'07 Subaru Legacy SI-Drive Explanation

I got the information from here (http://www.gizmag.co.uk/go/5512/) as posted by someone on NASIOC. I only took the first 1 1/2 pages of information, because the rest is a press release about the rest of the car.

 

I've posted some pictures from the gizmag site as well below.

April 14, 2006

 

Japanese industrial heavyweight Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), the maker of Subaru automobiles, today announced the development of its SI-DRIVE (Subaru Intelligent Drive), an innovative driving enhancement system that provides optimal control of the powertrain unit and delivers driving pleasure under various traffic and road conditions. The company displayed a Legacy sedan 2.5GT equipped with the new system, at the New York International Automobile Show.

 

The SI-DRIVE enables three distinctively different modes of engine power characteristics by regulating the engine control unit (ECU) as well as the transmission control unit (TCU) in the automatic transmission, and by fine-tuning the electronically controlled throttle.

 

Intelligent mode ensures smooth, strong power output, yet facilitates city driving at low- to mid-speed range and contributes to greater fuel economy.

 

The Sport mode is designed to deliver ideal power, faithful to the driver’s acceleration, and heightens enjoyable, sporty driving under a wide range of road conditions.

 

The Sport Sharp mode further elevates sporty driving by accurately responding to the driver’s acceleration and boosting engine revolutions earlier than the Sport mode for a more powerful driving experience.

 

The SI-DRIVE selector will be installed on the center console for the driver to choose from these three modes, which bring out very different driving experiences while driving the same car.

SI-DRIVE display components

 

SI-DRIVE selector: The selector dial facilitates the choice of mode by a driver. By pushing the dial, the Intelligent mode is set, while the Sport mode is activated by turning the dial to the left, and the Sport Sharp mode is engaged by turning it to the right. ECO gauge: The ECO gauge is located below the speedometer. The hand set in the gauge is a pendulum, and when fuel mileage goes above the average, the hand shifts to the right area. The average mileage is calculated by analyzing past driving patterns. Multi-information display: In addition to average and actual mileage and other fuel economy information, the display shows simplified torque curve at the driver-set mode and levels of throttle valve opening. Shift-up Indicator: Located in the tachometer, the indicator blinks to encourage a driver to shift up a gear to save fuel when engine revolutions reach a certain level during acceleration.

My question is this...

 

So the knob, you turn it left and you get Sport mode, you turn it right and you get Sport Sharp mode. If you push it down, you get Intelligent mode.

 

Then what is the center notch for? Can you only press the knob when it's pointing up for Intelligent mode? Or--the subaru.com website with the little flash of it shows the knob turning all the way down to where the Intelligent mode writing is. So once again, what could the middle notch be?

nobody will take it out of sport mode

here's the thing, that MPG guage is to mock us.

the $64k question is going to be how will the guys at Cobb make the AP work with this system? or will it negate having an AP altogether? or will you have to abandon it if you go with an AP?

 

I'm sure the Cobb guys are anxiously awaiting to get their hands on one AS"AP"

I just want to see some numbers in different settings.

I don't think the SI Drive is ever going to deliver more than the advertised 243 hp (crank). It just mettles with the stock EBCS and throttle mapping.

what would actually be pretty cool is if the next-gen AP could interface with the SI Drive knob and manipulate the equivalent of Cobb realtime maps.

 

Imagine if the "Intelligent" mode could give you the Economy AP map (realtime), the "Sport" mode gives you the regular AP map (Stg 1 or 2 depending on setup) and the S# setting offering the Stage map with more aggressive throttle mapping and/or boost profile without having to hook up the AP.

 

Now That would be Cool!

+2!

 

Trey are you listening?

+3!

More important question, how can we do this on the 05+06's

i'm in love.

More important question, how can we do this on the 05+06's

Judging from this picture (link) it seems you'll need at least the SI-Drive selector, gauge panel, and body control module. I don't know if the current ECU and transmission control units will be able to accept inputs from the body control module, so maybe you'll need those too.

probably have to make your own little harness as well..

they should re-name it to:

 

 

Intelligent - EconoMode

 

Sport - EvoKiller

 

Sport Sharp - M5Killer

 

Which mode eliminates the stutter problem?

what would actually be pretty cool is if the next-gen AP could interface with the SI Drive knob and manipulate the equivalent of Cobb realtime maps.

 

Imagine if the "Intelligent" mode could give you the Economy AP map (realtime), the "Sport" mode gives you the regular AP map (Stg 1 or 2 depending on setup) and the S# setting offering the Stage map with more aggressive throttle mapping and/or boost profile without having to hook up the AP.

 

Now That would be Cool!

 

That is a GREAT idea....

 

Hopefully they'll see this thread...

so it comes on the auto and man tranny?

Yes. Both transmissions. The advantage of having it on automatics is that things such as the transmission torque lock-up converter engagement is modified depending on setting, as are shift points and strength.

Some more information (albeit mostly repetitive) from a FHI press release:

Major features of the SI-DRIVE

 

Intelligent mode: Fuel consumption is lowered through maintaining effective control of engine torque output and by adjusting lock-up control in the automatic transmission, while ample power is smoothly output. The Intelligent mode ensures fuel economy, not only through optimal powertrain control but augmented by the ECO gauge that promotes fuel-efficient driving.

 

Sport mode: Power output is designed to reflect the precise degree of accelerator pedal depression, even in a turbo engine model, as if the driver is experiencing normally-aspirated engine power output characteristics. This mode promises pleasurable driving with a variety of vehicle uses and under diverse road conditions.

 

Sport Sharp mode: Response to engine revolutions accurately reflects power output, from low to high revolutions, enabling sporty driving even on rugged and winding roads. In the automatic transmission model, gearshift timing is set at higher engine speeds for powerful drivability.

For whoever's wondering, ECO gauge = MPG gauge..

not just yet ....lol

 

 

 

"2 more minutes mom!"

We should ask Cobb to come out with an AP with a big old knob on it to help appease us 05-06 owners.

 

Ken

The sad fact is, that this is probably going to make an AccessPORT all but impossible to reverse-engineer. I don't think Cobb has the resources to modify this ECU, from what little I know, the knob and mappings will increase the complexity of ECU mappings by orders of magnitude.

 

I'm hoping otherwise, of course, as I'm now really considering waiting for an '07 to get my LGT, but I will partly base my decision on how hard it is to mod an '07.

 

No AccessPORT, no custom ECU. No ECU tuning, no point in doing mods. No mods makes me a sad panda.

Hello,

 

A little birdy tells me that Trey already has some thoughts on how it's being done and has one of the first ECUs coming direct to his shop. It is my opinion that his thoughts sound spot on, so I have no doubt that he will have a 3-map switchable AP (with the normal AP ability to change maps, except you will be able to change the three maps independently) in the near future (in Cobb tuning speak, that probably means 72 years from now ). The current ECU is quite capable of storing all that information, it's simply an additional piece of code that was needed in the non-flashable portion of the ECU... which is why this won't be retrofittable to older ECUs unless you do an ECU swap and whatever is entailed in that.

 

Joel