Hello there, I'm obviously new here and this is my first Subaru... http://wrxatlanta.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26439 yup, I bought the beast... now, somewhere between Eddie's awesome job building it and the car ending in my hands, something got lost in translation and I'm having a really hard time getting the car back to its original awesomeness... Here is the story, and hopefully someone here can point me in the right direction... I bought the car as a fully built car, 650hp, bulletproof blahblahblah...ready to be driven anywhere, as hard as I wanted etc etc etc... paid for it and drove it home... noticed that it was smoking pretty bad, but who knows... checked the oil, was pretty black and low, did an oil change with Pentosin 5w-40 fully synthetic and the oil turned black within 5 minutes of idling... the car was pretty fast but definitely didn't have 650hp...and it was now a confirmed smoke factory...it used a quart of oil in 15 minutes of driving... The ginourmous turbo is pretty damn blown on it (and it was supposedly brand new) also, no idle, after it would stall, it took forever to re start etc... loud as hell, no mufflers and an open dump from the turbo... I'm a big fan of sleepers and live in a really cop heavy area, so, some major back to stock look makeover was needed...here is what I've done so far: sold the enkei rpf1s that came with it and replaced with 2010 WRX gunmetal wheels with brand new tires as well as longer studs and spacers to clear the STI Brembo brakes. removed the bike racks and roof cross bars. raised the coilovers as high as they would go, about one to two inches lower than stock which looks nice but it doesn't raise any suspicion of whats under the hood... replumbed the open dump back to the exhaust and added 3 3" mufflers under the car and installed stock looking exhaust tips...the exhaust tips that were on the car looked like straight out of the space shuttle... moved the apexi boost controller from blocking the cluster into the cubby where the radio used to be and installed inline reducers into the stock radio to be able to use it with the awesome speakers, amps and sub that came with the car... replaced the badgeless black grille with a modified to fit outback wagon OEM grille...(I didn't like the look of the stock Legacy grille). and for last, replaced the turbo with a smaller one, because the 6262 took forever to spool... now this is where I'm having problems: I want to replace the injectors with smaller units, 2200cc is just too much, 1000ccs would be ideal... I need to tune the car for the more restricted exhaust, the smaller turbo and the loss of the open dump...apparently the car was tuned with a Cobb AP tuner that didn't come with the car... how can I tuned it now? I've heard the ECU becomes locked when tuned with the AP... sorry for the mile long first post...
aaaand a little bit of background on me... I'm a VW guy since forever, own a VW shop and I'm a very known and reputable tuner within the VW community... I can do all the stuff that this car have on on VWs, but I'm pretty lost with this new car...everything is different, all the tools and tuning software are completely different... so, I know what I need to do, just don't have a clue of how to do it on a Subaru...and I'm frustrated to the point I'm considering retrofitting VW sensors and ECU into this car so at least I know how to tune it...
things that I still want to do to the car: replace the short shifter with a stock STI shifter. remove the gauges on the pillar. put the covers where the fog lights used to be and put some sort of grille to hide the FMIC. put a more civilized clutch. install a normal boost gauge.
just curious... And not trying to be a jerk... But why did you buy such a beast just to return to stock?
Face-no. Awesome job man, take some pictures. Will be a subtle sleeper for sure. What turbo did you end up going with? As far as the Cobb and tuning, it should have come with the Cobb accessport, if it didnt its time to call cobb directly.
When I left the car the AP was in it. I would have told you everything about the car if I was involved with the sale. Good Luck!
You're not a jerk, you just not paying attention lol... This car is not going anywhere near stock, I'm just trying to make it more fun to drive in normal conditions and make it waaaay more discreet...
I know man, I wish I had talked to you before buying the car, but oh well... You still can help me find the missing link between your awesome car and what actually end up in my hands... I'll PM you my number...
I end up going with the same Precision Turbo 6262, but with the smallest compressor available, to try and get a much lower spool rpm... I don't mind ending up with a 400hp car instead of the 580whp that the car had with race gas...but I need something more driveable on the streets... how do you post pictures here? do you have to have a photobucket account or something like that?
