JCT

I loaded a Cobb stage 1 91 octane map onto my 05 FXT 4EAT at lunch today.

First start it had to turn over several times before it would start.
At least initially, it doesn't seem to run as well as it did before.
It nearly died at one point and I have a 4EAT so it wasn't my doing.
Power is a little better, but not the kick in the pants I was expecting.

Anyone else have results like this? I realize I only drove it a few minutes on my lunch break, so maybe i'll notice more of an improvement when I have more time to drive it.

I have everything for Stage 2 + VF39 install except a couple of parts so those things will be going on soon.


Oh, one more thing. My AP shows each map twice? I tried removing them all and putting them back on but it still shows 2 of each map on the AP but only 1 of each in AP Manager.

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05 XT 4EAT

sea-scooby

Stage 1 felt a bit smoother to me and boost kicked in a little sooner, but it wasn't much of a gain. Stage 1 to the VF39 though was like getting a whole new car. It took some time gettign use to the BIG power jump.

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05 Forester XTi Premium M/T (PRE tuned VF39)(his)
05 Forester X A/T (hers)
My Journal page

JCT

YES! That's what I wanted to hear!

Kinda unrelated, but how "freely" did your vf39 spin before you installed it? I saw a video of Integrity Dave's monster freaking turbo with the guy blowing into it and it spun, no way in the world my vf39 would do that, but it does spin and no shaft play.

I was debating on one of these, but will stick with my vf39 for now.

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05 XT 4EAT

nwroller

My Stage 1 went the same way:

Did not start right up at first, but every time after was fine. Took a few miles to 'learn' the new mapping, so I had similar stall like symptoms. But now that I have been running it for a while it is very smooth. Again like sea-scooby said, not a kick in the pants, in fact I would not have noticed it if I had not known it was done.

I hope to go Stage 2 in the next few months and run that for a while until I have the $ to get a new turbo, TMIC, uppipe, etc.

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2004 Forester XT 5sp stg 2
PSM - Platinum Silver Metalic
Just a couple a mods

guroove

hmm I uploaded stage 1 93 octane map a couple weeks ago, and I can feel a huge difference. It took a couple days and few full throttle runs plus a bottle of octane boost to get it to put down a lot of power.

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2005 Obsidian Black Pearl XT w/4eat

JCT

It sounds like my computer is "learning" if you guys experienced the same thing.

We only have 91 octane here in Salt Lake City at 4300ft elevation.

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05 XT 4EAT

nwroller

I had to run 91 oct. as 93 is not widely available, and I have a 5 sp. That probably is the reason I did not notice it as much.

I wonder if the automatic notices a bigger difference at stage 1?

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2004 Forester XT 5sp stg 2
PSM - Platinum Silver Metalic
Just a couple a mods

guroove

I would think so because the shifting of the automatic often leaves you in an undesirable spot in the power band, whereas stage 1 just broadens the band a bit. Also, the difference becomes more noticeable when all the exhaust manifold parts & up-pipe get really hot. I always noticed that after a long day of driving, my engine seems ready to jump right out of the car when you get on the throttle.

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2005 Obsidian Black Pearl XT w/4eat

sea-scooby

On a scale of 1-10, I'd rate the change in how it feels like this:
stock to stage 1: 2
stage 1 to stage 2: 10

Stage 2 gives you a BIG kick when you get on it.

Swapping to a VF39/43 feels similar to stage 2, it just adds a ton of topend which makes for a much smoother and broader powerband. You can run it to readline and it still pulls hard vs. the TD04 dying out by 5300rpm or so.

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05 Forester XTi Premium M/T (PRE tuned VF39)(his)
05 Forester X A/T (hers)
My Journal page

audiomacgyver

Is it the new AP?

If so connect it to your car - go to realtime data - and look for the DAM dynamic advance multiplier. See what that number is. To paraphrase it is a measure of how happy the ECU is - I believe your map should set to about 0.8 right after flashing - if you drive with some smooth rolls into the throttle it will shortly go to 1.0. This is a good thing - this lets the ecu adjust the timing for best power.

If you are really not that happy I am guessing that your DAM is not near 1.0. That said, stage one is not like a miracle but for me I was very happy.

Jesse

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05 XT AT - My motto's always been 'when it's right, it's right'

JCT

Great info. I just went out and took a quick drive and the DAM thing says 1.0 (haha, couldn't resist)

It does feel better than it did on the first drive already, so I bet it was just an initial thing. I didn't realize all of the data you could display with an Access Port - pretty cool.

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05 XT 4EAT

greentrees

So good to hear the word meh used appropriately. Yes stage 1 is meh but nice, meh. Stage 2 is nice though I agree you'll feel the most power with the VF39, the turbo's attitude is quite different, though my experience has been the stage 2 with the stock turbo kicks in much quicker than the VF39; the VF39 takes longer but is a significantly bigger kick in the pants once it done kick in. I think bottom-line acceleration is about the same though the VF39 would win at higher speeds. After driving both I've decided to stick with my stage 2 stock turbo for these reasons. Meh.

guroove

stage 1 is like the first hit of crack they give kids for free to get them hooked. After a few days, you want to go to stage 2.

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2005 Obsidian Black Pearl XT w/4eat

Jaxx

i did stage one on the 07 fxt auto yesterday too

i don't know that its more power but its sooner ...
with the 07-08 the mapping before the open loop crossover is radically different

now to find a vf-43 (which is proving difficult)

snaker

I did stage 1 about 3 weeks ago. I'm just waiting for my next bonus check to get the TBE & go to stage 2.

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2007 Forester 2.5 XT Stage II