Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

On November 11, the Sport Air Race League held the last race of the 2017 season. We have been racing our Subaru SVX EG33 powered Glasair all season and have been getting faster with every race. This race we dialed in a little more RPMs, 5250 instead of our normal 5100. We kept this power setting for the entire 43 minute race. Our average speed was 261.60 MPH … this speed set a new class speed record, yippee!!!
I may be biased here, but I think that Subaru put a great engine in the SVX … too bad they stopped making them.
Russell Sherwood
Subaru EG33 powered Glasair

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

Congrats Russell! Well done.

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

Congrats!, and thanks for posting.....I believe most here will agree that Subaru put a great engine in the SVX :)

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

Thats awesome :)

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

What altitude were you flying at? Turbocharged or NA?

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

Racers are free to choose any altitude that wish, most of us race at 500 to 2000 AGL.
Our EG33 is naturally aspirated and of course we lose manifold pressure (vacuum) as we go higher.
We have about a dozen YouTube videos posted but I like this one because it is only 6 seconds long. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T9xFf97E-s My wife was going to tape our flyby but she was chatting with friends and didn’t hear our radio call and only got the last part of this pass.
Russell Sherwood

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

What mods to the engine other than the gearbox/prop accessories? That I take manifold is cool, is it a one-off manufactured item? What engine management? Estimated power on your setup?

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

Steven, you are correct the intake is a custom one-off that I made. The factory one stood too high and weighs about 12 pounds more. The exhaust is also my own custom build. The gearbox is a Marcotte from Quebec with a 1.93:1 ratio. Engine management is Subaru stock from the SVX. The engine is stripped of many items that are unnessary in an aircraft. During races it consumes about 16 gallon per hour so I think it is making 200 to 210 HP.
I recently posted this YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/embed/6VGnkvkguRE
Russell Sherwood

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

I forgot to mention that we have run this Glasair/EG33 in twenty two air races.

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

Very nice!

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

That's awesome! Thanks for answering my questions. It is really awesome to see the eg33 in a plane. How often do you have to rebuild? I feel Piston rings getting gummed up is the first thing that goes on these eg33's as they are really beefy otherwise.

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

Steven, I have over 760 hours of run time on this EG33. I estimate that well over 70% of that time the engine has been at 4800 RPM or higher. I have never opened this engine with the exception to replace the head gaskets. I just finished doing a compression test and all cylinders passed with flying colors (pun intended).
The only time that the engine seems to get sluggish is when I run aviation fuel for 20 continuous hours. Aviation fuel has lead in it and I think that the rings or valves were becoming clogged with lead. To clear it up I just run a tank full of auto fuel and she gets back to her old powerful self.
I love my Subaru EG33.
Russell Sherwood

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

I still have one of these engines with ONLY 2792 miles on it still in the wrecked car. Have not started it in several years so not sure if will be any problem. Not worried about the engine but maybe fuel injectors could be a problem.

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

I actually have a brand new complete E33 that has never been in a car. It was used back in the day train Subaru Technicians. I'm sure the gaskets and seals would need to be replaced after sitting for so long.

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

This is fantastic. You didn't happen to buy your engine from an old man in funkstown, MD, who used to work for Fairchild aviation? He sold it through one of his friends to a texan who indented to install the engine in an aircraft. Im still down about selling the car. Nothing drives like it, and it's the ultimate italo disco machine, but knowing it was being transformed into something awesome made the sting a little better.

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

Matthewmorgan, no I got this EG33 from Portland Oregon. It only had 516 miles on it, the SVX was T-Boned and totaled. I was the beneficiary of that accident.
During the installation I saw a SVX parked in the driveway of a home about a mile from my house. The owner happened to be outside so I stopped to ask him about his engine performance. He couldn’t answer many of the questions but just said he loved to drive it. He reached in his pocket, pulled out the car keys and tossed them to me. He said “Here go take it and find out for yourself.” I said you just met me ten minutes ago and you are letting me take your car all by myself? I was pretty much stunned by his generosity. I took his offer and just enjoyed my ride while introducing myself to the EG33. Every SVX owner I have talked have been very open about the car … great group or people.

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

Did anyone else think of this when they saw "Subaru" and "speed record" in the title?

https://web.archive.org/web/20161220...speed-records/

"The original Legacy speed record was set between January 2 and January 21, 1989, with three Japanese-spec turbocharged RS sedans at the Arizona Test Center outside of Phoenix, Arizona. It broke the 100,000 km FIA World Land Endurance Record by maintaining an average speed of 138.780 mph (223.345 km/h) for 447 hours, 44 minutes and 9.887 seconds, or 18.5 days. Pit stops were made every two hours with a driver change and refueling, while tire changes were made at 96‑hour intervals, or every 13,400 miles (21,600 km) driven."

That is nuts, especially considering that it happened 30 years ago. And the EG33 shares a lot of that DNA, since it was derived from Subaru's EJ flat four.

Re: Subaru EG33 breaks the class speed record
 

There was a Subaru SVX 30 year celebration in Japan today



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fu7ptXRaWQ