WRX on the dyno tomorrow

T

TortoiseAWD

New member
I'm headed to KC for some dyno tuning tomorrow . . . stay tuned for before/after dyno graphs.



Current engine mods:

Turbo-back 3" exhaust

STi injectors

VF-34 turbo

Cobb StreetTuner running "off-the-shelf" map



The standard ECU map that Cobb supplies for my modifications is supposed to make around 320hp at the crank (estimated based on whp + AWD drivetrain losses). Of course, this will vary as every car is slightly different. The Cobb-supplied maps are relatively conservative, and I haven't done any tweaking on my own. I'm hoping that the tuner will be able to pick up at least 20 hp and some torque to go with it.



I'll try to post up the dyno results tomorrow afternoon.



Tort
 
Eh, You should've gone for an 18G/20G. A buddy of mine has a bugeye 03 and he first went with a VF-34 setup. It didn't provide the power that he was looking for. He eventually switched to a 20G (and later a GT35R). The way he said it was something like, you can only tune so high on a smaller turbo while you can detune a large turbo and achieve the same result while still having the capability to go crazy later. I would guess that you went this route because the access port is a plug and play item. he went with a full emanage setup so he didn't really have to stick to certain mods like you do with the cobb item. I suppose for the ease of use and install with the cobb item, its good for most people though. I wish you luck!
 
Well, I went with the VF-34 for a couple of reasons, one of which was the availability of the Cobb map. I'm not looking for all-out horsepower, I want some low-end grunt as well, and that means sticking with a turbo that will spool at a reasonable RPM. I was looking for a good compromise between more hp and as little lag as possible. All things considered, I think I ended up with the right turbo for what I wanted out of the car. For now, anyway. :D



Tort
 
Ya, chris (my friend) doesn't daily drive the car so he just went all out race with his setup. APR Stage 4 Block (but with darton sleeves), GT35R Turbo, STi 6-speed, cusco differentials, cams, large FMIC, etc etc. It has costed him alot, but I must say, a 450 AWHP launch is amazing. Ill be patiently waiting for your results :D
 
Neothin said:
Ya, chris (my friend) doesn't daily drive the car so he just went all out race with his setup. APR Stage 4 Block (but with darton sleeves), GT35R Turbo, STi 6-speed, cusco differentials, cams, large FMIC, etc etc. It has costed him alot, but I must say, a 450 AWHP launch is amazing. Ill be patiently waiting for your results :D
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Uh, :eek: and :drool:



Nice mod list. Pretty much every else on the road is going to be a Scooby-snack for 0 - 60. Has he taken it to the track for 1/4 mile times yet? And, out of curiosity, is he set up for road race or straight line?



Yeah, my WRX is my daily driver, so reliability is a big issue for me. That, and the stock tranny will only deal with so much (I really envy your friend's 6-speed). Shorter, stronger gears are on my to-do list (probably this summer), but I don't think I'll be able to justify the $$$ for the STi 6-speed. Hmmm. I gotta go buy a (winning) lottery ticket . . .



Tort
 
Are you considering the 40t turbo?





With the mod list you have, I would hope for high 2's. Good luck and take a video :).
 
the last time he went to the track he got a 12.1, but that was with the 20g and stock engine. He hasn't gone to moroso since he changed the turbo and the block. His suspension is stock except for some tein springs and needless to say it's hard to get the car to go forward correctly with his power on a relatively stock suspension setup. He wants to get into road racing at moroso, sebring, etc but personally i think his turbo is too laggy for that. It isnt fully spooled until almost 4k, but he won't hear any of it from me. he also can drive worth anything. There's a section of winding roads to get to my house and I've outpaced him in my tC. His next rounds of upgrades are going to be coilovers, sways, strut bars, and underbody bracing. Then a roll cage. He says after that he'll be done, but i doubt that, especially considering i showed him the godspeed turbo kits.
 
Neothin said:
Tort, how did the dyno go?
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A little disappointing, to be honest . . . the baseline run showed some lean spots, and the AFR was all over the place (not a very smooth curve). The tuner ended up spending time making the map safer rather than trying to gain more power. As this was part of a club "dyno day", I was only able to get about an hour of tuning time.



I've posted the graph of the final run below. The hp numbers are about the same as before the tune, but the AFR line looks a lot more reasonable now. 243 hp, 215 ft-lb:



dynosheet.jpg




The numbers are pretty much in line with what Cobb says the map should make (adjusting for the difference between Mustang and Dynojet dynos), so at least there doesn't appear to be anything seriously wrong. Assuming a 25% drivetrain loss, the numbers translate to a little more than 300 hp at the crank.



I've got a few pictures and a short vid that I'll post up when I get the camera back from my gf. The shop owns a Skyline GTR that they had been tuning the night before . . . it made 1028 hp. I have a few pictures of the Skyline's engine bay (and a severe case of turbo-envy).



Tort
 
Tort: I think the safer, smoother curve speaks higher volumes than just a high HP/TQ #. I'm sure the car feels much better now.





(anxiously waiting for the pics/vid)
 
I agree, smoothness is a lot better than big #s. Especially if it's your daily driver.



Friend of mine use to have a 91 Mitsu GSX with all the HKS options available at that time and a few other toys. It was a really fun car until we blew a turbo. That was a sad night on the strip.
 
sheesh, you gain 80 ft/lbs of torque from 2500-3200, can you say spool up? Any reason for it going rich in the upper rpm's or was it just because you didn't have the time for a proper tune? At least you gain horsepower all the way to redline and your torque doesn't drop off as the rpm's increase like my old car did. With it being rich at the end, I'm sure your going to be able to pull out a good bit more power from the tuning once its done. Post up when you get your real tuning done.
 
Neothin,



I believe the baseline run showed it running too lean up top, and the A/F line was very irregular throughout (jagged, lots of spikes and dips). The tuner spent most of the time making the A/F curve smoother/safer. Had there been more time, he probably would have pulled some fuel back out up top.



There's talk of a two-day dyno weekend for the Omaha Subaru club early next year so we'll have more time for tuning. Also, there's another shop in KC that is a licensed Cobb tuner. Unfortunately, they have no dyno, and do mostly street tuning. The two shops are on good terms, though, so I may see if I can get the tuner from the Cobb shop to come over and tune my car on Dieman's dyno, maybe do a little street tuning, too.



All-in-all, it's pretty decent. The car is making somewhere between 80 and 100 hp over stock with only bolt-ons.



Tort



"Turbos make torque, and torque makes fun." -- Corky Bell
 
Tort said:
All-in-all, it's pretty decent. The car is making somewhere between 80 and 100 hp over stock with only bolt-ons.
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and THAT makes it all worth it. What kinda $$ have you thrown at the car to get to this point?
 
Let's see . . . The exhaust bits were around $1k (that could have been cheaper, but I bought exhaust a little bit at a time instead of a complete 3" turbo-back at once) Turbo and injectors and fuel pump (forgot the pump in the original mod list) were around $1k, tuning package around $700 total (AccessPort, then upgraded to StreetTuner). Add in a few other little things, and it's probably around $3000 in power mods.



It's a far cry from the "old" days (early '90s) in my first generation DSM. A few ghetto hacks, an open exhaust, and a bleeder valve got you close to 12's in the 1/4 (although you'd be needing a new clutch shortly after the cheap mods). OBD-I was so much easier (cheaper!) to fiddle with. Any more it seems like the OBD-II ECUs do their very best to keep you from making more power.



Still, I'd rather hack my car with a laptop than revert the old days of re-jetting carbs.



Tort



(I'll try to get the few pictures and the video I have posted in the next day or two.)
 
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