First performance upgrade?

[stuck686]

indeed it is. runs fine though, smooth idle

[chimera]

What's your problem with open source? It would be a much bigger headache to find another alternative to the AP than to just do OS

No problem whatsoever with OS. I'm just lazy... but nah, the car has 3 year mechanical warranty, no mods allowed. I need to be able to get back to stock map with ease if something goes wrong and I need to send in for repair (regardless of whether its ECU issue or something else)

[jknepp]

Wow, a lot of fantastic info and people. And fancy lingo... So what I gathered, I should get it tuned first. Should I go buy a Cobb (or other similar product) or take it to a shop? I'm in the St. Louis area and I'm not sure if there's many shops around that can help me.

 

If I get the Accessport, is it something I can learn? Any resources/walkthroughs would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for all your help!

[rob-2]

Wow, a lot of fantastic info and people. And fancy lingo... So what I gathered, I should get it tuned first. Should I go buy a Cobb (or other similar product) or take it to a shop? I'm in the St. Louis area and I'm not sure if there's many shops around that can help me.

 

If I get the Accessport, is it something I can learn? Any resources/walkthroughs would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for all your help!

 

The AP is pretty basic. The limitation is the quality of the tune. While Cobb provides a very safe stage 1 and 2 map they are far from ideal.

[chimera]

The way I understand it is you have 2 options.

 

1. Buy a "pre-made purpose built" AP that is plug-and-play, portable and quick/easy to use. Has a few extra features, see reviews section above for more info. Eg: Cobb AP. Use if you want the easy way forward, but it is more expensive.

 

2. Buy a vag-com or tactrix cable and open source software etc and use laptop to connect up, a little more to learn - but thats part of the point, you get to learn "how, why, what, where" as you go. Less expensive but more knowledge required.

[thefultonhow]

The AP is pretty basic. The limitation is the quality of the tune. While Cobb provides a very safe stage 1 and 2 map they are far from ideal.

 

The Stage 2 OTS map is not that safe.

 

Open-source e-tune is the way to go, IMO, especially on 05-06. Far cheaper, plus you get a tune customized for your specific car.

[stuck686]

The Stage 2 OTS map is not that safe.

 

Open-source e-tune is the way to go, IMO, especially on 05-06. Far cheaper, plus you get a tune customized for your specific car.

 

I would say it pretty safe as long as ur not putting on extra parts. my tuner even said its a solid map for daily driving

[thefultonhow]

I would say it pretty safe as long as ur not putting on extra parts. my tuner even said its a solid map for daily driving

 

I have heard of plenty of people who had problems with running lean on it.

[toshiba2.5]

access port. flash stage 1. then start to upgrade up/dp or just get a set of coil overs

[PtPixel]

Seems to be the general consensus on these forums. Cobb AP gets good reviews too

 

v1 http://legacygt.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=12&sort=2&cat=16&page=1

v2 http://legacygt.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=192&sort=2&cat=16&page=1

 

 

Edit: Good info here http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/cobb-ap-v2-vs-infamous-opensource-whichi-200212.html?t=200212

 

Its the price that turns me off. What are the alternatives that are cheaper and just as good? Not particularly wanting open source. Can the Cobb integrate with SI drive? If not, do any others?

 

The Cobb AP is only for USDM, sorry to say. I emailed Cobb asking about it and they said it wont work on JDM cars and didn't know of anything similar

[jim1969]

I'm going to recommend a different route. Upgrade your sway bars and tires first.

[chimera]

^ nothing wrong with that recommendation, no point nailing it unless you can stick to the road.

 

The Cobb AP is only for USDM, sorry to say. I emailed Cobb asking about it and they said it wont work on JDM cars and didn't know of anything similar

Well that narrows down my options!

[Claw]

You've only had the car 2 months and you're looking to mod it already?

 

I'd go handling, then power (car already has gobs of power).

