Calvinball's Saga: In which he blabs about anything related to his car...with pics!

[mcdbrendan]

+1 on the TP stage 1 tunes. Awesome value and it has actually quelled my need for speed for the next few months. Now I have started dumping some money into replacing the terrible audio system...next is stage 2, suspension mods then 9.5 in wheels and all that good stuff :beer:

+2 on TP stage 1, it's a great map and really improved how the car feels in gears 1-3.

[wrx50]

+2 on TP stage 1, it's a great map and really improved how the car feels in gears 1-3.

f that lol just start stock piling parts. Im TP stage 3.xx and it is amazing.

[WRXpa]

f that lol just start stock piling parts. Im TP stage 3.xx and it is amazing.

Mod list?

[wrx50]

Mod list?

Check my signature for my build. Everything is required except the fuel pump and spark plugs. Must have at least 35% window tint and r/a mud flaps too

Greg

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[WRXpa]

Check my signature for my build. Everything is required except the fuel pump and spark plugs. Must have at least 35% window tint and r/a mud flaps too

Greg

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Cool build your working on there. Not to be a downer, but wouldn't Stage 3 be a turbo upgrade? I'd think you are currently at Stage 2+. I guess its all semantics after a certain point..

[Mikie13]

Cool build your working on there. Not to be a downer, but wouldn't Stage 3 be a turbo upgrade? I'd think you are currently at Stage 2+. I guess its all semantics after a certain point..

It is all just semantics. Cobb first started all the "Stage" bull**** when they first started with the AP. Stage 4 is technically when you get to a Turbo upgrade.

[wrx50]

Cool build your working on there. Not to be a downer, but wouldn't Stage 3 be a turbo upgrade? I'd think you are currently at Stage 2+. I guess its all semantics after a certain point..

Eric at TP calls the tune a stage 3 tune. That's just what he calls it

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[Sinister]

I'm going to be getting a protune from Eric as well

[mcdbrendan]

I'm going to be getting a protune from Eric as well

You using Harvey's dyno?

[wrx50]

I'm going to be getting a protune from Eric as well

He does good work. Are you local to him? Mine was an e tune

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[Calvinball]

P0420 Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold

Ya, that's weak, I'm pretty sure I just turned that code off in K-Pro, but I don't even have that sensor in the test pipe. Which race header did you use? I was getting an error with the O2 before too where I just had to have some of the wires put back in to the plug correctly where they had kind of slipped out.

Oh well, someone else's problem now. CEL PTSD lol

I've been really bad about not noticing questions in my own thread haha.

I had what was called the Kiddracing header when I bought it. It later because the ClubRSX header.

I only had a reflash, so no kpro to turn off the cel.

[Calvinball]

Don't have a heck of a lot new to report. I've taken the rex on several long road trips and I've found her to be, aside from gas mileage, quite the decent highway car. Seats are comfortable enough, I experience only as much discomfort as I have in any other car after sitting in it for 8 hours, maybe even a little less. Gas mileage is only an issue when I compare it to my fiancee's car which would probably be getting us over 30 mpg.

I have decided that I will probably be getting a Torqued Performance stage 1 tune sooner rather than later, after doing some reading here and there about the stock map possibly being not too great for the car. That's debatable, I know, but it's as good an excuse as any.

I did have something odd happen to me today, however, which I'm going to note here before going to the tech forum or the dealer. Maybe I'll get some thoughts from you guys, but if it happens again it's definitely going to the dealership. Unfortunately it's probably one of those "we were unable to replicate the problem" problems.

I was at a red light waiting to turn left when I noticed that I didn't hear my blinker anymore. I look down, and sure enough the indicator in the dash was not blinking. What was blinking, however, was the TPMS light. I confirmed that the blinker was on, tried turning it off then on again, still no dice. Nothing was wrong with how the car was running, though of course I was at a stop. I revved the engine to make 2500 rpms and it sounded normal. By the time the light turned green, the TPMS light had stopped blinking and the blinker indicator was going again. It was daylight and I had no angle with which to check a reflection to see if the blinkers themselves were actually blinking, or if they were not along with the dash indicator light.

No new pictures, for some reason I have been extremely bad about keeping the car clean. I used to be very particular and washed my old cars probably every other weekend. I don't know if it's an age thing, or that I've bought into the Subaru image that it's a rough and tumble tool rather than a showy primadonna, or if it's just that I subconsciously know that I intend to keep this car for many many years and therefore am not worried about it being pristine for reselling. Probably a combination of all three.

I have one more thing to say; although the outbound trip it was raining, and the inbound trip I was stuck behind a slowtorcyle for about half of it, the Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire is pretty fantastic.

[Calvinball]

A little update on the odd TPMS issue:

Yesterday while driving home from work it happened again. Over and over. The manual states that the light should operate in one of two ways.

1) It is lit up. This means that one or more tires is out of range.
2) It blinks for a minute, then is on steady. This means that there is a problem with the system itself.

For me is was blinking for random lengths of time, then either vanishing or staying lit for a brief period then going away. That doesn't seem to match either description of it's functioning according to the manual. And my turn indicators (blinkers) continued to not function whenever the light is on, whether blinking or steady.

I got home and checked pressures. Fronts were a little over 40, rears around 38. Now, it was warm out and the car had only been sitting for 10 minutes or so after driving, but that's still pretty high compared to recommended pressures. So I bled out a few psi from all tires. Later I drove down to the Phillies game and back, and did not have the light appear in any way.

Still, the system does not seem to be functioning correctly. I can't imagine that it is intended for the blinkers to stop working while the TPMS light is on, that is very unsafe. I didn't even want to change lanes when this was occurring, felt very uncomfortable. So, the dealership will be getting a call tomorrow morning.

[Calvinball]

Putting these bad boys on should've only taken 15-20 minutes. I got one of the stock wheels off and found that my suspicions were confirmed: the steelies I bought lightly used did end up having the correct center bore so that I did not need centering rings.

However.

I started to bolt my sweet steel wheel on, the lug nut stopped screwing, and I found that there was still about a 1-2 cm gap. Stock lug nuts aren't deep enough! Should've seen that coming, of course the steel wheels might be thinner than the stock aluminums or alloys (whichever they are).

So I had to throw the stock wheel back on and run to the nearest auto store. All hopes of completing this task before the sun was completely down were now dashed. I ended up having to buy a set that is entirely comprised of wheel locks. Which I hate. Oh well, the winters are on now, which will make repairing (hopefully) the summer tire that I discovered a nail in that much easier!

[michaelwfox]

I like the way it looks!