Loyale -> GL/DL differences

[bgd73]

Upon getting up close and personal with my 1987 DL that broke the unibody, after its last year of "wiggling" around. I have found the difference between a later Loyale and outlined it in photo. I saved the DL for a short time by lamination of sheet steel and welding/riveting the "arms" underneath front driver/passenger feet, but it still failed eventually. I noticed right away in my 93 loyale- it felt different at the same 13 years and similar miles, and underneath was in great shape in comparison. I tried to take a photo of my loyale, but my dark carpet does not get what I want to show, so I used both photos from a GL posted here at usmb by alex gl-10 (thanks). It is exactly the area I had to repair on my DL. The Loyale (my guess) is never going to need it.

 

this difference is only one of a few:

2. the radiator has plastic sides only, on the Loyale. The DL/GL could have had the metal side tanks (proven stronger ability)

3. underside doesn't rust like the dl/gl I have found (I have 3 to personally refer to locally) Being my dl was white like my loyale, I had to rule out the paint.

4. The engine is in fact the highest compression oem EA82 in the Loyale n/a models (9.5:1) - my industrial strength need in the exhaust system sure as heck pointed the .5 to 1 point difference.

5. Some dl/gl had n even skinnier steel wheel then the 5.5 inch that come on loyales.

6. Loyales never have a carbeurator, unless someone went back in time and non-oem for the loyales years of manufacture.

7. Loyales are buglight lenses only- gl/dl could have had 4 square lights or round (on older ones)

8. Upon changing windshield- the tint on edges, and what it does with sunlight was different than my DL .The dl lets more UV in- even the doors and other windows took more UV in than the loyale.

There is other stuff, but this is my first "rough" post. I am going to submit changes at wikipedia as well, to give some more facts about the Loyale. Quote from wikipedia "The loyale is essentially a gl-10 but with a different name." <- uhhhm. I don't think so. 10 years for me with both. I am not hesitating to speak up for accurate documentation sake.

[Syonyk]

Wonderful info!

 

I noticed that my Loyale showed almost no underbody rust compared to my GL, but I attributed this to the fact that it was undercoated at some point.

 

-=Russ=-

[85Sub4WD]

I'm assuming your DL was carbed - most/all 87's were - they have a 9:1 compression ratio (except for ONE model in 1985, all carbed EA82 engines have 9:1 CR from the factory)

Loyales (save the turbo one) all have 9.5:1 CRs - as do late 80s SPFI engines - they are all virtually identical - even the ECUs are interchangeable regardless of tranny (wiring harness tells the ECU if its manual versus automatic tranny)

 

your redline for the carb engine is 6k rpms (DL, so no tach) - the loyale's is 6.5k rpms - the SPFI engines have stiffer valve springs than the carbed ones

 

I'd bet the radiator in your DL was replaced - because to my knowledge - ALL of the OEM radiators for our cars were plastic-ended - however all-metal aftermarket radiators are readily available - they are also interchangeable - depending on tranny (autos need the cooler)

 

as far as the body itself - I think there was a retooling done ~1988 to accomidate the 4-speed electronic automatic tranny for the turbo models. but I may be wrong on that - most stuff from 1988/1989 model year should be the same as the loyale, as subaru did not invest much in that platform after the legacy came out - there were fewer and fewer options available after 1989 on the EA82 bodies

[mikeshoup]

All SPFI and MPFI EA82s, from 85-94, have 9.5:1 compression. EA82 Carbs all have 9:1 compression. Turbos all have 7.7:1 compression.

 

Also, EA82s never had round headlights. Sorry.

 

My 88 GL had a radiator with plastic end tanks in it. I'm assuming it was original (still had a Subaru sticker on the bottom of it). EA82s most likeley all came with plastic end tanks. EA81s and prior had to have metal end tanks though, as the thermoswitch grounded through the radiator.

 

There really isn't anything special to the Loyales, except that they're newer. Perhaps why they're rusting less is because they're newer? Or maybe Subaru used a different undercoating from 90-on.

