at building cars?
@@dietznutz1 I don't care how many cars they have built, everyone has access to Google. Anyone can look up what are common issues with any car, and get an answer in like 20 minutes max (if you want to dive into forums). They're more just generic influencers then actual car guys at this point imho
@@istvanlorinczi2817 not every niche answer is on google and if you don’t already know there’s a lot of wrong info on the internet even common beliefs everyone repeats that are wrong. I’ve built several cars and a lot of it comes down to experience and trial and error and seeing for yourself how things work.
seems like adding an oil pressure gauge is a good idea for racer-bros.
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yeah, I used to watch that channel back in the day, but they've gone full sh!thead since then it seems. I guess they've been smoking a lot of it since it went legal, and it killed their last brain cell. Proud stupidity. They can't drive for sh't either.
They did eventually add guages, after grenading a couple motors... lol
What gauges do they have stock?
@@matthewklein9225 They have an oil pressure switch that throws the pressure light at about 7psi. Ideally the light should come on around 15psi minimum
I’m a tractor/equipment/light/heavy duty truck mechanic and I’m heavily involved in diesels as I’ve loved building diesel pickups since I was young. I’ve never seen the point in hating on brands except just jokingly. Every brand has goods and bads. Every mechanic has preferences me personally I hate working on GM products and I pick and talk my trash but they make their vehicles for the people who like them and it obviously works because they all sell
ford guy right?
Ya but maybe ppl buy them cause most of them are cheap and convenient as they are domestic cars and parts are available pretty much at every local part store. With regards however to GM having good cars that's a HELL NO!
@@VWMANCA gm is better than Ford and any mechanic will tell you that, Ford isn't cheap like that neither
@Michael Rearick from my experience working on vehicles fords are typically solid chevy/gmc aren't terrible usually the duramax are a pain though and well dodge are ok if the body holds together and you can keep front end parts in them
Im a small time mechanic and i Find chevys are less of headache than a ford but i find fords drive and perform better in my experience. Owning Hyundais and volvos I hate imports because they are very sensitive and are stupid annoying to work on
This is why I told my sister to never buy a used wrx from anyone. Even with a clear carfax history the engine generade after a week of owning it. People abuse these cars and don't care what happens to the next person in line. Like the man said, if you take care of them they will last you. I've owned Subarus.
1 05 Impreza RS, 3 Outbacks, 96,99, 05. 2010 Tribeca. Now a 2019 Subaru Ascent.
Oh wow do you only drive Subarus?
@@NotAdamSnider Subaru people tend to always buy Subaru. I got a Impreza and I love it so much! I’m currently in the process to bribe my mom to buy a 2023 ascent.
@@NotAdamSnider I was at a Buick GMC/ Subaru dealership in NYC. I was trained by all 3 and notice the Subarus were growing, (back in 02-04) So that is where passion grew for them. I did take a break from when I heard about the CVTs. But Mr Subaru 1387 changed my mind on them and my 2019 Ascent is a great buy. I had a 04 GMC Envoy XL with 408,000 miles on it before the tranny blew.
A guy I knew bought a legacy with a manual and the engine blew up in like 2 weeks after owning it. 🤷♂️
Too bad if your sister wants to get the best generation of WRX and has to pay a fuckton for a a Crosstrek goofball with WRX badging.
Although I agree that knowledge of the vehicle and how to upgrade it is important, the other vehicles they had on HiLow also had what you called "street" parts and they didn't have those dramatic issues. Also what can you expect would happen on older vehicles with unknown maintenance history.
I agree, it’s like he’s saying the wrx has bad parts and shame on Donut for not knowing about all of them. More like it should be shame on Subaru for not making quality parts in the first place. Also he says certain parts are not meant to be raced on. Is the wrx not marketed as a sports car? I’d think a car marketed as such should be able to be taken to the track in stock form. Long story short, I don’t think the guys at Donut should get as much flak as this guy is giving them
Especially the Tacoma, that thing was built like a tank, stock engine and stock transmission even over a thousand pounds of weight on hi-car with how much accessories they put on it lol.
Idk man the drift zs blew up too and with a brand new chevy crate motor
@@awong520 Exactly bro. Subaru owners will do everything but admit that EJ cars are Junk
Yeah. Some companies overbuild. Subaru doesn't. That's why they're such good cars for "anyone" who doesn't mod their cars much.
I'm pretty sure they mentioned in the last or pre-last video of the series that they 'obviously changed their oil pan/system in the beginning' because like a gazillion people wrote that in the comments in the first video when the first engine broke down, maybe check that video as well for more details on that
Mans has ZERO details. It like he played them in the background and didn’t pay attention at all.
I've seen many ej engines spin bearings on road courses. Always though it was a poor oil supply issue. Thank you for clarifying the causes and fixes for the failure points.
Pretty sure this is how my outback died. It is 2014, was going up a hill at about 90 mph, fairly steep incline, spun a bearing within 5-10 secs up the hill. Only had 94k miles on the engine. Just completely absurd this kind of thing should happen to what is a very good car over something so trivial.
Skipping the break-in period told me everything I needed to know. Lol. I think people confuse "reliability" for "ability to withstand abuse".
It's pretty much like "my kid was just born 3 months ago, why isn't he able to run a 10k?!"
I usually hear people speak about Hondas being the cars that handle abuse. "That old Honda may be beat up, and it might not sound so nice, but it'll take it like a champ and at least run."
20 minutes @ 2,000-3,000 rpm is all you need to break in cams.
Everything Mr. Subaru explains confirms that Subarus are very sensitive.
AMS will tell you the same.
