30PND is a well known street car in Australia that challenged many concepts for what could be achieved on the Subaru platform. It's owner Kevin Brown, first started modifying the 2004 STI over a decade ago and the vehicle has seen many revisions and tweaks during that time. Before coming to Deshele, the car had been worked on by a variety other shops and engine builders however was consistantly running into issues with reliability. His original goals were much more modest and after discussion he settled on a 2.4L EJ build that would net a highly responsive 300kw on 98RON. After 4 years of daily driven driving without issue Kev decided it was time to step things up and see what could be achieved. It was immediately evident this would not be an everyday project and his requirements would push well into unchartered territory for a daily driven Subaru that would retain both the H pattern STI 6 speed transmission and full interior trim.
Luckily at the time of taking on the project, we had already made a significant investment into research and development to support exactly this style of build. It was great opportunity for Deshele Performance to test the fruits of this labour and see how our newly developed sealing systems would cope in real world street applications. As the turbo size would be increasing dramatically (Precision 6765), we made the decision to move to a 2.5L configuration to assist in spool and increase the usable power slightly lower in the RPM range.
The goal was 500kw at all 4 wheels without the use of Nitrous Oxide and to be able make that power all day everyday on any dyno in the country. At the time of starting this project there were ofcourse a few Subaru's in Australia making this power already however not in a daily driven street car where reliability was paramount. There are many underlying weaknesses with the EJ platform in factory form, one of the largest being they have a tendency to lift the cylinder heads with increased boost. From the development on our own test vehicles, we had found the most effective sealing system incorporated the change to 14mm head studs in conjunction with a special technique we had developed where by a very fine groove is machined into the cases and a small metal o-ring is used to bite into copper head gaskets. Although this method had been highly successful in our own vehicles setup for drag racing, this project gave us the opportunity to thoroughly test the longevity of the sealing system in a street application.
A short time later the new engine was built and installed in the car with a variety of other modifications to support the larger turbo. Kev took the car over to Powertune Australia for a dyno session and the result was 498kw @ 40psi on E85 fuel. We were so close to our 500kw goal we could taste it so spent the next few weeks looking right across the setup to remove any restrictions that might be present. After a few tweaks and upgrades the vehicle was back on the dyno and ready to prove itself. A few brief changes to the tune and 3 runs later Kevin's membership to the 500+ club had been approved. 527kw @ 40psi.
With the power inhand, the real test could now begin, how the engine would cope with 527kw on the street everyday. Kevin daily drove the car for the next 12 months regularly attending events such as power cruise without issue until he made the decision it was time to see what it could do at the strip. Testing high performance street cars at the strip can be a challenge. Most drag strips have stringent regulations around how fast vehicles are allowed to go without sufficient safety equipment eg roll cages and parachutes, so Kev knew he may not get many runs to prove the cars potential but none the less rose to the challenge. He was able to put down two passes with the second producing a 9.86@144mph making it the fastest Subaru in the country still running a conventional H-pattern transmission albeit with the introduction of a stronger straight cut gear set.
Having backed up the dyno figures, 30PND held his status as a true street warrior for the next few years before the power bug bit down even harder this time and Kev looked ahead to the next project.
There is no replacement for displacement
As the expression goes "there is no replacement for displacement" which holds particularly true when it comes to spooling offensively large turbochargers and to truely achieve Kev's vision for 30PND an offensively large turbocharger is exactly what was required. Although the faithful 2.5L EJ engine had withstood nearly 4 years of punishment, it comes down to a simple matter of airflow and Kev was fast approaching the usable limits of an engine with the displacement of a carton of milk. So when you're a Subaru fanatic and need increased displacement where do you look? Luckily for Kev the EJ has two lesser known cousins of the 6 cylinder variety, the EZ and EG series engines. We looked at the pros and con's of both and came to the conclusion the EG33 would make the most ideal starting platform for the next round of development. Although an older design compared to the EZ engines, the EG33 is very similar in design to the rare and highly sought after EJ22 featured in a limited number of Subaru models including the legendary 22B commonly known as the holy grail of Subaru's. Although the EG platform boasts 2 extra cylinders, its robust design and preferred stroke makes it a perfect starting point.
Choosing the right engine or more accurately, engine cases as thats about all that is left from the OEM engine after its built is only half the battle. The EJ platform is by far the most developed and tested platform for Subaru's which bring the huge benefit of high performance substitute parts being readily available. Unfortunately this is not the case with the EG. Although some parts producers have risen to the challenge, for the most part its a hockey puck sized red pill down the rabbit hole of custom made parts. Similar to our EJ development program, we started a development program specifically for the EG platform and after 3 years of testing, 30PND's final form is close to completion and heres how it is shaping up: