Greetings all: It has been awhile since we have posted up on our 2018 WRX so here we go. With the warranty on our brand new car running out in the Spring, my son and I have decided to make some "improvements" to the car. Since we had previously added mostly cosmetic things to make the car unique while preserving the expensive warranty......we were now wanting to take a look at improving the engine and tune. Like a lot of you we researched what kinds of modifications worked and which ones seemed to waste money and lead to heartache. Separating truth from fiction and YouTube was a task all in itself. After more than a couple nights of planning and talking to enthusiasts, builders and tuners all over the country, we decided to make the most of our car with common modifications, using pump gas, quality parts and to do it all at once to keep from opening up the engine more than was needed. We bought everything with our own money (no sponsors) and did all the work ourselves. Here is what we did recently and the results for the interested: Grimmspeed Downpipe Grimmspeed Exhaust Grimmspeed Intake Grimmspeed Charge Pipe Grimmspeed Intercooler (Top Mount) Grimmspeed 3 port Boost Control Solenoid Grimmspeed Engine Brace IBR full TGV Delete Kit IBR EGR Delete IAG Air-Oil Seperator Cobb Accessport Full Engine Tune by Ron Watson at Phatbotti Tuning The project took almost a full week working a few hours a day. We worked slowly and methodically through the the removal and replacement of all the parts. We learned so much on the way. No single video or manufacturer install sheet has all the details. It's a big project. We chose Grimmspeed parts because they are very high quality, they have great customer support, they are enthusiasts, and they are here in Minnesota. I can say without reservation that we are happy we chose Grimmspeed for nearly all the parts and that we researched a bunch of others before we did so. As I said, we took our time. There are a lot of details that need to be considered and done correctly. The car ran perfectly after surgery and continues to do so today. Not a single leak, loose wire, nut or bolt anywhere. It makes more power, runs cooler, drives better, no rev hang, and very rarely has even a single knock event. The stock tune recorded 11,000 knock events in a 20 minute drive around our home. After tuning.....none....and we drove it hard during the tune. After many emails and phone calls to local builders and tuners and some others around the country, we chose Ron Watson at Phatbotti Tuning in California as a source for knowledge, parts list and to tune the car. Ron does not have a great bedside manner but he knows these cars and what works and what does not for parts and tuning. He will not tune the car without quality parts. He will not give you the most edgy tune or highest HP only to have the car blow up on you in 3 months. He will give you the best tune he can with the parts you have installed. As a side note.....I will say that if you want the fastest, cheapest road to big HP in these cars......install the Cobb Flex Fuel system and run ethanol. The high compression, direct-injection FA motor loves ethanol and will make almost 400 HP on stock parts. I went with the parts giving me a fun, safe car on pump gas. Getting close to 400 HP was not the goal and the stock engine parts and drivetrain will suffer after a bit. My current parts list with the Cobb Flex Fuel rig will produce over 400hp at the crank. Tuning our Car: After the parts surgery, we ran a basic map from Ron to begin data-logging. We would send the information to Ron....who would alter the map incrementally....then send it back to us for uploading and more data logging. This cycle repeated 8 or nine times until the final map was tweaked. For the data log we would drive around under various conditions for 15 minutes then do a WOT 3rd gear pull. After the 8th map was installed he told us to drive it like we stole it for 2 or 3 days.......we cruised on the highway....air conditioning on and off....launched it once or twice.....did pulls in nearly every gear......short shifted......downshifted ...... then Ron made a few more tweaks based on input and called it good........and it was. We asked Ron to error, if any question arose, on the safe side. Based on the data logging we are now making around 335 hp and around 340 ft/lbs TQ at the crank. Maybe 285-290 at the wheels. (The stock tune is maybe 220hp at the wheels). 60 HP at the wheels and a bunch more torque makes this a pretty quick car. The power was created mostly by advancing the timing without knock which was supported with the parts installed. At 21-21.5 PSI, we are not really running any more boost and the Grimmspeed controller does a dependable, accurate job with the boost control and the tune. So, not HP and TQ records but that was not the goal and the car should run like this dependably for a very long time. It is a daily driver. The car starts quickly in all temps and idles as it always did. The intake temps are much lower than stock due to the Grimmspeed intercooler and EGR delete. The intake, charge pipe, intercooler and exhaust all combine to allow us to move more air and fuel at lower temps. The power delivery is strong and linear from idle to redline with no peaks or valleys. The Accessport shows very rare knock corrections of -1.41 that quickly return to zero vs the endless knock sensing in all phases of driving on the stock tune. This is truly the way the car would have come from Subaru if they were not saddled with endless regulations. Gas mileage has not changed. Very happy with the tune. The intake was unnecessary and expensive but my son likes all the whooshing, sucking and turbo noise.....and there is plenty of that. The exhaust is fantastic. A low, deep, stealthy rumble with no highway drone and just enough noise at WOT. We believed the air-oil separator was good for the longevity of the car so in it went. The TGV delete is 15hp all by itself and the EGR delete eliminates the intake temperature spikes and helps keep the valves clean, Thanks for reading. Hope this helps someone. Respond with questions.
