Maximum mods from the Stock ECU & Stock Turbos

Gents,

After the standard BPU, what other mods could be done whilst retaining stock turbos and the stock ecu, no piggyback jobs or standalones...Just Mr T's mapping..

Cams & Verniers - There seems to be varying opinions on these here, would they run well on street car that was occasionally used on the drag strip & track..Even if the gains are minimal, are there any at all?

Fuel Pressure Regulator - seems not to be required...

I can't think of anything else..

I am still struggling to find decent mappers in South Africa, so it looks like I am destined to keep the OEM Ecu...

Any other recommendations?

I would look more to Chassis and weight mods to be honest. There are very little gains to be had after BPU. I think the record on stock turbo's & ecu is around 430@SRR, which you won't be far off of with healthy turbos. The jump from 400 to 430 just isn't worth the cost of cams etc unless you REALLY want to max out what you have.

Good suspension and good wheels/tyres will make far more difference to the speed of your car than such a small gain in power.

I was considering just the cam gears, I could do it whilst changing the timing belt.. Mkiv.com lists some gains for it, minimal though...

I think maybe a good set of coilovers might be a good bet, I have just lowering springs and oem shocks...

Any opinions on the FPR?

I dont think the FPR is a restriction at all, not at BPU levels anyway. I think I remember reading that it only becomes a restriction around the 600 mark but it's recommended to be removed as soon as you go single.

Camgears and cams are a bit much of a muchness at BPU levels, but if you want to do it then go for it. The top end tends to run a little rich on a stock ECU anyway. Another good option would be a Mines or Blitz ecu. They tend to run a little leaner throughout the range to give some reasonable gains.

You aren't going to get a lot at this stage regardless of what you do to be honest. It would take equipment to notice the gains, as you won't really notice them on the bum dyno.

Rather just save up for a single turbo then I reckon, hopefully by then I would have found a decent mapper...

I will do some research on the Mines ecu, they not too far from me, about 250kms.. Need to check if they will be able to cater for the 95octane plus water meth I intend on running in SA..

Ahh, Mines won't be any good for 95 octane. Have you checked the Mon rating in SA?

Ahh, Mines won't be any good for 95 octane. Have you checked the Mon rating in SA?

Not sure mate, can't seem to find anything on the web...

Is there a magical figure I should be looking at?

I will be running water meth, and I can source toluene to add to the mix...

Not sure mate, can't seem to find anything on the web...

 

Is there a magical figure I should be looking at?

 

I will be running water meth, and I can source toluene to add to the mix...

The US runs 93 ron but their MON level is far higher than ours making the fuel far better. I think it works out to the equivilant of just over 100ron on our fuel.

The US runs 93 ron but their MON level is far higher than ours making the fuel far better. I think it works out to the equivilant of just over 100ron on our fuel.

According to some internet chat, the SA 95 RON is equivalent to the US 91 RON... Not sure in the truth of this though...

According to some internet chat, the SA 95 RON is equivalent to the US 91 RON... Not sure in the truth of this though...

I would certainly find out before you setup the car to run 95, just in case it's a better equivilant.

According to the Sunoco Race fuel supplier in SA, no SA fuel has a MON rating... They might just be saying that to market their product.. I seem to remember a local magazine doing testing of some fuels with a tuner, will look for the issue of the magazine, might have some stats in there..

Also I will email a few of the fuel companies in SA to find out, I hope they give me some decent answers..

You'd get small mid/upper end gains with longer duration/higher lift cams at the cost of a small amount of low down response, but really not worth it unless you have the ECU mapped to get the best out of the setup. With a standalone/piggyback ECU and cams the max you'll be able to manage with the stock turbos would be around 430hp (flywheel).

No point in replacing the FPR.

Agree with Scott I'd spend the money optimising the suspension, braking, wheel and tyre setup. Oh and I'd stick with 18 inch wheels max if you don't want to compromise the handling too much.

Pretty sure they need to have both ratings, could be wrong though.

South African fuel is dodgy... experience from the Impreza Owners club (used to have someone who worked at Sasol that tested the fuels). Last I knew....Cape Town was 95 RON and Johannesburg was 91 RON.

I used to run a LINK ECU in my supra and I knew of a few people that were rather good at mapping those, in Cape Town.

Limiting yourself with the standard turbos, is not the best of ideas, but you can also consider CAMS - I ran 264in, 264ex, once mapped properly it was great!!

