Cobb Stage 2 advice

Hi,
I want some honest opinions about the following.

I am considering going cobb stage 2 on my '04 wrx wagon. It is completely stock with ~80,000 miles. It is my wife and I's only vehicle and so is our daily driver. We drive a lot of highway miles and want it to last awhile.

So I'm wondering what your opinions are about going stage 2. I am interested in just getting a better driving experience and would drive it still very conservatively. Any advice/experience with the following would be appreciated.

1. is reliability going to be an issue? We really need the vehicle to get another 100,000 miles on it and I am pretty anal about getting everything taken care of (oil changes, routine maintenance, check-ups, getting things fixed,...)

2. Is stage 2 worth the money for a vehicle with this amount of miles?

3. What about long term maintenance? It doesn't affect any of the routine maintenance does it?

4. Cobb vs. Perrin?

Any other advice would be great.
Thanks,
Kris

 

Can't go wrong with either cobb or perrin parts. Id do it as you're actually optimizing the air and the fuel that you already have anyways. Just do it

 

I wouldnt mess with my only mode of transportation

 

^^ I would agree with that if he was going to go nutty(larger turbo etc.)... but my bugeye was a lot smoother and got better gas mileage when I went stage 2. If he wanted to be extra carefull he could get it protuned to make sure everything looks right. I know that adding power stresses car and could affect reliability long term.. but, 90% of us on here are running stg. 2 or protuned with lots of miles with no issues...

 

I say go for it!!! But you need to get it protuned by Scott up at TopSpeed. It'll have more power, but it'll be safer and smoother than it is now.

 

Thanks,
I agree I may have to wait until I we get another vehicle.

But...

I have heard about people just getting a staged power pack, like stage 2 from cobb that comes with the downpipe, turbo exhaust and the accessport, then just using the stage 2 map. What would a protune do in addition to this? It seems like the stage 2 map from cobb is pretty good and has been proven to be so over and over again. Also how much would a protune cost?

 

A protune from topspeed is a few hundred more but scott or doug would be seriously optimizing the parts that you bolted on. The ots maps are very generic and really can be improved on

 

The ots maps can be seriously flawed. Hell the oem map can be pretty far off. Each car will and does act differently. I am not going to say that their ots map is bad in all cases, but I CAN say that it can be pretty far off the mark some times and does leave a lot of room for improvement. If you are looking for safety and reliability, a protune will be safer than an ots map in most cases due to the fact that it is customized to your particular vehicle. Even two vehicles straight from the factory can be quite different. Now take two vehicles from the factory with two sets of aftermarket parts and those differences can be exaggerated even more.

 

^^^ That. When I went in for my Protune with Scott, he said my OTS map was making great power, but not safely at all.. levels were all over the place. Protune added a few ponies/tq and smoothed it out big time.

 

Let me ask you this...while I am all for more power, could you and your wife not come up with a better way to spend anywhere from $1000-$2000? That could almost be a decent down payment or buy you guys a decent DD...Jake's L comes to mind. I'm just saying, if you are worried now and this is your only mode of transport for 2 people; you will always be thinking...way down deep in the back of your head, about your car.

Either way...buy quality parts and get a Protune from one of the two very capable tuners at TopSpeed and you will be happy and worry free.

FWIW, My 04 wagon just went up for upgrades at 86,xxx miles. Safely tuned for DDing and reliability. I have gained 60 miles per tank with more power...No worries!

 

^^^ Exactly. Here's an example of OTS Cobb Stage 2 map vs. a Protuned car. Added a lot of power and smoothed out everything. Highly worth the extra $!!!

 

I have experienced exactly what he is talking about. Messing with your daily, especially the one that transports both of you, is probably not the best idea, even with quality parts.

If you're going to do it, make absolutely sure you do it right, though.

 

Thanks guys,
yeah, we had already decided right after I posted that we have to wait until we at least get a second vehicle.

It does sound like a protune is definitely the way to go though.

Thanks for all of the input.

 

No worries man. I really think you would be fine going stage 2, but honestly, any time you start taking a car away from stock form things can come up. As others have stated, much better to get a second car that is a bit of a beater but cheap to drive and insure so that if anything DOES go wrong you have a back up.

 

My lady's got a '97 Camry she's looking to part with. It's not in the best shape, but it runs.

Actually, scratch that. Spend it on someone else's Camry. This thing's beat to shit.

 

Lol, least he is honest!

 

i went stage 2 on my LGT...I've had no reliability issues and the car runs great, this of course with a tune from scott! I do about 3k a month and all is well! I'm at 61k now. I have Cobb TBE and have no regrets buying it! here is my journal/along with dyno pic! Clicky

 

I am currently at 135ish. 90k of that at stage 2. I tuned it myself of course. No issues either and I have pushed the car pretty hard. But things do happen. Better to have a back up plan

 

Stage 2 cars are great on reliability and power. You can choose to go the cobb route or the perrin.

We offer our own stage 2 package at a significant savings over those 2. It gives the same power results.

If you want to change the map on the fly you should get the cobb unit and have it protuned by me.

If you dont want to change the maps we can just reflash your ecu and save you a bunch of money.

Give us a call if you want to discuss your options and the prices. 770-319-9605

 

What are the mods on your engine? I am assuming this is a 2.5 liter.

 

07 Forester = 2.5L
Not sure of mods though.