What break in period? I spent 10 years as a dynamics development engineer for an OE. I probably took 40 cars, brand new from the plant with 1-5 miles, and put 15k on them, with no oil change, and basically at WOT at a handling pad for all those miles. Never once had an engine failure. You know how the cars show up at the dealer with 10-15 miles? Thats cause the car goes on a rolls dyno on the line and they do WOT pulls with less than 60 seconds on the engine to check everything before it even makes it off the line.
@Bad Investment Builds there are many rebuilt engines that require a break-in period. There are many factory engines that suggest a break-in period. There are many variables that may lead to an engine requiring or not requiring one. And, in this case, Donut Media media mentioned one being suggested for this particular build. I would listen to the builder/manufacturer first.
Good video! I was wondering if you would catch wind of DonutMedia! I’ve never owned a Subaru, so I can’t say anything bad, but it’s a damn shame Subaru had so many inherent issues you explain from factory. I get most if not all manufacturers have issues, but let’s face it, someone buys a Subaru for fun and speed, it’s a shame you have to spend so much money on the car (new) then still have to invest more money to fix what Subaru should have already engineered into it.
I think I agree with this but only in the case of the WRX. Since it’s supposed to be for rally (WRX: World Rally eXperimental), you would think they’d put a tougher transmission and a baffled oil pan stock. The other models I think are awesome in their stock form though. My Legacy runs smooth and I love it ❤.
@@makisitonga2530 Yes, the Aisin 6-speed manual should have been standard across the board. Not the Subaru 5-speed nor the Subaru 6-speed (which is just the 5-speed with an extra gear...). US market WRX STi could also have been supplied with the EJ207 with forged pistons instead of EJ257 with hypereutectic pistons. It's clearly cost cutting.
I do like the fact that they went through with buying cars that not everyone knows how to work on them. Yes there are a lot of information out there, but as the same time there’s trolls that don’t want to help out. I also think if they didn’t have a timeline to complete the series, they would’ve done their research correctly.
P
@@gaddielpacheco6976 well said
People just need to face facts. Subie's and EJ's are just not good motors for 99% of people. Yes, they CAN be decent, but this requires a TON of knowledge and research. EJ's, arguably, can be even more annoying and less reliable than Rotaries. You shouldnt need to be a mechanic and scholar to own a mass-produced Subaru and be able to drive it as it is advertised. EJ's are okay in stock form, but the second you try to mod them, they become a ticking time bomb. They are just fragile motors in comparison to most 4-cylinder alternatives in its class. To run an EJ properly and be able to mod it and make it somewhat reliable, you need to invest a lot of time and money and upgrade many of the factory problems. All of my Subaru's were fun but they were a massive money pit. My STI was more money to Maintain than my BMW. Which should tell you something.
@@Maximus20778 Bud, are you trying to say the EJ is a good motor for power and mods? If so, you are in denial. It is not opinion at all. Even Porsche has come out and talked about the drawbacks and shortcomings of a flat boxer engine. There is a reason the EJ and Subaru's have such a bad reputation. And you cant blame it on the owner and driver. Honda's have a 10x worse customer base, and treat their cars far worse, and you dont see K's, B's and F series having this same rep.. And Subaru's key demographic for the WRX and sport models are older males on average with larger incomes. So Subaru has even less to go on in that area.
@@JonHop1also what does Subaru demographics have to do with this? Makes no sense
"They took cars with notorious oil issues" sounds like a subaru issue then.
When racing* Like he mentioned already its fine for daily driving, which is what the wrx is made for its not a STI.
I don't know...I have my 06 STI at 151k miles... still going strong - original engine, turbo and clutch, also sees redline daily.
Been to track several times, front gold Brembos have turned into brown-bos. I do burn 1 qt or so every oil change (3k miles) depending on the oil.
Other than typical maintenance, the ones that went bad are - all four struts (replaced with coil overs), power steering pump, radiator, turbo inlet pipe, turbo up-pipe and had a leak on the valve cover gaskets. Not sure how many of these were due to the time at the track. Yes the maintenance is more than a typical Japanese vehicle, but but not too bad.
Tbh they all are similar issues with my (200km ej207). Think they are just common issues that anyone with Google and a brain can identify and fix. But most people just want to trash their rides and blame the manufacturer 😅
I’m not in the Subaru community but I have a bmw with 200k on it, the donut guys are after views people would rather see engines blow up then see someone do maintenance
@@ProfessionalRtard If I take a Honda of that same gen and track it, will it blow up like the EJ of this gen? If I take Miata of the same gen?, A Nissan Z, an Evo, an Audi, BMW Porchse, any other high performance model car?
This car is marketed a a rally car for the street and thus should not blow up due to bad non-baffled oil pan issue from the factory. People joke how most performance cars are less reliable when modified except for Subaru's which actually require warranty voiding modifications in order to make the car last. (Stock tune running too rich, non baffled pan, etc)
@@SI0AX the wrx is basically a base model car. If this happened with an sti sure, but the wrx is essentially an econo sedan with a turbo on it. Unless you're clueless, modifying a car will always make it more reliable, unless you're boosting something that was originally n/a
@@houseking9211 My comment was referring to both WRX and STI. They both have the same oil starvation issue due to the horizontally opposed engine design and lack of factory baffling in the oil pan.
I've owned many of these cars over the years. I work at the Indiana Plant and have since it opened.
Our company is continuously dogged by TFL , Motortrend on and on.
I also have never had a failure with mine .
There are TOO MANY stories at our plant about horrible mistakes made at quick lubes / owner abuse and etc.
I work in the Body Maint. Dept. and I'm here to tell you these cars are built like tanks compared to their competition.
I worked on the Toyota line when it was here. Camry is built like a beer can compared to the Legacy.
People hate on the Ascent but love the KIA and HYUNDAI >>WTF ??
Mr. Subaru if yer ever interested in a plant tour / let us know.
