The wagon was at stage 2 almost immediately after I bought it in August. I had a few take-off parts from my wrecked 06 sedan to use for that. Taking off the original 100k downpipe and heat shields really sucked. My car was a texas car (even though I bought it in North Carolina) with very similar mileage to the one I had wrecked. One thing I have to say is that Georgia cars are worth a small premium over most other states. Under the hood, the wagon looks more aged than the sedan that lived here all its life... especially the exhaust. Rusted bolts and nuts suck! With TGVs deleted by the previous owner, I had to abandon the old AP version 1 and got a Tactrix cable and downloaded the open source software.. After about a week of ciferin', I had a downpipe only stage 2, and upgraded the top mount intercooler with a bbq sized one. I kept the stock cat-back exhaust for now, so I can enjoy the silence for a bit. My downpipe and TMIC stage 2 was fun, or at least back up to par with the original sedan. I had set it up for ~18psi through the midrange and tapered off to whatever the little TD04 is good for above 5k rpm with knock free logs. The latest happening is that I was the first to stumble on a VF39 for a super price right here on the WRX Atlanta forums! I was probably days away from picking up a 16gxtr and dealing with the credit card bill. So I picked up VF39 along with some gaskets, etc. last week and began the swap last night. The right time to work on things when you have kids is never on the weekends... I had one rounded off nut to deal with (The one holding the turbo to the downpipe under the center section). My kid was home sick today, so I took advantage and used a hammer, cold chisel and a 13mm socket hammered onto the once 14mm nut this morning to finally remove it. I wrapped the dp with some header wrap onto the cat and left the divorced wg tube alone. I've gotta finish reinstalling the dp and TMIC, but should be done later tonight... or tomorrow (nice having two cars for occasions such as this to have to option not to finish it). Here's the proof! Left my heat shield off to make sure there are no leaks. Nice clamps, but they were a pain in the ass if you have to move them.
I'll have a few pics when I finally sign up for a host somewhere. Where do you guys suggest? With the stock cat-back exhaust, it won't sound like anything is done to the wagon at all. The intercooler does amplify noises that the old TD04 generated. We'll see if the VF is any different. For now, it'll be a "sleeper" hahah. I got my first WRX because it had 4 doors and I could fit two kiddy seats in it (good excuse, eh?)... I just finished tightening all of the downpipe bolts and nuts and then I had to come upstairs to hang with my 2 yr old daughter for a bit, since she's teething. Maybe I'll get done tonight... maybe tomorrow.
If you get it done in time you should try to make it to the next dinner meet. Mexicans....mmmm, tasty.
www.photobucket.com is a pretty good host. As long as you don't post your pictures to a heavy traffic site, your bandwith will be a-okay.
Just finished driving it around the block. No leaks, no tune. MAF cars are pretty forgivable... fuel should be fine and timing is definitely underwhelming from the TD04. I did have the smoke pouring out of the scoop/engine bay. Would've been scary if I didn't spray the hell out of the turbo/up pipe area with Liquid Wrench and WD-40 when I had that frickin' nut round off on me. Now, I just have to try and get to sleep (after being all wound up putting the car back together) so I can get up and go to work in the morning. 5:00 won't come soon enough tomorrow evening.
I've been driving around with the stage2 open source tune that I had cobbled together with only one instance of timing being pulled out... the logs hadn't changed all week. Looking at the stage 3, VF39 tunes (cobb and open source), my timing setup was more like an 87 octane tune. So, I broke out the g-tech to see what it would do as-is for 0-60. I launched it at 4000-4500 rpm and shifted at 6k. The g-tech showed that it took 4.57 seconds!! The best I ever got with the sedan was 4.9 seconds on the same stretch of road, in the same direction... with an even more aggressive launch. Mid 4 second 0-60 with only a downpipe salvaged from my wrecked car, a $140 VF-39 on a super conservative tune with a $175 tactrix cable... in a wagon! I definitely have to get it to the dyno and out to Commerce before the season ends. .
