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Q&A ON CHOOSING THE SUBARU EJ22 FOR MY VANAGONS ENGINE CONVERSION

I responded to questions from a gentleman from Long Beach California in the shameless drivel below.
Q      I know you probably get asked this all the time but I'd like to know how the van drives with the subie 2.2.
I am really on the fence as to which engine I would eventually like to upgrade my 91 vanagon with. Searching on the web I find conflicting stories about all the engine conversions.
The 2.2 seems to be the easier of the Subie conversions.
A      From what I've read and from my experience with the conversion I'd have to say that the 90-94 Subaru EJ22 is the simplest conversion. I read about vw I4, audi, porsche, subaru ej25 and 3.3 and turbo 2.0. The ej22 was straight forward once I had all of the instructions put together. KEP provides about 85% of what you need, from there it's a matter of putting together the info from subaruvanagon (the yahoo user group). I can honestly say that 9 out of 10 of the problems that I had with the conversion were a result of my own stupidity or forgetfulness. Once I looked back at the instructions, I saw that if I had followed them, I would have been alright.
Q      Are you happy with the turnout? As far as power is concerned does it now seem less anemic on hills?
A      This may sound phony but I swear it's truth. The subaru engine feels to me exactly like what vw should have put in the van in the first place. I didn't want a drag racer and don't even drive fast. I do like to get on the freeway and go up hills without stressing or pushing the accelerator through the floorboard. The result has been unbelievable, smooth acceleration, maintaining even speed going over hills,and much improved gas mileage. I have an auto trans and the shifting is smooth and quiet. My gas mileage went from around 18mpg with the stock 2.1 liter to 22mpg with the subaru. Nice to get more power and better mileage.
Q      Does the sound of the car change inside as well as outside?
A      Yes, there is some change. But only a trained ear will know for sure that you don't have a vw engine. My wife was bummed when we decided to convert because she would miss the sound of the vw. Well, maybe its the fact that the tailpipe is so short or the location of the muffler but the subaru ends up sounding a lot like a vw. It's just a bit deeper in tone.
The sound inside is not unpleasant at all. There is, however, a bit of harmonics going on at about 60 mpg where it sounds like an airplane motor but again, I'm very picky and am still at a stage where I listen for every little noise.

Q      Any info is greatly appreciated especially your opinion on what year 2.2 to look for.
A      I would advise anyone to look for the 90-94 EJ22 because:
  • they are relatively inexpensive and easy to find
  • there is a lot of good information regarding installation/troubleshooting
  • they are smog legal (with KEP's CARB documents)
  • they are OBDI (on board diagnostics version 1) which is simpler overall than OBDII
I'll get a lot of people riled and they'll holler that the 2.5 is a great engine and they're right. What fool would turn down extra horsepower with just as good of mileage? I did it because I was worried about how hard the job would be and anything that made it a bit simpler was good for me.

Hope this answers your questions. Wish you were closer or headed this way and you could take my van out for a drive. That's the best way to convince you. Just make sure that someone videotapes you on your first drive, it'll be fun to watch the grin on your mug later!

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