 

Tires, sways, grimmspeed brake reinforcement, stage 1, shifter bushings/short shifter, springs/koni's, uppipe/downpipe/stage 2, then the sky's the limit from there. You can stick some track/driving/hpde lessons in anywhere in that list.

 

Sunny (Airboy Tuning) has all my tuning needs covered.

[liljonson]

I wish I went handling then power. I went stage 2 and I didn't enjoy the vehicle till I did all the bushings. Got an OK suspension setup and did an alignment. Now I love the car.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[lee07]

1st "mod"? Tires

 

Drive the car until you're good at it around turns(stock hp/sways bars etc)

 

Then once you've become good and can control it, then think of suspension upgrade. Last should be power

 

A lot of power with a bad driver =

 

So tires first but fluids before that if you haven't changed it out yet

[.Catalyst.]

I agree on tires first and foremost (along with ensuring all preventative maintenance is done). No need turning up the wick if you can't stick it to the ground, and definitely want to ensure engine health.

 

I did it in this order:

 

Maintenance

Suspension

Another wheel/tire upgrade

Stage 1 with panel filter (shakedown which led to warranty turbo replacement - note not because tune)

Stage 2 with UP/DP/EBCS (Then another tune again when I replaced the TMIC)

Brakes (they were due at this point)

Clutch

 

All this with regular oil changes, transmission/diff fluid changes, fresh plugs (and another compression test for good measure), and regular cleaning of the MAF and air filter.

 

Now I feel I'm getting close to being ready for stage 3. For a DD stage 2 is plenty of power and will be much more trouble free!

[Nolmers06LGT]

I agree on tires first and foremost (along with ensuring all preventative maintenance is done). No need turning up the wick if you can't stick it to the ground, and definitely want to ensure engine health.

 

I did it in this order:

 

Maintenance

Suspension

Another wheel/tire upgrade

Stage 1 with panel filter (shakedown which led to warranty turbo replacement - note not because tune)

Stage 2 with UP/DP/EBCS (Then another tune again when I replaced the TMIC)

Brakes (they were due at this point)

Clutch

 

All this with regular oil changes, transmission/diff fluid changes, fresh plugs (and another compression test for good measure), and regular cleaning of the MAF and air filter.

 

Now I feel I'm getting close to being ready for stage 3. For a DD stage 2 is plenty of power and will be much more trouble free!

 

+1 on all of this.

 

Like Catalyst said, get your maintenance out of the way first.. This can be pretty expensive, but you want to make sure your car will run well enough to last through the mods.

 

The last thing you want is to buy a ton of A/M parts and run into serious maintenance issues. Here's a link covering the standard reliability modifications you should do: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/reliability-modifications-178342.html?t=178342&highlight=reliability+modifications

 

Once your car is running well, you can start to push it. If I could do it over again, I'd start with an uppipe and stage1 tune (to get off the stock map), then sways and endlinks, LCA bushings, THEN downpipe, EBCS and stage2 tune. Stage2 power on a stock suspension is not much fun. Stage2 power on upgraded sways and LCA bushings is fantastic:)

[Moddiction]

You've only had the car 2 months and you're looking to mod it already?

 

I'd go handling, then power (car already has gobs of power).

 

Tires, sways, grimmspeed brake reinforcement, stage 1, shifter bushings/short shifter, springs/koni's, uppipe/downpipe/stage 2, then the sky's the limit from there. You can stick some track/driving/hpde lessons in anywhere in that list.

 

Sunny (Airboy Tuning) has all my tuning needs covered.

 

I wouldn't say gobs of power haha. Has a little oomph stock but fairly low powered and slow. Guess it just compares what you're comparing it to. Feels quite slow even stage 1 to me except for that quick tq spike. My other car has a couple times the power and much lighter so that aids in it feeling slow I guess.

[chimera]

I wouldn't say gobs of power haha. Has a little oomph stock but fairly low powered and slow.

Having stock myself I'd agree with that. Seems those on stage anything have forgotten what stock is like. Then again I wouldn't say slow either. Needs to have that faster spool up and throw you back a bit feeling.