Cool car with street cred

It's odd. Subaru have a great / s**te reputation, depending on who you ask. I spent some time of my youth in rural Lincolnshire where the utility Subarus have a *great* reputation. It doesn't matter if the build quality isn't up to scratch, they're knocked about a bit anyway.

I think the thing is, kept stock they are fine to a point, then piss oil/coolant and end up seizing from what I've read.

If they are messed with then it is down to the skill of the messer. Some just up the boost, spray the intercooler and pray that it don't detonate.

Others do the job properly,

1)work with the 2.5 to start with (more torque) 2)move to an FMIC (better cooling less heatsoak), 3)make sure that the path from intake to turbo is as short and smooth as possible 4)Make sure the path from the turbo to the manifold/throttle is as short and smooth as possible while avoiding hotter parts of the engine bay. 5)use a wide band to make sure the mixture doesn't lean out when adjusting boost. 6)fit an uprated FPR and larger injectors with a remappable ecu to take the extra fueling into consideration. 7) fit a sport cat and better flowing system to remove restrictions downstream of the turbo. 8)up the boost, or better, fitted a different turbo with a compressor map that better suits the intended use of the engine. 9)get the whole thing on the rollers and make the time and money worth it. Ignoring the rollers will at best mean you've wasted money that isn't being best used. At worst it will all go pop and you will need spend more money on taking a lot of it out again.

[snip classic turbo tuning]

Quite, but, as a workhorse the naturally aspirated models rock. It's the higher performance stuff that is great for track days, maybe, but for long term ownership... they'll nickel and dime you, as Charlie says.