Con.Harr91

Got my Amazon VAG COM cable in the mail today, was eager to try it out and check up on my fuel trims. Been banging my head against the wall for hours, at this point that may be due in part to sleep deprivation. I can get the cable to show up in the device manager and have installed latest FTDI driver, I can't get the cable to connect in Learning View or RomRaider. All the definitions are updated in RR. I've backed the baud rate down to 4800. I've also tried the Openport 1.3 and 2.0 drivers that come with EcuFlash, no luck. At this point I'm thinking that it may be my laptop...

Are there any other RBP wagons from Madison on here? People keep telling me that they see my car, but its never me...

I'll check the clearance today, thanks. Just ordered a Forge BPV and one of the VAGCOM cables off Amazon, shot a PM to Infamous for an etune as well. Gonna try and not have any WOT fun til I hear back from him.

Oh yeah, the only "defect" I could find on the thing was a small nick on the edge of the BPV mating surface. Its on the very edge and BPV doesn't even touch it.

Been waiting for my new intercooler to show up for a week now, when I checked the tracking number it said it would be delivered today. I was out and about running errands but stopped by the house to see if there was a package. UPS comes along right after I pull into the driveway, I hop out and wait for him. He drives right past to about two houses down, BUMMER! I start to get back in my car to continue running errands and I hear him yell "Wait! Wait! I got your car parts man! Don't leave!" Turns out he has a 2011 WRX, recognized the logo on the box and knew it must have been for my car. We shot the shit for a little bit then he went on his way. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3689/9466305313_6607cd12d4_b.jpg My stock intercooler has been in need of replacement since I got the car, but since it wasn't leaking (at first) I had been postponing spending the money on an upgrade. Well finally it started leaking when the plastic hotside endtank began separating from the core so I've been limping it around and staying out of boost for a few weeks now (24.3 MPGs FTW!). I checked out what was available for aftermarket top mount intercoolers as I didn't really want to deal with switching to a front mount, and I don't plan on doing anything real crazy with the car down the road (just a 20G turbo, E85, and 1000cc injectors). There are some real nice top mounts available from Spearco and Process West, but after reading some reviews they seemed to overkill for my needs, as well as the cost would be comparable to a quality front mount with less of the performance. I was pretty indecisive about either the Perrin or the AVO intercoolers, as both had positive reviews, and I was initially scared away from the Perrin as some had complained of fitment issues, contact with the clutch master cylinder reservoir, and the vibrations from these contact issues creating false knock with the ECU. Well I stumbled onto a good deal on a BNIB Perrin on eBay that was being sold from an outlet that was dubbed as "garage sale quality" by Perrin. Apparently it was an item that had a cosmetic defect that didn't pass their normal quality control for "new" items but it still functioned perfectly. I did some more research and found the core dimensions for the AVO and Perrin as compared to stock. The AVO unit is 150.25% larger than stock, while the Perrin is 186.81% larger. I decided to bite the bullet on the Perrin as it was $70 less than the best quote I'd gotten, and $15 less than the AVO. So I quickly yanked out the junk stocker and put in the Perrin today. With the stock unit, both end tanks would be hot to the touch after a spirited drive, with the Perrin the "hot side" is only slightly warm and the cold side feels like ambient. http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5476/9469085826_3c44dcfe2c_b.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7401/9466306495_4f74d92d19_b.jpg I had no issues installing the new intercooler, everything fit great and there were no fitment issues at all. Next up is a Forge bypass valve as my stock unit is at the limit. I really need to get a new tune at this point...

Most of those guys are on the West coast, or have known each other for years. But there are a few of us elsewhere, Wes and I are the only midwest contributors as far as I know, and I think there are a couple guys in Japan?

Thanks! Never met the man! I've only met Wes (project Evil Twin, project Elise, project Gen.3 STi) and Nads the editor.

The way I see it, everything that can be replaced has been, so I shouldn't have to worry about maintenance in a while. In the last month and a half I have done... -Water pump -Thermostat -Timing belt -Timing belt tensioner & idler pulleys -Radiator hoses -Spark plugs -Replaced a coil pack -Replaced 2 bad injectors -Front and rear brakes -Alternator -Turboback Exhaust -Intercooler (should arrive tomorrow) -Resealed my passenger side headlight -New throttle body inlet hose Once I get my intercooler on I may go ahead and order a forge BPV and Samco hose for it, I doubt I'll really need it with my stock turbo @ 17 psi, but why not. Then I can go back to saving my money for Brembos instead of on repairing the car..

Since the previous several fiascos my car has been a continual pain in the ass. I had another injector go bad (spares FTW), then had my alternator die out on me (fortunately it died the second I rolled into my driveway), then my car worked fine... for about 4 hours. Had the flaps on the throttle body hose blow out and the end that mates to the intercooler got torn. Bought a new hose from the dealer, put it on and no problems... for an hour. The hose blew off again, and of course THEN I do the research on the forum that I should just cut off the stupid flaps. Flaps removed, and the car was fine again, briefly. My JB welded intercooler decided it didn't want to hold pressure anymore, so now I can't do more than 5 psi or so before it starts spitting black smoke and back firing. So now I'm just limping it around while waiting for my new Perrin TMIC to show up next week. That reminds me that my PS inner axle boot is split open, still need to replace that. Hopefully it starts behaving on the regular.

