Beginner Tuning

[EllisD]

Hi, a few months ago my parents bought me a used 2006 Legacy Gt. I'm pretty sure it has a COBB Stage 1 kit and is making about 290 hp at the wheels. I'm going to college now and would like to start working myself on my car, and possibly get a little more horsepower out of it, nothing extreme. Where or how should I start?

[arg36]

Congrats on the new car. I'd highly recommend working on reliability mods before anything else. There are lots of resources here about what to do to get a long happy life out of what can be a very fragile car if abused.

 

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[gkinslow]

Welcome. If you are pushing 290 awhp you are well beyond stage 1.

 

I second the vote for reliability before HP. There is plenty of knowledge to be had here if you are willing to listen and read.

 

I'd start by figuring out exactly what mods have been done to the car and make sure they were done properly. Some can actually be detrimental when done improperly, and should be undone immediately.

[JmP6889928]

If you have a Cobb Stage 1 producing 290 hp at the wheels, just by going Stage 2 should get you to around 400. That would be the next move. Add a couple of things like injector pulse indicators and a muffler bearing oil injector pump and 600 whp is right around the corner.

 

You are not at 290 whp on a Cobb Stage 1. About 220-230 perhaps with a few supporting mods-panel filter, etc. and if it's exceptional.

[Rhitter]

Hi, a few months ago my parents bought me a used 2006 Legacy Gt. I'm pretty sure it has a COBB Stage 1 kit and is making about 290 hp at the wheels. I'm going to college now and would like to start working myself on my car, and possibly get a little more horsepower out of it, nothing extreme. Where or how should I start?

 

Get really familiar with this sub-forum

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/engine-rebuild-threads-engines-only-142.html

 

This is your future. Make sure to have at least $5k on hand for when the engine dies.

[GTEASER]

Is this Cobb Stage 1 "kit", the AccessPort? Any other mods on the car?

[covertrussian]

To be fair, I bet he is going by Cobb graphs for each stage, which are BHP from what I remember. 290BHP is fairly reasonable for Stage 1.

 

Either way good laughs

[EllisD]

Thank you all for the replies. The car dynoed at 290 whp, i'm not sure about the cobb tuning, but it does have an access port.

[EllisD]

What type of reliability mods? Keep in mind I have little to no experience with cars. Lol

[Rhitter]

What type of reliability mods? Keep in mind I have little to no experience with cars. Lol

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/reliability-modifications-178342.html?t=178342

[gkinslow]

Find a reputable Subaru mechanic near you. You are very likely over your head. This isn't a beginners car.

 

Start with reading the stickies at the top of each sub-forum.

[coldsoda]

Another vote for maintenance items 1st. maybe in a year or two, when you know the car more... consider doing more for performance.

 

I'm not quite sure you know what is done to the car. Take some pictures of the engine bay and post them up. Even the most optimistic dyno won't show 290 at the wheels for a stage 1 LGT.

[Dujo]

Where or how should I start?

 

Start reading this forum. There is 10+ years of information on this website that will help you learn what you need to work on your own car, but it will take some time to wade through it. You don't have to read everything here, but the more you read, the smarter you will be. Hell, I've been reading here for years and there's a lot I know now, but there's still a lot more learning for me out there too. Once you have a sense of what does what, you can get a better sense of what you want to do to make your car your own. Keep in mind that this is now a 10 year old finicky turbo car. Those guys above saying that you should make sure the car is solid before modifying it any further are right on. Learn where the danger points are.

 

Stickies in each of the forums is a great place to start. Some of the photo threads will give you some great ideas of what's possible. And search for banjo bolt filter and catted uppipe to really get started. You need to make sure those issues have been dealt with on your car. From there, I would say suspension and brakes, then power mods. Sounds like you are not stock to begin with. Another great place to start would be to figure out what on your car is aftermarket already so you can decide if it was a good change or not. There's already enough information here to teach you how to take this entire car apart and put it back together again. We're here to help, but you gotta put in the legwork as well. Good luck! Welcome to LGT.com.

[TheMonaLisa]

Pictures would really help us point you in the right direction.

 

 

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[mondtster]

Find a reputable Subaru mechanic near you. You are very likely over your head. This isn't a beginners car.

 

Start with reading the stickies at the top of each sub-forum.

 

How is this any less of a beginners car than another one? The principles are all the same with any 4 stroke piston engine and drivetrain.

 

That said, I think it is relatively obvious that the OP likely has little experience in this department. I'd suggest reading and learning about how engines actually work before proceeding. Then come back and read and learn how this applies to a Subaru an its engine management system.

[Merc6]

How is this any less of a beginners car than another one? The principles are all the same with any 4 stroke piston engine and drivetrain.

