Porscheru Engine Choices, 2.2, 2.5, or 3.0 ?? Options

[R_u_dd]

Added a poll Here

Building a Porsche 914 with Subaru power and transmission Porscheru. Looking for a donor car with a 5mt transmission. I've considered many engine combos. The 2.0 wrx turbo is very popular for this build at 227 hp but I want NA power without the turbo lag. I've narrowed it down to these combos:

EJ22 99-2001 142 horsepower. Less power than I would like, but easy to find a car with a stick shift and fewer head gasket problems. Good potential for additional power. Strong motor.

SOHC 2.5 1990-2004 165 HP. This is a good power range for the lightweight 914 (2,400lbs). Easy electronics. The negative is frequent HG problems. The donor car is hard to find with a stick shift. If I buy a donor car with an automatic tranny, which 5mt will fit, just match the year?

EZ30D 2000-2003 212 HP. The donor car will need a tranny. Which should I buy?

So the big question is which donor would you buy and why? I don't want to buy individual parts if I can avoid it because it's much more expensive and the combinations might not work well together. Individual parts are about $2,000 but I think I can get a donor for around $1500.

[Chris H.]

BIGKAT_83 has an EZ30R engine he was thinking about selling. I don't remember if he had the ECU and harness or not. The EZ30R is also more expensive because it is rare and a lot of the Subie guys want it. 250 hp in that compact engine would be pretty nice.

[gryphon68]

BIGKAT_83 has an EZ30R engine he was thinking about selling. I don't remember if he had the ECU and harness or not. The EZ30R is also more expensive because it is rare and a lot of the Subie guys want it. 250 hp in that compact engine would be pretty nice.

I could be wrong, but I believe BigKat is running an EZ30D with a Megasquirt.
He may also own an EZ30R engine, but don't think it's running in a car.

The EZ30R probably has more potential, with three individual exhaust ports per cylinder head, but has several difficult to tame features such as drive-by-wire throttle body and variable can timing which significantly reduces aftermarket ECU choices.