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Old 11-21-2020, 09:18 AM   #1
Bcpierce86
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Default Not impressed with cobb stage 2+ map (03 wrx)

I have all the supporting mods cobb has said I needed to run the stage 2 map on my 03 wrx. I flashed to stage 2+ebcs 93 octane a few weeks ago. I baby my car all the time and have put maybe 200 miles on the car since going stage 2. I finally floored it to redline in 2nd and 3rd gear merging onto the interstate and wasn’t impressed. My question is, is babying my car (never more that 1/2 throttle and not going over 4K rpm) making my car run slower and not learning the tune fully? Do I need to get on it more often for my computer to learn the tune and adjust to get its full potential?
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Last edited by Bcpierce86; 11-21-2020 at 10:01 AM.
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Old 11-21-2020, 09:33 AM   #2
Zak6182
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If you have an STi did you have it in Sport Sharp? How much boost are you seeing?

Its been a while since I went stage 2 but I remember it being fairly noticeable increase in power. IIRC I was hitting around 18psi in sport sharp (STi).

Things like crappy fuel can also be holding you back. If not already, you should be watching DAM, feedback knock and fine knock learning.

To kind of answer your question though. Personally when I went stage 2 (and again at stage 3) I drove it to operating temp and pushed it a little (12-15 psi), parked to check everything over and then went for a few wot pulls. I remember going stock to Cobb 2 being more noticeable then going stage 2 to stage 3, but that was expected.

Last edited by Zak6182; 11-21-2020 at 09:40 AM.
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Old 11-21-2020, 09:40 AM   #3
Bcpierce86
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I’m sorry. I forgot to post it’s a 03 wrx.
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Old 11-21-2020, 11:16 AM   #4
snow_bound26
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Have you done all necessary maintenance items such as:
-Replacing all vacuum lines
-Replace turbo inlet
-Replace or at least clean the MAF
-Replace air filter
-Replace spark plugs and make sure they are gapped properly
-Check for exhaust leaks pre-turbo
-check for intake/TMIC hose leaks

You have an 03, it's old and will need all of these things done. If it's a high mileage engine and compression is on the lower end of acceptable than you may not feel as much difference as you had hoped. Without knowing what kind of maintenance has been done it could be any number of things. If all of the mentioned maintenance has been done, it wouldn't hurt to have a compression and leak down test done just verify the health of your engine.

As for the ECU itself, yes it does take time to adjust to your driving habits. It's good to be aggressive with the throttle a few times a week to keep the ECU in a learned condition. Honestly it's also healthy for the engine in general. Obviously, beating on it relentlessly is bad, but taking it to within 200-300 from redline a few times a week is healthy for performance engines.
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Old 11-21-2020, 12:34 PM   #5
oichan
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I had a modded 02 WRX long time ago (new) with U-Tech (it was a piggyback). The car's weakness is the gearing. You really have to launch the car from a standstill potentially shattering your glass tranny to squeeze out any level of real acceleration. The car sucked at rolling starts and pulls from 2 or 3rd.

It was fast for its time but that was near 20yrs ago.
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Old 11-21-2020, 01:27 PM   #6
Bcpierce86
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snow_bound26 View Post
Have you done all necessary maintenance items such as:
-Replacing all vacuum lines
-Replace turbo inlet
-Replace or at least clean the MAF
-Replace air filter
-Replace spark plugs and make sure they are gapped properly
-Check for exhaust leaks pre-turbo
-check for intake/TMIC hose leaks

You have an 03, it's old and will need all of these things done. If it's a high mileage engine and compression is on the lower end of acceptable than you may not feel as much difference as you had hoped. Without knowing what kind of maintenance has been done it could be any number of things. If all of the mentioned maintenance has been done, it wouldn't hurt to have a compression and leak down test done just verify the health of your engine.

As for the ECU itself, yes it does take time to adjust to your driving habits. It's good to be aggressive with the throttle a few times a week to keep the ECU in a learned condition. Honestly it's also healthy for the engine in general. Obviously, beating on it relentlessly is bad, but taking it to within 200-300 from redline a few times a week is healthy for performance engines.
All the maintenance you stated has been done as soon as I got the car home.
I boost leak tested it to 20psi and the only leak (if it’s even a leak) I hear comes from the turbo compressor housing itself but I cannot find a leak, no bubbles with soapy water.
Current mods are
Cobb sf intake, cobb 3 port ebcs, stock fuel system. Unknown name unmarried downpipe, bpm exhaust from there back. Mitsumoto intercooler hoses. Cobb AP v3. Stock headers and stock uppipe.

