High Comp EA82T, Who has done it?
- Gannon
- Senior Member
- Posts: 4580
- Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2005 10:00 am
- Location: Bowraville, Mid Nth Coast, NSW
High Comp EA82T, Who has done it?
Im gonna do a full rebuild of my vortex motor and seing im gonna have the pistons out- 7.7:1, i was considering getting pistons from the NA motors ~9.5:1 and putting them in.
Obvious upside would be better low end torque and off boost power.
The downside i see is more prone to pinging, but i will be running an intercooler and probably premium juice.
There are quite a few Yanks doin it on ultimatesubaru.net, and i was wondering if anybody here has done it and had success with it.
All coments welcome
Gannon
Obvious upside would be better low end torque and off boost power.
The downside i see is more prone to pinging, but i will be running an intercooler and probably premium juice.
There are quite a few Yanks doin it on ultimatesubaru.net, and i was wondering if anybody here has done it and had success with it.
All coments welcome
Gannon
Current rides: 2016 Mitsubishi Triton GLS & 2004 Forester X
Ongoing Project/Toy: 1987 RX Turbo EA82T, Speeduino ECU, Coil-pack ignition, 440cc Injectors, KONI adjustale front struts, Hybrid L Series/ Liberty AWD 5sp
Past rides: 92 L series turbo converted wagon, 83 Leone GL Sedan, 2004 Liberty GT Sedan & 2001 Outback
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Ongoing Project/Toy: 1987 RX Turbo EA82T, Speeduino ECU, Coil-pack ignition, 440cc Injectors, KONI adjustale front struts, Hybrid L Series/ Liberty AWD 5sp
Past rides: 92 L series turbo converted wagon, 83 Leone GL Sedan, 2004 Liberty GT Sedan & 2001 Outback
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I did this with an ea81t, but had the piston crowns faced down a little to bring it back to an 8.5:1 comp ratio. The aim was to achieve the outcome you were looking for. It didnt work to well. Had a habit of blowing headgaskets. This engine was running an ea82t computer btw.
If I dont believe its worth it given the ea82t is quite torquey for a turbo motor producing its max torque of around 134 ft/lb @2800 rpm (according to the chiltons manual).Whilst a Lib2.2 produces marginally more torque at 137ft/lb @2400 rpm. In the ea81t I found that my boost would come on to early and result in spinning tyres at revs where I was trying to take care!.
My thoughts anyway
If I dont believe its worth it given the ea82t is quite torquey for a turbo motor producing its max torque of around 134 ft/lb @2800 rpm (according to the chiltons manual).Whilst a Lib2.2 produces marginally more torque at 137ft/lb @2400 rpm. In the ea81t I found that my boost would come on to early and result in spinning tyres at revs where I was trying to take care!.
My thoughts anyway

- QikRX
- Junior Member
- Posts: 88
- Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:00 am
- Location: Cruising on the Gold Coast
- Contact:
Had my EA82T built with custom forgies & is running at 8.1:1 and runs 18psi boost for the street but also have a fuel map for 21psi which rarely gets used. New pistons are a fair bit heavier so has increased torque also.
Can't comment if it'll ping or not as is hard to compare cause my whole fuel system is aftermarket.
Having a decent intercooler will definately help but not sure if the increased comp ratio will ping on the stock boost.
Would say 9.5:1 is a bit high & wouldnt want to do it unless had a programmable ECU.
Not sure if anyone else here has raised the CR on an EA82T so might be hard to find someone with firsthand experience with the exact setup your refering to....
Hope this helps!
Can't comment if it'll ping or not as is hard to compare cause my whole fuel system is aftermarket.
Having a decent intercooler will definately help but not sure if the increased comp ratio will ping on the stock boost.
Would say 9.5:1 is a bit high & wouldnt want to do it unless had a programmable ECU.
Not sure if anyone else here has raised the CR on an EA82T so might be hard to find someone with firsthand experience with the exact setup your refering to....
Hope this helps!
