Scooby Sti..............what do I need to know?
Discussion
Hi guys,
just bought a 1997 Sti for my good lady to cause havoc in. It's an import and standard except for a turbo timer, which I'm told is a good thing to have. As it was imported a year ago it has very little history, is there anything I should be looking out for? What about servicing, the car will probably do around 3000 miles a year.
Any advice appreciated.
Cheers
Derek
just bought a 1997 Sti for my good lady to cause havoc in. It's an import and standard except for a turbo timer, which I'm told is a good thing to have. As it was imported a year ago it has very little history, is there anything I should be looking out for? What about servicing, the car will probably do around 3000 miles a year.
Any advice appreciated.
Cheers
Derek
Make sure the cambelts been done. The MAF sensor is notoriously weak on the classics and if it starts to give up you can get damage to the engine. If it's a jap spec car and it hasn't been remapped for british fairy liquid petrol I would probably get it done. Other than that if it runs okay and drives okay, have fun and look out for scamera vans and unmarked BiB. Scoobs tend to attract speeding fines quite easily.
derekg500 said:
Thanks,I'll get the cambelt checked. WTF is a MAF sensor and how can you tell if it's not operating properly??
BTW the car drives fine, no rattles, squeaks or knocks.
Is normal un-leaded o.k. or is it better to use 98 octane stuff?
The Maf is the little box on top of the air intake just after the airbox. if it's not working properly the engine wont run nicely ( you'll get a bit of hesitancy and in the worst case misfiring). it will be very obvious if it's not working. If you want to have it checked you'll just need someone to check the output voltage of the sensor. If in doubt, replace it, as a bad MAF sensor can cause a lot of mischief with the engine. As the poster above said, steer clear of standard unleaded as you'll get detonation which will wreck the bottom end of the engine.BTW the car drives fine, no rattles, squeaks or knocks.
Is normal un-leaded o.k. or is it better to use 98 octane stuff?
As for sensors like any other scoob, classic or newage these things go wrong/break down and generally throw up either a check engine light or will run the engine rough as has been said already. If you're only doing 3000 miles a year you'll get a proper full service once a year by a scooby specialist and get an oil and filter change every 6mths.
Being a 1997 model the ECU won't be remappable and chipping it isn't a recommendation. Chipping is very generic and you just never really know what you're getting. Your only proper remappable option at the moment is an aftermarket ECU like an Apexi, Simtek, Autronic, Motec etc... These are not cheap options because once you've bought the hardware which isn't cheap in the first place, it then has to be setup and mapped on top and that can be prohibitively expensive all in if you're not really wanting to heavily modify your car and just want a bit more power and better running.
Safeguard against detonation by using only 99RON fuel like Tesco or V-Power as a minimum. Don't ever be tempted to run 95RON because it's cheaper or 97RON superunleaded from BP and others because it's rubbish for any scoob. Octane enhancers in my opinion are no better than snake oil so you'd be better off buying Methanol in drums or e85 ethanol at select morrisons pumps and having up to a 10% mix of Methanol or e85 with every tankful of 99RON (1 gallon per tank roughly) to raise Octane levels enough to avoid DET from the standard ECU map.
Standard oem fuel maps run very rich anyway and methanol or e85 will lean out AFRs a bit but at a 5%-10% mix it will be fine. Also with Methanol you have to run more timing advance than normal but again because import cars run more advance than UK cars it all works out fine and the ECU will dial max timing advance as a result. Only if your car ran very lean/on the edge AFR's initially would you probably have a problem with Methanol or /e85 pushing AFR's too far for your std mapping/setup. Also at 3000 miles a year it isn't going to break the bank as methanol/e85 is about the same price as petrol and is a good interim/short term solution. Cheaper and more convenient than an engine rebuild that's for sure.
Possibly by the end of this year ESL will have a cost effective daughterboard solution for your V3-V4 scoob allowing real-time on-the-fly live remapping of your standard ECU which leaves all the OEM Subaru safety parameters like knock control in place. Right now they have a solution for V1-V2 scoobs which is very good. As an authorised ESL dealer i'm certainly looking forward to seeing a V3-V4 solution in the near as i prefer working with the OEM ECU for classic or newage scoobs upto 350bhp, but we'll have to wait and see what happens as development takes time.
Enjoy your new pride and joy.
Being a 1997 model the ECU won't be remappable and chipping it isn't a recommendation. Chipping is very generic and you just never really know what you're getting. Your only proper remappable option at the moment is an aftermarket ECU like an Apexi, Simtek, Autronic, Motec etc... These are not cheap options because once you've bought the hardware which isn't cheap in the first place, it then has to be setup and mapped on top and that can be prohibitively expensive all in if you're not really wanting to heavily modify your car and just want a bit more power and better running.
