I'm looking to swap out my engine later on this year since I got a 1.8 and I was wondering what would be cheapest for best performance. how much would a motor and a turbo kit for the 2.2 and a 2.5 cost vs a ej20? how easy would it be and what would I all need? thanks for any help

oh and another question, when did they start making DOHC EJ25's? and what were they in?

I'm pretty sure that the DOHC EJ25 started production in 94 or 95 and was available in the Legacy's and Outback's. It was only available in an Impreza in 98. 99 was the first year of the SOHC EJ25 in the Impreza and was available in 2000 in the Forester and Legacy.

If you can find the parts cheap enough you can build your own turbo kit for a 2.2 or a 2.5 for under 2000 dollars. I don't know how much it will cost for an EJ20 swap but keep into consideration that you will be able to put the 2.2 or 2.5 in and put the turbo on later, whereas with the WRX motor its all or nothing.

Also on a side note. You can get a 2.2l EJ22T Turbo Legacy shortblock from a subaru dealership and put whatever head's you'd like onto it and have a really nice turbo motor with more displacement than the WRX motor.

so I could put a Dohc on the 2.2?

is it wroth to get a 2.2 turbo legacy motor? I can find them at car-parts.com for cheap as 450ish and 250 for a non turbo. can I swap the head's for a Dohc? and if I did would I need a new exhast manifold and crap for the turbo and what nots?

If i was putting new heads onto it, i would use the SOHC heads from the Phase II EJ25. Just because something has 2 cams in it instead of one doesn't make it better. Just gives you more parts to break. It could be possible to put DOHC WRX heads onto it, but i wouldn't bother with the Phase I EJ25 heads. From what i've read, the Phase II heads, which are SOHC, are stronger and flow extremely well. I even know people that refer to them as the best heads subaru has ever made.