I don't claim that the trans is bullet-proof, but avoiding the shock from sidestepping the clutch or flat-shifting goes a long way towards keeping them together. Riding the clutch out a bit to get it moving first. The stock shocks and springs make it much easier to feel what the car is doing as it pitches up a before I fully release the clutch. The front tire(s) do spin a bit, but no wheel-hop from the rears at all. It's easier to launch smoothly with my wagon than my old sedan, which had the pink springs on it. It's not something I do every day, but it's something I'm obligated to do once in a while in order to feel the traction of awd doing its thing.
snatched the V39 out from under me my TDO4 is smoking like a freight train. where'd you get the TMIC? What brand is it? Joe Joe
Turbo was the deal of the year for me . I was really close to beating down my credit card with a 16g-xtr and then saw this one. I'm very happy with it, so far. . TMIC is from CX-racing off of Ebay. it was ~ $175 shipped with a knockoff-HKS blow off valve. I'm not running speed density, so I was saving the BOV for another project. Without the BOV, they were about $150 shipped. The next time I get an itch to work on the car, the TGVs will be properly removed (die grinder and welding) and a hard turbo inlet will be set in place under the intake.
the TGV motors and such were already removed, and I have the hard inlet... and it'll be an excuse to use my TIG . I'm not expecting anymore power, it just bugs me that any trace of them is still there. .
I love Wagons, yours looks pretty awesome. Here's a photo of mine taken at AMP: http://www.facebook.com//#!/photo.p...6829089.125410.100000572018658&type=1&theater VF 48 swap, Clark Turner tune, lots of suspension, lots of brake, blah, blah, blah. Having a Wagon is especially fun on track. I run with instructors/advanced groups, and the Wagon gets very little attention in the morning of an event, but quite a bit during the day after the runs. Len
Thanks for the compliment. Yours looks like a lot of fun! Mine is just a nice, quiet, soft riding street car with a VF-39. The pitching and rolling when accelerating, braking, turning make it feel even faster/sketchier than it actually is. . I just threw a Prodrive EBCS on it last night and logged a 15psi target. The boost hits harder, but maybe that's the spike. After the initial spike, it holds pretty tightly to the target. Looks like that's it for the injectors. They are hitting ~85% duty cycle by 6k... and I'm happy with it for now.
Looks good. The CT tune ran some really good, clean looking graphs, but it has been awhile since I ran any or looked at the old stuff. Running, what has been a totally safe tune for a few years now, peaking at 22 psi. The 5-speed tranny issue - well, I found out about the "glass" tranny by breaking third gear in the Wagon. Couldn't afford, didn't feel comfortable with what you get from some of the 6 speed, ready to swap, used kits, so I bought a closer-ratio, hardened 5 speed gearset. Many track days, autocrsoss events, and daily driving - so good so far. I am careful with the shifting - no hard launches, and "soft hands" technique when rowing through the gears. Hope you get as much ejoyment out of Wagon ownership as I have. There is just something about a Wagon that can run. Len
What's AFR target? Stock intake and injectors means you don't have to worry about datalogging a wideband, but its definitely a good idea.. 15psi is weak sauce. I set my vf39 cars up for a minimum of 19.5psi (ambient temp makes a big difference but sometimes, some cars like less boost) and let it taper to ~14.5psi on a 2.5 car. Timing varries a bit depending on the car/customer, but I'm usually conservative with it. I find more reliable power from a leaner AFR especially when EGT's stay low.... What's AVCS look like?
AFR target is around 10.8 I'll post the AVCS table later tonight. On boost, IIRC, its 30 degrees until 3500-4000 rpm and tapers to zero by 5000. I backed off the boost a bit so I didn't wander out into unkown territory when I put the 3 port bcs on. I have since bumped the timing1 degree above 1.0g/rpm and 3500 rpm. Any knock correction I get is generally on spool up at or below 3000 rpm. My problem right now is that I'm trying to play with the boost control, but it doesn't want to change the target when I am logging it. Not sure why it's not responding... unless I keep accidentally reflashing the same ROM, LOL.
Went to commerce on Friday night and ran it a few times. Ran mid-low 14s @ 96mph. Slower than expected, but it's still in one piece . My buddy brought his 2006 E55 and it ran 12.1 @ 117-118 mph. Stoopid nice, fast car .
Did the Hooked on Driving at Road Atlanta back in February. I used up what was left of my brakes that day... so I've been pretty careful until I got the time to bring it up to Allpro. I had picked up some cryo treated front rotors from a member on here. Allpro needed an O.E. so we bartered for some stainless brake lines, and I had them grab a set of stoptech pads and DOT4 fluid. I took the afternoon off and brought it up to them and the brakes feel AWESOME!!. No more sponge pedal!!
Steve... THANK YOU!! for helping me out with tuning the car. It ran like a top at RA with the VF39/downpipe/stock cat-back. The only problem I had at the track day was bouncing off of the limiter coming out of turn 12 in 3rd gear. The pucker factor was louder than the exhaust, lol.
