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Superacerc's Garage/Journal

('09-'13) 
309K views 3K replies 94 participants last post by  Superacerc 
#1 · (Edited)
Accomplishments so far:

Engine Mods:
-stage 2 built block from awdtuning, dallas tx.
+JE Pistons
+heat treated nitride coated crank
+manly H beam rods
+acr race bearings
-Cobb UNcatted DP (rallysportdirect.com)
-grimmspeed ceramic uppipe (rallysportdirect.com)
-Tuned via Rom Raider myself
-PTP turbo blanket (PTP in austin)
-lava heat wrap on Down pipe in engine bay. (PTP in austin)
-GFB Hybrid Blow off/bypass valve (rallysportdirect.com)
-Walboro 255lph fuel pump (rallysportdirect.com)
-GRIMMSPEED manual boost controller www.grimmspeed.com
-back to stock TD04
-Top Mount intercooler process west style (Fast motorsports) (turbotektuning.com)
-1000cc BOSCH injectors (turbotektuning.com)
-Grimmspeed Lightweight pulley (Grimmspeed.com)
-1 step colder NGK plugs (ray@turbotektuning.com)
-back to stock header
-2015 Sti Sedan Catback
-AEM Cold air intake
-Perrin turbo inlet
-2 Oil Catch Cans
-Deleted BPV return line back to intake.
-wrx engine mounts
-QTP Electric Exhaust Cutout


Suspension mods:

-22mm Whiteline front swaybar (rallysportdirect.com)
-22mm Whiteline rear swaybar (rallysportdirect.com)
-kartboy aluminium endlinks (rallysportdirect.com)
-Anderson Design Fabrication 2" lift with trailing arm extensions.


Drivetrain mods:

-6 speed sti transmission
-DCCD pro controller
-limited slip r180 rear diff
-sti axles
-sti driveshafts
-clutchmasters 6 puck fx400 clutch
-kartboy shifter bushing
-kartboy short throw shifter
-turn in concepts shifter linkage bushing.
-Drive Shaft Shop 08+STI Aluminum Driveshaft (58 inches)
- killer b delrin matte shift knob


Comfort/Utility mods:

-BFG TA KO2 IN 265 65 16
-Insulated Car with RAAMAT and Ensolyte (RAAMAT.com)
-Rubber Undercoated the entire underside with 3M Rubberized Undercoating (Autozone)
-Tinted front windows to match rear factory tint (Solar Shade Humble, tx)
-JVC Head Unit (SF.org member)
-Sylvania silverstar ultra lowbeams
-THULE Sidekick rooftop carrier(amazon.com)
-53" crossbars(amazon.com)
-gorilla offroad mudflaps (gorillaoffroad.com)


Supporting Mods:
-aem uego wideband O2 kit and gauge
-prosport sti style boost gauge
-smy gauge cluster
-wrx gauges(ebay)


Style/look mods:
-lamin-x gunsmoke rear tail tint (lamin-x.com)
-SPARCO Terra Corsa 16"
-Sports Grille


Brakes:
-Stoptech Street Performance Pads (rallysportdirect.com)
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Well Here's my Forester the week I bought it (Dec 7 2011) (I like pics).
It's a 2009 XT Limited. It's got the all weather package and leather. Seems to have pretty much everything except navigation.



It's been a whole week so far and here's my first mods:

Removed the Snorkus:



I tried leaving it uncapped with the stock filter but it seemed to lag really bad so i capped it up.

I received my K and N filter and Cobb Access Port and installed them:



I was a big freightened at the idea of doing the stage 1 against the warning from cobb with the K and N filter. I tried it and it's logging fine. The A/F mixture seems to be at 0% when under normal throttle operations and only moves when letting off the pedal completely so I think it's doing all right. I'll do some extra data logging to make sure in the next few days.

The results of the Cobb and K and N seem great. It did about what i expected it to do. Definitely noticable (quite a bit) but nothing gut wrenching or super drastic. It feels more linear and able to hold boost longer through the gears giving it a little more mid rpm power.

I'm happy with that but will be scraping the funds together for a Downpipe and up pipe for my next mods. Probably next month or feb.

Thanks for tuning in!

I won't spend any time talking about my other vehicles cause it's a subaru forum but feel free to ask about or comment on them.
I've got an 07 Jeep Commander 4x4, 4.7L V8 w/4 low t-case, with Hella 500s on top, a roof rack, 2.5" lift, 31.8" BFG KM2's and tons of extras.



Also got a 66 Ford F100 Stepside:










What it looked like when i bought it:





My bikes:
 
#8 ·
Well, That's the question I've been asking myself. But really I want it to be as off-road capable as possible for eventual snow clearance and such. I may lift it an inch and that's it. I just don't want to have to deal with the wheels coming toward the center due to the trailing arm's geometry and don't want larger tires for heavier un-sprung mass on my drive-train. I'll most likely leave it where it is. I am planning on whiteline 22mm sways to get rid of the sway (my last car was an 07 gli and it was very tight even stock) so it's annoying that the forester sways so much.

