New WRX owner-one question..
Discussion
Hi all, I have left the dark side and just bought a totally standard 2002 WRX.
Not driven one yet as its miles away and I have bought over the web, but I am sure it will be fine. I am also sure that its fast-however, can someone tell me where I can get it chipped and how much? Not bothered about exhaust etc, but just more boost!
Thanks all...
Not driven one yet as its miles away and I have bought over the web, but I am sure it will be fine. I am also sure that its fast-however, can someone tell me where I can get it chipped and how much? Not bothered about exhaust etc, but just more boost!
Thanks all...
I'm not 100% up on mod'ing subaru's however as no one else has replied...
The ECU on the wrx is a simple read-only program. The "chip" is soldered on and is dog to change, if you want to increase the boost the better way is the electronic type..
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-SUBARU-IMPREZA-ELECTRONI...
You can only push the boost so far on a factory turbo as the blow value will not open, so you might need to fit a dump value, but that depends on the amount of boost you want....
I'ld avoid the cheap simple T piece versions on ebay.
The best way is to a get your ECU professionaly modded, and tuned on a rolling road. That way everything is measured, and not on the hardshoulder of the M4 with a cracked block.
Hope this helps, I know it sound alot of fuss, but £ per BHP the impreza comes out at good value.
The ECU on the wrx is a simple read-only program. The "chip" is soldered on and is dog to change, if you want to increase the boost the better way is the electronic type..
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-SUBARU-IMPREZA-ELECTRONI...
You can only push the boost so far on a factory turbo as the blow value will not open, so you might need to fit a dump value, but that depends on the amount of boost you want....
I'ld avoid the cheap simple T piece versions on ebay.
The best way is to a get your ECU professionaly modded, and tuned on a rolling road. That way everything is measured, and not on the hardshoulder of the M4 with a cracked block.
Hope this helps, I know it sound alot of fuss, but £ per BHP the impreza comes out at good value.
Personally i would steer clear of any self modded boost controls.. For safe boost control this will need to be a proper map to get all the aspects of the ignition correct to prevent leaning/detonation out at high revs. This can lead to you needed a engine rebuild as in time it will burn holes in the pistons!
You will need to change the exhuast and removing 2 of the 3 CATS on the car will make the turbo spool up quicker and give better response.. But you should be able to get a good tuning package for the car for around £1100 all in which would give you 270-280BHp and would be more reliable then a self modded boost control from ebay.
There are pleanty of good used secondhand parts on the subaru owners site depending where you are and most are priced reasonably well.
Steve
You will need to change the exhuast and removing 2 of the 3 CATS on the car will make the turbo spool up quicker and give better response.. But you should be able to get a good tuning package for the car for around £1100 all in which would give you 270-280BHp and would be more reliable then a self modded boost control from ebay.
There are pleanty of good used secondhand parts on the subaru owners site depending where you are and most are priced reasonably well.
Steve
As said, "chipping" Imprezas isnt really the done thing. An ECU re-map is the way to go, about £600, but if your going to make the most of it you may as well get an uprated Green cotton panel filter, no need for induction kits, and replace the exhaust system, including one or more of the cats. Again as said this will see about 270hp-280hp.
A cat back system will cost around £300 depending on the make, and about another £300 could see all the cats removed and replaced with custom through pipes.
I know it sounds like a bit of hastle, but if your going to spend you money on a re-map you may as well get the other bits done. With just a re-map you may only be looking at 260hp at best. With full de-cat, 280hp should be easily hit!!
There are a few companies out there that can do package like www.powerstation.org.uk
Bob Rawle also has a good reputation and will map the car on the road so it will better match your driving needs.
Hope this helps!
Ian
A cat back system will cost around £300 depending on the make, and about another £300 could see all the cats removed and replaced with custom through pipes.
I know it sounds like a bit of hastle, but if your going to spend you money on a re-map you may as well get the other bits done. With just a re-map you may only be looking at 260hp at best. With full de-cat, 280hp should be easily hit!!
There are a few companies out there that can do package like www.powerstation.org.uk
Bob Rawle also has a good reputation and will map the car on the road so it will better match your driving needs.
Hope this helps!
Ian
bull996 said:
Thanks for the help guys...very informative. I have never done any modding before so perhaps I will let the experts do it!
If I get rid of the cats will it pass the MOT?
yep the WRX has 3 The uppipe, The downpipe, and a secondary cat in the centre section.. If I get rid of the cats will it pass the MOT?
I know of a couple of cars who have had the the last 2 removed and still pass the MOT it was close to the limits but if mapped properly you should pass without a problem.
Plus removing the CATs also make the car that bit louder and gets the iconic subaru burble back! and it pops and bangs which adds to the grin factor.
Evil.soup said:
Bob Rawle also has a good reputation and will map the car on the road so it will better match your driving needs.