That would be absolutely amazing!!!
Proud owner of a 4S4 VIN here :) Subaru is the only Japanese brand I'm confident in buying one of their cars made in America. My 2005 Outback XT is at 400,000km and still going strong thanks to the work you guys did building it way back then !
@@MrSubaru1387 This has to happen!!!! A tour would be such a good video.
You guys made my 2010 Outback 3.6. i love it and is going on 185k miles. Thank you and the plant for their craftsman ship
I keep seeing Tellurides on the side of the road here in Colorado. I have yet to see an Ascent on the side of the road.
I don't think you can blame donut too much. I'm coming into the Subaru world with a VB (which I'm enjoying a lot), but I'm learning a lot about how many issues the older Subarus have had. Definitely something that would keep me away from the older gens. Hoping the VB is rock solid. Although the RTV issue is scaring me.
But there are plenty of people i know with older subarus that are well over 200k. Its called maintenance some need more than others.
He’s not blaming them, just saying how their “test” is inconclusive and the “car scene” will just believe it
@@onehundredpicks5531 Proof right here. 2001 Forester with 206k on the clock. Maintenance on sked. Still running strong. Had an '04 WRX back in the day which I tracked and autocross pretty much. Again maintenance on sked. No problems.
@@onehundredpicks5531 I know a guy that had over 200k miles on a Dodge Neon. Doesn't mean it's a car I'd own nor a reliable car for the other 99.99% of owners that constantly had issues. You shouldn't need to be a fanboy to keep a car alive and you shouldn't need to upgrade your car just to take fast corners without losing oil. Bad design is bad design and the engines being a pita to work on for even minor maintenance would and should scare many people away that aren't willing to put in the time to maintain a car that comes with issues from factory.
@@sirseriously wholeheartedly agree. I know someone who killed a corolla. Never changed the oil ran about 30k miles with no oil change. But the corolla is known for being reliable. Maintenance is key
Great video!
I have an ‘02 wagon since ‘01.
Stage 1 tune.
Motor went to 176k then burned an exhaust valve. Still had hone crosshatch in cylinders! One rod bearing was down a few layers. Early cranks had less oiling holes for rods. 85k into the replacement oem short block- so far runs nice, oil doesn’t burn or get that dirty in the 5-6k intervals. Run Mobil 1 10w30 or 5w30 since new. Appreciate the oil pickup, baffle, windage tray advice! Tech opted to reuse original oil pump… should have that checked/replaced.
Love the car generally!
Handles like a sports car, great for snowy trips, practical aside from so-so mpg.
Are you going to do an update video they just released that after the first engine they upgraded the oil system (oil pump , oil pan, and oil pickup) plus upgraded the cooling system because they were told that's also a problem, just seems like these engines aren't reliable unfortunately
hahaha
Hopefully having donut paint them in a less than optimal light will make the prices go down a little bit. I'd love to get my hands on one of these.
Don’t…… I’ve yet to see a person keep a subie longer than 3/4 years. Catastrophic failure after the next with their motors. Only ones that seem to last probably don’t get driven over 55 mph max and 5/10 miles in commutes daily…. And I had a coworker baby his and the motor blew up still.
@@iCEBERG711 no way lol. They wouldn't sell these cars if they weren't reliable. I doubt your friend took care of it nice.
That would be nice. Kinda miss my Hawkeye. I owned mine for 14 years before I sold it
@@Strider1Wilco „They wouldn’t sell these cars if they weren’t reliable“ doubt, look at the big brands that slowly drop in quality while the price rises because they come with a status
@@Strider1Wilco "they wouldn't sell them if they weren't reliable"
>Hyundai has entered the chat
>Kia has entered the chat
>Nissan cvt has entered the chat
One important missing info: in the beginning of the finally video they specify that they installed baffled oil pans in both cars after the first engine died.
But still, they should have monitored the oil pressure.
I believe they reused the oil pans in all of the engines, which ideally shouldn’t be done if there was ever metal pieces in the oil system. It’s impossible to tell if you’ve cleaned all the pieces out before reinstalling
Likely reused the oil coolers and other No-no components that hold on to metal shavings, no matter how much you clean and flush them.
So you have to upgrade 3 separate parts so you don't fuck your engine by just doing a few laps? Lmaooo
>it's their fault for not replacing every single part in the engine because they are faulty designs
>There are full race series based around fully stock crown vics that are hammered every day and all they need is tires.
Not sure how you can defend Subaru on this
The fact that these engines are this old and so many people know about these issues and still after all these years, Subaru has still not fixed any of them is MIND BOGGLING.
Donut has done this type of thing before and not really had these problems with a 350z. The oiling issues, only the screws backing out on the oil pump concern me as far as reliability is concerned. But in all reality these engines seem to eat head gaskets on stock engines right around 100k, but that's really about all Ive actually seen. Also if that little accident starved the motor enough to ruin a main bearing, shame on Subaru, I've seen way worse.
They did it with 2 350Z’s and neither the stock VQ’s or junkyard LS or brand new crate LS blew up even after adding turbos and making way more power than the subaru with zero break in. And they used them for drifting which has them bouncing off the rev limiter most of the time. This guy has severe mental issues trying to blame donut
Typically the head gaskets are an issue on the non turbo Subarus.
Lol you’re so full of sh*t. It’s the NA engines that are known to blow gaskets, that true. The turbo engines don’t have that as a “common” thing. Yeah, modified, as in getting a bigger turbo, engines do tend to blow head gaskets.
I was wondering if you were going to make a response video. Good info. Too bad all the haters commenting on the Subie Hi/low videos won't bother to watch this. I was looking forward to the series but got very disappointed toward the end. They gave Subaru a bad name, unfortunately. They should have done more research before thrashing on them.
