Subaru WRX Forum banner

2008 WRX tuned.

7K views 16 replies 5 participants last post by  Bulldog71ss 
#1 · (Edited)
We just got back from the local tuner. We went to a shop called Forced Air Technologies and Travis over there did an excellent job.

The baseline pull with the factory tune was at 223 awhp/263 awtq on a Mustang dyno @ 93 F temp in the shop.

There was a bit of knock retard and the afr was lean but surprisingly it wasn't that bad with the stock tune, but not ideal.

After a few pulls and some tweaking he got 232 awhp/297 awtq @ 16.3 psi out of the little turbo.

The horsepower is where I thought it would be, but the TQ is higher than I expected. It feels much better now, but still does not have enough top end pull. A top mount is coming soon, as well as a touch-up tune for the top mount. After that a VF52 or bigger turbo is going on.

No dyno graphs yet, but we will be getting some soon from them. When they come I'll post them up.


Mods:
-Prosport Unequal length header
-Prosport Uppipe
-Turboxs Intake
-Tuboxs Bell mouth down-pipe
-Turboxs midpipe/catback
-Dyno tune
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Fix under mods to "Dyno tune"

I bet that cheap OEM intercooler is overheating and being overworked at that temp. 93 is pretty hot and is it humid there? Heat and humidty will rob you of some HP. It looks like you got some really nice TQ out of the TD04 turbo. Plus, that turbo runs out of gas quick on the high end. It is punchy as all heck because it is smaller though. I'm glad that your car is finally tuned. !Thumbs Up
 
#3 ·
Good call on the typo.

And yes, the stock intercooler is robbing a lot of power. Our dyno guy is going to touch the tune up a bit when we get a new top mount on it, he'll be adding another pound or so of boost and a bit of timing. We're looking at getting a Perrin or an AVO; most likely the Perrin because of the price, unless you guys have a better top mount?
 
#7 ·
#8 ·
Do you have a linky? I'll search it.

EDIT:
05-09 Legacy/08-11 WRX/05+ Outback TMIC's!! - New England Subaru Forums
Perrin Performance - Top Mount Intercooler

It seems like its the same I/C from the comparisons on those links. Is Torque Solutions a Perrin rip off IC?

I dunno if it is a rip of the Perrin, but I've done a lot of searching on their products and people seem to be pretty happy with their stuff.

The price is right, I just wish they had one that wasn't in black. I like the silver finish a lot better.

EDIT:

After looking at them back-to-back they look pretty identical, lol. Oh well, if you're not cheating you're not trying.

DOUBLE EDIT:

Took the car up to the mountains with the g/f this weekend. All that torque makes a big difference, now there is no need to ever downshift, even when climbing steep hills it just pulls along. It feels like a big motor now.

Any guesses on the gains with a big topmount and a retune? I'm hoping we can urge another 15 or so hp out of it and maybe another 25 tq. My tuner will be adding another lb or 2 of boost with the retune.
 
#9 ·
It all depends on the heat and humidty that day. I say 10-15 hp maybe...tq probably not a lot. Your turbo is small and is probably already getting near its max tq with the small TMIC. Slapping on a fuel pump might help some on the tune. That way your tuner can get the most out of the injectors on the high end.
 
#11 ·
We're actually now thinking about just shelling out for the tbxs front mount system at this point. I think it's just too hot in Phx for any tmic and a front mount isn't going to be much more, plus from what I understand the fmic opens us up to more turbo options as well.
 
#12 ·
It can allow you to run the turbos of previous years. The FMIC will be a bit oversized for a TD04 though. FMIC/TMIC with your turbo the difference isn't a whole lot. Its going to be hot when you blow hot air onto the I/C regardless. Trust me, my tuner has a huge FMIC on his EVO 8 shop car and it still loses a ton of hp when its hot and humid out compared to when it's low humidity and not hot. Which the car can put down 500+whp when its nice out.

Its a older video, but you can watch this. The car has been played with and is different then this set-up now. But, you get the jest.
 
#13 ·
It can allow you to run the turbos of previous years. The FMIC will be a bit oversized for a TD04 though. FMIC/TMIC with your turbo the difference isn't a whole lot. Its going to be hot when you blow hot air onto the I/C regardless. Trust me, my tuner has a huge FMIC on his EVO 8 shop car and it still loses a ton of hp when its hot and humid out compared to when it's low humidity and not hot. Which the car can put down 500+whp when its nice out.

Its a older video, but you can watch this. The car has been played with and is different then this set-up now. But, you get the jest.
YouTube - ‪CBRD Time Attack Evo dyno testing.‬‏
The front mount isn't just for the td04. It's being installed in advance of the VF52 or bigger turbo that will be added later this year. However, hot air going into a big intercooler is better than hot air into a tiny one. Why keep an undersized intercooler on the car just because it's hot out? I see it as even more of a reason to change to something that's "overkill."
 
#16 ·
Overkill will help in the long run and it probably will help to a degree because it will have more than enough air to supply your turbo. I was just explaining that it way to large for now. Which you already understand. Like you said, you can have more options for turbos also.
 
#17 ·
I love me some options. !Thumbs Up

I have a question for the guys with Turbo XS front mounts; Are you happy with the fit/finish of their intercooler setup? I've been really satisfied with the other TXS parts we've installed so far and their kit it by far the least expensive, "reputable" kit on the market, and money talks.

Also, how much cutting on the plastics need to be done for the intercooler to fit?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top