 

The Loyale is essentially a DL with some GL interior pieces.

[kingbobdole]

mikes right in some places... the loyale is basically a GL, that just got almost no options, and they had better undercoating in the 90s. As far as options go, your choices were basically a/c or not, auto or manual, 2wd or 4wd and mpfi or spfi, but it seems like 90% of them are SPFI. You could NOT get a dual range, or a turbo (save those rare ones). I just think Subaru aimed at the fuel efficent small wagon and kept it around while they produced the Legs. They probably dropped the turbo due to its lack of HP and MPG in favor of 2/3 cars. the imps/legs had the power, and the loyales had the good MPG. Ohh and other differences are that on the back it simply says "Subaru" and on the rear doors it says "Loyale" where DL/GL/10 says "Subaru (model)" and just "Subaru" respectively... ohh and the loyales had those crazy spoked and "disced" hubcaps.:-\

[bgd73]

All SPFI and MPFI EA82s, from 85-94, have 9.5:1 compression. EA82 Carbs all have 9:1 compression. Turbos all have 7.7:1 compression.

 

Also, EA82s never had round headlights. Sorry.

 

My 88 GL had a radiator with plastic end tanks in it. I'm assuming it was original (still had a Subaru sticker on the bottom of it). EA82s most likeley all came with plastic end tanks. EA81s and prior had to have metal end tanks though, as the thermoswitch grounded through the radiator.

 

There really isn't anything special to the Loyales, except that they're newer. Perhaps why they're rusting less is because they're newer? Or maybe Subaru used a different undercoating from 90-on.

 

The Loyale is essentially a DL with some GL interior pieces.

 

I owned a DL for 9 years.The loyale has more options than I have seen. Also fixing problems with too many guages that liked to fail and other electronic experiments. If mpfi were 9.5:1 on the ea82, regardless of car it was in, it would have incredible power worth remembering.I'm thinking 6th gear and a 165 mph top end 145 hp with torque to match (that is still in my mind for a project with the spfi lower end and mpfi heads from a car up the street).. Heck my 2wd ,the absolute fastest take off ea82 n/a I have ever seen on just 30mm spfi injection, is a very good reference to what 9.5:1 can do. The 87 DL I was running had an unusually high compression (an odd number - 8.7:1(?). It is worth remembering.It was one of the reasons I bought it from a dealer 10 years old. In fact, I think it was the resaon they hung onto it- it truly was an oddball "mini-truck" in every action. The top end had a gearing I haven't seen again for the ea82. 9.5:1 was an astonishment to folks I knew running the ea82 - only seen in the exhaust blowing loyales. I have never been in a quick gl n/a.

I don't believe it went any lower on the Loyale than this- a dl and gl could have a few different numbers most likely in the 8's. the later gl's were no doubt an overlap to what the loyales ended up with, but could be different, like my dl with the metal side tank radiator.

To see a Loyale , it is to count on the oem stuff I found and nothing else.

If not knowing Subarus, a GL would have to be looked over about a few things, as it could have a few different things. That is really my point to listing the differences. The biggest one is indeed the unibody change I don't see written anywhere- not even on a later gl.

[mikeshoup]

If mpfi were 9.5:1 on the ea82, regardless of car it was in, it would have incredible power worth remembering.

The FSMs don't lie. The 88 XT FSM shows MPFI having 9.5:1 compression. That's just how it is.

 

The 86 FSM of mine shows MPFI in the XTs having 9.5:1 as well, but only 4 more HP than the SPFI, for a total of 94 HP. Torque rating is the same. MPFI sounds like it would be more efficient, and slightly is due to a dual port intake, but because the injectors are all fired at the same time, its a minimal increase. The MPFI engines that really rock are the 87.5+ MPFI XTs with a spider intake. Those are rated at 97 HP and slightly more torque. That's the most powerful N/A EA82 that rolled out of the factory.

 

Keep in mind, I'm talking MPFI non-Turbo here. The MPFI Turbo is a different beast. 7.7:1 compression.

 

Sounds like what you need is a bunch of the first sections from FSMs