Made the best of being home on Wednesday... and went for a Home Depot run for salt and a shovel. This is in the slanted parking lot above the Oasis. [youtube]8aviNDoU5y4[/youtube] Accidentally posted the above in the new member thread.... been a while. After the great storm... I finally decided to change the cabin filter. Wasn't bad at all. 15-20 minute job and I only had a couple of screws left over... LOL.
I need to get a quote on having some Daycare Bus damage to the rear bumper. Anybody near spaghetti junction to recommend?
It's all blue, with a new tail light! While it was at the body shop getting the new bumper skin, I had them respray the hood scoop, which was oxidizing a bit more than I could handle and replace the windshield. I still like my WRX a lot .
Pretty sweet. An in-law is trying to see if I want his 05 WRX wagon, it's a Kali car but has spent a few years in the rust-belt. I can't stand rust-belt cars anymore, I'll never own one unless it's a pampered C2 Corvette or something. We'll see. What kind of laptimes at Road ATL ?? Was it the full course?
I'm partial to the 2.5L because, to me, it's just a more responsive motor when you're driving in the lazy rpm range. Lap times... probably 2:10-2:20. Nothing crazy fast. It's pretty hard to string a good lap together when you're scared shitless on a good number of the turns. LOL. I was also babying the brakes... which lasted all day until the chicane before turn 12 on my last lap of the day. That's when the whoa pedal went to the floor... LOL.
Yeah I was only considering the 2.0 because the car might be cheap and I know it's been taken care of, albeit it's in the 100K+ range now but I think he just did the t-belt. I'm not selling anything, just sharing that one is trying to be sold to me (a WRX wagon). I love wagons but probably need the size of an Outback anyways. The 2.5 is great but, after seeing what a piston ringland failure can do (read: destroy everything) I'm skeptical about buying another EJ255/EJ257 car again. Road Atlanta is fun. I've never been on the new turn 12 course though. Best time on the bike was in the 1:36-37 range.
Apparently, 2006 was the last year with a sufficient ring gap to reliably turn up the boost. This is also the first year for the 2.5L in the WRX. After that, the ring gaps were tightened for emissions purposes. My car has ~145,000 miles on it right now. 20,000 miles with the VF39 on board.
I guess I'm still happy. It hasn't even been a week, though. Since it was a new bumper skin and a removable hood scoop getting the paint, there wasn't any blending or body work involved. They were fast and polite. The place happens to be across the street from where I work, as well. Top Notch Collision in Lawrenceville is the place.
I need to replace my radiator!! Tonight, I did a 2nd and 3rd gear pull right before turning onto my road. After I got onto my residential road, I noticed a lot of steam exiting from under the hood. That's when I noticed the temp gauge was pegged. The engine didn't miss a beat, but I assume the check engine light is for the high temp. It looks like the plastic end tanks finally let go after 152,000 miles. Is there a drop in, 2-core radiator that reuses the factor shroud and fans, etc?
hope you didn't cook your motor and yes there are plenty of OEM fit performance replacements, KoyoRad and Mishimoto are the common goto
Don't think I cooked my motor. It happened just after the pull, not during. The leak was on the backside, upper tank and the fans blew the coolant all over the front of the motor when then the seal let go, hence the big puff of steam. That was right before the downhill section of my road, when I switched the motor off and coasted most of the way to the house. If I did cook it, then that would really suck. I'll be rollin' in my old 5.0 for the next couple of days until I get a new radiator to throw in. Looking at the aluminum end tank equipped Mishimoto MMRAD-WRX-01. The only problem is I'm outta town for Thanksgiving on Wednesday.
Radiator swapped out and all is good once again. It gave me a good excuse to clean up some of the oily dirt buildup in the areas I normally cannot reach. After seeing what collects on top of the lower cover from oil changes, I think it'll be coming out for every oil change.
Update: Installed prodrive axle back and it doesn't seem as loud as when I had it on my 06 sedan. Pretty happy to have the burble again. I finally did the urethane shifter support bushings and the shifter ended up feeling worse than before... mainly going into second gear. It turns out that the trunion bushings were wiped out from 156,000 miles of shifting. I took it to All Pro on my 1/2 snow day (since they have no excuse not to close on a snow day) and they popped in the TIC trunion bushings for me. An hour later the and the shifter feels better than it ever has. It's kind of funny how much that little lever can affect the driving enjoyment of the car. Thanks All Pro!! Struts and springs will be next on the list.