THAT car will never run right without the roof rack, buy a bike for it and she'll run better good luck
I'm loving this site, I'm finding lots of answers about the mysteries of this car... There is a light at the end of the tunnel!!!
I like this wagon and I dig your modifications thus far. Have you gotten to run a compression test on it yet? Hopefully the oil usage was due to a bad turbo and nothing else. Just out of curiosity, and you don't have to answer this, but I am wondering... Did you buy this from the owner of a performance shop up in Marietta?
He actually bought it from me but I really wasnt involved with the sale other than signing the title over.
I'd love to check out this car if you have the time near kennesaw/marietta/ smyrna sometime. Fellow lgt pushing big #'s! Integroid did hella work into this car!
I DO NOT COMPUTE ... LoL I have seen this only car only once in the past when it was owned by Integroid ... Lovely build ... Hope it finds a good home if you sell it.
I'm thinking about bringing it back to stock-ish and part it out with stock parts plus cash...anyone interested in any parts from it? Brand new 6262 precision turbo with less than 200 miles on it, plus all the stuff from Integroid's original build thread...
copied and pasted from original build thread: Ported/Polished Fully Worked AVCS Heads Supertech SS +1MM Intake Valves Supertech Inconel +1MM Exhaust Vavles BC Valve Springs BC Ti Retainers BC 272 AVCS Cams EJ255 Shortblock Eagle Rods Mahle 100MM Pistons ACL Race Bearings ARP Studs 11MM Oil Pump Oil Passage Mods Gates Racing Timing Belt JDM TGV Housings Bosch 1000CC Injectors TurboXS Fuel Rails TSPmotorsports EL Header Ball Racing Rotated Kit Precision 6262 V-band turbo Greddy SPII Exhaust Tial BOV Cobb APv2 Custom 3.5 Inlet and MAF housing Fuel Labs FPR EBAY FMIC (and proud of it!) BC Racing X-Overs (F-8K, R-10k) Whiteline F&R Sway Bars Perrin End Links Perrin PSRS STI Brembo Calipers Stoptech STI Slotted Front Rotors DBA 4000 Rear Rotors Hawk HP+ F&R Pads SS Brake Lines ACT 6Puck Sprung Clutch ACT Streetlite FW Rota Tarmac 2 18X8 235/40/18 Bridgestone RE01r Alpine Head Unit in cubby JL 300/2 JL 300/4 JL 10W3 Custom Stealth Enclosure DLS UP6i front speakers STi Shift Knob Apexi AVCR
Trade for a super steetable 2003 WRX bugeye wagon? :rofl: Very cool car, man. Wish I could take it off your hands.
Just saw some pics of it, not what I'm looking for... I want something stock looking, like my car, or just sell most of the mods on it and keep it...
Yup, unfortunately...and continued getting screwed after the sale with other cars there too...bad stuff from top to bottom... the sad part is that they used to be great, don't know when was the turning point...
I hate to hear that. I used to hear great things about the "performance shop in Marietta" too, so back when I still had a WRX wagon I bought a 6 speed from them and had them do the install so I would get a warranty. That is, to this day, one of the worst car related decisions I've ever made. That experience turned out to be a shit show from the start, and I lost my ass trying to get it sorted out. Got my money back for the trans after threatening to go to court, but still lost plenty on labor and replacing other parts that were supposedly causing the issue although it was the "warrantied" trans causing the problem the whole time. I finally wised up, cut my losses, and sorted the matter out elsewhere. Only took me over a YEAR to get my car back in order, and TWO years to get reimbursed. I won't say any more, as I've tried to keep my mouth shut about the deal to avoid drama and give the shop the benefit of a doubt. In the world of tuning, dealing with a bad shop is like getting stuck at a gambling table. You keep throwing out money in hopes that you'll eventually break even, but the reality is that you'll just get deeper and deeper in the hole. You've eventually got to walk away before the hole just gets too deep to ever climb out of.
Is this 'shop' still in business? Not trying to start drama but it would be nice to know of the shop in case another member is looking for a place to do the work. However if I owned a Subaru and didn't want to do the work myself no one else would touch it other than Allpro!