But you can't really blame them tho, for example: for the first time when they have to get the baseline , they wanted to get it with the stock car (ie no prep mods for the track) cuz thats the state that someone would buy a subie (although skipping the break in is a very stupid mistake on DMs part)
subaru gave themselves a bad name by having poorly built systems and fragile parts from the factory. shouldnt have to sink money into a brand new (at the time) car just to make it run right
Nah I watched it, and it justified its name. Yes EJ is a great engine when used as intended. But it feels like such a cope by saying the reason probably half of them blew up is because the community proved this engine is a bad platform for anything outside of commuting, and you should install baffling, pickup mod, cylinder 4 cooling correction, and upgrade the oil pump, to be able to track and do something MANY other engines can do stock.
Alot of the hate for modifying these older subarus is because these engines are already built to the upper limits of what the engine can take with out major overhaul of the engine systems. Its not like many of the other imports like Nissan 350z or Toyota supras where the engines were deliberately undertuned and easily had 1 to 2 hundred more horses in the engine before needing to go back over with supporting mods. The trade off being if you do blow it up it is very easy to replace whatever you broke.
Well. these are also the more expensive blocks to replace before Ls and Vs and such.
Not sure about the oil pickup, but in the last part of the series, they did say that they did install a better baffled oil pan on both cars.
Thank you for confirming not to by a WRX. My Corvette did not need engine mods just to do a few track days.
Yes , engine break-in is crucial, but your pointing out plenty of issues that should be addressed by the factory.
Ive owned 3 GC8s , first was 145k miles, second was 156k miles both stock blocks and worked perfectly. My third and current one has 125k miles and is a 1993, did change the headgasket but it is a 28 year old car 🤷♂️
Edit: All 3 are WRXs with mods.
My take away was:
They didn't break in the engine (Obviously bad, you have to do that) but then the rest was, they didn't change several parts with aftermarkets upgrades. Parts like the oil pans, intakes and oil pumps and simple fragile gearboxes.
So if you were comparing cars in your mind (which i'm sure their doing of their experiences) you would still be justified in your bad experiences with these cars.
I think its all well and good that these deficiencies with the cars are well documented and information is available online, but its no defence for the car or brand to say "you should have known those designs are bad" "Its your fault for driving them fast"
I didn't know anything about the oil issues in the WRX and when I was thinking of buy one, I 100% would have loved to take it to a track day a few times in ownership. I would be salty if the factory designs caused the car to fail and the response was "You should have known to replace the oil pan"
Still love the cars though, thats not going to change
Couldn't have said it better. They are criticizing Donut for "not taking into account oem deficiencies" like, bro the thing shouldnt be SO DELICATE.
Its not bad its just they didnt do properly break in using rotella oil, a baffled pan, an improved pickup, an air oil separator, a better tune, an upgraded radiator, an extra catch can and so on.. "3k in upgrades just so it doesnt blow up after 2 laps".
My 2002 wrx that I just purchased not too long ago has been running strong, no oil leaks, and its been bulletproof this winter!
wait
Lets be real. Some of this is on Donut and some on Subaru. Regardless of information being out there, the oil system was/is a bad design. Did Subaru really think a WRX wouldn't be tracked or pulling Gs?
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Had a 07 WRX, spent a lot of time trying to learn what to do to make a Subaru last while also making it quite a bit faster. Did just about every bolt on you can think of besides a bigger turbo (wanted the rest of the engine ready for a bigger turbo when I got one). Car had about 114k miles and was clearly neglected when i first got it, and at 150k+ with upgrades it ran like a champ and i definitely didn’t baby it but at the same time didn’t drive it like a maniac. The mods i give the most credit for keeping the engine strong and the mods i recommend every new owner starting with are a solid AOS, upgraded oil system (pan, windage tray, pickup), and the GetADomTune cylinder 4 coolant flow mod. Car had 262whp and 332wtq, with trans reinforcement it still blew through 3rd gear. Have an STI now and feels good having some peace of mind being able to apply all I’ve learned to something that’ll handle the power. Long story short, if you plan on modding a Subaru, get an STI.
Hi there I’m owner of 2021 STI with 12k miles on it. Will you recommend doing the upgrades you mentioned to increase the life of my engine? I use it as daily and do regular maintenance on it. Just want to make sure it lasts me for years. Thank you in advance
@@raminramin85 I’m not exactly sure the ins and outs of the ‘21 system or what to add i should say but yes absolutely. Every Subaru’s first mods should be an AOS, oil pickup at minimum for the oil system (i think killer b does a solid deal for their pickup+windage tray+pan system), and especially the GetADomTune cylinder 4 coolant flow mod. After that I’d look into doing a parallel fuel system and ELH but that’s kinda getting into the knitty gritty. Just focus on those previously mentioned mods and do your best to lower intake temps and control overall heat in the engine bay, along with regular maintenance your car will last as long as you want it to
@@raminramin85 OCTurboJoe’s VR chassis build on here is a very solid path to follow
@@Shadey473 thank you so much for taking the time to reply back. I appreciate you.
don't forget quality equal length headers. I have agency power on mine and it still sounds amazing
My track 06 LGT 5M has been stellar, has power & weight reduction mods, and 205000 miles on the original block and a stock ish turbo. Burns oil but i hooked it up to an iv and it just won't die. 🤪 Oh yeah, and a big radiator, oil cooler, catch cans, nice baffle and oil pickup.
It is such a joy to watch your content. I have a younger nephew that went out and purchased the exact same crosstrek that I own (2018). It is beat up, parts falling off, etc. The A/C no longer works, extra LED lights all over it.
He is the kinda guy that wears flannel shirts and sits in parking lots with his other crosstrek buddies talking about motor swaps, steering wheel swaps, etc but doesn't understand the value of 3k-5k oil changes and maintenance.
