ECU tuning

[supergripen]

hey guys,
anyone knows what's best for Subarus as far as ECU tuning is concerned? and where to do it..

cheers

 

[wetsprocket]

I understand that whats best for the GC series will be different for whats best for the GD series, because of the different ECUs.

If for the GD series, it also depends on what your goals are. If you are going for maximum power (more than 350hp at the wheel) then you might want to invest in a good standalone ECU like Motec or V pro, etc. If you can find a good tuner, then this level of tuning can be readily achieved (together with other supporting hardware mods).

If your goal is 350hp at the wheel or less, then ECUTEK remapping is a safe and reliable path. This is possible with some supporting hardware mods, like upgraded turbo, fuel, intake and turboback exhaust.

Also, ECUTEK is recommended if you want to do minor basic mods. It can easily get you substantial increase in power with just a turboback exhaust, but still retaining stock idling and driveability.

 

[supergripen]

thanx WS..i've pretty much decided on the reflash.i'm not aiming for crazy power but more towards useable and reliable power.i don't want to sacrafice reliability and driveability in the process thus a modest but more realistic power gain is the way to go for me.
i'm planning a catback,upgraded intercooler hoses,BOV,drop-in panel high flow filter plus the reflash(maybe ECUTEK).might do a full exhaust job later on..

 

[Stormvolution 9]

supergripen,

My Sti on wheel power is 297.5hp(dyno), which is abt 350hp on engine...

Stuffs tht i hv r F-Con SZ (ECU), Sard Racing Radiator, HKS Oil cooler, SSQV, Tomei Front Pipe, Ganador Full Titanium exhuast, Endless 6 slotted rotor + 500c pad front n 350c rear n some minor little thingy...

I did it @ Aerotech Nilai... Now thinking of getting a new set of suspension... Hvnt decide on which brand to go for, stil considering... Oso am after de Tomei Extreme manifold!!! This manifold is hving lotsa great reviews from de Japan side!!! Mmm... worth to try...

Besides, i think an after mkt oil cooler is essential for Msia weather... Scooby ori car dont hv 1, so engine over heat is 1 of de common thingy for Scooby...

Cheers!!!

 

[Stormvolution 9]

Besides, am stil using de ori clutch n its pretty much as comfort as de ori car...

:_:

 

[supergripen]

supergripen,

My Sti on wheel power is 297.5hp(dyno), which is abt 350hp on engine...

Stuffs tht i hv r F-Con SZ (ECU), Sard Racing Radiator, HKS Oil cooler, SSQV, Tomei Front Pipe, Ganador Full Titanium exhuast, Endless 6 slotted rotor + 500c pad front n 350c rear n some minor little thingy...

I did it @ Aerotech Nilai... Now thinking of getting a new set of suspension... Hvnt decide on which brand to go for, stil considering... Oso am after de Tomei Extreme manifold!!! This manifold is hving lotsa great reviews from de Japan side!!! Mmm... worth to try...

Besides, i think an after mkt oil cooler is essential for Msia weather... Scooby ori car dont hv 1, so engine over heat is 1 of de common thingy for Scooby...

Cheers!!!

wow!!! 350bhp..wudn't mind la hehe.

good idea..i'll add the oil cooler as well to my wish list.another thing,when u say full titanium exhaust do u mean the whole length? header,up-pipe,down-pipe,center and rear muffler? must've cost a pretty penny huh??
are u using cats or have you taken them out?
and if u don't mind,how much did the oil cooler cost you?

