Just taken MY03 WRX Impreza on the Dyno Dynamics rollers in Halifax @ The Racing Line.

The car has the K&N Typhoon induction kit on and a powerflow exhaust. (I hear you all sigh, but don't worry, this is all coming off as I bought it with it on).

Anyway, at the fly wheel, the car is running 191.9 BHP which is around 30 bhp below standard if I'm correct. The engineers told me this was down to the exhaust not letting the engine breath easily and is seriously restricting the car.

Anyway, this was bad news, but good in a way as I've only owned the car for a few weeks now, I'm please to know the potential is there to be a hell of alot quicker.

To get around this problem, obviously the ****ty exhaust has to go and I've already put the standard induction kit back onto the car.

What an excuse to upgrade!!

The Racling Line can provied me with a Jap Spec 3" straight through system including downpipe, EcuTek remap and APS up-pipe including fitting for around £2k.

Since they'll have the turbo off to fit the up-pipe, for a little more cash, I can throw in a VF35 turbo from an STI (second hand) and also a Bar+plate intercooler which is slightly bigger than the STI one.

Couple of questions, if you had £3K to spend on a WRX would you go this route?

Also, what type of BHP and torque would I be looking at once the £3K has been spent?

Has anyone used The Racing Line for this type of thing??

Cheers all!
MikeyB

 

Hi
£3K sounds a bit expensive.
I fitted a Magnex cat back system, Miltek high flow cat and a new induction kit - then took the car to Powerstation.
End result was around 270 bhp for less than 2K!
This was on an 05WRX
Cheers!
Steve

 

Cheers Steve, the thing is, 270BHP compared to a 340BHP is going to be totally different, if thats the figure I can get to anyway with 3 g's...?

 

Not wishing to be cynical mate, but I would get a second opinion. My suspicion would be aroused if a garage said 'this is wrong with your car but we can sort it out for £xxx'.

Maz

 

Thanks Maz, they recommended just the exhaust to be honest... I'm just using the smallest excuse to up the BHP...

 

mmm your car runs poorly but if you give us loads of money we can put a second hand turbo! on your car and modify it to the limit of your gearbox-not a good idea see how it runs on standard exhaust/filter it will probably reach its 220bhp saving you lots of money and giving you 30 free bhp
martin
ps get it rolling roaded elsewhere when standard as comparison

 

Id find out what was exactly up with your car for it to "only" be pushing 191bhp, i doubt that its the exhaust, even my car with "only" a panel filter is pushing 40bhp up on the factory figures with the standard exhaust (unmapped).
Take the car somewhere else, somewhere respectable with good knowledge of scoobs because 1500 quid will get you a remap and an exhaust, but i wouldnt go that way first, id sort the brakes out as they suck.

Tony

 

Sound advice Tony

My angle would be if I had 3k burning a hole in my pocket I would look into trading up to an Sti, immediatly more power and better brakes plus quite a few other things.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'll take it along to Scooby Clinic as soon as they can fit me in for a rolling road session and see what they think.

I'll let you know the outcome ASAP!

Cheers, MikeyB

 

TBH mate, I don't see that any aftermarket exhaust could be much more restricitve than the std exhaust. I think your induction set up would be a much more likely candidate!!

Ns04

 

Good thinking mate they will help you out

 

""""The Racling Line can provied me with a Jap Spec 3" straight through system including downpipe, EcuTek remap and APS up-pipe including fitting for around £2k. """"""



2 GRAND!!!!!!! for that ,**** ME thats dear. My mate has a sti8 and he just put a full system, GT spec headers, Green panel filter and ecuteck remap for about £1350. Have a look round mate sounds way too expensive.

 

sure it wasnt 191 at the wheels? i got 185atw as standard.....with the same model and year.

 

yea but are'nt powerflow exhausts only 2 1/4 inch diameter not 2 1/2 like standard? hence the ristriction in the exhaust?

 

Dont see WHY they would have the turbo off to change the up-pipe?

Sounds like a sales talk to me

 

Deff 191 at the flywheel mate.

Maybe just replacing the exhaust is the way to go for the time being, that should get me backup to 220 BHP now that the standard induction kit is back on.

I got told that the standard induction kit is capable of upto 350BHP anyway...

 

power flows are utter crap why anyone buys them its i dont know,
i have a03wrx i change the rear box turned up the boost by 3psi and got 268 at the fly and 227 at wheels with 250bl torque some thing like that anyway havent got the paper work to hand

 

What rear box did you put on mate? And are you running a boost controller to do that or is it something in the ECU that can be programmed?

(Don't forget I'm new to the Scooby scene!)

 

If I had 3k to spend on a WRX then I would have bought an Sti.