Your content is top notch. thanks!
I rented a Subaru, once. Had 8500 miles on it. Got 34 miles into the trip, before it blew a head gasket. Came across this video, wanted to hear your take on it. I understand every car has its issues, but you explained a bunch of reasons why a Subaru is unreliable. Paired with all the blown head gaskets on the internet, plus my experience with a blown head gasket in a Subaru, I think you have to deal with all the unreliability of a Subaru to understand how to keep it from being unreliable.
this exactly. I'm not an expert, but it seems like the reasons these subarus tend to have issues is many of the engines are turbocharged, the engines tend to be harder to work on diy because the heads are hard to access, and the oil maybe cant drain back as easily to the sump because its flat. It also doesnt help that the people that tend to own sti's and wrx's tend to hoon them. there i said it...
Subarus are unreliable either way. There's plenty of engines that can survive a beat down before the "break in period" and still be perfectly fine. Why go through all the Hussle of a boxer that cost more on maintenance than a standard reliable v6, I6, or V8
@@mikeythanosa reliable V6? Your trippin broski Subarus can take a beating.
@@mikeythanos v6s sound like trash and are the most boring worst engine layout ever, crossplane v8s are boring, i6s are great, but unless I had a rb I'd prefer an n/a one. They're interesting and unique, that's a much more admirable reason for learning about and modifying a car than just trying to get as much boost into a cast iron block super simple engine as you can. i4s are a hit or a miss, some are unique and interesting, and others are a 2 liter alluminum block turbocharged i4
“Subaru engines don’t suck!”
*procedes to list reasons why they suck*
Sounds a lot like you're saying "Subarus are piles of shit that can't go on track without extensive modifications to their basic running gear" which is pretty much what donut concluded lol
You have so much time to whine and bitch about other mechanics? I guess you're not working much.
2004 version 8 USDM STi with 212k miles, original engine and transmission. Bolt ONS - stock tune - with religious maintenance and still runs like a bat out of hell 👍
the sti's are much better than the wrx's in pretty much every way. If I didn't own my 2002 9-5 aero manual, I'd love to have a blobeye STI
367k miles on my gc turbo and proper maintenance has kept her running good. Only time it was down was 1 bad fuel pump and a turbo past its life. Other then that she has been good to me and quite liked by the local school community near by.
If you want to go to the track, get a Honda not a Subaru. You’ll save yourself from headaches and most importantly track time.
I’m glad Donut made a video about tracking Subarus since it’s the exact experience I had with Wrx’s and Sti’s vehicles. I just went broke and became depressed.
After switching to a 350Z and Honda civic si (8th gen), I never had engine problems for the past 4 years 🙏🏼
If you are a subi owner, please review this video and take precaution. Oil starvation kills EJ motors
You shouldn't have to rebuild your oiling system and replace your transmission just to take a car on a couple of laps on a track. The way you defend this engine while saying all you have to do is change all these parts and replace the transmission and they're perfectly reliable is just stupid.
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Porsche redlines engines at the factory with 0 miles on them. It absolutely should not be the case that a modern engine spins a bearing just from hard driving in break-in. Is it good for longevity? No, but people buy all kinds of Corvettes, Porsches, BMWs, etc. and track them straight off the lot and they don't spin a bearing at 200 miles. You correctly go through the reasons, but I think that's giving the engine's design a pass. I can go thrash a Yaris off the lot on a little track like they were at and doubt the engine blows up.
You can see a shit ton of miatas old and new being thrashed with no issues other than maybe needing a radiator.
We're on our second Subaru. Loved the first one so much we bought another. Like you said proper maintenance will work for all vehicles and don't beat the shit out of a car and expect it to last.
I don't own a Subaru. One day though. I took Donut Media's hi/lo series with the Subarus with a grain a salt considering they admit to not doing things correctly or having no knowledge of Subarus. If anyone is looking for serious "reliability", drive a Corolla. Talk about reliability... ;) :P Looking to get an Outback Wilderness sometime this year. :D
The 2ZZ in the Corolla T-Sport/Sportivo is a great engine! 8500rpm all day long. The rest of the car isn't that great, but the engine is great! 🙂
So if I buy a 25 year old C-5 Crvette, Golf, or Mustang, I can immediately take it to a road course for track day, but I need to replace the oiling system and transmission on a WRX because they are poorly designed and fragile.
So noted.
I have a 2004 Subaru outback I owned it for about 10 years now and the only work that I do to it has been oil change brake pads and I beat the hell out of it I had it on the never give me any problems I think the car that year it's been the toughes everbilt are all the Subaru and it's still going..
I just want to thank you for educating me on the brand! I watch a lot of your videos and had before I purchased one. I ended up getting a 23’ sport crosstrek and I’m thrilled!
Thank you for concise information on the Brand!
I love your video. You made a lot of good points for pro Suburu. They're still unreliable unless you baby them. Have a great day!
I’ve flogged my bugeye for 7 years on a very basic build with an STI drivetrain at 434whp. I beg to differ
Thanks for the update Robert my Son was watching those guys. Take care of yourself.👍❤️❤️
Thank you for explaining why subaru's are bad. Seems like they have potential to be good as long as you engineer out the issues you outlined.
(For racing)
And for street use just keep up with proper maintenance and don't "mod them to death".
@@MyAutomotiveChannel what would be an example of a reasonable mod and one that pushes into death-mod territory?
@@Taalanos Mods without tunes, people putting cheap Ebay aftermarket parts onto their car, etc etc. (Putting stuff into the car which it was never engineered for.)