 

[Stormvolution 9]

supergripen,

Hey, I got my HKS Oil Cooler kit for abt rm3.3k+ including labour... :_:

As for my exhuast system... I was using a custom made front pipe (no cats), ori center + STi after mkt titanium muffler... Found tht de sound wasnt up to my liking n de Fuel Consumption (fc) is a bit heavy... Then took it out n replace it with de Tomei front pipe ( turbo ourlet + cats + front pipe all in 1 piece for Scooby, whereas car like evo u wil hv to buy 3 seperate parts) + Ganador titanium exhuast ( from center to muffler, oso in 1 piece, 1 whole straight pipe)... Guess what... haha... it sound cool n pretty loud too during high rev!!! As for de fc, am stil testing it cos jus change 2 wks... De Tomei thingy cost ard rm2.5k+ n de Ganardo ard rm5k+... Yeah... it all do cost a lots... But jus as Mr. crappy said in other thread, this baby wil b with me for yearssss too...

Wil b looking for de Tomei manifold (abt rm2.8k+) too... After tht wil kinda looking into chasis upgrade such as those Cusco n Carbing underneat braces n bars...

Cheers!!!

 

[wetsprocket]

supergripen, if you have an STi, you dont need to replace the uppipe, because the STi's uppipe does not have a cat. The STi only has 2 cats - one in the forward section of the downpipe and another in the rear section of the same downpipe. Just get a good 3" straight flow downpipe + centre pipe + muffler to remove all cats and get better flow after the turbo.

 

[Stormvolution 9]

wetsprocket,

Yo bro, de down pipe u r refering, izzit de pipe tht after de turbo? As i call it front pipe! Hehehe... sorry bro, myself a bit confuse as some refer de down pipe as de pipe tht r releasing pressure from wastegate!!! Pls correct me if am wrong! Thx! :_:

Besides, back to de ECU tuning thingy, lately there r lotsa ppl going for de Apexi Power FC... This thingy suddenly heat up n selling like hot cakes... Go everywhere oso got ppl asking for it n talking abt its advantages... Do u hv any experience on this b4?

 

[wetsprocket]

Oh i see ... :_: Confusion on the names of the pipes. Yup, for me, its uppipe, turbo, front downpipe, rear downpipr, centre pipe, muffler.

I've heard that the Power FC is very capable. Only thing is the tuner must be very good.

 

[Stormvolution 9]

wetsprocket,

My STi when i dismentle de pipes hor... It goes like tht - Turbo - front pipe (this pipe include turbo outlet, cats n front pipe, when i was using custome made 1 its jus 1 pipe without cats) - center pipe - muffler....

Now is like Turbo - front pipe - exhuast... manifold hvnt change yet... so dunno got how many pcs there... But i saw de Tomei 1... its jus de manifold without other pipes...

Lately got frens goes to Trial Tuning shop to tune their Power FC... Heard pretty good!

 

[supergripen]

hey guys..

as i understand it(from HKS's own terminology),there's the header##up-pipe##turbo##down-pipe##mid-section##muffler.

anyways,i'm planning a catback first..i've heard that taking away the cat will lead to other problems so i'm gonna study the system first before de-cat'ing the exhaust system.i will go the whole 9 yards eventually with a full exhaust transplant but i'll take it slow and easy.

1st choice for the catback will be HKS's Silent Hi-Power..ant comments? what about Trust's full titanium catback setup? i heard titanium systems can be quite noisy which i'm not too keen on.

 

[crappy]

hi guys,one tihng i wanna ask about...ppl say if u do add in an after market blow off,,will it interfere wif ur rpm stability.n after changing ur whole exhaust system...will the bubble sound still be there,storm bro,wah lau u spend so much on ur baby oledii ah....
thanxs..
sorry im very new to sti

 

[wetsprocket]

hi guys,one tihng i wanna ask about...ppl say if u do add in an after market blow off,,will it interfere wif ur rpm stability.n after changing ur whole exhaust system...will the bubble sound still be there,storm bro,wah lau u spend so much on ur baby oledii ah....
thanxs..
sorry im very new to sti

Its true. The STi's MAF sensors are very sensitive. If you add a BOV without tuning (remap, standalone ECU or piggyback) then the sensors will give wrong MAF reading to ECU. Can result in very bad idling & boost problems. Best to stick to stock BPV unless you can tune the ECU to take into account the aftermarket BOV. Anyway, the stock BPV is designed to handle A LOT of boost (more than 1.5bar for sure) so no need to change to BOV unless you also change to bigger turbo.

