Identify Turbo and DP

[jonnyt88]

Long story short...... After selling my car for a while I eventually bought it back dirt cheap because it runs "Decently" but needs some work.   I liked a bunch of the suspension/steering mods I did which are still on the car.

It runs,  but it doesn't make much power until 3500+ RPM....  Now this could be because I'm used to my daily which is a 3.0L TDI.. lots of low end TQ.   in S# mode is a fair amount better.    Person that sold it said the engine was replaced with a 13 WRX prior.  I asked about the turbo and they said, its the "stock turbo"..  I went poking around in there and can't find any identification on the turbo that I can see.  Is anyone able to tell from this picture?   They couldn't tell me about this DP either.  It looks like a franken custom job.  I didn't have time to ramp the car, but it was a little over 8" circumference, which is around 2.6" diameter.   It definitely looks larger than stock,  but I've been out of the subie game for a while.    I wonder if it was put together but not tuned.....  Many questions... 

[m sprank]

Looks like a muffler shop took a DP for a different car (catted) cut out the cat section and Frankensteined up a DP.  Used some stock heat shields to hide it. 

[jonnyt88]

Googleing stock DP pictures...  it's almost like they took the Stock DP and cut it just above the cat with the flange....    welded on a barrel cat/fake cat but then the flat cat under the car looks added too.    Definitely a FrankenDP.   

Kinda puts me back at the question of if this was tuned or not,   as that looks bigger than stock

[m sprank]

Probably not. If you went to a muffler shop to make that, doubt a tune was involved.

[silverton]

flat cat?  You mean the resonator on the center exhaust section between the downpipe and muffler assemblies?  That downpipe is certainly an exhaust shop hack job.  Are there visual inspections in your state?

[jonnyt88]

On 3/18/2023 at 9:03 AM, silverton said:

flat cat?  You mean the resonator on the center exhaust section between the downpipe and muffler assemblies?  That downpipe is certainly an exhaust shop hack job.  Are there visual inspections in your state?

There is.  Car passed in Jan, and I could get this to pass, but I still feel iffy on the entire exhaust.  I'm seeking someone from the local community with an AccessPort to check if the car was mated to one.   If not,  then I'm gonna find a proper catted DP, and likely go the AP route until I get it to a tuner.  
I thought about tossing on a stock DP,  but I'm kinda concerned if someone tried to tune it themselves and just did a shart job.  At least dumping a Cobb tune should overwrite it entirely. 

 

[m sprank]

Or save $500 and grab a tactix cable, download ecu flash and romraider for free.  Verify the current map, flash the stock map back, log, etc. Now you can use a stock downpipe and continue to research before jumping.

[jonnyt88]

3 hours ago, m sprank said:

Or save $500 and grab a tactix cable, download ecu flash and romraider for free.  Verify the current map, flash the stock map back, log, etc. Now you can use a stock downpipe and continue to research before jumping.

Where would I get a stock map from? 

 

I like this plan because I bought the car knowing it needed some help.... I'd rather go cheaper and make sure everything is up to snuff before spending unnecessarily on it.   Still needs a wheel bearing (or two), front brakes, and parking brake (hopefully just an adjustment)

[m sprank]

Stock maps are available on romraider.com.

https://www.romraider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=7591

[jonnyt88]

I know very little on open source tuning,   But I will learn!!  

M Sprank....... if we ever cross paths, I owe you a beer

 

[m sprank]

Not a problem. Dont need to be a tuner to use romraider/ecu flash as a tool. If you want to get custom I recommend seeking help.  But you can learn a lot by using OS and you have a great learning opportunity.  Save you coin now and later once you understand the logging data.

[Max Capacity]

Sorry to be late to the game. But here is what a OEM DP looks like.

With a up pipe.   The catted 3" Invidia will pass inspection here in CT for emissions. 

[Infosecdad]

It looks to me that someone took a stock downpipe, cut out the cats to sell them for $1k, then welded filler pipes and a cheap (or fake) HFC and made money two ways...

[jonnyt88]

On 3/22/2023 at 10:41 PM, Infosecdad said:

It looks to me that someone took a stock downpipe, cut out the cats to sell them for $1k, then welded filler pipes and a cheap (or fake) HFC and made money two ways...

Totally Feasible.  I've noticed that aftermarket Downpipes designed for the larger 5eat mass,  aren't common.  Looks like some of the cheaper options you can't even get new anymore.     Possible they didn't want to shell out the money for a new cobb unit so they made their own and sold the cats.  

I saw an OEM DP listed for sale back in 2022 where the guy was offered $800 for the cats, so he wouldn't sell it for less than that.  Not sure if that is real, but its kinda nuts.