Every car has issues lol. Even Toyotas. It's something you need to take care of. And for the record, we have two 2003 Subarus that are almost to 350k, on the orginal engines, and have had little issues (mostly just suspension). They both run like a charm. I'd like to say we're lucky, but I also have a friend who has an older Legacy that's still kicking at almost 300k and no issues.
@@Doobency Subaru does make great vehicles, no doubt.
Coming from a background in motorsports anything heavily modified is prone to breaking. I’ve built many ej255,257,205 Subaru engines it is almost as expensive as my Porsche stuff. They are fun when they work. If I didn’t know how to work on cars, I probably wouldn’t have a modified Subaru. It would be way too expensive. I have a legacy GT with a 20G turbo on e85. E85 has helped so much keeping stock engines together in my experience. I think people also underestimate how much oil a car consumes when you take it to the track with a not awesome oil pan. It doesn’t take very much to cause oil starvation.
they confirmed that they upgraided oil pans on all subis, so stop lieing.
Tells you it’s not the Subarus fault - proceeds to point out all the factory defects 😂
04 h6 outback enjoyer here. Donut used to be decent content but since they were bought out you can tell it's just not the same. MCM is the best place for subarus next to the one and only mr subaru.
I didn’t really have any feelings for or against Subaru before this video and honestly the only thing this video decided for me was to stay away from Subaru.
I'm a mechanic... so I get it. But... I can think of a hundred cars that could be taken and "thrashed" without needing to replace the whole oiling system with "race parts". And you mean to tell me that all the Kias and Hyundais and Toyota and Chevys that happen to have factory baffled pans... have "race parts" on them from the factory?. No... just better engineering.
But hyundai kias burn oil from factory and every o/c I've done on one has no oil and burning it. So idk man I'll take a subaru over the Korean stuff
Hyundai and Kia are known to self detonate the motor under normal usage. Calm down there, big shoots lol.
toyota built an engine that had metal shavings in the oil from factory and they would all explode within a few hundered miles, so no
As it turns out, they had the correct oil pan on it the entire time. They knew what they were doing, it's just that Subarus are poop.
theres 3 versions of the oilpan and pickup 08 up pan pickup ave deeper pan and pickup tend to holdup better noticed one new thing on new va sti motors finding oilpumps over pressure valve binds and stuck in recerculate at low rpm
I know you said you're going off of memory BUT...
th-cam.com/video/AG8pveIYpEA/w-d-xo.html
at 2:50 They said every engine, after the first one that wasn't broken in properly, had a baffled oil pan.
8:37 Is the full list of supporting mods. They said the supporting mods were comparable and both good brands, the real comparison was on the turbos.
10:39 They got it tuned at Yimi Sport. They specialize in Subaru, 5 stars on yelp, 4.6 on google.
Can you give me the link or time stamp for when they "changed the stock oil components and learned their lesson"?
Driving hard on a freshly built motor isn't a good idea, even they agree. But what's the excuse for every other motor? I came into this video with an open mind but I wasn't convinced.
So are we arguing that Subaru is good because they can do things most cars can do from the factory after you put a grand in aftermarket mods on them or that Subaru gets a pass because everyone knows about these issues?
I have owned Subarus for over 10 years now and have professionally worked on race engines and tuned them for about 7 years now. I agree with most of your points, a bit of time spent looking into these cars would tell you that they have terrible track engines. They need a lot of work to be made reliable for circuit racing (I personally track mine but I log oil pressure on the first couple laps of a track to see if there are any corners that pull too much g and I have a spare engine for when mine goes). Also if you track any car you will blow an engine eventually, racing is unbelievably hard on a car. I can’t agree with the proper break in though, almost every race engine in the world is started then the oil is changed then it’s thrown on a dyno and cranked to the max. There is a proper way to do it to get maximum ring seal but they do not get 1000 miles of run time before they are thrown on the track. They’re lucky to get 10 miles of run time, so either they had a bad engine from their rebuilder or a bad tune (which the factory tunes are atrocious on these cars) or they were on a track that had a long sweeper. It is an inherent problem with flat engines and the reason Porsche runs dry sump oil systems in their track focused cars. That and the tune are on Subaru.
I love Subarus. They are some of the most fun cars to own in the world, I’ve owned 4. But they are not reliable in comparison to other brands. This whole video is just saying “they’re super reliable once you replace a bunch of parts on them and don’t thrash on them” yeah, that means they aren’t that reliable. Needing to do work on an engine to make it work properly is figuratively the definition of unreliable. I barely watch Donut, but if a team of car enthusiasts and mechanics had to replace 5 engines it’s probably not because they don’t know what they’re doing, it’s probably because the engine wasn’t built well for todays standards.
Every car has some common issues, most dot result in needing a new engine. That’s why I don’t drive a Subaru anymore until they make a new engine.
I have stopped watching fatbread media over 18 months ago and do not regret it.
Thanks for the tipp for the baffled oil pan and the oil pump. I'll have them checked and/or modified on my WRX on it's next service.
I stopped watching a while back also. I found the channel early on and it seemed good but the fat guy yelling random lines would get annoying. Seemed like the more popular the channel got the more the fat guy would do his spontaneous yelling and I finally had enough. Unsubbed and moved on.
Do the 08-14 wrx’s have the newer baffled oil pans?
Haven't watched their content in awhile. It's really low quality stuff now, used to be so much better in the past.
Haha you would’ve learned that 3+ weeks ago if you did watch them😂
@@TheRandomname951 no, not even the 15+. Still have to get I aftermarket. Same with pick up tube.
"It's all Donut's fault they kept blowing up Subarus! Oh by the way, the oil pickup, oil pan, oil pump and transmission all came bad from the factory for a sports car expected to be pushed hard. But shame on Donut! Subarus are reliable cars as long as you fix everything they did wrong from the start!"
