Week old 2012 WRX STI....

[ZackUSAF82]

I'm doing the same mods you are right now, I went ahead and loaded the stock intake map last night and man what a difference! I'm gonna throw on the intake with airbox this weeekend. Any pointers you can throw my way on the install as far as issues and what not? It looks like an easy install but I've read some reviews saying the directions are a bit misleading. Thanks man!

[ruthie]

Yes the instructions are vague and pics aren't the greatest.....take your time trying to get the stock out as it has a HUGE container connected to the bottom of it for big debry?? Make sure you have 10mm washers as mine was missing all but one of them...pretty straight forward from there...a long magnet would help as well as i dropped alot of the bolts trying to get them the washer and lock nut into the manifold holder when its all in as theres a huge hole underneath with the new from the big plastic container on the stock .....you can reuse the power steering bolt etc...if you want....need to bend the new housing a bit to get cover on when finished and putting the factory air flow back on...and a 12" extension works great for getting the 10mm bolt out and putting it back in on the side/bottom of original and then the new....you slide the horseshoe type holder under the actual new intake box and tighten it down with the new bolt and washer(thats where the 12" ext. comes in handy as well) Thats about it..its a tight fit with getting the hose on etc. once the box is in....takes some playing around, just make sure you don't bend the filter or leave the filter off until the end when you get the hose attached etc.....sorry not great with instructions let me now if you need any help or have any questions via pm too if you want.....

[lokey]

I'm doing the same mods you are right now, I went ahead and loaded the stock intake map last night and man what a difference! I'm gonna throw on the intake with airbox this weeekend. Any pointers you can throw my way on the install as far as issues and what not? It looks like an easy install but I've read some reviews saying the directions are a bit misleading. Thanks man!

It's not bad at all. Just take the stock box out in 2 pieces. PM me if you have any issues with it. I'm not too far away.

[ZackUSAF82]

Thanks man, really appreciate the pointers. If I have any issues I'll shoot you a PM.

[ZackUSAF82]

It's not bad at all. Just take the stock box out in 2 pieces. PM me if you have any issues with it. I'm not too far away.

Thanks man, I'll let you know if I have any issues. I shoudn't but it's a bit nerve wracking since this is my first bolt on for my baby. Here's to hoping it goes smoothly Saturday morning!

[lokey]

Oh, but I'll only help you if you agree to take those ugly rubber placemats off of your car.

[ZackUSAF82]

Oh, but I'll only help you if you agree to take those ugly rubber placemats off of your car.

I didn't end up getting them so you don't have to worry about that. I decided that I'd rather have some more power first, I do like how they look on the black STis/WRXs I've seen and they are semi-functional if you hit gravel roads often and it does help some with the road salt but I can see how some people may not like them. Thanks again for the offer for help bud!

[ZackUSAF82]

Got the intake on tonight with no real problems other than the blistering heat...good grief you should not sweat that much doing an easy install. The only things I had a bit of trouble with was:

1. Getting the 10mm bolt onto the bottom of the air box/MAF holder. If I had a magnetic socket it would have been a cake walk but I managed and only bled from one knuckle... I count that as success

2. Getting the hose positioned just right took a bit of playing around with but it wasn't difficult, just required more patience than I had in the heat

All in all it was a very easy install and it sounds AMAZING! I have yet to really do a pull on it, hopefully tomorrow I'll have a chance to take it for a spin and see how much power I gained. Thanks again to everyone for the pointers and offers for help. It's great to be a part of such an amazing community!

[ruthie]

Glad to hear it went well...yes that bolt is a b%^$h....lol Should have seen my arms from dropping the ones that hold the intake into its holder into the bottom of the wheel well, wish i had magnetic crap then too....LMAO Ya there not quiet especially in sport#!!!!!! Just ordered a quick shift kit from TIC....hopefully it comes in next week with the last gauge then can get it all in and let the credit companies find me!!! LOL. Then i can settle down on the mods for a bit

[ZackUSAF82]

Glad to hear it went well...yes that bolt is a b%^$h....lol Should have seen my arms from dropping the ones that hold the intake into its holder into the bottom of the wheel well, wish i had magnetic crap then too....LMAO Ya there not quiet especially in sport#!!!!!! Just ordered a quick shift kit from TIC....hopefully it comes in next week with the last gauge then can get it all in and let the credit companies find me!!! LOL. Then i can settle down on the mods for a bit

The only bolt I dropped was the bottom airbox one and my driveway is on an uphill incline and I pulled in... I though for sure I was going to have to do some magic to get it back but I got lucky and was able to reach it with some series bending of the wrist. The only other bolt that was tough to put in was the front bracket by the headlight, luckily I was able to get it threaded into the nut on the second try so that didn't make my list. All in all I thought the instructions were sufficient but they could have had better pictures for sure (and more pictures for that matter). Now, just like you, I need to get gauges installed...I'm not going to use my AP forever to monitor things. I just have to figure out where I want to mount them.

