2008 Subaru Legacy GT 2.5 Limted: She's a keeper.

[Pako]

LOL, yeah... leaving about 1500 rpm on the table. This is just a base map, and until I'm ready to find that empty stretch to pull 3rd gear and start logging, I am taking things kind of mellow. I love it man, it's just what I wanted. He's got me capped at 13.5 psi at the moment and waiting to hear back on the tuning process as to what he is looking for with each new revision.

Magnaflow CBE - $600 free shipping. (two days after my order was shipped, another deal popped up, $575 free shipping..., can't win them all...)
Cobb DB - $600 also free shipping.
Cobb Heat Shield - $65 also free shipping.

The days of crawling under the car are done for me, paid to have "Larry" at Exhaust Worx install it for me today for, two hours later with lifts and impact wrenches, he charged me $120. The more I watch him work with the lift, the more each and every penny became more and more worth it.

The size of these pipes compared to the stock pipes really blew me away. 3" from the turbo outlet all the way back until it splits to both exhausts. The old pipes were 2" and restricted down to 1 1/2" in spots from what I would guess.

From a base stock with relatively no tuning done yet, I can already feel the extra power. It pulls my head back and plants my back firmly in the seat now. I am all grins man!

Can't wait for the final revision....

Now to find a closed road to do my logging on.....

 

[dsgerbc]

Congrats. Stage2 subjectively feels a lot faster in these cars. I'd invest into having a silencer welded into the mid-pipe. Otherwise the drone even catted DPs produce drives me insane.

 

[Pako]

Congrats. Stage2 subjectively feels a lot faster in these cars. I'd invest into having a silencer welded into the mid-pipe. Otherwise the drone even catted DPs produce drives me insane.

Good advise. I have heard of a few others doing that as well. The jury is still out on this one. I'll have to see how long the honeymoon lasts.

 

[Turbo Lag]

Damn, sounds absolutely fantastic Pako. 👍 Very jealous of that turbo goodness there.

 

[Pako]

Damn, sounds absolutely fantastic Pako. 👍 Very jealous of that turbo goodness there.

Thank you, very much. I love it also, still full of grins and adrenaline. Can't go to sleep so I decided to go out and get my 3rd gear pull logged out....

Last one for the night. Cars are always in my way before I hit 4th gear..... While I was out getting my third gear pull, I grab this quick video for another LGT owner looking to do the same thing....

​

 

[SVX]

Man, that sounds absolutely beautiful.

 

[Pako]

👍 Thanks!

Took the kids for a ride in it this morning, on the way to summer school! Speed junkies those kids are, especially my 3 year old. Faster daddy, faster! Yikes!!! It brought a tear to my eye, they make me so proud.

 

[Pako]

And pics:

 

[WrxScooby]

You inspired me a bit got a Invidia N1 Race Catback and a custom made downpipe. Got the dp already and the invidia gets here today! Gonna try and put it on this weekend.

 

[Pako]

👍 Alright man! That's awesome.... I have having Infamous1 from Infamoustuning do my stage 2 mapping. So far it's been a really good process with some great results. Having no dyno within 500 miles of me, an e-tune was about the only way to go. He's done over 900 subies to date so I feel I am in good hands.

The whole opensource tuning thing is amazing, it really is! I am hooked for life!

Ran a couple runs to log a bit more data for the second map revision. Here's a 3rd gear pull and another run through a few gears....

​

Edited: Long story, but I have a new set of wheels coming in on Tuesday.
http://aftermarket.motegiracing.com/wheels/?wheelid=MR1254&siteid=4&groupid=23

18x8 and only 18.3 lbs ea. Oh and...they are free.

http://images.wheelpros.com/mMR2743.png

 

[eSZee]

Which ones? The 274s or the 125s?
FREE IS BEST!

 

[Pako]

Which ones? The 274s or the 125s?
FREE IS BEST!

3rd page. SP10 in gun metal grey. See the png link above. They are a 10 spoke wheel. Very similar to the specb stock wheels.

 

[Kent]

Loving the progress and the build so far. Keep up the good tuning and keep us updated like you have so far. 👍

 

[Pako]

Thanks Kent, will do, for sure! As funds become available, I do have a few other things that want to get done in the short term. Not sure if I want to hit Stage 3+ on my power..... It took me almost 5 years to hit stage 2. I have some suspension upgrades that need addressed as well as some interior gauges, etc that I want. The list is long and funds are short.

Here's the whole wheel story with Les Schwab:

Pako said, Buyer Beware: Bought a set of Apex 200 Ultra's at our local Les Schwab dealer in Kalispell. Before I bought the wheels/tires, I asked the salesman if there was any issue running them in the winter (as I had heard horror stories in the past). I was assured that nothing would happen, and furthermore that if anything did, the 12 month warranty would cover any issues.

