CovertRussian's 05 LGT Build Thread

Since this section doesn't let me upload .hex/.bin's I uploaded them to Romraider forums. The changes are described below in detail, so you can make them yourself, or you can just download the Stage 0 tunes from Romraider thread.

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These maps are meant for those that want to remain stock but would like a safer tune and get better gas mileage. They only change a few tables, do not increase boost, but torque should go up since they do remove leanness. These tunes are for 05 5MT's (A2WC522N), but they should work on all 05-06 LGT's 5MT and AT, just manually copy the changes over.

Safety Changes

These tunes fix the two major flaws with the stock Tunes...

Closed to Open Loop Delay - Causes the car to lean out in boost for 1k rpm, this tune zeroes out the delay to be 0.

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=261118&stc=1&d=1516581431

Timing Compensation Per Cylinder - Stock tune adds 2.11* for cylinder two and four, this tune zeroes out all compensation tables.

Stock map:

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=261119&stc=1&d=1516581431

New map:

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=261120&stc=1&d=1516581431

AVCS Changes

All of these tunes already have CL to OL Delay disabled and Timing Compensation zeroed out, choose your tune based on which ever AVCS map you feel like running.

I personally made these with catless up pipe already in place, your gas mileage gains may vary with the restrictive catted up pipe. I don't suggest running the 15* AVCS map on catted up pipe cars, even 10* might be pushing it so do watch your learning views!

Stock Map - For catted up pipe stock setups

My Personal MPG: 24.6mpg Highway

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=261115&stc=1&d=1516581431

AVCS 10 Map - For catless up pipes, but should be safe for catted up pipes too.

My Personal MPG: 26.1mpg (+1.5mpg) Highway

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=261116&stc=1&d=1516581431

AVCS 15 Map - For catless up pipes, I don't suggest this for catted up pipes, run at your own risk

My Personal MPG: 28.1mpg (+3.5mpg) Highway

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=261117&stc=1&d=1516581431

The tires that came on my car had this nice wear on them from wont front LCA bushings, I ignored the noise they made until I caught an exacto knife blade in one, at that point it was time for new tires.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/covertrussian/Cars/05%20LGT/Suspension/Tires/20140309_183120.jpg

I wanted to switch from stock 215/45/17's because the odometer was off by 1.5%, by my calculations 225/45/17's would get it very close to being 0% off. I ordered Cooper Zeon RS3-A's in 225/45/17 from Discount Tire Direct for $408 shipped, they had nice rebates going on for 4th of July. After rebates these tires set me back $288, or $72/tire, which is pretty respectable for 17's.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/covertrussian/Cars/05%20LGT/Suspension/Tires/20140707_141714.jpg

I got a spare set of rims for these, previous owner had them painted white, but for a red car I figured gunmetal would look better.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/covertrussian/Cars/05%20LGT/Suspension/Tires/CIMG1135.jpg~original

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/covertrussian/Cars/05%20LGT/Suspension/Tires/CIMG1133.jpg~original

As for wheel gaps, here is the pics that I got, sorry not the best ones of stock tires.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/covertrussian/Cars/05%20LGT/Suspension/Tires/CIMG1111.jpg~original

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/covertrussian/Cars/05%20LGT/Suspension/Tires/CIMG1331.jpg~original

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/covertrussian/Cars/05%20LGT/Suspension/Tires/CIMG1113.jpg~original

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/covertrussian/Cars/05%20LGT/Suspension/Tires/CIMG1329.jpg~original

Found out why the car was running sluggish after replacing the TB gasket, I apparently knocked loose the blue tee at the manifold level. To make sure that doesn't happen again clamped it all down, not sure why Subaru didn't do this from the beginning...

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=261034&stc=1&d=1516575845

That woke the car back up and made it feel nice and torque again!

Picked up a newer intercooler from a local Subaru friend too. My stock one was starting to separate and was leaking oil. Plus the deer guts got splattered over my stock one/bent some fins.

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=261037&stc=1&d=1516575845

Also it replaced my jbwelded blow off valve...

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=261036&stc=1&d=1516575845

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=261038&stc=1&d=1516575845

100k mile one:

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=261035&stc=1&d=1516575845

30k mile one:

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=261039&stc=1&d=1516575845

With all of this leak fixing I wanted to test a stockish tune (minus some WG Duty cycle to account for catless DP) on the highway. Put back the stock AVCS table (with the "emissions hole") and stock Drive by wire table and went out to get some dinner with the wife.