[teflon_jones]

HUGE difference but i only took it out last night and didn't give it.....its loud when you kick the turbo in in sport#.....can just imagine what it sounds like from the outside/NEIGHBOURS....LOL I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the access port tuning/flash.....less turbo lag and almost immediate JUMP is what i've notice so far......great addition if you don't mind the sound!!!

You know it's funny I felt a big difference when I went from stock to stage 1. I was supposed to be trading in my car on Wed but didn't (long story) so I unmarried my AP. I drove the car home without putting the stage 1 map back on and I didn't really notice any difference in power.

K some newbie questions...its seems i have lost a lot of boost from normal?? Have driven it in normal/sport/sport# modes to let ECM reset properly....can hear the intake working great and have checked it twice for loose/leaks etc....just seems to not have the punch it did with stock?? Also seems to shut down early(around 5000-5500 rpm...either that or i can't hear it sucking at that speed?) loaded normal stage 1-sf-91octane boost..am running 94 octane in engine right now but 91 is usually what gas a lot of stations carry so went with that map...wondering theres 2 other maps--1 for low wastage=vehicles exceeding target boost and #2=High wastage--vehicles not reaching target boost....wondering if i should try the not reaching target one??? Also because of cat back how much difference is between stage 1 and 2??? I know stage 2 should have a dwnpipe on it thats it but does it matter since i change to aftermarket magnaflow cat back and relieved a lot of muffler back pressure as its more open now???? any ideas peeps?? Also with the amount of driving i did yesterday the gas gauge didn't even move...used to it using A LOT more when driving in sport/sport# with punching it every once in a while in the city?????

K ran access port manage/monitor in 4th gear.....running 18.9psi in sport# and 15.7 in sport...ran it in normal as well is about the same a sport???? So i guess ECU(not ECM as previously stated..lol) is fine and running properly and still learning a bit after 2 days....so now just the gage cluster left to tackle with boost and oil pressure only...looks like a pain removing alternator so going to let someone else do them...LOL Notice suckouts in same spot on monitor graph/file on computer and can also notice it when on 100% throttle anyone else notice the turbo lag in different spots when on full throttle punch ..?? thnks

So are you saying that it still feels slower than stock or that it's running fine? It takes a very short time for the ECU to learn the new tune, especially if you've been driving it aggressively. If driven like it sounds like you're doing, it should only take maybe 10 miles or 20 at most. Your boost levels sound right for a stage 1 tune and intake. With respect to revving past 5-5.5k, is it that it actually feels like it's not pulling or just that you aren't hearing it? At higher RPMs where everything else is louder it's very common you won't hear the intake as much. The key thing I'd be watching is the boost to make sure it's climbing as you rev, is peaking at the numbers you already posted, and the car pulls hard to redline without any real feel that you're losing power. Of course your power curve drops slightly above peak boost (which should be at roughly 5500 RPM I think) but it shouldn't drop more than a couple of PSI at most.

[ruthie]

Thanks for replies....yes there is some lags in the turbo on graph in different locations and looses near top end will try to post my access port readings as i'm green at this ....can't post them in .csv file or .xls files any format that can be used on here???? thanks

[ruthie]

By the looks of things its dropping off from 18.17 to 15 to 14.35 after around 5700 rpm...still trying to post sheets....LOL

[mgmoehn]

IIRC, from my research on the Cobb Access Port... the Stage 1 is only for stock or if you have a catback.. .which you do. If you have the cobb intake I thought there was a special different tune that you had to load onto the car for the Cobb Intake Stage1?

[ruthie]

Yes i have the stage 1 with SF map in it...thats the one for the cobb intake....any ideas of how to post/format the spread sheet for the access port runs and info??