I want to put a boost gauge oil pressure gauge and a fuel pressure(airfuel ratio?) gauge on my 08 ej255 impreza hatchback (possibly only go with 2 gauges and if so which ones are most beneficial?). Do i need a special housing for each of these or are the gauges just plug and play? I'm assuming ill need housings for the sensors but I havent gotten a definitive answer via my research. Starting my first build and want to make sure I have the proper visuals so I can regulate how my car is running. any tips would be helpful.
Fuel pressure and a/f ratio are two totally different things requiring two totally different gauges. My suggestion would be boost and a/f ratio. If you want a third then oil pressure is a pretty good one to have. First your gonna have to decide on a mounting location and purchase a gauge pod designed for that location. All reputable gauges usually come with all you need to make it function. With a boost gauge your going to have to tee into a line that under pressure when in boost. The line on the bypass valve is a common place to tee into. With a wideband a/f gauge your going to need a location to mount your wideband o2 sensor. Usually this is about 6" behind the turbo in the downpipe. If your downpipe don't have a sensor bung in it you will have to have one welded in. With an oil pressure gauge you will need to find a location to mount the sensor. Check this out....
Yes, that's how mine is. No cel here. Your oil light just won't work anymore but, by the time it comes on your usually screwed anyway. It comes on at some ridiculously low reading like 5psi or something. You could also relocate it to the rear galley plug. That's what I planned to do but, never got around to it. Or you could just put your aftermarket sensor in the rear galley plug and leave the stock one in its place. I prefer the aftermarket one in the front galley plug. I explain why in the link I posted.
There are a number of companies that make gauge clusters that house 3 gauges. You could do a center dash install or an A pillar install. Either will house 3 gauges. there is also a cluser that replaces the plastic cover around your OE gauge cluster and gives you slots for 2 more gauges near the steering wheel.
I don't think I can get an a-post pod because of the air bag. I think im going to go with the dash cluster trim panel and run boost and oil for the ease of installation. boost seems somewhat easy, as for oil pressure has anyone used the adapter for the oil filter? good/bad idea? I've steered towards putting it under the alternator (aparently theres a spot under there for it) but if I could throw it in right before the filter that seems a little easier and I'd feel better about going that route rather than plugging it in where it may not belong.
On a side note, Once i get my boost gauge up and going would I be able to turn up the boost a tad by tuning the wastegate or is that a big no-no without a tune?
the only real downside of the oil adapter is that it lowers your oil filter about in inch. so i hope you drive on level roads and whatnot. if theres lots of potholes, speed bumps or dirt roads where you live, i would avoid the adapter. that 1" difference could mean the death of your engine.
otherwise its good to have because you can fit oil pressure AND temp into the same adapter (on some of them)
Ill have to look and see how protected my filter is tomorrow. So kind of off topic for this thread but I'm looking at a cobb 3 port ebcs for after I get my boost gauge. If i run this solenoid on stock tune will it change anything to my boost on my car? Will i get a faster spool(less lag?) or possibly will it throw a little more boost into the motor? I only run 91 non ethanol.
Did you read the link I posted? It answers all your questions about the sandwich adapter.
If you know how to tune then yes you can turn the boost up a bit but, since your even asking that question I think it's best you leave it alone and let a professional do the tuning.
No, you can't add a 3 port on a stock tune. A 3 port is a mod that MUST be tuned for.
If you go with a Cobb V3 you will only be able to monitor the factory included sensors. That means no oil temp, no fuel pressure and no wide band monitoring. That said the V3 is an excellent gauge system. With all 6 gauges setup on the accessport you can monitor things like knock sensors and air / coolant temps.
As for making 250 at the crank that is possible without any additional hardware. The 08 WRX was massively under tuned from Subaru and you could easily tune it up to about 250-260 crank HP with a proper pro or e tune. Catback exhausts will do nearly nothing for the amount of po9wer your car can put down. If you intend on making more power than the tune alone you will need a complete turbo back exhaust setup ( including a performance down pipe ). Also note that the stock intake on the 08+ WRX is capable of providing enough airflow for nearly 350 wheel HP, in most cars ( mine included ) it is little more than a noise maker that makes the butt dyno happy. If you do decide to go with the short ram intake please be sure you include an air box in your purchase otherwise your short ram intake becomes little more than a hot air intake.
I was looking towards a catless turbo back, but I have to be able to pass emmissions through the OBD port under the dash. my garage will pass a catless system as long as the cel light goes off. So I have to research that. Also with the intake, the stage 1 cobb kit comes with the accessport, ram intake, and air box, but from the looks of things I may just save the extra 250$ and just get the accesport. If i took my car to a place that works with the cobb accessport could they edit the mapping/duty cycle of a cobb map to better benefit my car? Or does the V3 not allow anything but official cobb mapping? From what I've found there isnt much to choose from for maps from cobb if you put any sort of aftermarket performance on it. Although it would be worth it just for the 6 gauges...
Most shops work with the access port in that they produce maps that can be loaded onto your ECU by the access port. They dont use the Cobb maps as a base because quite honestly they are not that great. The accessport is just a tool to talk to your ECU and most all shops work with their accessport tune software to build you access port friendly maps.
On the topic of the intake, If you like the sucking and whooshing sound then go for it, If you dont care about the sound then skip it. I really like the sound the bypass valve makes with the SF intake but thats the high school kid in me that loves those noises. Heres a pretty good video that shows the difference in sound from just an intake.
/hippy side note/ There are almost no performance gains to be had running a stock turbo with a catless turboback that you would not acheive with a CATed turboback. If everyone used just 1 functional high flow CAT our air would breath a little easier. Unless you plan on running a bigger turbo/fueling system/built internals you will likley not see a difference between a CATed downpipe and a CATless downpipe /end hippy rant/
I think my best bet is to go stage 1 with the sf intake with cobb AP. It seems easier than running to a protuner (or opensource tuning by myself) every time I have to go to the dealer, it sounds great, and im sure it will put out a noticeable difference in horsepower. This is my first time putting any sort of aftermarket parts/tuning into a car and I feel like I need to do a lot more research before going balls deep into the ECU myself. My dealership will not wave my warranty with this setup and I'm sure doing a 91 SF intake tune will suit my needs quite well. I like the ease of having cats so I think ill just go with a 3" catted turbo back to make inspection season easy and painless.. by then warrantee will be over and hopefully the cobb dealer south of me can put the screws to my ecu and pull some serious power out of her, or maybe i can do it myself with enough research and youtube videos. hey you have to start somewhere.
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