Good news and bad news. Once I calmed down and got a good nights sleep (I wrote the last post after being awake for 34+ hours) I realized it wasn't as bad as I had thought. Much of what I though was primer/metal was just white residue from the dogs nails. I spoke with my local bodyshop that I trust and once I explained the situation they didn't want to give me a quote until I had spoken with my insurance and the Iowa State Patrol. Insurance told me that I have the option of filing a claim, paying my deductible, and letting them get it repaired. This would mean they would give me a few options of their "approved" bodyshops, and since I have Progressive that meant the cheapest ones. Not something that I want to deal with. My other option according to my insurance is to hire a lawyer and sue for damages. Again, not something that I am inclined to do. I've called the station twice and left messages for the offending officer's Sergeant, but its been nearly a week and no call back yet. I'd really just like them to compensate me for my time spent correcting these issues, but I'm not going to hold my breath. I got tired of waiting and decided to just deal with it myself. I leveled out most of the scratches with 2000 grit and have spent many hours compounding and buffing back to my satisfaction. Another 6 or so hours and it should be back to 95% of what it was. It looks like there will be one scratch on the door that is down to primer and a gouge in the plastic on the rear bumper that will stay. All in all, I'm relieved its not as bad as I thought it was initially...

The "hell of a week" continued today. Got pulled over in Iowa on I80 on my way back from Colorado today. I was pulled over by an Iowa State Trooper because it is illegal to not have a front license plate in Wisconsin, also my rear license plate frame covers my registration tag (not expired). He explained quickly that he was giving me a written warning, but that this would not go down on my record anywhere. Just that I needed to fix these two issues. He then immediately asked me to step out of the car and put my hands on the hood of his vehicle. Although I was confused, I obliged without protest. He then had a few words with my friend Andy riding in the passenger seat of my car. He gave me a quick pat down to make sure I didn't have any weapons on me and asked me to get into his vehicle so I could sign the digital tablet saying that I understand the warning I was receiving. He grilled me up and down about who I was, where I was coming from and going to, what activities I had been doing lately, what my occupation was, what my education was, any previous criminal activities or traffic citations. Once he had my story he then gave my friend the same line of questions while he was still in my car. Once he found out that we were returning from Colorado and had a car full of luggage (we were there all week) he said he had reason to believe we were smuggling large amounts of marijuana back to WI in our luggage and cooler. "Coincidentally" I was stopped by a K9 unit, and the LEO requested to do an exterior sweep of the vehicle. Knowing full well that my car was clean and that I had done no wrong, I obliged him in his request. He did 4 sweeps around the vehicle, having the dog jump up on my car and probe at all the body panels. As part of the vehicle sweep the dog's claws gouged nearly every panel on my car. Given the fact that I am a car detailer by profession, I know when a bodyshop is required to fix a scratch. The hood, both fenders, front and rear bumpers, rear hatch, both driver's doors, the rear passenger side door, and the rubber trim on the rear driver's side door are all damaged to an extent requiring bodywork. Now, I had been driving for over 12 hours today and have been running on energy drinks since 10AM yesterday morning, so the extent of what was happening wasn't entirely clear to me and in hindsight I should have been more observant. Once the LEO released me I was all too happy to hop in my car and continue the last few hours of my drive home to Wisconsin. Unfortunately as soon as I got home I noticed the incurred damage immediately! The damage is blatantly obvious, and the need for a pristine vehicle is tied into my business image. Prior to this incident there were only 2 or 3 scratches on the vehicle, now there are dozens. My car was quite dirty from my week in Colorado, so the dog's paws left prints on the paint, all of which I photographed thoroughly before I washed my car. Once the car was clean I photographed all of the incurred scratches again. I called their district office and left a message for the LEO's supervisor who should be calling me back tomorrow. I'd like to request the record of the dashcam to corroborate that the damaged areas in question match up with the areas inspected by the dog. Tomorrow I will be getting quotes from some top notch local bodyshops. I am really anxious to deal with this. I have never seen a spot repair that blended 100% perfect with factory paint, and I am paranoid that the hue/flake/texture won't match after the repairs are completed. This REALLY pissed me off once I noticed it, and I am kicking myself in the ass for not noticing in the moment. Has anyone been in this situation before? What course of action is available to me so that the Iowa State Patrol will be held responsible?

This has been one hell of a week. Seeing the Enviate explode on its first run, watching Pat throw his RS200 into the trees twice, watching Doran's crew fix the car twice, sleeping 2-4 hours per night, thinking my car lost a cylinder 1100 miles away from home. Very stressful but fortunately nobody died, both cars were fixable, and my car runs again. I got all the shots I needed during this qualifying sessions so during raceday I can relax and get whatever random shots I may need. Massive amounts of relief to say the least.