Safeguard against detonation by using only 99RON fuel like Tesco or V-Power as a minimum. Don't ever be tempted to run 95RON because it's cheaper or 97RON superunleaded from BP and others because it's rubbish for any scoob. Octane enhancers in my opinion are no better than snake oil so you'd be better off buying Methanol in drums or e85 ethanol at select morrisons pumps and having up to a 10% mix of Methanol or e85 with every tankful of 99RON (1 gallon per tank roughly) to raise Octane levels enough to avoid DET from the standard ECU map.
Standard oem fuel maps run very rich anyway and methanol or e85 will lean out AFRs a bit but at a 5%-10% mix it will be fine. Also with Methanol you have to run more timing advance than normal but again because import cars run more advance than UK cars it all works out fine and the ECU will dial max timing advance as a result. Only if your car ran very lean/on the edge AFR's initially would you probably have a problem with Methanol or /e85 pushing AFR's too far for your std mapping/setup. Also at 3000 miles a year it isn't going to break the bank as methanol/e85 is about the same price as petrol and is a good interim/short term solution. Cheaper and more convenient than an engine rebuild that's for sure.
Possibly by the end of this year ESL will have a cost effective daughterboard solution for your V3-V4 scoob allowing real-time on-the-fly live remapping of your standard ECU which leaves all the OEM Subaru safety parameters like knock control in place. Right now they have a solution for V1-V2 scoobs which is very good. As an authorised ESL dealer i'm certainly looking forward to seeing a V3-V4 solution in the near as i prefer working with the OEM ECU for classic or newage scoobs upto 350bhp, but we'll have to wait and see what happens as development takes time.
Enjoy your new pride and joy.
derekg500 said:
Cheers for the help guys, I use Vmax in the Griffith, so it'll be easy to remember when filling up. As for the servicing, I can manage a 6 month oil and filter change.
Any recommendations for scooby service in Surrey or Sussex??
Derek
I keep hearing that Greenwood Racing Developments (GRD) in Surrey are excellent, dedicated scooby specialists - http://www.greenwoodracing.co.uk/ - and are very near to Surrey Rolling Road (run by PH member Vixpy1). Ask Vixpy1 about them. Any recommendations for scooby service in Surrey or Sussex??
Derek
HTH
mondeoman said:
interesting stuff - just a quick q - whats the consumption like on a decent run?
The best I've managed on a decent run is estimated 25mpg. That was mostly motorway / 6th gear, and doing no more than a high fraction of a lepton. The lowest I've had is <10mpg (estimated), mostly B roads.micron750 said:
Trying to find 99 octane is a nightmare in wiltshire the nearest is a 30 min drive from where i live although we have a very busy Tesco they say its too far from the major routes to stock it!!
Find a Shell garage and they will stock V-Power. Failing that use 95 or 97RON with a 10% Mix of Methanol to get it somewhere nearer 99/100RON. You can get Methanol delivered to your door, and having looked up prices on eBay it's even cheaper than 95RON petrol in 25Ltr and bigger drums.If you buy Methanol in 1000Ltr IBC containers and convert your Scoob to run Methanol only it only costs 50ppl.
Whether it's a UK or JDM car for daily use 99RON is the way to go.
ScoobieWRX said:
micron750 said:
Trying to find 99 octane is a nightmare in wiltshire the nearest is a 30 min drive from where i live although we have a very busy Tesco they say its too far from the major routes to stock it!!
Find a Shell garage and they will stock V-Power. Failing that use 95 or 97RON with a 10% Mix of Methanol to get it somewhere nearer 99/100RON. You can get Methanol delivered to your door, and having looked up prices on eBay it's even cheaper than 95RON petrol in 25Ltr and bigger drums.If you buy Methanol in 1000Ltr IBC containers and convert your Scoob to run Methanol only it only costs 50ppl.
Whether it's a UK or JDM car for daily use 99RON is the way to go.
So if i was to add a 10% mix to the fuel i won't need to do any changes or conversions sorry to be dim its not something i've thought of doing
Yes correct as it will raise the octane rating of your fuel and stop your engine detting, but in order to reap the benefits gained from using 10% Methanol mix and just to make absolutely sure if anything that the car runs smoothly and without fault a remap is always the best way.
For your current circumstances the methanol mix without mapping is really just a very short term fix to get you over a hump, however it is in no way a substitue for a professional remap which should be done as soon as you're able. Then you have no need to use Methanol or anything else to ensure smooth running of your P&J.
A professional remap is always the right way.
HTH
For your current circumstances the methanol mix without mapping is really just a very short term fix to get you over a hump, however it is in no way a substitue for a professional remap which should be done as soon as you're able. Then you have no need to use Methanol or anything else to ensure smooth running of your P&J.
A professional remap is always the right way.
HTH
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