Here is the writeup from our CNC combustion chamber program including pictures of the process and full explanation:

We are excited to announce that we have a great new option for the 2.0/2.5 hybrid folks! As most people know, when you run a 2.5l shortblock with 2.0l heads, the compression ratio is too high to run safely and efficiently. The common approach to resolve this is to use a thicker head gasket to try to bring the compression ratio down. While this can bring the overall compression ratio down, it is by no means ideal. The resulting combustion chamber shape remains inefficient since you're leaving the 2.0l chamber in the heads untouched. You are in essence reducing the effectiveness of the quench area and introducing several sharp edges to the combustion chamber that can build up heat and cause knock. This makes the engine less efficient than a full EJ257 with EJ257 heads.

Instead of using a thicker head gasket, we decided to try something a bit different. We worked closely with our machine shop to actually map out the combustion chamber of the EJ257 STI head and create a CNC program to replicate the exact same chamber every time. Using this program, we then set up the 2.0l head castings in the CNC and machine out an exact copy of the 2.5l combustion chamber into each 2.0l head casting. We are then able to use a quality OEM head gasket and maintain the exact compression ratio of a complete STI engine. This improves the effectiveness of the quench area and the overall efficiency of the engine because you now have the exact same combustion chamber as a full EJ257.

We have done many hybrid builds with this approach now and have seen great results not only in overall power output, but especially in terms of crisp, smooth off-boost drivability and torque. We've also seen a significant increase in fuel economy as compared to a standard hybrid build. From a tuning standpoint, the difference is so significant that we had to spend quite a bit of time building new base maps for these builds. Under low load conditions, these setups can run as much as 15-20 degrees more timing advance than a hybrid build with a thicker head gasket. This was a great thing to see as we end up with a timing curve much more similar to an STI rather than a 2.0l WRX.

This service is available for any EJ205 and EJ207 heads.

Here are some pictures of the process:








And final product:



We've done about 50 sets of heads now for our own customers as well as customers and other shops all around the country. All of the feedback has been spectacular, and the tuners especially are loving how these perform compared to the other hybrid options.

Thanks
-- Ed