How to NOT Blow Up a Subaru (Addressing Donut Media's Subaru's)

With the stereotypes of Subaru's being unreliable going around for such a long time, and now Donut Media not helping those stereotypes, I thought I would make a video addressing the problem. Donut Media makes great content, be sure to check them out!
Happy Holidays!

[boostfeed_]

If you guys want to see this STI get built into a sweet street car make sure to subscribe!

[DEADENDTM_]

I love donut, creating Subaru content and crashing the market so I can afford one😍😍

[godpeed]

I think the viewers whos outlook on subaru’s have been swayed by donuts videos haven’t been around them long enough.

[kirkwagner]

Shocker. Taking a 15 year old used car, with 15 years worth of mileage, and slapping in mods that double horse power leads to engine failure. Who knew? And nearly doubling horsepower sent to a transmission not designed for that power can also lead to transmission failure? Who knew?

What would have been shocking was if they had done those things and NOT had failures. Very few cars can take that level of upgrades without issues.

[ifjimre]

The reason they blow them up is because those are the 2.5 ejs. Less reliable then the 2.0s and because those engines are known for starving themselfes of oil on track when you corner long and hard. And the track they use is basically nothing but long sweeping corners. So they would just need to add a bafled oilpan to both and they would have less problems imo

[dalegreer]

I drive a 2002 WRX, 188, 000 miles, original owner, never have had any head gasket problems. I've gone through three clutches and two radiators. One oxygen sensor. That's about it. Best car I've ever owned.

[stevenanderson]

1. Buy a killer B baffle and feed kit. It'll help prevent oil starvation in higher G situations.

2. Don't lug the motor. If you're going to pass someone on the highway or go up a hill just shift down. Lugging them hurts them.

3. An exhaust doesn't require a tune unless of course you're now throwing secondary o2 codes which can be turned off. Of course this does mean you won't see the benefits of that higher flow unless you tune for it. You've decreased the pressure on the hot side of the turbo so it can spool sooner and boost higher more efficiently. Some years tho the less restriction causes higher boost on its own and sometimes it's enough to hit boost cut. Seems rare tho.

4. ANY change to the intake system you must rescale the MAF sensor otherwise it can't calculate the air coming in correctly and it will skew the afrs potentially causing lean conditions. I say any but technically if the MAF housing diameter doesn't change then it doesn't need it unless it's exceeding it's upper voltages.

4. A BOV shouldn't be used on a maf based car. The MAF calculated that air that shot out and expects it to still be there which will cause rich spikes. Generally you go speed density or map based which negates this issue.

5. Get an iag air oil separator or similar to keep oil out of your fuel mixture causing a drop in octane essentially. Less octane when tuned for higher will of course cause potential knock events. Knock events bad.

6. People always going off about head gaskets.. the real problem is crank bearings and ringlands dependent on WRX gen specifically usdm market. JDM got good engines 🥲

Hopefully this helps a little for those in the comments. I was a little vague on some of it but it's generalized a bit. I've tuned many Subarus now and while I'm far from being an expert I've had to learn a few things.

[erics]

Number 3 is a no brainer for most tune is a must, but try telling that to a kid you need to spend more than what your bolt-ons cost. As for oil you are correct I only use Rotella 5 - 40 ask any roughneck what oil they use on remote equipment.

[NoItDoesntHavePopups]

My first question is have you gone throught an engine?

#2 we have to stop miding reliable with can be made reliable.

A civic si with k20 or k24 is reliable cause you can beat on it all day stock without changing anything with little to no maintenace and the car in most cases be fine cause the oem engeneering and rnd was good.

Wrx and sti's "can be made reliable" but are not reliable stock in most cases and need specialty care and high maintenance. Most stock cars have a lean tune which paired with a fragile engine design means specialy with non reinforced open decke means that predetonation is deadlier for these than normal engines.

Basicaly you have no "margin of errors" with these engines. You cant beat on the car for too long in stock form. Thats why the aftermarket is so good. Cause these car are beautifull and a blast to drive and their engines is so special but they need love to be somewhat reliable when you trash them.