Went from AVCS 15* map:

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=261041&stc=1&d=1516575845

To this map:

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=261040&stc=1&d=1516575845

First thing I noticed is cruise control wasn't as aggressive, maybe this is why Subaru decided to set the AVCS to 0, so that the car would make less torque thus not as aggressive on the highway? This got me 28.6mpg, which impressed me for stock AVCS map, but with STG 2 downpipe all of my previous AVCS testing is negated due to different back pressures, perhaps a free flowing setup doesn't like as much AVCS advance?

Learning view for A is still up to 10 though, RallyMachine mentioned that injectors could be clogged up, I should have some spare STi yellow's laying around from the Nissan that I just sold, so will probably install them tomorrow.

Ha, thanks!

Actually, this thread is so informative and useful, I'll just send you one if you want. PM me your address. Or I'll send you a bonus one if you order some.

Ha, thanks!

 

Actually, this thread is so informative and useful, I'll just send you one if you want. PM me your address. Or I'll send you a bonus one if you order some.

Looks like Forester uses a blue tee too, so will definitely take you up on this awesome offer .

They're in the mail. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences here.

Thank you sir, much appreciated! I will post the install pics one I get them in .

Such an awesome thread!! I will definitely be referencing a lot of your maintenance posts for when I go to do them.

Thanks, glad to help . It's always nice to know that the extra time it takes to take pics and upload them is not wasted

Yeah I should probably invest in some tee's from Mr. Turkeylord... gotta see if my forester uses the same blue tee so that I could buy a set right of way.

Are his "T"'s barbed?

Are his "T"'s barbed?

http://i.imgur.com/FcBcagp.jpg

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/subaru-blue-tee-replacement-218783.html

Shipping was freaking fast Turkeylord! Got it installed as soon as it arrived today.

Install is stupid simple, just remove the intercooler and you will see infamous blue tee. Even with couplers on it the hoses still come loose if you pull on them.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/covertrussian/Cars/05%20LGT/Engine/General/Vac%20Hoses/CIMG1344.jpg

Blue plastic tee vs Turkeylord's tee, he is nice enough to give you really good quality zip ties too.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/covertrussian/Cars/05%20LGT/Engine/General/Vac%20Hoses/CIMG1346.jpg

I installed the tee without the clamps on and needed to remove it, the barbs held so well that the clamped end came off the manifold. I opted to use my clamps instead of zip ties, most people will never have to touch it again so zip ties are good enough.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/covertrussian/Cars/05%20LGT/Engine/General/Vac%20Hoses/CIMG1348.jpg

Did a lot of highway miles this weekend, played a little more with AVCS too. Tried out AVCS being at 10* and 5* at highway speeds. Surprisingly enough AVCS 5* got me 28mpg too, 10 got me 25ish with some city miles and hard driving. What I'm finding is doing any city miles or hard driving the car really hurts the highway averages. That's definitely something in the the factory tune, AFR's are pretty rich at 10.8-11, but still looking at other areas.

My learning A was equal to 14%, which is really high. I think my inlet is actually on it's last leg. I started looking at installing the perrin that I have, but it turns out to be a STI one, so I probably will end up using it on my FXT.

I'm really torn on which way to go with the inlet though. On principal I hate silicon ones, they are overpriced, collapse and suck at airflow compared to a mandrel bent intake. Looks like AMR or Agency Power is the way to go with those, they are around $250-300 and are really for STI's (nipples point up and will hit manifold). This is why I'm starting to consider just making my own. I think I have some left over 2.5" elbows from my intercooler pipes...

Found this diy inlet thread, pretty much what I'm thinking to do. The real question is, should I waste time with 3" aluminum elbow or just do a 2.5" aluminum elbow? Since turbo inlet is only 2.4" I almost don't want to bother with 3" because of the fitment. Plus 3" will need the offset coupler, while 2.5" be fine with a bendable hump coupler.

Finding aluminum nipples is the hardest part, plus welding them on (though brazing would work fine in this case). If I can't find aluminum nipples then will have to resort to brass barbs and jbweld, which honestly has worked well enough on my Nissan's post turbo cold pipe.