Hope this helps!
Ian
Mapping on the road is a life experience in it self!Hope this helps!
Ian
Edited by stevieb on Tuesday 18th September 15:19
Pop it down here as i've got a stage1 map that will make that go very nicely with all 3 cats in place. Just make sure you do a Snorkus mod and pop a Greenpanel performance air filter in and Bobs your Uncle!! It will feel much more responsive, lots more mid-range punch from about 2800/3000 rpm through to about 5500/6000rpm 
You can decat the standard exhaust by taking out the secondary cat and up-pipe cat, but you must leave in the downpipe cat for MOT purposes as it will pass on 1 cat, however...it will sound lovely and be good for a few extra horses. Very easy to do yourself, and then map that to stage2.
The TD04 turbo is good for 18psi safe max in standard form, and 16-16.5 psi all day long no probs, although i've heard of 20 - 22psi when the turbo has been modified.
I also have a 2002 WRX (Sportwagon) and i do my own mapping. I haven't blown it up yet so that's a good sign
You can decat the standard exhaust by taking out the secondary cat and up-pipe cat, but you must leave in the downpipe cat for MOT purposes as it will pass on 1 cat, however...it will sound lovely and be good for a few extra horses. Very easy to do yourself, and then map that to stage2.
The TD04 turbo is good for 18psi safe max in standard form, and 16-16.5 psi all day long no probs, although i've heard of 20 - 22psi when the turbo has been modified.
I also have a 2002 WRX (Sportwagon) and i do my own mapping. I haven't blown it up yet so that's a good sign
Edited by ScoobieWRX on Wednesday 19th September 00:24
ScoobieWRX said:
I also have a 2002 WRX (Sportwagon) and i do my own mapping. I haven't blown it up yet so that's a good sign
you must have some confidence in mapping your own car unless you have got a good base map from a tuner to refine!!!Edited by ScoobieWRX on Wednesday 19th September 00:24
I started with the map rom on my own base standard WRX and through trial and error plus lots of reading up and asking questions, logging and road testing i got to where i am at the moment as far as my car is concerned. I still have all 3 cats in place too but the difference between the Std 2002 WRX map and my map is considerbale based upon the driving experience alone. I would go as far as to say the std 2002 218bhp WRX is slow compared to mine.
You aren't actually changing the whole standard map as there are things you want to keep that the manufacturer intended from a safety point of view, but enough fundamental changes to get the desired result. The map i run is very safe and give's me around 16psi boost, turbo kicks in about 2800-3000rpm and is spot on for country lane or motorway overtaking due the better mid-range shove.
I have some other base maps as well from other tuners at Stage1,2,2.5 and 3 that will work well enough if you have the hardware changes, but even they are only base maps and require fine tuning to get them working properly. I don't have any hardware changes apart from a GrpN backbox, Green Panel Filter and Snorkus mod so i cannot test these other base maps, but refining my own Stage1 map has been a steep lerning curve, taken time and lots of petrol, but great fun.
You should have a go yourself whatever ricerocket you drive even if you don't use your own maps it does teach you a fair bit about what is involved when mapping and how different changes/tweakes effect the car like altering AFR, Timing, Boost, Injector latency, MAF scaling, Wastegate duty, etc...etc.... The only Negative in not using ECUTEK mapping is that with ECUTEK you can make changes in real-time, unlike the software i use which takes longer but that is being worked on as we speak.
i got to where i am at the moment as far as my car is concerned. I still have all 3 cats in place too but the difference between the Std 2002 WRX map and my map is considerbale based upon the driving experience alone. I would go as far as to say the std 2002 218bhp WRX is slow compared to mine.You aren't actually changing the whole standard map as there are things you want to keep that the manufacturer intended from a safety point of view, but enough fundamental changes to get the desired result. The map i run is very safe and give's me around 16psi boost, turbo kicks in about 2800-3000rpm and is spot on for country lane or motorway overtaking due the better mid-range shove.
I have some other base maps as well from other tuners at Stage1,2,2.5 and 3 that will work well enough if you have the hardware changes, but even they are only base maps and require fine tuning to get them working properly. I don't have any hardware changes apart from a GrpN backbox, Green Panel Filter and Snorkus mod so i cannot test these other base maps, but refining my own Stage1 map has been a steep lerning curve, taken time and lots of petrol, but great fun.
You should have a go yourself whatever ricerocket you drive even if you don't use your own maps it does teach you a fair bit about what is involved when mapping and how different changes/tweakes effect the car like altering AFR, Timing, Boost, Injector latency, MAF scaling, Wastegate duty, etc...etc.... The only Negative in not using ECUTEK mapping is that with ECUTEK you can make changes in real-time, unlike the software i use which takes longer but that is being worked on as we speak.
Edited by ScoobieWRX on Wednesday 19th September 12:28
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