Got a new ride, Of course its a subaru!

Totaled my 98 Toyota Avalon hit a deer going 60mph... drove the car home though..so i needed a new ride for college.

If you remember my older posts i did a bunch of work on a 97 outback which i later sold and bought a 95 3000gt. And now im back with a 04 Forester XT Automatic...

Absolutely love the car, lots of space, has a little "get-up and go," though i drive it gently. Has 133k miles, timing belt replaced, and the thing that sorta worries me is the head gasket was also replaced, but it runs great right now. I had to restore the headlights also, they were so cloudy i couldnt even tell when they were on.

Sorry about the photo quality, it was taken at sun-down with my laptop.

Let me know what you think. Thanks!

Sweet! Welcome back to the Subie family!

Originally Posted by goneskiian

Sweet! Welcome back to the Subie family!

So i have a 03 WRX intercooler thats been collectign dust in my basement, would i see any improvement using it, or is this even possible? The WRX intercooler is much taller, but not as wide as the forester intercooler.

You can always swap it on and see if there's any difference! Just be sure to log knock and make sure you're not getting into trouble either way.

Originally Posted by ClimberD

You can always swap it on and see if there's any difference! Just be sure to log knock and make sure you're not getting into trouble either way.

what the most affordable way to log knock? i have no engine management but hope to get cobb accessport not to far down the road.

Do you have a laptop?

I would bet you could use open source software and an inexpensive VAGCOM cable to communicate with your ECU. Check out the tuning forum stickies for threads on how to make this work.

Since your XT is actually more similar to a WRX you might find lots of good info on other forums like NASIOC as well.

Cheers!

Off road time!

Originally Posted by goneskiian

Do you have a laptop?

I would bet you could use open source software and an inexpensive VAGCOM cable to communicate with your ECU. Check out the tuning forum stickies for threads on how to make this work.

Since your XT is actually more similar to a WRX you might find lots of good info on other forums like NASIOC as well.

Cheers!

is it more similar to a WRX or an STI since it has the same 2.5l as the STI but same trans as the WRX (4eat)? Is there an open source tuning software? Or one with pre-made maps like the accessport? i have a macbook pro which i have windows 7 installed on.

Originally Posted by PrecisionX

Off road time!

i did all the offroading in my 97 outback... took it up trails that was nothing but rocks the size of basketballs and larger. had the car rocking diagonally, went through mud puddles more than knee deep, went places my friends lifted 4x4 truck couldnt go... but it was more beat up than my forester, and not nearly as nice of a car.. im keepin my forester on the roads.

Originally Posted by amorgan93

is it more similar to a WRX or an STI since it has the same 2.5l as the STI but same trans as the WRX (4eat)? Is there an open source tuning software? Or one with pre-made maps like the accessport? i have a macbook pro which i have windows 7 installed on.

Yes open source is one of the most common ways to tune subarus, cobb accessport pre-made maps are good for "in a pinch" but OS is much better in terms of getting the most performance out in the safest way(minimal to no knocking). vag-com cable and a laptop, download free software- romraider and ecuflash.

The 4eat forester XT tranny is rather robust believe it or not, I know a couple people with stage 3-4 xt's on the 4eat running near 400wtq on a mustang dyno and haven't had problems, not sure if that 4eat is the same as the old wrx's.

Originally Posted by bmx045

Yes open source is one of the most common ways to tune subarus, cobb accessport pre-made maps are good for "in a pinch" but OS is much better in terms of getting the most performance out in the safest way(minimal to no knocking). vag-com cable and a laptop, download free software- romraider and ecuflash.

The 4eat forester XT tranny is rather robust believe it or not, I know a couple people with stage 3-4 xt's on the 4eat running near 400wtq on a mustang dyno and haven't had problems, not sure if that 4eat is the same as the old wrx's.

yeah ive seen some impressive numbers being run through a 4eat on many forums. The main thing that kills them is torque braking and heat. Speaking of heat i was looking at the tranny coolers on IPTs website. The smallest cooler they have is 14,500GVW and the best being the 28,000GVW cooler. Now i assume that the larger the cooler the more pressure drop. So what would be the best size cooler? the one thats enough to cool properly but not a ton of pressure drop?

well, uh, the problem isn't the pressure drop it's the capacity of cooling, over cooling atf is not advised as the tranny and tc is designed to operate at a temp range, usually the temp of the engine radiator and a bit higher. the trucool 4454 is a popular cooler for 5eat people here, but a thermostat is recommended because over cooling causes the tc to not lock up when it should...leading to more friction....and heat....so it can be counter-productive in a way. all you have to work with is drive, you don't have paddle shifters like us, and can't easily stay in a gear when heavy boosting. so if i were you I'd investigate valve body mods do it shifts firmer with less slipping, so the wear and heat production is less...even though heat is mostly made from the tc....

Originally Posted by bmx045

well, uh, the problem isn't the pressure drop it's the capacity of cooling, over cooling atf is not advised as the tranny and tc is designed to operate at a temp range, usually the temp of the engine radiator and a bit higher. the trucool 4454 is a popular cooler for 5eat people here, but a thermostat is recommended because over cooling causes the tc to not lock up when it should...leading to more friction....and heat....so it can be counter-productive in a way. all you have to work with is drive, you don't have paddle shifters like us, and can't easily stay in a gear when heavy boosting. so if i were you I'd investigate valve body mods do it shifts firmer with less slipping, so the wear and heat production is less...even though heat is mostly made from the tc....

see i cant do any valve body mods to my foresters 4eat because it is direct control. People have tried sending the VB to IPT for the $600 VB mod, and when they get it back, they can barely drive the car because the TCU freaks out. THe only VB mod ive read about is a resistor mod, that tricks one of the pressure solenoids or something to build more pressure and make it shift firmer, but others who have tried it have reported that it does nothing except make the resistor get extremely hot, helping the tranny none at all.

interesting

Tint