If you have v.7 or earlier STi then the boxer sound will remain even if you change the exhaust - its just a matter of volume and tone. If you have a v.8 or later JDM STi then I'm afraid the boxer sound was not there in the first place - these cars have equal length headers, therefore no boxer sound.

 

[crappy]

seriously,like tht very potong stim la,no bubble sound,is there anyway to do it.bout the blowoff thingie.normal bpv hasnt got any KEEPISH sound n tht sucks but then after change to aftermarket prob...i heard ppl saying the idling got prob terus.will it help after changing full hks exhaust system specially built for v9wats the diff after changing and bout the blowoff,i gues su dun reccomend to change is it

 

[Stormvolution 9]

supergripen,

Yo bro, HKS Silent HiPower is a good choice... But i do hv frens using de Trust full Titanium exhuast... According to them its as quiet as de HKS Silent HiPower... Its best if u can ask frens to show u de sound b4 deciding on which exhuast to use...

As for de boxer sound, Mr. wesprocket is right! Ver 8 STi onwards there r hardly any boxer sound... But after i changed de Tomei front pipe + exhuast, de sound seems like coming back eventhough its not as obvious as de Ver 7 STi n earlier...

Besides, de MAF is really a headache... Hahaha... unless u really decided to go all out, if not a little change of parts here n there can cause problems to de car where de air flow reading might show strange signals... Myself belum lagi tukar Air filter... stil looking ard for de best choice... :_:

 

[supergripen]

i've heard the Tomei headers are very good..what do you think about them? ant changes to the power delivery?
i guess the best thing to do would be to buy all the stuff first and when you have all of them,fit them onto the car one go and straight away do the ECU tuning..

 

[Stormvolution 9]

So far de Tomei thingy has been good after i install it... Mmm... Power wise it can match my previous front pipe (custom made) where it didnt hv a cat... Turbo now kicking in ard 3,500rpm... Pretty good... And at de moment, i realised tht de fc hv improve too... eventhough its not much... abt 3-5%...

Hahaha... Bro supergripen, u r right man... Buy all de stuffs tht u wanna or going to instal at 1 shot... hahaha... then taruk lah satu kali... Am doing tht for my other car man... :_:

Now looking for a set of suspension man... Any 1 here got any idea which suspension is good for Scooby? Mr. wetsprocket do u hv any idea or experience on de suspension? Do u mind to share? Lotsa shops recon me lotsa different brands man... From Ohlins, Aragosta to Teins... Really dunno what's good n suitable man...

Thx!!!

 

[wetsprocket]

I understand that Ohlins and Bilstein make the best coilovers for the STi. If you dont want to spend that kind of money, then my recommendation is to find a set of used v.8 Spec C Type RA struts and springs. If you cant find, then maybe STi "pink" springs mated with stock STi struts. Much better springs rates, I think. No offence, but people who buy Teins usually end up trying to sell them for some reason.

Also, try out bigger swaybars, for both front and rear. They reduce body roll, so cornering becomes more go-kart like. The best are those from Cusco and Whiteline.

 

[Stormvolution 9]

Oh yeah... Actually am considering de swaybars + all others underneat braces tht r able to improve de car handling n reduces de car body roll during corners... But got to do slowly lo... Pretty expensive le... hahaha...

Thx for ur advice on de suspension!!! :_: Actually 1 of de rear suspension oredi 'kong'!!! So gotta change de whole set liao... cant onli go for de coilover... De Ohlins set with gas camber is costing ard RM16k++.... :s Walan eh... Super expensive!!! So mayb gotto think of other brand la... Yeah... No disrespect oso... I heard abt de Tein thingy hving lotsa problem too...