Dave

 

I was looking at this as an option, but was told that the extra money could tune the car way past a standard STI?

 

Not sure if that was good advice. You'll still have a car worth less than an Sti.

Spending 3k on a mods in money down the drain.........buying a more expensive car, at least you'd get some money back.

 

Can't understand why you would want to buy an exhaust to get back to factory figures. You need to find out why you are below factory figures now

 

1. I think the buy a STi is good advice!

2. I would recommend getting the handling and braking sorted before you go for 300 bhp plus, it really does make all the difference.

3. Speak to a few companies before deciding what/where to spend - Powerstation are very helpful, they might even be able to sort a test drive in a car with well sorted brakes and suspension to show you the difference that makes.

4. Whatever you do - enjoy!!

 

Hi
MBK's advice is spot on!
I got my 05WRX tuned at Powerstation - as above in earlier post.
They also fitted the anti-lift kit, droplinks and realigned the geometry.
Then I found the car was too fast for the brakes and suspension.
I am about to book the car into Powerstation to get the rest of the "T25 suspension" setup fitted - anti-roll bars and new AST dampers/spring kit.
Last Thursday - I had grooved front discs fitted and Ferodo DS2500 pads - the brakes are now much better. The original pads had only done around 8000 miles - plenty of thickness left on them - but they were really shiny - glazed over! - no wonder the brakes were so bad!
Cheers!
Steve

 

good meeting you today and im glad you got things

buy an STI or you will end up with something like mine

 

Can you post up the dyno chart including the AFR readings?

Do you have a full decat or just cat back?

Something doesnt ring true with this. You would have to have a BIG restriction to lose 30bhp if that's indeed what you did lose...

Agreed on the STi upgrade though - will save you a lot in the long run.

MB

 

Right then, yesterday when at The Racing Line, the car was on tick-over for about 20 minutes whilst the guys there sorted out the car on the rolling road, strapping it down, preparing the fan etc... which caused some serious heat to build up on the intercooler.

The fan which they use simply isn't big enough or high enough to project air onto the intercooler so it was basically doing nothing.

Then, to add to that problem, I had fitted a K&N Typhoon to it without a remap so that air intake simply wasn't right for the setup of the ECU.

To add to all that, I had the worst exhaust on there possible, which was a powerflow system cat back.

This produced 191 BHP at the flywheel as the ecu was shutting the boost down to 7.5 PSI only.

Anyway, I phoned the Scooby Clinic today at 10:30, asked if they could fit me in today, and guess what, they did!!

So at 11:00am this morning, I set off to the Scooby Clinic for a power-run, aswell as a full 3" downpipe and exhaust fitted and then another power-run to see the results.

Before I did this, I fitted the original air filter back on so that the MAF would be reading the correct air flow etc...

As I arrived at the Scooby Clinic I was pleased to see a proper setup on the rolling road facilities, including an absolutely massive fan which is more than adequate to give the engine the cool air it needs.

The 'before' power run results were good, 185.7 BHP at the wheels, whilst 242.4 BHP at the flywheel, with 215 FtLb's of torque. (14 PSI)

Not bad for a totally standard car excluding the powerflow cat-back exhaust...

Then, Scooby Clinic fitted their own brand of 3" downpipe and straight through system (with 4" back box), firstly, the sound is just awesome, especially at low revs. Even on the motorway the sound is just brings goose-pimples to your arms!! (Sad, I know...)

A couple of hours later, the car was off the ramps and back onto the dyno for its 'after' run.

The car now produces 203.5 BHP at the wheels and 264.0 BHP at the flywheel with 240 FtLb's of torque, and the difference in driving the car is sooooo much better!!!

The red line is the 'before' run, and the blue is the 'after'.

I'm crap with names, but thanks to all at the Scooby Clinic for your excellent hospitality, and for putting up with all my questions etc...

10/10 for customer service and satisfaction.

As Jerry Springer would say, my final words:

Basically, I am one happy bunny (quiet appropriate, being Easter), my car is running top notch, and the money spent has turned my WRX into the car I initially wanted, plenty of pull with the noise to go with it.



P.S Nice to meet you today Rich, great to watch a Scooby hit 376BHP!!!

 

hey 386

youve got to learn to keep away from rolling roads - they will always cost you money one way or another

 

Good to see you've got the car's bhp up more to where it should be, MikeyB.
If you can stretch to it, a decat uppipe with a decent air filter should get you up to another 20 bhp and some more torque. My '03 wrx is at 286.1 bhp and 254 pounds per foot.

 

An air filter wont give you 20bhp, poss 5, mine gave me 12 and 15lbs of torque but it was designed for my car which was very restrictive, if you want good figures go for an STi, 318bhp and 356lbs of torque on just a panel filter is impressive

Tony