Well, 15 months had passed and all four wheels look like they have been through a bat of acid. The clear-coat on the wheels are pitted and look horrible, like there is mud stuck to them that won't wipe off. I realize I am outside of the warranty period, but they offered absolutely no support for my $1500 purchase of tires and wheels. I am currently looking for new wheels and I need new tires on both of my vehicles. You can be sure I will not buy from Les Schwab ever again. I do not trust them and they have lost me as a customer for selling me a bad product and then not standing by it.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/338/attachmentphpattachment.jpg/

Like · · Share · Tuesday at 5:07pm

Pako Said, Followup: I received a call from Todd, at the Center Street location. He wanted to followup on my situation in response to my comment. He was very polite and professional. I was shocked and taken back by the fact I was contacted. Normally this kind of communication is unheard of and honestly was not expecting any kind of contact from them. He assured me that he would take care of my issue. With that said, I might be buying 2 sets of tires from them. One set for my Subaru and a second set for my wife's Pilot.

17 hours ago · Like · 1
Pako said, Conclusion: I am blown away at Todd's commitment to service. Friendly, professional, courteous, honest and knowledgeable. I am luck to come across someone in retail with just one of those qualities, much less all five of them. He took care of me restored my trust in Les Schwab. Pics to follow, new wheels should be here next week.
13 hours ago · Like

 

[dsgerbc]

Looks good. I'd get an aftermarket intercooler for two reasons:
1)JB-welded OEM ones do leak in the end.
2)Infamous usually doesn't bother too much implementing custom requests you make (like extra margin of safety etc), so by installing a larger intercooler after your e-tune is done you'll get that safety margin.

IIRC, process west and perrin are identical. I'd get AVO v2+, cause I think there are less mounting issues. And I'd get them new, you never know how many PSIs used ones went through.

There's another side though. They way it looks (only COBB heat shielf) - aftermarket TMICs might be more prone to heatsoaking, due to metal endtanks. I'd put the OEM heatshields back on and go for SPT heat shield on top (don't remember if COBB one fits over stock heat shield). Or wrap the whole thing.

 

[Pako]

Looks good. I'd get an aftermarket intercooler for two reasons:
1)JB-welded OEM ones do leak in the end.
2)Infamous usually doesn't bother too much implementing custom requests you make (like extra margin of safety etc), so by installing a larger intercooler after your e-tune is done you'll get that safety margin.

IIRC, process west and perrin are identical. I'd get AVO v2+, cause I think there are less mounting issues. And I'd get them new, you never know how many PSIs used ones went through.

Great suggestions. I am going to start with bullet proofing my stock IC first and see what I can get out of it. His stage 2 tunes at 17.5 psi. As long as I don't have any boost creep, it should stay under 18 psi which I am told the stock IC should handle. Heavy on the "should".... Bullet Proofing just secures bands around the ends to make sure the tabs don't come apart. The materials are cheap enough so I'm not out that much on my stock IC. If it explodes or starts to fail, I will make a decision on a IC at that point. In speaking with Jeff on his Bullet Proof mod, people are getting a lot of life on their IC's with it.

From what I have seen, the Perrin and AVO are close to OEM fitment while the PW TMIC is quite a bit larger and have read where people compare the PW more to a FMIC performance than the other TMIC aftermarket solutions.

What all this means is, I probably won't have to worry about any of it unless I upgrade the turbo, and other fuel supporting mods. To be honest, if I got that route, a FMIC will be in my future, a very distant future I am sure.




Edited: Here's Jeff's thread on his Bullet Proofing mod: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/bulletproof-tmic-mod-lgt-08-wrx-158870.html

 

[WrxScooby]

Teaser for my new part.

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=229809

 

[Pako]

Got another map tonight, revision 3. It just keeps getting better and better. Going through this process, I do have some minor regrets I didn't go straight to stage 3+, but we have to take baby steps right? Just too much fun, super responsive compared to stock. The LGT has got some bawlz that it never had before, that's for sure!

 

[WrxScooby]

Nice so what kinda number are you getting out of stage 2 eat. Hp? Torque? 0-60?

Yeah take it slow that's my plan with the legacy. My wagon on the other hand has been just a stage 1 Cobb tuned with a old cat back with no name but all at once gonna be I guess stage 4.

 

[Pako]

Straight to stage 4? YIKES! Well, if I had a project car separate from my DD, I would be doing the same. :evil:

No idea on estimates. I know what other guys are getting at Stage 2. I've been messing around with Virtual Dyno but the numbers seem wack. If I can get that straightened out, I'll post some estimates. I wish we had a dyno around here, but we don't. I guess there's a Mustang dyno about 120 miles south of me. Next time I visit my friends down there, I'll have to see about dyno appointment to get some actuals.

Got my new wheels today for $65:

Old wheels:

Well, I am told that the tune is done. The boost limit is at 17.5 and tapers off nicely. The stuttering that I had for the past 5 years is gone. That in of itself was worth the tune to me. The power and torque gains feel really good to me and has made the car very, very fun to drive. As far as numbers go, I really have no idea with no Dyno in the area. I can guess somewhere around 300 crank hp, 230 wheel hp although virtual dyno is showing 203whp. At the end of the day, the numbers mean very little to me, it's how it drives that matters. I would like to put it on an AWD Dyno sometime just to make sure I'm not leaving any power on the table with my current mods, but other than that...I am enjoying the ride. I have been looking into RacerX FMIC as an option because of it's fitment. No hacking front braces off and you get to keep the fog lights... Hummm..... With that, might be able to get a little more boost out of this stock turbo before any fuel mods would need to be addressed.