A little about myself: I'm a marine inspector in the US Coast Guard and move around alot. i hate the heat and have been ready to go north for a while and fully plan on it in 2013 when I transfer from Houston. I ride MX and love off roading of any sort. I also love fast. My dream setup for the forrester would be as Rally based as possible to give me some offroad speed.

I've done a good bit of offroading here in Texas since I've been here and here's some links to my Photobucket albums (most pics are of other people since i took em but you can see me in there every now and then. Feel free to browse through the photobucket):

Big Bend National Park Nov 2011 pictures by superacerc - Photobucket

Hidden Falls Jan 2011 pictures by superacerc - Photobucket

Hidden Falls Off Road Adventure Park Nov 2010 pictures by superacerc - Photobucket

And my garage pics:

Garage pics pictures by superacerc - Photobucket

Enjoy!
 
#9 ·
Ok so it's been a whlie, I've been away on orders for a while and got back last week. Just ordered the Cobb DP and Gasket, and a Whiteline front sway bar (22mm). Can't wait to try em out! Should be in in a few days.
 
#10 ·
Got the COBB Down pipe and whiteline strut installed. Going to do some logs tomorrow to make sure it's acting normal.

First impression of Stage 2 is .... not as impressive as I'd hoped. It's faster, yes. But nothing spectacular. I really think that the 4EAT is partly to blame. Better gearing would be leaps and bounds better I'm sure. I'm going to get a protune here in town at Engine Logics during the next month and see if it can be any better than it is.

First impression for the whiteline front 22mm adjustable sway bar..... Good quality, much heavier, and does the job. What it does make me realize is that the stock springs are just tooo squishy.
 
#11 · (Edited)
So a few new facts. I decided to give the Cobb AP performance monitors a try. Keep in mind that I know that they can't exactly be super accurate, especially the dyno app (so i won't even talk about that) but here's what it says my car is doing for speed times:

I've been working on my 0-60 times trying to find out where the best shift point for my setup is at the moment (4eat in manual mode). At first I was getting 6.8 secs 0-60 cause I thought that shifting earlier (cause it just feels like it pulls harder in the lower or torquier RPM range) would deliver the best results (I was wrong). To me that was dissapointing having stage 2 cobb done. So I decided to experiment a little and see what the best times I could get were. So far the best I've done is 5.8 secs by shifting around the 5000 rpm area for first and 2nd which puts me right at 60 when switching to 3rd. 5.8 secs was in the morning with about 60 deg F and in the hotter part of the day at 85 deg I've managed about 6.1 secs.

I've tried a couple of 1/4 mile runs in an extremely deserted area ( no houses, cars, people and minimal animals, I am in texas after all) on my way home from work. My first run (both runs were at 85 deg F on a flat straight stretch) gave me a 15.1 sec @ 85 mph (i think that was it) and the second run on a different day after figuring out the best places to shift is getting me about 14.85 @ 91mph. Both of these runs did not warrant my best 0-60 time seen from the morning 0-60 check so I think if i had a better temperature and got a great 0-60 time I could pull off a 1/4 mile in about 14.6ish. (According to the Cobb however accurate it is).

From reading other's times with a very similar setup to mine I think that's about as good as I'm going to get without a PRO tune which would probably push it down to a low 14 on the Stock TD04. I don't plan on getting a custom tune with the TD04 however cause I forsee a new turbo on the horizon before the end of the year. Probably the BNR EVOIII 16g coupled with a fuel pump sometime after the summer and a mild tune around 17-18psi max with my stock TMIC.

In other News, I've Ordered Some RAAMAT and Ensolite and will be putting some sound barrier in my Foz to make my commute a comfy and quiet one. Should be in early next week and I'll take a few nights to install the stuff starting with the two front doors.
 
#12 ·
Yeah the TD04 just falls flat on it face compared to my 09 WRX's vf52. Which is why I have one and a TMIC sitting at home just waiting to be installed on my XT:banana:. I just need to find the time to install it and get to the tuner. Fuel pump has been done already a couple weeks ago.

Are you still on the stock catback and if you are how's the sound with the Cobb downpipe? I have the Borla and Cobb pipe and it gets a little annoying at times and other times I love the sound. Still thinking of going back to the stock one to see how it sounds.

I also have started the raamat and ensolite additions. Last week I got the hatch door done and part of the floor over the exhausts done and will be doing the back sides next after my sliced up fingers from the raamat heal . The door now sounds very solid when closing it.
 
#13 ·
I'm still on the stock mufflers. I don't want the noise associated with aftermarket ones(been there before and have used up my share of tylenol for the headache associated with the drone).:icon_biggrin:

I've removed the resonator however. Other than that I'm just a cobb downpipe, a straight through midpipe and stock mufflers. It sounds ok..... sometimes. It's super quiet as far as driving is concerned and I don't hear it inside much at all. As for the actual sound of it cruising with the windows down it sounds a bit raspy and not special at all. You can hear the turbo whistle at low rpms (when it's not making boost) kind of like a Diesel pickup. Under low RPM load you hear the typical boxer sound with a raspy wastegate flutter(not the most awesome sound), and under load at High RPM it sounds just fine and dandy and growls fiercly as I pass others by.

