MorganM Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 '97 Impreza OBS, EJ22 na, 4EAT, AWD, 175,000 miles, you get the idea... I would describe it's power as... acceptable. Yeah, I can get upto crusing speed. I can pass people on the freeway if there's plenty of room (I mean plenty of room). From a stop it goes forward well enough. Just seems a far cry from my old '91 Legacy wagon (EJ22 na 4EAT FWD only and 200,000 miles). If I manually shifted the '91 it would really get up and go. No; it wasn't "fast" but it had a hell of a lot more pep off the line and on the free way than my '97 OBS. Does the AWD really soak up that much torque? Even if I manually shift the '97 OBS it's still a gutless pig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru_dude Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 My EJ18 5spd 2wd Impreza is "acceptable" as well. Well, sometimes. Sometimes it feels like a Formula 1 Indy car. Sometimes I feel like I'm towing a trailer full of lead bricks. Kinda strange... but it gets in the 30's consistently so I'm not too worried. What kind of mileage are you getting? I'm thinking partially clogged cat but that would also hurt your mileage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Wonder how much the '97 weighs compared to the '91. We have two 2007 outback's for company cars, and sometimes they feel kind of sluggy compared to my old EA82... way more power, but way more weight to move around too, and the 4EAT is still doggy if you don't shift it manually. I'd think that the '97 imp shouldn't weigh much more than a first gen Legacy though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry DeMoss Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Don't forget that the '97 ej22 is single port exhaust compared to the earlier dual port phase 1 ej22. No doubt that is shouldn't be that bad but maybe it needs some tlc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 175,000 miles and you suspect its a weight issue? I would suspect it is an engine compression issue. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 175,000 miles and you suspect its a weight issue? I would suspect it is an engine compression issue. nipper I've never owned a subaru with less than about 180k miles... so I wouldn't know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Any high mileage engine (even soobys) with a question of power the first place to start would be a compression test. Yes i wouldnt know what to do with a newer sooby with less then 160,000 on it. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 i have the exact same vehicle - 97 OBS EJ22 4EAT AWD. i don't think yours sounds like it's running at 100%. i'd be interested in seeing the gas mileage you're getting and what type of driving to get it. and that compression test result. that being said, i think this car has a 100,000 mile valve adjustment, has that ever been done? general condition of the car? brakes could be dragging, trans/diff fluid changes? clean the MAF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 Average 25-26 MPG. 90% freeway miles keeping the RPMs under 3,000. I hum along at 70 MPH when traffic permits but plenty of fluctuation from 15 to 75 MPH. Typical day is 65+ miles of highway travel. I very rarely give it more than half throttle but even when I do it just makes more noise with hardly any noticable power increase. Even if I manually shift it and get on the throttle its not like my old '91. She needs some TLC; no doubt there. I'll see what I can do about a compression test; I don't have my own guage yet. However I don't see or smell the typical signs of bad compression (read: blow by). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 interesting, that's fairly decent mileage for your other poor running symptoms. Does the check engine light work? Valve adjust, clean IAC and MAF? Fuel injectors warn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 I bought a '94 Impreza sedan a few years ago specifically as a rallycross car and secondary daily driver. Good shape, ran good, but it was a stone! Previous owner had outfitted it with nice 16" wheels and tires. When I installed original 14" wheels and tires, the entire character of the car changed! It actually had get up and go. This fact was confirmed in the Subiesport article about their project rally Impreza. Having sold the sedan and upgraded to a '97 Imp wagon, I note the same thing. Also, check the specs on the '93 through '98 Imprezas; specifically the front and rear diff ratios. Fuji couldn't make up their mind as to whether it should be a 3.900 or 4.111. Trust me, the 4.111 cars have a lot more acceleration than the 3.900 versions. Cheap fix is to go with smaller tires; the expensive fix is to go with a 4.11 tranny and rear diff. Of course, my experience is only with manual transmission models; I have no clue what to do about the automatics (other than to replace them:rolleyes:). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 the EJ18 is a big step down from the EJ22, i'm surprised your newer OBS doesn't drive better than it? mine drives fine with 16", while my EJ18 suffers terribly with the same wheels/tires. i basically can't run 16" it's so bad. having ridden in all three in the past week, my 1997 auto OBS drives much nicer than the manual FWD EJ18 and auto AWD EJ18 I drove this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman18 Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 My mom has the same car and it rips! And she consistently gets over 30 mpg with it! So I would say that there are some issues Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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