So there we are, wishing for more already, but happy with where I'm at (so far).

 

[WrxScooby]

Nice new shoes look great. Got my new exhaust still need a video though haha

 

[Pako]

From Stage 2 to Stage 3 upgrade. I have been having a blast at stage 2 now for just a couple weeks but find that I am just want more power. It's a sickness really, but I want my spine to crack in my seat when I go full throttle. Some virtual dyno's suggest that I am around 210 WHP and around 280 foot pounds of torque.

I am looking at a few upgrades and curious what any of you think:

• ACT Subaru Legacy GT HD Street Clutch & Flywheel Kits
• Cobb Subaru LegacyGT 5 speed Double Adjustable Shifter
• Cobb front/rear Shifter Bushings
• Cobb Shifter Knob
• GrimmSpeed 3-Port Electronic Boost Control Solenoid
• Cobb Tuning Subaru Lightweight Main Pulley
• IP&T Filtered Turbo Oil Supply Line Kit
• Thermotec 2 inch x 50 ft Exhaust Insulating Wrap
• AVO Subaru Legacy GT Fuel Pump
• DeatschWerks 850cc Top Feed Fuel Injectors
• K&N Subaru Legacy GT Typhoon Intake
• Process West TMIC
• PTP Subaru Turbo Blanket
• Subaru Legacy GT Turbo Install Kit
• Cusco Legacy GT BP9 Front and Rear Strut Brace
• 18G compressor wheel/TD05H turbine wheel (max-rated at 335 AWHP so far!)
• KW Variant 2 Coilovers with SpecB Top Hats

So, what am I missing here? With a proper tune, that puts me at about 320-360 WHP on 91 octane depending on a few things....

Thoughts? Concerns? Considerations?

 

[Blackbird.]

Your idea of "a few" is frightening. I say if you can afford it, do it! Moar power! /American

 

[Pako]

Well, I am scratching the Cusco's off the list and am looking at the KW Variant 2 Coilovers. The RCE's seem like a superior "customized" KW but it's emphasis is track. I just want to reduce roll and pitch. With my recent Stage 2 upgrade, the pitch travels better than an inch in 1st - 3rd. It feels more like 2 - 2.5 inches but I don't think I have that much travel. Anyways, I can only imagine there is significant power not transferring to the road because of this. So, I think my first upgrade with be the Variant 2 Coilover and Front/Rear strut braces. Get an alignment and call it a day.

http://www.kw-suspension.com/us/kw_variant_2.php

08/15/2012 - Well, I called a few shops and they are all way over priced on their Coilover installs. I can buy a 60gl 3HP Upright compress for impact wrenches and other air goodies for the price of the install. I may just go that route, buy the tools I need, and do it myself. Pay the $70 for the alignment and call it a day....

 

[Pako]

Well...today was a good day. Got the new KW Variant 2 with SpecB tophats installed today without a hitch, well, without too much of a hitch. Below are some install shots throughout the day.







After it was all said and done, I had to give it a wash and a quick drive for a couple post install shots.

 

[Blackbird.]

Lookin good! How does it handle now?

 

[Pako]

The handling is everything I was hoping for. It's stiff and accurate. The road translates very well to the steering wheel. I like the stance of the car a lot better now, but I was more concerned with handling over looks. The drop is at it's highest setting. If I wanted to roll the fenders, I could drop it another inch or so, but really there is no need and would be kind of stupid to do on our roads here.

Over all I am really happy with it. I need to do some tweaking on the dampening and rebound just a bit. It's a little stiff and bounces just a little more than I want but I will give it a couple weeks for everything to settle in before I make any fine tuning adjustments.

The nice thing about these coilovers is that they are adjustable. All I have to do is pop the wheel off to adjust the ride height. To adjust the dampening, I just use a little allen wrench on the top nut, I don't even have to take the wheel off to make that adjustment. It takes literally seconds to adjust.

My short throw shifter kit just came in today so that will be my next project. That and a couple more things on the list and I should be done until spring or so..... The mod fund is pretty well tapped at this point.

 

[Blackbird.]

Sweet! And on the note of the funds for modding. Believe me, I know how you feel.

 

[Pako]

Well, probably the last mod for a while except for maybe a Momo Shift knob.

I installed a Cobb dual adjustable short throw shifter.

As suggested, I also replaced the front and rear shift bushings.
Front bushings installed:

Rear bushing mount installed:

The old parts that came out:


I will say that shifting is stiffer and more precise. The shifts are definitely shorter but I like it, a lot.

It's easy enough to adjust if I need to raise or low the shaft depending on the shifting knob.

 

[WrxScooby]

Sweet! And on the note of the funds for modding. Believe me, I know how you feel.

Me to.