 

That said, I think it is relatively obvious that the OP likely has little experience in this department. I'd suggest reading and learning about how engines actually work before proceeding. Then come back and read and learn how this applies to a Subaru an its engine management system.

 

The level of fail and out of pocket expense when one treats it like any other turbo car.

 

I/H/E and I'll get a tune when I can afford it works for my Cruze because even the WGA and BPV has electronics attached to it to prevent fail. That car is so on point that it will cancel out all the mods and go 87 octane map until you get a tune flashed.

[bigBADbenny]

http://forum.liberty.asn.au/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=20196&start=0

Moar reading

[Garurumon]

Post some pics!

[EllisD]

These are all the mods done to my car. http://www.subarusense.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=942

 

ENGINE:

 

COBB Accessport V2

Dyno Tuned by DLC Performance

Perrin Lightweight Crank Pulley

Grimmspeed 3 port EBCS

K&N drop-in air filter

Equal length headers

Denso IK 22 iridium spark plugs

Catless Uppipe

Catless Downpipe

Catless catback

 

EXTERIOR:

 

R-Rev front spoiler with some mods by me

R-Rev rear CF spoiler

Custom CF mirror caps

Blackedout headlights and fog bezels

Blackedout grill

HID headlight and foglight

18x10.25" wheels

275/35/R18tires

Custom flares

[JmP6889928]

Uhh...18x10.25 with 275/35-18? Your link takes us to a site called Subaru Sense and tells us....?

 

Too many inconsistencies here.

 

#1-I would like to see a photo of this LGT with that size wheel/tire on it and what offset they are.

#2-i would like to see a dyno graph

#3-i would like to know where you are located

#4-i would REALLY like to know where the car came from

 

Not being a troll but too much bullsh*t here that doesn't add up.

[cBax]

apparently that's a build thread on a different forum. Did you click it JMP?

 

Wheels and tires look pretty meaty to me.

[JmP6889928]

apparently that's a build thread on a different forum. Did you click it JMP?

 

Wheels and tires look pretty meaty to me.

 

I did click but the first time I did, just went generically to the site. Second time, went to Sava build thread. I asked for photos snd they are there and they DO look pretty large and the car looks nicely done.

 

Sorty for skepticism, but when someone with virtually no posts comes in with a lot of claims and no back up information-well, we've all seen it before. Not as bad on LGT as on NASIOC, but it has happened in the past and turned out to be a bunch of bull.

 

I stand corrected and car looks very nice.

[EllisD]

I'm sorry for the inconsistencies lol. The thread belongs to the guy that sold me the car, all the mods were done by him. I'm from Puerto Rico. No bullshit, just a guy that knows little about cars and wants to learn.

[ttnio]

Welcome aboard!

[Dujo]

Ah, so a bit of your problem here is that you are not actually stage 1. Looks more like stage 2 to me. So this is not consistent everywhere and is often the subject of debate which is where the shorthand causes a problem for some people, but ...

 

Stage 1 is usually a tune only. This means stock downpipe, stock everything really, just change the engine management parameters.

Stage 2 (you) includes a different downpipe and a tune. There are other supporting mods that are a good idea or fit well with this (such as that up on an 06, and the EBCS), but down and tune is the minimum.

Stage 3 is usually a turbo swap. Some folks don't consider turbos that are close substitutes as stage 3, but again, it's all matters of degrees. A turbo swap is usually going to require a bunch of other supporting mods to use it to its full potential.

 

In other good news, looks like you already have a catless *UP* pipe. This is a good thing as the stock up had a cat in it that was a threat to the turbo. You also have a catless downpipe, which is far less important, but hey good for another 5 awhp, so it's not really a bad thing either other than emissions and noise. And smell.

 

And those meats really are beefy. Wow, 275s is actually pretty uncommon on these cars. Cannot be fit without those fender flares. This does actually appear to be a pretty nice build. Some choices that I did differently, but I understand where these are coming from. Keep reading. You will want to have some idea of what to watch out for on this car. Be forewarned though that we are a bunch of enabling S.o.B.s and we will happily spend your money for you. Speaking of which, have you seen the numbers and the reviews on the Blouch Dominator 1.5xtr? And you'll probably need an aftermarket intercooler to help support that too.

 

Here's your homework for the day ... go figure out why he went with equal length headers. What do Subarus usually come with from the factory? Why is one better than the other? Does everybody make that choice? Why or why not? Why does Subaru choose what they do? Enjoy!

 

Edit: Ooh. Even better homework question as it goes right to the heart of the difference between stage 1 and stage 2 is what's different about your downpipe as compared to the stock downpipe? Go find some pictures of the difference. It will blow you away. As far as why Subaru made THAT choice, your guess is as good as mine. (HINT: "Bellmouth").