just logged a 3rd gear pull. I just have to figure out how to post the log
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Old 11-21-2020, 04:06 PM   #7
Winterhawk
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My '02 is a stage 2+ with a K&N filter in stock housing, Cobb catted up and down pipes, Cobb 3 port ebcs, and Invidia Q300 exhaust. It's a noticeable difference from stock and pulls great in 2nd and 3rd when rolling. I rarely launch fast in first, but when I do it's very quick. Couldn't be happier with it so far as DD tune. Not sure what to tell you other than double check everything that could possibly be suspect. Sounds like you bought the car this way, or did you do the upgrade?
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Old 11-24-2020, 07:57 PM   #8
Bcpierce86
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Winterhawk View Post
My '02 is a stage 2+ with a K&N filter in stock housing, Cobb catted up and down pipes, Cobb 3 port ebcs, and Invidia Q300 exhaust. It's a noticeable difference from stock and pulls great in 2nd and 3rd when rolling. I rarely launch fast in first, but when I do it's very quick. Couldn't be happier with it so far as DD tune. Not sure what to tell you other than double check everything that could possibly be suspect. Sounds like you bought the car this way, or did you do the upgrade?

I bought the car with the turbo back exhaust. And then I was told I needed the stage 2 tune for it to run right, so I bought a AP v3 and flashed to stage 2 right away. The car was acting up bad like shuddering and wouldn’t rev over 3. I thought it was a boost least so I tested it and then just bought the intercooler pipeing to see if that would fix it. No go, so I bought the intake because it had an injen cai and I thought that would be the problem. Long story short... dirty maf. It was running strong and felt faster before I got the AP and flashed it to stage 2. Car didn’t act up from the dirty maf until after the stage 2 map was flashed.
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Old 11-24-2020, 09:37 PM   #9
snow_bound26
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As you add mods to your car the ECU becomes more sensitive. Just part of the process
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Old 11-24-2020, 11:54 PM   #10
Bluestreak03
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zak6182 View Post
If you have an STi did you have it in Sport Sharp? How much boost are you seeing?



Its been a while since I went stage 2 but I remember it being fairly noticeable increase in power. IIRC I was hitting around 18psi in sport sharp (STi).



Things like crappy fuel can also be holding you back. If not already, you should be watching DAM, feedback knock and fine knock learning.



To kind of answer your question though. Personally when I went stage 2 (and again at stage 3) I drove it to operating temp and pushed it a little (12-15 psi), parked to check everything over and then went for a few wot pulls. I remember going stock to Cobb 2 being more noticeable then going stage 2 to stage 3, but that was expected.
Clearly stated 03 WRX... Anywho do you have the Cobb to read gauges on? And which? Or do you have gauges? What you have to remember Cobb tunes are blanket tunes, one size fits all but may need to be washed and ironed out afterwards... Hit me up
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Old 11-25-2020, 10:56 AM   #11
cknowlen
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluestreak03 View Post
Clearly stated 03 WRX... Anywho do you have the Cobb to read gauges on? And which? Or do you have gauges? What you have to remember Cobb tunes are blanket tunes, one size fits all but may need to be washed and ironed out afterwards... Hit me up
take note of when the OP was edited, and the post immediately after the one you are calling attention to.
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Old 11-25-2020, 12:44 PM   #12
Bluestreak03
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cknowlen View Post
take note of when the OP was edited, and the post immediately after the one you are calling attention to.
Noted... But at the same time both were edited on the same day, irrelevant... Regardless still need to know what the car is doing from a computer/mechanical standpoint... Give us more info
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Old 11-25-2020, 03:00 PM   #13
rtv900
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bcpierce86 View Post
My question is, is babying my car (never more that 1/2 throttle and not going over 4K rpm) making my car run slower and not learning the tune fully? Do I need to get on it more often for my computer to learn the tune and adjust to get its full potential?
Mine is much newer and I didn't do mechanical mods, just a tune, but I've flashed it a few times now.

My experience is that Yes, the tune starts off conservative and it takes quite a while to "learn" up to full potential, and Yes you do need to get on it hard a bunch of times in a few conditions to get that.

I actually just flashed mine from 91 octane to 93 just the other week and the 93 tune felt worse at first and it took a solid week or two before it came up to power.
Now it is slightly better than the 91, which is kind of what I expected.

But think about it, the ECU can't really learn its way to max power if you don't give it full load conditions otherwise it wouldn't be learning, it would just be like an old school mechanical setup where it comes right out of the box tuned at it's max, defeating the whole purpose of ECU learning.
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Old 11-25-2020, 04:24 PM   #14
oaklandish_WRX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bcpierce86 View Post
All the maintenance you stated has been done as soon as I got the car home.
I boost leak tested it to 20psi and the only leak (if it’s even a leak) I hear comes from the turbo compressor housing itself but I cannot find a leak, no bubbles with soapy water.
Current mods are
Cobb sf intake, cobb 3 port ebcs, stock fuel system. Unknown name unmarried downpipe, bpm exhaust from there back. Mitsumoto intercooler hoses. Cobb AP v3. Stock headers and stock uppipe.

just logged a 3rd gear pull. I just have to figure out how to post the log
Is bolded above a typo perhaps? Stock, 2003 WRX, uppipe...with the cat converter in it still? A 17 yo cat? If not a typo...there's your performance killer.

