High Performance Subaru Rods

The rod with the wrist pin is the stock 2.5L Subaru cast rod, which is a typical for an OEM rod.  The middle rod is the forge racing rod we offer specifically for the DOHC 2.5L motor (1998 and earlier).  The top race rod is the forged rod we recommend on SOHC 2.5L motors (1999 and later). 

It's important to note there are two different 2.5L motors from Subaru, both are great for sandrail applications.  Both use almost identical blocks, but there are major differences in the heads and crankshaft.  The 1999 and later SOHC motors have 4mm larger rod journals than the earlier 1998 and earlier DOHC motors.  The heads on the 1998 and earlier have slightly larger ports and two cams per head to push all 8 valves directly, not rocker arms.  The 1999 and later SOHC motors use roller rocker arms to push all 8 valves per head.

At C&G we offer rods to build either type of the 2.5L Subaru motors (SOHC or DOHC) to produce over 400HP.  But if you haven't chosen between the SOHC and the DOHC version and plan to eventually build a full tilt wahzoo motor, we recommend starting with the DOHC motor to get the larger intake ports.  Although the DOHC is the older style, they have slightly bigger intake ports to get more flow, producing more horsepower.  If you like the simplicity of the SOHC type it's a very good motor with larger rod journals.

The rods in your motor can be a limiting factor for reliability.  If you want to build a motor with more than 300HP installing aftermarket racing rods will be needed.  Then you can turn up the boost on your turbo.  Increasing the boost can be very exciting if you have the rods to handle the power.

Generally speaking stock rods can be used in Subaru motors with the turbo boost set a 10lbs or below.  10lbs of boost on a 2.5L Subaru motor will produce about 300HP.  But if you plan to go beyond 300HP with a higher boost level race rods must be used to be reliable.