Category Archives: FaceBook

National Speed – Tuner

Leave a reply

So, I’m interested in determining if I should use National Speed (which I’ll sometimes refer to as ‘NS’) as a tuner.

I reached out to them via Facebook yesterday.  Below is the conversation.

Me:  

Do you guys do e-tunes? I’m looking at your web page but I don’t see mentions of e-tunes, so I’m going to assume that you don’t offer them. There are tuners up here, but you guys seem to run a great shop!

I’m in the Washington DC area…you guys aren’t exactly far, but far enough that a tuning trip might be complicated.

Manager:

Hi, Jon! First of all, what vehicle are you working with?

If you can wait a few months, we’ll have a shop much, much closer to you. We’re opening our Richmond, Virginia location shortly!

Me:

Oh damn! That’s great news! I’ve a 2011 Subaru STI (sedan) with zero mods. I can definitely wait a few months for the Richmond location to open!

Manager:

Oooo, we do love Subaru’s around here. 

What are your plans for it? Keep it simple, make it more fun? Those cars wake up big time with just a tune. Here’s a 2012 Subaru WRX STi sedan we did a while back, the only modifications are an Injen intake system, an Invidia Q300 catalytic-converter-back exhaust system, and a custom dyno tune via COBB Tuning’s AccessPORT (did I get all of that right, Christine?).

The blue graph was the first pull on stock calibration (with said bolt-on modifications), the red graph was after tuning. Quite a difference!

Me:

My list so far is, Grimmspeed 3 port EBCS, Walbro 255 fuel pump, and Cobb catted DP (as well as a Cobb AP v3).

This isn’t going to be a wild build…I’m just looking to get rid of the stock tune. I want a safety-oriented tune, but will take as much power as I can get while still being somewhat safe, if possible. I want to go straight to Stage 2 to get the most out of the time and money spent on the tune and parts. The biggest worry for me right now is driving on the stock tune. The car only has 15K miles on it, so I’m hoping the stock tune hasn’t damaged things already. I don’t beat on the car but I do autocross it (I’m not a serious competitor, though).

I had an intake on my list (AEM), but I’m not sure if the car actually needs it, so I removed it from my list.

That chart is extremely impressive…sick results! I like how the peaks and valleys of the blue graph were filled in on the red graph, too.

I’ll share the news of your upcoming Richmond shop on the IWSTI.com forums.

Car Owner of Tuned STI / Customer of National Speed:

That was it Jordan! And after that, I installed a high-flow catted DP and gained no power at all on the next tune, so I took that to mean that the stock DP and cat is already pretty much maxed out on the STi (just in case you want to save the money Rob). But I was impressed by the gains just a couple bolt-ons and a custom tune made!

The conversation dwindled after that.

I wanted to share this because, when I first saw the gains, I thought they were hokey.  They included a dyno chart that showed both the baseline (the mods were on when the baseline was run) and protune results.  They had some very high gains:  60HP/82TQ peaks, on just the tune alone (!!).  The exhaust was an Invidia Q300 catback (which is 2.75″ inch diameter and is really a full exhaust).  I’m wondering if the Invidia is what was the main factor of the tune (it would almost certainly have to be).  I also thought that the shop shouldn’t have run the baseline with the intake installed…I thought that was a huge no-no.

I posted about this on IWSTI and after discussing with another member, came to the conclusion that I should not use National Speed.

I also posted to IGASTI (igotasti.com) and provided the same information and actually got a wealth of information back from them (more so than my post at IWSTI).  One poster at IGASTI stated that I don’t really have enough information to suggest that National Speed’s numbers were hokey…I agree, in hindsight.  But my main concern is that tuners should offer as much information as possible to potential clients so that they don’t assume…NS did leave a LOT of gaps in their description of that tune, and there are not all that many Subarus making 60HP from just a tune.

I will continue to watch National Speed, but I will be checking out IAG next.  For now, it’s a bake-off between IAG and NS

Hellaflush / Stanced ?

Leave a reply
Someone posted this on IWSTI and I laughed my ass off!  This video speaks for itself!

Post by Third World Society.

Flat 4 Photo!

Leave a reply

Check this out!

I ordered one so I can either place it in my garage or place it in my “man area” of the house. I’ll get a frame for it. They ship them either flat or rolled…I wanted flat but wasn’t willing to pay $25 extra in shipping…screw that.

Post by Nameless Performance, Inc.