I'm glad they made Subarus look bad. Hopefully it'll drop their prices for us 😅
😂😂😂
@mrsubaru1837
They actually just uploaded an update video. The car they totaled broke a timing gear, and an intake valve got bent from slapping the piston.
They did the same things with Toyotas, Nissans, even the BMW, and didn't have that many issues 👀
awesome getting real knowledge from a real technician! props man! love the tool short too
GREAT timing for these videos, I hope that the vast majority of people don’t see what we do in subarus and the prices don’t continue to go crazy. I honestly hope the subaru memes stay around so i can afford my dream subarus 😂
Send more WRXs to donut media
I mean as long as all these issues were addressed in new models it's understandable. On the other hand when you make a performance advertised vehicle like a WRX it probably should be made to go on the track from the get go. I love that this video tells you which parts are actually weaknesses that can easily be addressed by DYIers.
As someone who has been driving a modified, tuned STI, (spiritedly) for a year and 9 months with no issues, I laugh at all the trash talking comments. I had a new engine in mine too. It had about 1-3k on it. Almost 2 years later I've had no issues besides my t-stat going out which was a $20 fix. This is my 3rd Impreza and I have almost exclusively learned to work on Subarus. They do have their quirks.. just like ANY other platform. Thank you Mr. Subaru for spreading awareness and being a trustworthy voice in the subi world.
Bought the new Wrx with the brand new shiny fa24. All the research shows these engines are built to hold power reliably. Aaaaaaaand now it’s coming out that the oil pickup in these engines are getting clogged with excessive rtv gasket sealant that’s seeping into the oil pan. Lovely Subaru, you are the gift that keeps on giving.
I know some reputable guys (subaru engine builders) who have taken theirs apart because they kept hearing pepple bitch and basically explained how it isn't a big deal and people should chill out on it. Its their shop track car.
Maybe it is a good opportunity to make a video on how to properly modify a Subaru for track time the right way. I am just saying. :)
They did a follow up video to find out what went wrong with the one they totaled. Turns out, James didn't clutch in when they wreched and it turned the wheels the wrong way which forced the engine the wrong way. It grenaded a timing gear on the lower right cam shaft and caused valves to contact pistons and slightly bent one of the intake valves.
I can 100% respect that proper maintenance and knowing how far to push your engine goes a long way but i just wanna throw this out their. Ive seen LS engines get boosted, engines that wer never meant to see boost, and just absolutely eat the abuse. I love donut media but i do think they messed up skipping the break in stage, multiple times 😂 cars are pain man. Ive seen ALOT of subarus blow up, mostly none turbod ones at that. But ive also seen my fair share of them go 300k with just a head gasket replacement. Like i said, proper maintenance goes a long way
This is exectly why, if not me, I only let a former Subaru technician with 20 years of experience who owns his own shop solely dedicated to Subarus work on my car.
I’m not trying to be disrespectful but the guys at Donut have pretty decent knowledge and I think they know what they are doing. They only built those because they wanted to have fun, not to be serious. If you watch the whole series you would know they are having fun and making memories.
Appreciate the video, I like Donut Media, good entertainment channel. I mentally questioned the oil issue and rod bearing issue and just never looked or thought further. I own a Subaru and recommend them highly to friends, for the amazing AWD and reliability. Glad this issue is a racing only type of deal.
I didn’t Google it cause I knew I would get thousands of they are horrible or just mod it etc comments vs the straight answer nothing wrong if you use it normally.
You subaru guys really know how to cope about your terrible engines. The WRX and BRZ would really be great cars if they had quality engines powering them. Everyone I've ever known who's had a Subaru sports car has had major engine issues or failure. Driver's meeting at the last track day I went to, they joked that the red and yellow striped "debris" flag means another subaru has blown up on track. The word is out there and the inherent defects present in both the EJ and FA series engines are as a result of poor engineering and are not acceptable.
I know this video is old, but this guy based half of his theory on Donut's abuse of the car with a factory oil pan, but they just came out with another Subaru engine rebuild and they stated that they had used aftermarket oil pans on all of their engine which kinda shoots down this whole guys theory.
So in order to race my rally racing car I have to completely redo the oiling/cooling system because from stock it’s not good and has problems even though it’s marketed as a rally racing car
😂 I’m glad I’m not the only person that was wondering about that
@@user-los247 mean It doesn’t look good for the Subaru fans that in order to actually race this car reliably I have to fix major issues with the damn car from factory by the time I do all it this i could of been bought a different car and begin throwing some power mods and shit at it 🤣
Subaru: “Oh you put me on two wheels, guess I’ll die.”
1990 Honda with 300,000 miles: “give me 20lbs of boost. I want it.”
This is s a good thing. We are missing the fact that this will help us get more subarus for us, lol. I, for 1, was looking for an older STI project. Hopefully, this drove down some cost.
It should also be noted that despite 06-07 running a lower I.W.G spring pressure(5psi) than 02-05(7psi), aftermarket turbos all say they are compatible with 02-07. So if you buy an aftermarket turbo, and just throw it on without checking or swapping anything, there is a good chance that you destroy your engine with over-boost.
Japan/Aus/NZ are all good examples of how good and reliable Subarus are long term. I've owned many Subarus, including a '89 Legacy GT, '95 GT twin turbo, SVX and now currently an OBW. Subaru of North America did itself no favors with the head gaskets in the early 2000's, but they've come a long way since then.
Those market cars have better oiling systems
They still break till this day…. You’re talking old platforms these cars don’t have the old motor designs. Since 2010 Kia Hyundai Subaru has the most engine failures out of any brands for their most popular cars.
@@cabellhildreth3937 thank you… it’s like people purposely ignoring the oil starvation killed 4/5 of their motors.