Found this diy inlet thread, pretty much what I'm thinking to do. The real question is, should I waste time with 3" aluminum elbow or just do a 2.5" aluminum elbow? Since turbo inlet is only 2.4" I almost don't want to bother with 3" because of the fitment. Plus 3" will need the offset coupler, while 2.5" be fine with a bendable hump coupler.

 

Finding aluminum nipples is the hardest part, plus welding them on (though brazing would work fine in this case). If I can't find aluminum nipples then will have to resort to brass barbs and jbweld, which honestly has worked well enough on my Nissan's post turbo cold pipe.

Just make sure to put back the BPV, valve breathers, and crankcase vents, unlike that guy, who, from what I read, deleted them all? I didn't think the engines survived without those things, even with a SD tune.

Other than that, you could actually buy a hard inlet -- They're pretty spendy, but I hear they're worth it.

Actually you don't need those if you have the right tune/setup.

If your blow through (like that guy), you have the BOV/BPV before the MAF so you can atmosphere it all day. BUT I personally don't like this even on blow through cars, the recirculated air helps keep the turbo spooling between shifts + it cools the intake charge (if your recircing post intercooler).

Valve breathers can also be vented to atmoshpere, but they are useful to keep. Intake will create vacuum which helps remove blow by. More blow by = more crank pressure = harder for pistons to move around.

As for PCV/Crankcase vent, most inlets don't have this fitting and require you to cap it off or to tee into valve cover breathers.

I personally was against teeing into the crankcase breather (sharing vacuum = not enough to go around), but seeing Ross Wilson's post I'm more for it. In his post he talks about how moving PCV mount to be further from the turbo greatly reduces how much oil gets sucked in. Basically by moving it back your reducing the amount of vacuum the PCV lines will see, which will have less power to suck in oil, but I do wonder if crankcase pressure goes up with this...

Back to the inlets, there are only two options Agency Power and AMR. Both will run you up around $250-300, both are meant for STI manifolds thus will not easily fit on LGT plastic manifolds. I think I can do this for under $100, plus it does sound complicated which means fun to me. My goal is to make it as stock fitting as possible, I don't want to eliminate much (mainly PCV). Though I am contemplating on using a T for Wastegate solenoid and EVAP (charcoal canister vapor feed), but once again the concern is not enough vacuum could be detrimental.

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with getting rid of the inlet breather fittings.

I ditched the PCV and run my valve cover breathers and crank breather to a vented catch can. Best thing I ever did. No more oily crap in any of my intake pipes.

If there is enough vacuum in the inlet to pull a vacuum in the crankcase then the intake is too restrictive. The lower the inlet pressure of the turbo, the higher the pressure ratio will be. Ideally, you want the inlet pressure to be atmospheric pressure. This means no vacuum. You want the biggest, least restrictive intake that will fit.

PCV and breathers routed to the inlet/intake manifold are there for emissions and smell purposes. Can't have all that oily blowby getting into the atmosphere, ya know.

You would be surprised how much vacuum a turbo inlet will pull (enough to cause silicon to collapse at higher boost levels). Back in the day on my Nissan I was working on rerouting the crank & VC breathers and left them atmosphered. Well it didn't work, the main reason I knew it didn't work is, I noticed my engine bay was covered in oil after one wot run. After tracing it down I saw that it was coming from the valve cover gaskets. Reconnected everything to the turbo inlet and all went back to normal. The little T28 (~VF40 size) turbo was pulling hard enough to avoid crank overpressure.

Now on my Nissan the PCV valve is going directly to the manifold and is not teed into the inlet (it's ontop of the valve cover), but crank & VC breathers get combined into one line and are sent to the inlet. I am contemplating on possibly teeing the PCV valve to provide it constant turbo vacuum, might help with reducing crank pressure a little .

Anyway I checked the Perrin that I have (part 041407), even though it looks like it's a WRX one I might be able to use it. I'm trying to get the car vacuum leak free for next weekend (got 500+ mile trip ahead of me). After I get back when I'm bored I probably will continue with custom making one.

Also measured my K&N typhoon and it's 2.75", going 2.5" would probably be a little small, this is why I'm gonna hold off on doing the custom intake until I can source the offset 3" coupler.

Was under the rear of the car looking at how to ground the rear differential to the body, and noticed my brake lines.... needless to say I scheduled the recall appointment with my dealership tomorrow. Lets take bets on them just spraying it instead of replacing the lines...

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/covertrussian/Cars/05%20LGT/Suspension/Brakes/Lines/CIMG1352.jpg~original