looking for intake for 89 XT GL

[matthewlalms]

Hello all, I'm new to this forum.  I have owned my 89 XT GL  for about a year now with minor problems but overall satisfied.  I am having a hard time locating any kind of parts for this thing and was hoping to get some knowledge from you guys.  First is there any short or cold air intakes made to fit for the 1.8l? 2nd, has anyone fabricated a short ram themselves.  i was thinking i could fab something up to relocate the MAF closer to the manifold and then just put a short pipe and cone filter on the end of it to free up some of that engine noise i love so much.  I'm just trying to get ideas of how i want to go about it.  I'm not kidding myself i'm not trying to make this thing go fast because nothing short of a swap to the turbo 6 would do that lol.  I've already put a subtle performance muffler on the back and I'm just trying to get the front to match in sound.  any help of comments are appreciated.

[idosubaru]

a guy on subaruxt.com documented some changes and I don't think he actually got any gains out of intake improvements, and i think that's usually how it goes. but he was after driving performance, not audio performance, so if you just want to hear it, then have at it. custom fit silicone pipes, get a MAF adapter, and go to town.

 

I think his biggest documented gains were - like 7hp I think in his XT6 (with 145 hp stock), so that's a 5% increase, by advancing timing and running premium gas.

by extrapolating that to the 4 cylinder (same pistons, valves, basic design) you might get 5 hp that way.

Edited November 17, 2016 by grossgary

[matthewlalms]

so i tried to delete my double post to no avail...idk. there really isnt a whole lot you can do to these cars without allot of work huh.  kind of a one off, take it or leave it or completely change it kind of deal.  Am I right?

[idosubaru]

correct - sort of.  it just depends what you want.

 

what are you trying to do - exactly, be honest and specific?  You want the car to actually be fast, sound cool, look cool, spend the weekends DIYing some things...what?

 

if you want a little bump - get some delta cams, lighten the car, give it a good tune up, open up the exhaust a tiny bit, delete the A/C, power steering belt, lower the car, play with wheel/tire sizes, and you're good to go.  that's about the most you can easily do. 

 

if it's to "be fast" - you're out of luck.  it's 98 HP and NA - no chance, they have atrocious 1/4 mile times. 

and by the laws of physics, NA engines don't respond to performance upgrades like forced induction engines do.  so if yo'ure unfamiliar with cars (some people are, no offense meant, i have no idea), you can't just bolt on things and get massive improvements like you can on turbo vehicles - it's just simply based on physics and mathematics, it's not possible.  

 

if you want looks, bling bling and easy to buy novelty parts - subaru is a small company and businesses don't make parts for them, particularly older generation stuff. 

 

if you want it to be like "show up to store, buy something, bolt it on in 30 minutes" - then yes, as I said Subaru is a small player, limited market.