Over the past 9 or 10 months I've been planning out a project to build a replica 22b from an old impreza L and I'm now starting to think twice about my engine choice. At first I was thinking about the ej20 from a wrecked WRX or something, but this past weekend my friend and I installed an 18g turbo, fmic, fuel pump and 810 cc injectors in his 02 WRX (a little big I know) and had it tuned by Vishnu in NJ. It only pulled 264 whp which was a little disapointing after all the work he has put into that beast (uppipe, downpipe, 3" borla catback, cobb accessport). So I guess what I learned was that the ej20 is pretty decent for a while but getting it to 400 hp at the crank is quite a task and I would like to have at least that one day. I have heard that the 2.2 litre turbo engine from the legacy has a lot of potential but I'm having trouble finding more info on that. Does anyone know any specs on it, what kinds of mods you can do to it, where you can find them, how available they are, how expensive, examples of other fast cars with them, stuff like that. That would be much appreciated, thanks

Don't bother with the 2.2 engine, just because it's bigger than the 2.0 doesn't make it more capable.
If you turbo any N/A engine you're going to have to overhaul the internals too, which is where you'll end up spending a ton of money.
Better option for maximum power gains will be the EJ25 but that will require the same internals work as the 2.2.
The EJ20T has good internals for adding more boost, but you add too much and you're back to replacing internals again.

BTW, where in NJ is Vishnu?

Well its not an N/A engine though. there was a 2.2T engine with a closed deck apparently and I've heard that its easier to get it to 400 hp than the ej20.

The tune took place at a shop called Turbotrix or maybe it was turbotricks, and this guy named Shiv who is apparently the best subaru tuner in the US flew out from Cali to tune like 10 cars. Apparently he does this like twice a year. He did 7 evos, 2 WRXs and an STi. So Vishnu isn't actually located in NJ, it was just a traveling tuner.

The 2.2 turbo engine you're referring to is one of those 'hen's teeth' items here in the USA, but you've got a good platform in mind if you can get a hold of one.

Keep us informed.

P.S I asked about Vishnu because they are based in CA so your statement originally made no sense ;)

You speak of Shiv as if he's just "some guy" from Vishnu. Shiv IS Vishnu. Just FYI.

I know. He is Vishnu basically. sorry, didn't mean to sound misleading, I just didn't know that until this weekend when I met him.

that guy shiv from vishnu was on an episode of tuner transformation tuning an evo7. what do you guys think of that show?

Tuner Transformations is OK. They do good things usually, and they don't go overboard with it. Most of the time the car comes out of the shop still streetable and generally better than when it went in. Shiv Vishnu, for whom the company is named, is a pretty good tuner. His company makes some good products, too.

I was wondering if anyone had Vishnu stage zero since I was considering that....