- Gannon
- Senior Member
- Posts: 4580
- Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2005 10:00 am
- Location: Bowraville, Mid Nth Coast, NSW
Thanks guys
What comp ratio does the Mpfi and carb blocks run, cos thats all they use, just bolt the turbo heads onto the NA block.
Im not chasing huge horsepower figures, i prolly wont run anymore that stock boost, i just wanna improve its drivability
Keep those comments coming
What comp ratio does the Mpfi and carb blocks run, cos thats all they use, just bolt the turbo heads onto the NA block.
Im not chasing huge horsepower figures, i prolly wont run anymore that stock boost, i just wanna improve its drivability
Keep those comments coming
Current rides: 2016 Mitsubishi Triton GLS & 2004 Forester X
Ongoing Project/Toy: 1987 RX Turbo EA82T, Speeduino ECU, Coil-pack ignition, 440cc Injectors, KONI adjustale front struts, Hybrid L Series/ Liberty AWD 5sp
Past rides: 92 L series turbo converted wagon, 83 Leone GL Sedan, 2004 Liberty GT Sedan & 2001 Outback
------------------------------------------
Ongoing Project/Toy: 1987 RX Turbo EA82T, Speeduino ECU, Coil-pack ignition, 440cc Injectors, KONI adjustale front struts, Hybrid L Series/ Liberty AWD 5sp
Past rides: 92 L series turbo converted wagon, 83 Leone GL Sedan, 2004 Liberty GT Sedan & 2001 Outback
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- Suby Wan Kenobi
- General Member
- Posts: 1914
- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:00 am
- Location: Sunny Godwin Beach Qld
There was an EA82 that came with around 8.5 compression, it was a motor around 85-86 vintage, you could try to get those pistons as they would be cheaper than some made to order customs. In saying that the EA82T doesnt have a bad bottom end power range compared to the NA version anyway
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
The long road ahead
The long road ahead
Having read the attempt on USMB, id consider it a waste of time if you just want power. you'd be better off putting the benefits of intercooling into the standard comp.. you'll get much better and more reliable results.
The engine isnt efficient enough to work well with high compression+boost.
If you jsut want a grunty engine though, go for but keep boost really low.
The engine isnt efficient enough to work well with high compression+boost.
If you jsut want a grunty engine though, go for but keep boost really low.
- Gannon
- Senior Member
- Posts: 4580
- Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2005 10:00 am
- Location: Bowraville, Mid Nth Coast, NSW
I will see what selection of pistons there are.
Something between 8:1 and 9:1 i suppose.
Im not chasing big ponies, (if i did i will probably injure myself
)
Im mainly after off boost power and lower end grunt.
I remember seing somewhere a calculation that shows equivilent compression vs boost.
For example... 7psi at 9:1 comp at boost is the same as 11 psi at 7:1 comp at boost
But dont quote those numbers, that was just a guess.
Thanks for the input
Gannon
Something between 8:1 and 9:1 i suppose.
Im not chasing big ponies, (if i did i will probably injure myself

Im mainly after off boost power and lower end grunt.
I remember seing somewhere a calculation that shows equivilent compression vs boost.
For example... 7psi at 9:1 comp at boost is the same as 11 psi at 7:1 comp at boost
But dont quote those numbers, that was just a guess.
Thanks for the input
Gannon
Current rides: 2016 Mitsubishi Triton GLS & 2004 Forester X
Ongoing Project/Toy: 1987 RX Turbo EA82T, Speeduino ECU, Coil-pack ignition, 440cc Injectors, KONI adjustale front struts, Hybrid L Series/ Liberty AWD 5sp
Past rides: 92 L series turbo converted wagon, 83 Leone GL Sedan, 2004 Liberty GT Sedan & 2001 Outback
------------------------------------------
Ongoing Project/Toy: 1987 RX Turbo EA82T, Speeduino ECU, Coil-pack ignition, 440cc Injectors, KONI adjustale front struts, Hybrid L Series/ Liberty AWD 5sp
Past rides: 92 L series turbo converted wagon, 83 Leone GL Sedan, 2004 Liberty GT Sedan & 2001 Outback
------------------------------------------