Does the UP have a fat section up top and a wire coming out of it and going to a 3 or 4 wire engine harness on the passgr sidewall near the strut tower? If yes, remove that bastard ASAP.
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Old 11-25-2020, 07:03 PM   #15
Unabomber
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You have not replaced your OEM Boost Control Solenoid. Do so with an OEM from Subaru unit.

You have not replaced your OEM Mass Air Flow Sensor. Do so with an OEM from Subaru unit or a legit Denso unit, not some knock off for $39.95 from ebay.

If you have not done these two things, you will never see the full power from the tune. There could be other issues, but these are paramount.
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Old 11-25-2020, 11:42 PM   #16
speedyHAM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unabomber View Post
You have not replaced your OEM Boost Control Solenoid. Do so with an OEM from Subaru unit.

You have not replaced your OEM Mass Air Flow Sensor. Do so with an OEM from Subaru unit or a legit Denso unit, not some knock off for $39.95 from ebay.

If you have not done these two things, you will never see the full power from the tune. There could be other issues, but these are paramount.
Best advice in this thread so far. At that age those items are likely badly degraded.

Edit- another possible item that may need replacing is the coil packs, they do go bad eventually. If you are running on 3 cylinders the power will be a lot down.
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Old 11-26-2020, 11:39 AM   #17
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Theres mine for reference. Cobb Stage 2 off the shelf tune. Dont know if that helps but I went out and took that just for you.

Last edited by samb; 11-26-2020 at 11:47 AM.
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Old 12-01-2020, 07:15 AM   #18
Bcpierce86
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Yeah I’m looking to get a new up pipe. Only other gauge I have other than the apv3 is an AEM wideband hooked up right after the turbo on the downpipe. I have a brand new cobb 3 port ebcs. Cleaned maf, looks brand new and seems to be running correctly. I do notice bucking when at around 2k rpm just starting to get going. I have a buddy willing to sell me a vf48 and sti injectors and new 255 fuel pump. Is this turbo too big for the 2.0? And what kind of lag am I going to get?
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Old 12-01-2020, 07:16 AM   #19
Bcpierce86
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Quote:
Originally Posted by samb View Post
https://youtu.be/yFvVa5hgcjs

Theres mine for reference. Cobb Stage 2 off the shelf tune. Dont know if that helps but I went out and took that just for you.

I’ll get out and do a pull and video it to post and see if there’s a difference
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Old 12-01-2020, 07:19 AM   #20
Bcpierce86
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Quote:
Originally Posted by samb View Post
https://youtu.be/yFvVa5hgcjs

Theres mine for reference. Cobb Stage 2 off the shelf tune. Dont know if that helps but I went out and took that just for you.
228,000 miles?!!! Wow!! Just kidding. Mine is at 246,000 lol. BUT the motor doesn’t have that on it lol.
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Old 12-01-2020, 07:48 AM   #21
Bcpierce86
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Quote:
Originally Posted by samb View Post
https://youtu.be/yFvVa5hgcjs

Theres mine for reference. Cobb Stage 2 off the shelf tune. Dont know if that helps but I went out and took that just for you.
ALSO!! do you get revhang when you let off the throttle? My car seems to keep Regina moments after I release the throttle and the. Push the clutch in. I know it’s not common on this year but it definitely jump 200-300rpm after releasing the throttle and pushing in the clutch.
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Old 12-01-2020, 08:03 AM   #22
snow_bound26
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The VF48 is a fun turbo for the EJ20. However, you should have the health of the engine diagnosed before you start adding power. Compression and leak down test at a minimum. I personally like to get a few pulls on the dyno to make sure everything is doing what it should. It also gives your tuner a chance to check everything over and let you know what kind of power it's making currently as well as if he sees anything abnormal you should be concerned with.
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Old 12-01-2020, 08:20 AM   #23
Bcpierce86
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snow_bound26 View Post
The VF48 is a fun turbo for the EJ20. However, you should have the health of the engine diagnosed before you start adding power. Compression and leak down test at a minimum. I personally like to get a few pulls on the dyno to make sure everything is doing what it should. It also gives your tuner a chance to check everything over and let you know what kind of power it's making currently as well as if he sees anything abnormal you should be concerned with.

I live in northeast Pa and I’m looking for an e tunner for my car. The closest dyno is about 4-5 hours away and I don’t really like to be at new places cause of this covid ****. Do you or anyone know of a tuner that will
E tune my car? Everyone seem to only do newer models.
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Old 12-01-2020, 10:05 AM   #24
Bluestreak03
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Tons of E tuners still out there just need to search for them and have the tactrix, laptop, and know how to do it properly
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Old 12-01-2020, 11:03 AM   #25
snow_bound26
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Stephen at iA Tuning is highly regarded for E tuning. There's also Ray at Turbo Tek.
http://www.turbotektuning.com
He's in the Philly area. He was a tuner near where I grew up in NY and I know several people who used him back then and had nothing but great things to say.
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