This has been one hell of a week. Seeing the Enviate explode on its first run, watching Pat throw his RS200 into the trees twice, watching Doran's crew fix the car twice, leeping 2-4 hours per night, thinking my car lost a cylinder 1100 miles away from home. Very stressful but fortunately nobody died, both cars were fixable, and my car runs again. I got all the shots I needed during this qualifying sessions so during raceday I can relax and get whatever random shots I may need. Massive amounts of relief to say the least.

All my stuff belongs to my editor until the article gets published. I'll definitely post up once its out there. Today we were on the top section for qualifying (Doran is back in the race). Loeb and his Peugeot is 22 seconds ahead of second in Unlimited, the potential for a near 8 minute run is strong. Freaking insane to watch him run.

Replaced injector #3 and shes smooth as ever.

#3 injector was stuck open. Absolutely nothing was available locally. Had a friend ship a spare set from Madison. Should arrive tomorrow. Really getting tired of this base model Mini I borrowed from one of our crew. It has like 60hp on the mountain.

Changed coil and all 4 plugs. Still was misfiring on 3. Did a compression test on 1 & 3 and saw 110 and 100, which Revolutions says is what they commonly see at this altitude. Now we are going to swap injectors on 1 & 3 to see what happens... So, does anybody have a spare stock injector locally!?

No idea why cat was glowing, but that sucka was bright red! I'm assuming Revolutions will take care of me, I'm here as media for MotoIQ and I've basically been living in their shop as I'm covering Doran's RS200 and Lovefab Enviate. Unfortunately both cars are already out of the running for Sunday...

Cat on the downpipe was glowing after cruising down the highway earlier. Not happy...

Out here in Colorado for Pikes Peak this week. This morning I developed a cylinder 3 misfire, bad. After practice today we're taking it to Revolutions Performance to diagnose. May need a hand with parts depending, any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Gotta make it back home on Monday...

Thanks! First post edited w/ mod list. Next thing I'd like to do is Brembo's on the front, then either an AVO TMIC and GFB BOV (acronyms are fun!) or some STi seats out of a GR chassis. Next year I'd like to do a fuel pump, injectors, 18G and get tuned for 91 and E85. Rear Brembos at some point.

I'll be in town late this Sunday through the 30th, we should meet up at some point!

Are you in Colorado Springs by chance?

Continuing with my current fixation on my car, today I cleaned it up and took the first nice pictures of it. Been meaning to for a while. http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2828/9080185139_5985506179_b.jpg http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5544/9080181221_599fbffbc3_b.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7354/9082406154_595d88c474_b.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7417/9082401238_e71018a87f_b.jpg http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2871/9082403350_8fb1922113_b.jpg http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3824/9082402172_d0303b8147_b.jpg

Strapped the wagon down to Kelly Moss's dyno a little while back and managed to squeeze out ~225hp/275ft lbs at 17psi. I was expecting more horsepower and less torque, but I'm cool with the difference. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8260/8703085365_124921440b_b.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8415/8703092189_016027ab16_b.jpg I've been trying to get completely caught up on maintenance right now, so I had a friend of mine do the 105k mile checklist (which I was 17k miles over). He replaced the timing belt, water pump, thermostat, and accessory belts. Was a helluva lot cheaper than taking it to the dealer to do! http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3766/9064876816_bc524af4a1_c.jpg The crappy foam filter that came with the car had definitely seen better days, so I replaced that with a K&N 3" filter. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7373/9064862296_73866e23bb_z.jpg The roof rails were pretty faded and were different shades of gray/black, so I masked them off and plasti-dipped them along with my chipped up grill. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7353/9064869010_0476420510_c.jpg http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5525/9062652665_325d576475_c.jpg I picked up a new turboback exhaust from a member of the Legacy forum, saved about $400 off buying it retail. CNT racing 3" catted downpipe and a 3" Invidia Q300 catback. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7310/9062625947_71a22d3654_c.jpg Putting the exhaust on was the easiest car project I've ever done, none of the bolts fought with me or broke, everything was real smooth and easy. Taking the hood off made it a little easier to get the downpipe off. http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2808/9064846848_166fc8e8c7_c.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7451/9062597279_fdd0e86105_c.jpg Fitment was spot on and nothing needed adjusting. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3697/9062587591_0faaa737bc_c.jpg Yesterday I seafoamed the car before doing an oil change and bled the brakes. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7335/9070365943_507c4d5797_c.jpg I couldn't find my usual bleeder line I improvised with heat shrink tubing and a small rubber hose. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3723/9070357843_9b3787ed50_c.jpg My new tires arrived from Discount Tire as well (225-40-18 Continental Extreme Contact DW) so I went into the Nissan dealer to shoot the shit with some of my SR20 buddies and get them mounted. http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2874/9070346009_19b1791217_c.jpg Within the next month I plan on getting a set of gold STi Brembos to put on, might just do the fronts for now as they bolt right up. The rears need an adapter bracket, larger parking brake shoe, and special rotors (which is actually more expensive than doing the fronts).