I'd take a VF 52 if I could find a well kept slightly used one for the right price but for the moment the price on the BNR 16g is the most tempting and the fact that it's not too crazy aggressive but way better than the stock TD04, and that I can use it with the stock TMIC to begin with till more funding appears.

My very next mod after the RAAMAT and ENSOLITE will be a Perrin/GS pulley to pep up the response and the STI rear sway bar.

Then I'll be moving to the new turbo and fuel pump. After that who knows exactly. I don't plan on going crazy on the power. If I can get up to 300 WHP out of this thing i'll be more than satisfied.
 
#17 ·
I'm still on the stock mufflers. I don't want the noise associated with aftermarket ones(been there before and have used up my share of tylenol for the headache associated with the drone).:icon_biggrin:

I've removed the resonator however. Other than that I'm just a cobb downpipe, a straight through midpipe and stock mufflers. It sounds ok..... sometimes. It's super quiet as far as driving is concerned and I don't hear it inside much at all. As for the actual sound of it cruising with the windows down it sounds a bit raspy and not special at all. You can hear the turbo whistle at low rpms (when it's not making boost) kind of like a Diesel pickup. Under low RPM load you hear the typical boxer sound with a raspy wastegate flutter(not the most awesome sound), and under load at High RPM it sounds just fine and dandy and growls fiercly as I pass others by.
Thanks just what I needed to know. Wastegate noise drives me crazy too. Hopefully vf52 will cure this.
 
#15 ·
yeah i understand that. that's my final power goal, not immediate. ill get her up to the low to mid 200s first before changing the tmic and injectors. i can only blow so much money at a time so i figure fuel pump and turbo will be one purchase, then the tmic and injectors will each be a separate purchase. ive also got to work a gs electronic boost control, lightweight pulley into that mix somewhere. And then a final tune. Anyone got some money i can borrow?
 
#18 ·
@ nate: Even better. One less thing to buy.

@ XT+WRX: Glad to be of help. The 52 should take care of that idiotic noise. As for me since i don't have one laying around (Lucky you:Banane36:) i'll have to deal with it till i can cough up some dough.
 
#21 ·
It spools nice im at full boost at 3200rpm and it holds pretty long a whole lot better than the td04 it generally will taper about 4psi by redline which is perfect if your running stock injectors. My first tune was 18psi tapering to 14psi at redline and my idc were in the low 90%'s on stock injectors. Now that im e85 im hitting 24psi tapering to around 19psi and my idc are in the low 80%'s on 1000cc injectors.
 
#22 ·
Thanks to a contact from Nate, and TURBOTEKTUNING I'll be getting an ETune(Protune) for quite a bit cheaper than my guy here in Houston was willing to do it for. We're starting the process tomorrow. I'm Pretty Excited about it. I guess that'll be the end to my power mods for a while since this is pretty much going to max the TD04 out. I'll get the lightweight pulley, rear swaybar, and a dw65 fuelpump in the meantime till I can afford a Turbo. That should keep me busy for a bit.

Also tomorrow, i'll be soundproofing the Foz with Raamat in the evening(or for the next couple days depending on how quickly I can get panels off and back on).
 
#25 ·
Didn't even think about that. I might have to replace that soon. I'm in the process of Etuning and I'm hoping it'll hold for the tuning. So far at my stage II tune i don't often meet the boost target completely. The target from Cobbs tune is 16 psi and I regularly only see about 13-14.5 gear dependent. I do however under quick heavy loads see a 16psi on occasion usually in 2nd gear I believe. I hope this isn't due to my valve already having issues and more to do with the sucky off the shelf tune that comes with the Cobb AP. *Fingers Crossed*
 
#26 ·
So today after work I uploaded the first etune on the foz. This tune isn't drastically more powerful than stage two cobb, but it's not supposed to be yet. This was to establish a base tune to work with. What it does do that is different from the cobb stg 2 is provide a smoother power curve that holds boost longer into the high rpm which is pretty nice feeling.

Also today I began my RAAMAT install. I finished my two front doors before my wife went into town with the foz. For any of you guys that are going to install raamat I suggest keeping some bandaids available for the mega paper cuts that you'll have when finished.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Finished the RAAMAT install. It makes quite a difference especially on black top roads where my tires aren't as noisy. It's virtually silent up into the mid 55-mph range except for the rush of wind by the windows. On concrete roadways, like interstates tend to be, the tires are still a bit noisy. I wish they were worn already cause i'd love to put a quiet set of michelins on there.

Almost done with the protune. For the moment i'm holding about 15.5-16psi on average through my 3rd gear data logging and it's feeling quite a bit stronger than the Cobb tune which only averaged 13.5-14.5 when I did the data logs. It's also alot more driveable than the Cobb Stg 2 tune and not so jumpy.
 
#29 ·
Yeah, I read that post you made and thought, how bad can it be? All I can say is don't be in a hurry while installing that stuff! I was bleeding from about 10 different cuts on my hands after the first day. I took my time after that.
 
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