Subaru WRX Forum banner

Different answer almost every time

3K views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  Devin Buxton 
#1 ·
I just got the Cobb Access Port V3 and was wondering what needs to go next. I don't have a cold air intake or down pipe yet and it seems everybody has a different opinion about what order things need to be installed.

On the Cobb web site the stages are:
Stage 1- Accessport
Stage 1 + Power - Accessport & Intake
Stage 2 - Down Pipe & exhaust

Some people say to wait on the intake until after the down pipe. Does anyone have any experience with this situation?
 
#2 ·
it really comes down to what you want from your car, or just in general. Typically, intakes aren't really "necessary" until 350hp+, the stock intakes are actually quite efficient. Intake at this point would mainly be for sound IMO.

anytime a question like this is asked it will garner different responses from different people, it probably wont be much different here.

what are your future plans for the car? if you plan to do all of the above you just listed anyways, me personally, id just start with the exhaust for now, keep it simple.
 
#5 ·
My wife has a Speed3 and it pulls harder & spools quicker. I know it's kind of silly but damn it, I want my car to be faster! I don't really care either way about the extra sound an intake would make if it doesn't produce more HP. I'm thinking of going with a down pipe & exhaust but I don't want a loud exhaust, just a deeper growl. Any suggestions on a good exhaust that won't piss off the neighbors at 5:A.M.? Also, why are down pipes all over the place on prices? I've seen any where from $200.00 to $900.00 depending on the manufacturer. Is there that big of a difference in how they are made or what they do?
 
#3 ·
Im with @jpsubie4 the intake is an unnecessary sound making device until your above 350 WHP.

Keep in mind that the "Staged" system is a marketing tool. It was designed by Cobb and other tuning companies to help sell more parts more quickly. With the introduction of the "Stage X" sales structure people could buy lots of parts for their car as a kit without needing to talk to their mechanic or their tuner first. That made those upgrades more accessible and it also gave us a nice way to communicate as in "Is that an Sti bro? Is it stage 2?" so we can tell the difference from one kit to another with a basic understanding of the power output.

As far as the intake is concerned I think the intake on the 08+ sounds awesome. the high school kid in me loves hearing the engine breathing and the stock BPV sounds better as well. Its not going to make more power than the stock intake because the stock intake is efficient enough for Stage 2 power levels but it definitely helps the Butt Dyno. I did a writeup of the Accessport V3 + the SF intake here : http://www.wrxtuners.com/forums/f70/accessport-v3-sf-intake-review-47849/

I have driven the car with the Cobb SF intake, Intake + Cobb Downpipe, and just the Cobb downpipe and each came with a slight performance bump. I firmly believe that you will get safer more reliable power with a good pro tune or a good etuner than you will with the accessport by itself. Having driven Cobb OTS Stage 1 next to a same model year pro-tuned car and my e tuned car and I feel like a good e-tune from a reliable tuner is on par with the pro tune. Both of them are leaps and bounds above the OTS maps in terms of how smooth they deliver power and the boost levels you can safely achieve.

I hope that helps.
 
#4 ·
definitely another thing i agree with from @arcticscythe... protune protune protune. dont make the mistake a lot of people have made (including myself) and run an OTS AP map long term... you wont like what happens lol AP tunes pre 08 i wanna say were a lot better IMO than they are now a days.

as to why, i cant really be to sure, but from my personal experience, as well as research, ive seen OTS maps, especially stage 1, run quite lean, which is no bueno for that motor, long term.
 
#7 ·
Where are you running against your wife? Drag strip, autoX, HPDE track day? I would love it if my wife would do track days with me.

Im with @jpsubie4, Get a catted down pipe. Performance CATTed pipes are super free flowing and they don't pump noxious chemicals into the air. In SoCal that matters because the smog layer gets really bad in early summertime. I have a Cobb Catted down pipe that I am very pleased with. When they are on sale they go for about $550 and they work with Cobbs AccessPort tunes while you decide what tuner you would like to trust with your baby.

When selecting exhaust for being quiet I think Maddad makes the quietest performance exhausts out there. The whisper line is very close to stock Db while providing a nice note. I would add another note that the cat back exhaust is not a requirement for stage2 tunes. Only the down pipe is necessary so if you want to be quiet and fast a stage 2 with a CATed down pipe might be your best bet.