"Subaru's aren't bad, their stock oil pan is just horribly flawed and can ruin your engine and so can the oil pick up rod. It's completely reasonable to expect people to replace such a basic item on a car."
No matter what you say, Subaru isn’t know for reliability. They don’t do as well as other Japan’s car engines. But donut legit didn’t even try to do them decent so it really did make them look extra bad
Question:
Are engines really that sensitive to starvation? Im asking because you mention the car being on two wheels which caused it, but it was only in that position for (im guessing) 1-2 seconds. So starvation can be detrimental even for that short of a time-lapse?
well they were on a track so lets say they were high in the rpm range. If the car were to go on its side and starve of oil for even just 1-2 seconds the bearings in the bottom end of the engine would spin against the block and the pistons over 100 times. The metals in these bearings are very soft so 100 revolutions with no oil would grind away a good chunk of that bearing due to the extra heat and friction. Tolerances in an engine are extremely tight, so if even just a little tiny bit of metal is shaved off of those bearings the piston would start to wiggle and move on the crankshaft, and while you may be able to drive it for short time like that, eventually those extra forces would have a catastropic effect on the engine components. Not to mention the metals that ened up in the oil causing the oil to become abrasive as well as potentially clogging the oil pickup or filter depending on the size of the fragments.
Thank you for doing this synopsis, it confirms plenty. I'm a fan of both Mr. Subaru and Donut Media, for several years now. Maybe because I am in love with my Subaru, I didn't catch on to any disrespect from DM when I watched the Hi/Low series, but I did find it suspicious that they were having more issues than they usually do when they try to apply an amateur attitude to car stuff. (I believe they intentionally maintain a casual approach to hands-on topics to convince the audience that anyone can get their hands dirty.) I could see them have dilemmas on a few mods because they couldn't find a "wide gap" in the prices of component groups, and I can tell they already know expensive does mean better. I sensed that they delayed on the oil pan upgrades because mods like that don't fall into the general categories that folks would be doing to their own project car, of various makes. Also, it would have been the same brand and cost for both cars, most likely, which throws of the point of this show. This car choice really threw their series format down the tubes, and I think that's because there is already a clear Correct Formula to tune out the WRX, and any other way is just a failure. They have to pick a car that has multiple configurations that are possible, so that they can experiment easier. Thanks again for doing what you do, Mr. Subaru.
it also shows in a way that if you dont have a lot of money for top of the line parts probs dont get this specific car
Donut has crapped on Honda, who has been one of their partners, way more than Subaru. If I remember correctly Donut had baffled oil pans, at least on the original few engines, from the beginning.
It’s honestly the same nonsense as that guy who makes “better” versions of fast food. What if you buy 300$ meat somehow you can make a better sandwich than Wendy’s? Who knew.
They blow up engines because blowing up engines is dramatic. They race the cars because that’s the lowest common denominator for what someone can think of for “well is a car better”
The more Subaru haters there are, the more Subarus for us that love them!
Personally I believe they hate and try to trash Subarus because they can’t deal with actually how great they are. I don’t listen to clown section….what do they know?
You forgot to add "dogs" to your name, otherwise it's perfect 🥰
@@strobos4215 he crossed the rainbow bridge almost 2 years ago, haven't gotten another fur baby 😭😭
I don’t think cracking jokes about Subie’s poor reliability is the same as hating it. I crack subie jokes all the time, but I love them. I’d get one if they could handle mods more reliably, without building up a large expense in support mods like oil pan, oil pickup, oil pump, etc…
But there’s many platforms roughly around the same price range that will make just as much, if not more power for a lesser cost, because they don’t require as many support mods.
There’s plenty of unreliable platforms that people love, for example Mazda rotaries. But if you love something about the platform enough, you’ll put the time and money in to make it more reliable.
I’d buy a Subie as a second vehicle any day if I had the money to do the right mods to it. But I don’t, so I chose a more reliable platform that can handle mods and still be a reliable daily that can also handle a few laps around the track without starving itself of oil.
But yeah, y’all just gotta embrace the jokes. I embrace the jokes about the poor reliability of my German car’s over engineered electronics. Vehicles have their notorious problems. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy them, and find ways to fix them.
@@brickson98m oh I personally don't mind the jokes, I get them from my nephews... Ford and BMW guys... but I can dish it out 10x better!
To sum it up: Why Subarus aren't that bad - Because those idiots didn't address the 4 major failure modes!😐
Out of everything in this video, the part where high-siding the car and starving the engine of oil is the most concerning. No engine should suffer a full failure from a few seconds of oil pressure loss. I've tipped over four-stroke snowmobiles, quads, and adventure bikes, with the engines running for quite a number of seconds at times, before I could shut them off. None even suffered even minor damage for the brief oil starvation. Heck, the old Detroit diesel in my one machine doesn't even indicate oil pressure for over a minute on startup.
Clearly, Subaru engines have some sort of vulnerability that most other engines don't exhibit.
🔝📤
Yeah, as a member of a multigenerational Subaru family going back to a '70s DL two door hatchback, I was super excited when the first episode of this series came out saying they were building WRXs. Then they started having problems and it was clear that none of them were experienced Subaru owners or mechanics. After they wrecked the first car and ended up on the third engine I found myself hoping they would do a collab with you and have you inspect both cars and properly rebuild both engines with the bare minimum needed for track use, and THEN finish doing the expensive vs. cheap parts comparisons. Would have saved them a lot of money and headaches.
I can see where they’re coming from, you grab a similar year 350z and it won’t give you those issues. And it’s just weird because? It’s a Nissan and they’ve been crap for a while. Meanwhile my buddy is on his third engine and second trans.
@@abel5925 those 350's are pretty basic cars in comparison tho. Great for their goals with hi/lo