[SCOOBYTRAP]

Gap to .028".

[fourseasonsandles]

Originally Posted by SCOOBYTRAP

Gap to .028".

Thanks I am working on it right now. I just finished the first one and wanted to look something up before I kept going.

[fourseasonsandles]

Alright! Spark plugs are in. I briefly glanced over Crewchief's how to and got and idea of what I was getting into. I didn't have to remove a lot of parts as I was working with an 06 instead of an 05. I did loosen up the battery so I could get my big meat fingers down on the drivers side though. One thing I should have done is started with the drivers side as it was a bit tighter to work in than the passenger side. All the plugs are at 0.028" (Stockers I took out were at about .030" and .032" @48k miles) and ready for a tune tomorrow morning. Took it for a driver and no CELs and no other noticable problems. I hope I am good to go!

[Szumita]

awesome four!!! good luck with the tune!

what are you hoping for numbers?

[WESTI]

were they stock heat range or 1 step colder? is the gap the same on both? Good luck with the tune!

[fourseasonsandles]

Originally Posted by Szumita

awesome four!!! good luck with the tune!

what are you hoping for numbers?

Well, that is the thing... There arent many dyno tuners around here. So, I am going to Buffalo to Innovative Tuning and getting a street tune. I would like to see some numbers but I am more concerned about the butt dyno being happy. After reading some posts around here and the power bragging forum I am guesstimating I hope to be just above 300whp. This is mostly based off of BoostJunkies old set up below and another few dynographs I found in my headers search. It is more an educated guess than anything else. Really anything above 300whp and I would be happy. For now

I dont know if I will ever actually get it on the dyno as my goal all along was just to get a little more power above a Stage 2. So I went with the headers/up pipe combo and threw in an APS CAI. I've got my fingers crossed

I know every dyno and car is slightly different, but these are what I have based my guesstimate off of.

Similar setup with a few minor differences. PP stockers and Xpipe vs UEL headers and he was also running a solenoid and BOV which I decided against.


Maddad headers vs stock


Someone elses Base Stage 2 tune with just the AP and TBE on 91oct, I will be running 93 oct. Take this tune, add the 93 + headers and intake and that is right about where I want to be.

[fourseasonsandles]

Originally Posted by WESTI

were they stock heat range or 1 step colder? is the gap the same on both? Good luck with the tune!

Stock heat range. I stayed away from the 1-step colder plugs as I was told they can give problems in the winter in a colder environment. Otherwise I might have to swap plugs for summer/winter. I also went with the NGK copper plugs based on Mikes (Inn-Tune) advise in post #300 and on my local forum (Buffaloscooby.com) as seen below.

Originally Posted by Innovative Tuning

Thanks guys.

Kimi I haven't had anyone say the tune wasn't worth it on any Subaru after getting it done. That goes for a lot of customers with stock vehicles let alone modded ones.

I see you have an upgraded turboback exhaust, though I'm not sure what kind. You need a walbro fuel pump and then you're at a great point to get a tune on an STi. At that point I can't think of anything for 400 dollars that gives you anywhere near the gain in power and drivability that a tune does. The gain is extremely noticeable in terms of horsepower, torque, and smoothness of power delivery.

As long as the roads are safe I'm out tuning. When it's lightly snowing out and the roads are clear that's no problem as pulls are only done on the highway. Tuning doesn't include any launching or horsing around so a stock turbo STi has no traction or safety concerns unless the highway is iced over or there's a solid layer of snow. That's pretty rare considering how generous they are with salt and plowing on the highways around here. If there's a blizzard, yes I'm not out there.

I don't tune many turbo Hondas in the middle of winter, but Subarus under 450 whp or so with decent tires do fine.

The walbro 255 lph high pressure fuel pump is 75 bucks and 1 hour ($75) to install if we do it here. This can be installed in advance of your tune date or on the day of.

A fresh set of NGK copper (LFR6A-11 for STi) spark plugs is also required prior to tuning, to make sure we're starting with good plugs. I don't tune STis with stock iridium plugs unless the car is stock. They cause low to medium grade misfires on modded setups so stock plugs on a modded car are a no go. The plugs are 20/set (WRX uses 9/set plugs) so they're a good amount less than stock plugs, but they don't last as long. Again, they can be installed prior to coming in for tuning or when you get here. Book time is 3 hours to change spark plugs on an 05 STi for instance, but we only charge 1 hour with customer supplied plugs or 65 bucks with our plugs. I know it's $250 at the local dealer.

One item a lot of my customers are also adding at this stage of the game is a manual boost controller. It's not required at all, but it does help make spoolup a bit quicker which everyone likes. They're $56 if you're interested. Otherwise the stock boost controller works fine.

-Mike

[Szumita]

yeah def.

you will love the wtq with the header.

w/o a header, i made 302/340. you should definatly be there on a dynojet or dynapack.

one more thing, how do you like your cobb pulley?

i was thinking of getting one. i drove in a friends car with the perrin pulley, he seemed to like it.

[fourseasonsandles]

Originally Posted by Szumita

yeah def.

you will love the wtq with the header.

w/o a header, i made 302/340. you should definatly be there on a dynojet or dynapack.

one more thing, how do you like your cobb pulley?

i was thinking of getting one. i drove in a friends car with the perrin pulley, he seemed to like it.

The pulley has its + and -. The plus being it revs a bit quicker. The neg, in the summer with the AC on, the RPMs drop faster due to the compressor running and makes the car a little harder to drive smoothly as far as shifting. You have to shift faster so the revs dont drop too much in between. So usually I run with the windows down around town and with the AC on only on the highway, which suits me anyway.