2014 Focus ST vs 2015 WRX – First Head-to-Head Review!

Leave a reply

Now, on Motor Trend’s FB page and the article’s comment section, several people stated that they thought this comparison was flawed because of the platform difference. Well, I don’t remember anyone saying anything similar last year when the cars were compared…seriously. As well, there isn’t much the WRX is going to compare to, since there aren’t many AWD cars in it’s category (cars that are at or under $30K that have 270 HP that are AWD)…but it’s been like that for years. Someone also mentioned that it should be compared to the Evo…no, the STI is the better Subaru for that.

This WRX may not be as quick as the last generation WRX in the quarter-mile, but I’ve said this several times now: it’s because of the change of gearbox (it now has a 6-speed instead of the GR/GV 5-speed manual). It has a good bit of thrust in the quarter-mile, as well…that trap speed more accurately reflects the car’s HP, IMO. It also sounds better than I thought it would, since it has equal length headers now…that’s the first video I’ve seen of a manual-equipped WRX.

The overall comparison shows that the WRX has been improved upon and is quick (pulling a peak of .96g on the skidpad and 25.3 sec in the figure 8). It bested the Focus ST in every contest of performance and also got decent enough comments in the road portion of the comparison. I’ve the feeling that this car may be getting a lot of such reviews.

Here’s the video that’s within the article. If you get bored, just skip everything and go to the last 2 minutes…you’ll love it!

http://wot.motortrend.com/1401_2015_subaru_wrx_goes_head_2head_with_ford_focus_st.html

WRX/STI Killer? Your Thoughts?

Leave a reply

For those of you that are pissed that Subaru quit producing a hatch WRX, here’s something to mull over…a 290HP VW Golf R.

More @ http://www.roadandtrack.com/go/news/volkswagen-golf-r-brings-290-hp-to-the-us?src=soc_fcbks

Post by Road & Track Magazine.

 

EDIT: Yeah, this news is making the rounds, as here’s another one from Motor Trend:

http://oak.ctx.ly/r/lxi0

Post by Motor Trend Magazine.

444 whp / 388 ft-lb from a built internals EJ257!

Leave a reply

Post by National Speed.

Cold Air Intakes by Nameless Performance

Leave a reply

 Nameless Performance Cold Air Intakes for 2008+ WRX/STIs, coming January 2014.

 

 

Post by Nameless Performance, Inc.

 

 

After seeing this FB post, I’ve decided to purchase a Cobb AP and this intake (provided it is reasonably priced, ie $200 or so).  I’m actually still on the fence about the AP purchase, but looking at that FB post and the dyno chart posted by Nameless, the gains are really strong (9HP and 34TQ, peak measurements), you can’t really argue with that.  And Nameless even posted a chart awhile back that showed similar gains with just the damned axleback…crazy.  Add the Nameless axleback, the intake, and a safe but good protune, and I’d be close to 300TQ and maybe 260HP.  And I suppose if I get in over my head (I’ve done the modding game before…after awhile, it got tiresome, and that was before my kids arrived), I can always remove the bolt-ons and revert to an OTS (or run stage 1 without mods & with safe protone, which would still give me gains).

RRE – GRs/GVs, Intakes Require a Tune!

Leave a reply

So, it appears that RRE are more interested in Subaru tuning now.  In fact, I saw a Facebook post this past weekend stating that intakes require tunes (otherwise, you’ll be making less power than stock).

I’m not sure I believe that every stock Subaru *requires* a tune, though.  In fact, it’s not all that common for owners to experience ringland issues (across the owner base).  The only reason that Subaru tuners think it’s an issue is because they’re niche and visit forums and FB groups where users of those media complain about it.  I’ve owned my car going on 3 years and my ringlands haven’t popped (knock on wood).  I’m 100% stock and have not been tuned.

This isn’t my first go-round with a turbocharged AWD car, and I’ve found out that tuning cars is like opening Pandora’s Box…once you open it, you won’t ever be able to go back to the way things were prior to opening the box.  Reliability becomes somewhat more suspect once tuning begins.  I need a car that’s 100% reliable, because my STI is my daily driver.  I do not have time to always be tinkering on my car or fixing something that I didn’t get right when adding a new part.

Murphy’s Law usually kicks in — you might find the car is running like crap or won’t start, usually at the worst time.  Been there, done that, and I’ve learned my lesson.  Your experience may vary, but that doesn’t mean that tuning is the method everyone should follow.  We all know the caveats of adding that Cobb Access Port (you may not be covered under warranty for any engine woes that have been proven to be caused by adding a 3rd party tune).  And then there’s the issue of the bad stock tune.  I’d rather be covered if the engine blows due to the stock tune, and I’m happy with the current tune of the engine…I’m not going to try to out-engineer the Subaru engineers by pretending I can do a better job.  You might not want to keep the stock tune on your own car, but again, each owner has different wants/needs.