Only person that used to touch my impreza was an ex-national rally champ, Dave Kopka (spelling) he ran a garage at Killarney race track Very good!! I went out with him, driving my impreza on the track not fun!!!!

Where are you based?

Thanks Scott and Nic...

So my homework items for now are...

1. Fuel situation in SA - Check RON and MON numbers

2. Find a decent mapper..

3. Suspension & wheel and tyre options..

Then I can decide on cams/gears and ECU upgrade...

South African fuel is dodgy... experience from the Impreza Owners club (used to have someone who worked at Sasol that tested the fuels). Last I knew....Cape Town was 95 RON and Johannesburg was 91 RON.

 

I used to run a LINK ECU in my supra and I knew of a few people that were rather good at mapping those, in Cape Town.

 

Limiting yourself with the standard turbos, is not the best of ideas, but you can also consider CAMS - I ran 264in, 264ex, once mapped properly it was great!!

 

Only person that used to touch my impreza was an ex-national rally champ, Dave Kopka (spelling) he ran a garage at Killarney race track Very good!! I went out with him, driving my impreza on the track not fun!!!!

Yeah, I have had a few mates blow a couple of tuned engines on crappy fuel

Cape town is far for me to go to map, Durban mappers are not the best..

Need to do some homework as above..

Yeah, I have had a few mates blow a couple of tuned engines on crappy fuel

 

Cape town is far for me to go to map, Durban mappers are not the best..

 

Need to do some homework as above..

Yeah, Cape Town is a touch far... Some good mappers in Joburg, but dont remember any (never knew of any in Durban...). My impreza was sold to someone who drove it to Joburg, blew the engine on the way, as he did not listen when I said turn the boost down and get it mapped (poor quality fuel up there).

Good luck and be careful!!

2. Find a decent mapper..

Do I remember you saying there was an HKS Pro Dealer locally? F-con Pro V would be my choice if you do.

3. Suspension & wheel and tyre options..

Money no object I'd go with.

Ohlins suspension

A set of lightweight 1 piece forged wheels - eg. Volk TE37SL

Loads of threads on here about tyre choice.

Do I remember you saying there was an HKS Pro Dealer locally? F-con Pro V would be my choice if you do.

 

 

 

Money no object I'd go with.

Ohlins suspension

A set of lightweight 1 piece forged wheels - eg. Volk TE37SL

Loads of threads on here about tyre choice.

love those wheels

love those wheels

The exact ones I'm looking at. Getting them to the UK is going to be priceeeeeeey though.

Yeah, Cape Town is a touch far... Some good mappers in Joburg, but dont remember any (never knew of any in Durban...). My impreza was sold to someone who drove it to Joburg, blew the engine on the way, as he did not listen when I said turn the boost down and get it mapped (poor quality fuel up there).

 

Good luck and be careful!!

Thanks man... We really are short changed in Durban... But will make a plan..

Do I remember you saying there was an HKS Pro Dealer locally? F-con Pro V would be my choice if you do.

 

 

 

Money no object I'd go with.

Ohlins suspension

A set of lightweight 1 piece forged wheels - eg. Volk TE37SL

Loads of threads on here about tyre choice.

There is a HKS dealer, he is based 600kms from me and I am just unsure of his reputation.. My mate is researching his work, till we can prove he is capable of mapping the V-PRO I am not convinced..

Will look into the suspension, as for rims still on the hunt for a good set..

There is a HKS dealer, he is based 600kms from me and I am just unsure of his reputation.. My mate is researching his work, till we can prove he is capable of mapping the V-PRO I am not convinced..

 

Will look into the suspension, as for rims still on the hunt for a good set..

Does the HKS dealer run an impreza drag car? Dark blue? Classic style? That's where my car was heading

There is a HKS dealer, he is based 600kms from me and I am just unsure of his reputation.. My mate is researching his work, till we can prove he is capable of mapping the V-PRO I am not convinced..

This company? Looks like they have a decent setup.

You should speak to Ryan G, may be willing to fly over to map the car.

This company? Looks like they have a decent setup.

 

You should speak to Ryan G, may be willing to fly over to map the car.

Not the HKS dealer I was thinking about... but NxGen have been around for ages, they were a big name in the impreza scene in SA. For quite sometime than ran the only Subaru 22B in South Africa. I remember seeing it run at King of the Hill (Mountain) in Ceres. Shame it will never run again..... King of the Hill that is, too dangerous!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnz6lI69F5E

NxGen Impreza is in at the end, shame about the missed gear, the end shows why it was cancelled