[BOT_Phoeba]

To the point of the video: Donut went through motors on the 350zs and the Tacomas. You should expect to blow motors if you're going to be doing some of the stuff they do. The point of the series is to show a realistic representation of what modding cars would look like. Unfortunately, they picked some of the toughest (though actually achievable) cars to work with this season.
Just had to do a head gasket job on the 4th or 5th sub 100k subaru this year. Sounds to me like you've never actually worked on enough cars to have a good sample size. Subarus from the 90s are fine, 2000-2010 is dangerously bad, and anything newer than that hasn't had time to develop the exact same issue the cars have had for 15 years.
Honestly, I don't think Donut did anything anyone else wouldn't have. I will note that some of their engines came with problems to begin with (Low-Car and Hi-Car 2). They didn't have a ton of miles on them, the engines were just unloved. A lot of people think that those engines are bullet proof and they can run them hard over 10000 miles without an oil change or a fluids check.
I'm a Colorado guy, so I see all types. Some from the north, some from the south. Most of them need head gasket or engine work. That's just a fact. I won't just bash them either, since both Toyota and Honda (other "reliable" brands) have some similar unresolved issues if you don't take care of them (leaking sparkplug tubes on the 5SFE come to mind). Nothing's perfect or even good without proper maintenance. The manufacturer makes it the best they can, then it's up to the owner to make sure it gets taken care of.

If you're wondering what I drive or work on closely, I have a 2000 Subaru Outback Wagon (3rd EJ, 250k on the clock), a 1992 Toyota Celica Convertible (2nd 5SFE, 220k), 1986 Chevy K10 Silverado (Second SBC 350, over 180k), and 2016 BMW 328xi GT M Sport (Under 60k miles). I bought all of the cars needing replaced engines, knowing they'd need work, and replaced two of the three engines myself. Notice every single one of them has a believed "reliable" engine (except maybe the N20 in the BMW), that had to be replaced. You have to buy a used car knowing something is wrong with it before you buy it. My last "new used" car was a 2013 Ford Taurus that had the battery literally explode 2 days after I took it off the dealership lot. If you don't know when it was last maintenanced, then you need to have it handled yourself ASAP.

TL;DR, they're not just bad because they're Subarus, they're bad because their previous owners clearly didn't give a shit about maintenance. That's used cars for you though. As Pumphrey says: Cars are pain.

Oh, and don't start modding a car heavily until you know what you're doing. Dropping a turbo onto an NA car and expecting it to just *work* isn't gonna shake out well. The manufacturer made the car to strict specifications, and you shouldn't expect your 90s Camry with 250000 miles on it to take 30psi of boost. That should be a no-brainer for us all.

[RainbowPhenix]

Don’t drive them when it’s hot, don’t drive them hard, don’t go near the redline, don’t pull too many g’s - Subaru Defenders (I have a guilty pleasure for Subaru’s don’t get me wrong)

[erosvillegas]

I’ve had my ‘14 WRX hatchback for almost 10 years now and I haven’t blown the engine. COBB Stage 1+ tuned. Warming up before driving and regular Maintainance go a long way

[SC-wxyt]

I've owned multiple subies and none of them blew up on me just don't redline them and do regular maintenance worked for me.

[DJay]

Even the guys on donut are admitting fault. I don't understand why everyone is getting so upset with them, it's trial and error.
Good tips though, great advice for cars in general.

[kiritowow]

They build the engine，did not break in and take it to track，they track it on hot summer day with out monitoring oil temp and think a upgrade radiator will solve the problem，I see they will have bearing failure before they replace their first motor...lol

[dat_bouy]

"Subarus are super reliable except for head gaskets, the transmissions, and modding them 👍"

[dominicmorones]

Thank you finally someone has come out to set all these people straight. Just like any vehicle, you need to take care of it if you don’t want to grenade it lmao. 07 legacy GT is what I have, amazing car and I hope to never sell it.

[rodolfotellos]

Owner of 2016 WRX, before 2004 STI and 2013 bugeye, and two Subaru bratty. I also like donut but, they were way off base with those Subaru episodes.

[Gettinbentoffroad]

Don't buy one lol it's not just donut bro they've always been notorious for blowing up.

[justintime]

Anyone any idea of any breakers in America that ship and stock/break Imprezas??
Wish you all a great Christmas and all the best for the new year 🙏