I want my car to make 230-250 at the wheels. I need my car to be reliable. Is this possible? If so, how? I want the best bang for my buck, but i will not sacrifice reliability for cheap parts. Go...
Last I dyno'd, I put down about 240 hp and 260 tq. This is on an 05 WRX, with stock turbo, turboback exhaust and a tune.
I'm about to be putting down twice your numbers on what should be a reliable build (25k miles a year dd). It can be done...btw, I'll have my stock turbo, injectors and topmount for sale soon, along with my uppipe and downpipe. My current setup is around 300/300 at the wheels, give or take (stage 2 sti). Granted, I also have a better drivetrain, but it's easily possible to be powerful and reliable.
My 03' bugeye put down 232whp/236tq with just a TBE & intake running a AP stg. 2 map... Pretty tried and true upgrade. Don't see how this would be hurt reliability or stress your car at all. Not sure why people are listing turbo upgrades etc... this would be if you wanted close to STI stg.2 power.. 300whp ish...
As long as you have: 1) Cat-less UP (I suggest the TXS Flex for $195) 2) DP (can be almost any DP on the market for a stock wrx turbo) 3) Axle-back exahust (even just an STi take-off for $100) 4) Drop-in air filter (K&N for $50 or so) 5) Silicone Y-pipe for under intercooler you should be able to make 230-245 whp and 245-260wft-lbs and it should last a long time. Siegel
Do what Scott says. Stock turbo on a buddy's bugeye netted 260 hp with stock TMIC when Doug tuned it. All it had was a filter, ERZ uppipe, and Perrin downpipe mated to a Maddad Whisper exhaust. And please don't ask if it's straining your motor.....my 350 AWHP bone stock 2.0L has been driven harder than most on this board and is currently sitting at 132K miles.
And i thought i had the most miles on the car. What i wanted to say has already been posted. No need for turbo upgrade for 230-250hp.
There is nothing negative to worry about. Think about what you will be doing. You are tuning so it will run more efficiently with the supporting mods and at the same time letting the car breath easier. This was my OpenECU stage 2 S.S. tune. Stock turbo, STi TMIC, 3"TB, catless UP, K&N drop in.
Some other reliability mods that havent been mentioned. Run good quality oil and coolant all the time. Do your maintenance regularly. Decent intercooler. Drive your car with common sense. Dont slam gears, warm it up and cool it down properly, etc. You can make the power you want on a TD04, if you want more power later on with identical spool/ powerband characteristics look into the VF24, VF28, or VF29 turbos. They're the smallest of the IHI turbos and dont net much gain over the stocker, maybe 30whp throughout the midrange, but if you can find one for the right price they're good options.
OK, I am thinking about what SS said, and once I do that, how will I pass an emissions test? I am assuming the UP and DP SS is talking about are both catless...
SS got 230hp and 250tq out of my simple stage 2 setup with 2 cats!! Up-Pipe, Downpipe, exhaust, AP and Pro-tune.
I am catless and didn't have any trouble passing emissions. The tune will hide any CEL, so the only thing you should have to worry about would be a visual inspection. The place I went to never did any visual inspection, just plugged up to the OBD II port and checked for CELs and then sent me on my way.
he asks a valid question, does stage 2 put a lot of stress on your engine? i know its under Cobb warranty but i haven't looked into what that covers, i doubt they buy you a new engine
I followed all of these things. I changed my oil religiously and maintained my engine and driveline to the strictest of standards. ALWAYS used 93 octane, never beat on it in the first 20 mins after I started it, never really even romped on it much at all. I was a couple hundred miles late the first time I did my trans fluid but thats it. I was running a catless TBE, a drop in filter, and a OTS Cobb AP Stage 2 map for about 30k. When I traded in my car it was smoking. I didn't know this, and I don't think it was oil because it wasn't really going through any significant amount. But it was definitely burning something that it shouldn't have been. I only realized such when it was pulled around back for inspection after I had closed the deal and saw that it was in fact puffing. it was like 70 degrees outside. It wasn't condensation. Bear in mind that when you put any additional stress on your motor, parts WILL fail prematurely. Thats not to say I haven't seen lots of cars go a long time modified with no problems, but on a DD its a risk I will never take again. What BC2300UGA said is absolutely true: Invest in quality parts or your shit will be more likely to be fucked up later.
another good rule of thumb to follow is this: if you can't afford to fix, don't play with it. If you don't have the money to fix a motor should it break, why in the world would you even think about putting more power through it? If you can't afford to fix your tranny should you lose second, why would you power shift gears? It always amused me when people were selling every little thing they have to add an extra 10whp on a car. Theoretically you should have backup plans for everything in life, why would this be any different?
x2 I can go ahead and take my car to TS and have them build my car to 500hp, but whats the point when i will be broke at the end hnoes:
so does stage 2 stress the engine? its a serious concern for me, because im considering buying a cobb ap v1 and wouldnt be able to afford a new engine should the ap mess it up. only 19 years old and dont have a job right now
Tried to do all caps on purpose.....darn fix... If you get a topspeed protune your engine will be running more efficient than stock. It'll be better. Anything under 300hp will be just fine but as with anything nothing is guaranteed to not break.
Any time you up the hp of an engine you are of course going to stress the engine and drivetrain more. But there are many many people who have had their car last for a long time with a good tune on it. Coolrex is one example. My car is another. I am sitting at closing in on 140k. The only thing I have had to replace that could be attributed to the tune was the turbo. Everything else was routine maintenance. But then turbo will go eventually anyways. All things wear out in time.