As far as pulling vs your speed3 most drivers confuse "pulls harder" for softer suspension and front end lift on acceleration which FWD cars are particularly good at. The Mazda has an advertised 0-6 of the mid 5s where as the 2013 WRX is capable of sub 5 seconds sprints with a proper launch. In the case of WRX vs Speed 3 I would expect your stock straight line performance to be pretty similar but as soon as you turn the corner the WRX will burn the Speed3. Front wheel drive has a tendency to torque steer and can be a bit sketchy on fast corners. But I digress, if you are talking strictly about straight line, pin the throttle performance then a stock mazda3 will most likely hold its own with you ( most hot hatches will ) assuming they are being driven ( and launched ) by a consistent driver.

Start out with a proper stage 2. Take the cars back to the drag strip and give them another few runs and see how they feel. I think you would be happy with a etune or a protune because most of them allow you to build boost lower in the RPM range and carry a bit more top end power. They also tend to launch better as well.

Hope that helps
 
#8 ·
Definitely helps! I really like the way the Invidia looks, especially under the car where you can see the name plate at the back. Yeah, the Speed3 has ridiculous torque steer! It's good in a straight line, if you can keep the steering wheel under control. Any difference in the Cobb & Invidia down pipe? I heard it is better to have the separator plate on the down pipe between the waste gate & turbo exhaust. Does that make a difference?
 
#9 ·
The difference between the 2 ( or 3 ) options is how the exhaust is handled when the wastegate is open. To really understand what each is doing it helps to compare them with stock and each other. The Cobb pipe is bellmouth, Nvidia is separated and nameless is divorced. Each attempt to resolve the issue of the stock downpipe having a flat flange that forces the exhaust gasses to hit a wall before exiting through the down pipe. The reason you would choose any of the 3 options over a flat flange with a higher flowing pipe attached is so that the turbo can spool down from higher boost levels faster.

This is not a complete benifits list but it will help you make the call
Bellmouth - Lightest weight, easiest to produce and usually least expensive ( assuming they all have a CAT )
Separated - Middle ground with slightly separate path / belmouth with cast path and plate ( many argue that the seperation plate does not have recognizable effects on turbulence )
Divorced - completely separate waste gate pipe and smoother turbo output exhaust path ( poor designs might cause additional turbulence whee waste gate pipe mates with exhaust path )

IMO bellmouth or separated downpipes are great compared to the stock unit. You will see nice gains with an appropriate tune and they are typically considerably less expensive. If you are planning on modding beyond stage 2 talk to your tuner about your mod path, They might recommend you hold off on a divorced down pipe until you get into bigger turbo territory.
 
#13 ·
my 2 cents here. Clark turner is an amazing etuner. he charges 250$ per tune and it took me 24 hours and 3 maps (1 base and 2 slight tweaks) and my car was perfect. I bought everything at once (intake exhaust fuel pump injectors blah blah blah) installed the stage 2 mods and my car ran 202 at the wheels. i had the uppipe, and fuel upgrades installed and clark turner etuned it (after a pro tuner completely failed tuning my car) and is now making 228whp (absolutely 0 issues from the tune itself). He's a great tuner and very quick to look at any minor things you would like changed to your car. the fuel upgrade wasn't necessary for my turbo but since i had them i put them in (mostly so i didn't loose the damn things). so the 26whp i gained is the difference a tuner can make rather than the factory cobb maps. They work fine (i actually had wastegate range codes on stage 2 even LWG map) but clearly you can get a great deal of power out of a simple etune, and then you can buy whatever you want, whenever you want, in whatever order.
If i were to go back and start over, I would buy my mods, buy an etune from clark for said mods, throw all my mods in on a warm sunny sunday, upload his base map, send him 3 logs, get the tweaked map and have some fun. People say etunes aren't as good as a dyno tune, but if your pro tuner is going through the accessport, the logs run the same info whether youre on the dyno or on the road. you won't get your numbers but its usually cheap to get a dyno run.
hope this helps some
 
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