At the time I had an extra $100 to blow, so I just bought the pulley. It was no major upgrade, but the honestly does rev a bit quicker with it.

[Szumita]

cool. seems to be worth a try for $100. guess ill try it.

and yeah, with the a/c on, this car is nuts haha. i do the same, windows down until the highway.

[STI-LOS]

Four, you will def see the power with the mods.. The GT SPec UEL gave me so much TQ with my first tune I made 316WHP/355TQ on a Dynojet well that was the second tune I got retuned with the DW 740cc injectors they got maxed out at STG2 and that tune I made 288/307 and it still felt real fast.. I hear ya on the dyno I mean it cool to do once but its all in the road tune, real conditions mean alot.. This last tune on Thursday with the DOM 3 + Meth and with the TMIC I dynoed it and made 427WHP/433TQ but I had hime finish on the road.. I am done with the DYNO next when I go non catted and add a EWG I will just get a road tune.. The car is so damn fast I dont need to see numbers you know... S good luck you will get there but if not who cares as long as its a good tune and you like the way it drives..

[fourseasonsandles]

Well, I had my Street Tune today. I show up and took about an hour for the car to cool down to install the wideband and get everything hooked up. Mike checked everything out and all seemed to be in place with no issues. Funny side story, without ever seeing him before and only reading his posts; I was literally expecting some guy in is 40s-60s, but Mike is (just a guesstimate) in his late 20s to mid 30s. Low Key, but a very nice guy.

The shop itself had some impressive cars in it. There was a Wide Body Supra that they just put a new engine in. The Turbo was massive on that thing. Also a very nice 350z out front that was TT with a FMIC, Volks, CF hood and some other work. I also got to check out Voltron, Mikes Drag car that is a 90s Impreza L. There is a thread around here somewhere with its drag times and some video.

We took the car out on the highways and did a few cruising runs with his new uploaded map. Then we did a handful of 3rd gear pulls from about 2k to 6500. Then a few runs in 5th at about half throttle to about 90mph. I forget the RPM. We had to stop now and then so he could reflash the computer and then the car would heat soak a bit. Got it moving on the highway again and all was well.

I didnt notice a whole lot on the highway while he was tuning. Car seemed to run a bit smoother, but I didnt notice a whole lot more power. We left Innovative around 12:30 and I got it out on the 90 headed back towards Rochester. I hit the throttle a few times in Buffalo and it was def pulling harder. It wasnt until we hit the tolls and I went 1st through 4th that I really noticed the gains. The car pulled like crazy. We blasted past a guy in a silver Saab with his window open and definitely got his attention.

I asked Mike what he set the boost to and he said it was only at 19psi and tapered to about 13ish. He was hesitant to go higher with the Cat as there is too much heat build up. There isnt really much more I can do for power at the stage short of meth or a turbo upgrade. I honestly was expecting more boost, but after feeling what the car can do I am pretty happy with it.

My first pull out of the tolls I bounced off the limiter in 1st as I couldn't shift fast enough to keep up. I did this one other time on the way home before I adjusted. The car hits 70mph in 3rd like never before. He said he goes for more for consistency than anything else. It also wasnt until I got home that I realized I was still doing my pulls with the AC on. I turned the AC off and got even more juice out of it.

I did notice the car pulled harder in Buffalo than it did in Rochester due to the Temp difference. It was about 68deg in Buffalo when we were tunning and it is about 78 in Rochester right now with high humidity. The car feels a bit slower, but still pulls a lot harder than the base OTS Stage 2 map. I took it for another ride with my soon to be brother in law and he was pretty impressed. I had to drive it around a bit to shake the heat soak before I hit it. I am really curious to see what it will do against my GF fathers Super Charged Chargert R/T (Approx 450-500bhp).

Like I said I didnt really feel much at first when Mike was doing the tuning, but after my ride home and some more time with the car I really like it. I am curious to see what it will do later tonight when it is cooler out and the Sun is down. So with that I give Mike at Innovative Tuning

In the future, if anything, I may go to a 18g or 20g for a little bit more. I dont plan on this unless the stocker dies though and I have the money. I have a few more little details that are not power related for now. I will keep everyone updated.

Lastly, at some point I would like to get the car on a dyno, just to see what it is putting down. Numbers arent that important to me as I am happy with the tune at this time. I am just curious... for bragging rights.. of course

PS, please forgive the grammar and spelling as I am running on about 5 beers at the girlfriends fathers house right now for a BBQ. Ill edit it when I am sober and home

Sorry no pics, we forgot the camera..

Also sorry for the blurry pic from my cell. Best I could do on the AP.
Translated to: 93 Oct Only, Stage 2 tuned, 19psi peak, Unequal header, APS 65mm CAI, Catted Tback, Walbro, NGK, Aftermarket uppipe

[importfanatic17]

Congrats on the tune, it sounds like you are very pleased. The funny thing is that when I was getting my road tune, it didn't feel very different to me either but when my tuner drove it with me in the passenger seat, DAMN that thing pulled.


Your tuner's software doesn't produce any numbers??

[fourseasonsandles]

Originally Posted by importfanatic17

Your tuner's software doesn't produce any numbers??

I dont think so. It was the Cobb Protuner. I dont know much, if anything, about it. I just asked what kind of boost he tuned it to and that was all. I am pretty confident I hit my goal though.

The thing that is weird though is the way the power comes on and then tapers. I can feel the torque hit hard in the 3kish to 5kish range and then feel it fall off up top. That is the stock turbo though and I sort of expected it.

[Inn-Tune]

Thanks for sending me the link to your journal. One of these days I have to try and find time to go through some of our customers' journals. There's lots of good stuff in here.

I'm glad you're enjoying the tune and good work putting the car together thus far!

-Mike