[Merkd.wrx]

What up subi fam. I've had my 2017 WRX for about 3 months now and now that it's tax season I have a little bit of play money that can either go towards my payments or towards some nice mods. I am keen on maintaining the warranties on the car as well so nothing too major for now.

My buddy has been taunting me with supposed ring land failures cause he thinks he knows everything about all cars and their downsides. I know my subi will be safe as long as I don't drive it like a bat out of hell. At the same time I've been considering the Cobb AccessPort for the tuning ability, and at the same time make sure the ring land issue is out of mind.

My question is would it be too early now to get the AccessPort now if I'm not planning on heavily modding the car? I have enough from my tax return to get the AccessPort and put down a few months payment on the car at the same time. Or should I look into other warranty friendly mods instead.

 

[zax]

Are you at a position where you can afford $6-8k for an engine failure should it occur?

I know my subi will be safe as long as I don't drive it like a bat out of hell.

The frank answer is that no, you don't know that a failure won't occur and that Subaru won't reject your warranty request if the car is modified.

 

[rqjoe]

The way you pose the question, it is hard to tell if you are asking about the car or your financial situation......
I, actually, am in a position to give financial advise much more so than car advice but I won't offer that up unless you clear up the question. As for the car, Zax has answered that.

 

[Merkd.wrx]

I do plan on getting the AccessPort for the car eventually. My question is should I get it now knowing that I most likely will not do any heavy modding in the immediate future or wait till I plan on taking the bullet and start modifying the car more.

When I said modding the car I'm talking about upgrades like an exhaust or other engine mods that would make the AccessPort necessary. At this point I'm not planning on doing anything of that nature, though I am debating on a cat-back system.

 

[Merkd.wrx]

The way you pose the question, it is hard to tell if you are asking about the car or your financial situation......
I, actually, am in a position to give financial advise much more so than car advice but I won't offer that up unless you clear up the question. As for the car, Zax has answered that.

My question is a bit of both. Without the returns from my taxes I can afford it. But at the same time I'm also asking if my car needs the AccessPort right now if I'm not going to modd it that much. In the end I just want to make sure the car is safe from harm you know.

 

[rqjoe]

what does "...that much..." mean? If it's just a cat-back as you mentioned, no need for the AP now. Save the money and let it earn interest for a while..........

 

[Merkd.wrx]

"that much" would mean cosmetic stuff like mudflaps or foglights mainly. If I really wanted to maybe some suspension or the catback exhaust.

 

[goodysgotacuda]

I am new to Subaru but find it entertaining that every "should I tune" thread always has some doomsayer that needs to remind you of eminent catastrophic failure.

Is it really that bad on these newer engines?

It seems obvious that there are no guarantees, but what is the level of probability? 2% of all OTS tuned engines grenade? 20%? 50%. Does the quantity just seem high because the forums are so densely packed with tuned engine owners?


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[zax]

It seems obvious that there are no guarantees, but what is the level of probability? 2% of all OTS tuned engines grenade? 20%? 50%. Does the quantity just seem high because the forums are so densely packed with tuned engine owners?

Yes, this is a form of confirmation bias in some ways. Certainly a bias towards hearing about engine failures.

I don't know the true statistics, but I can tell you that Subaru has every right to reject a warranty claim if an AccessPort has been installed (and routinely do) even if the failure was a manufacturing defect. So many people on forums will tell you "But the MMA protects you!" These individuals do not understand how the judicial system works with regards to the MMA. Frankly, the only way to ensure that Subaru will not reject your warranty claim is to keep the car in the same form as the manufacturer designed.

 

[Merkd.wrx]

Zax brought up a good point I totally forgot. If I wanted to stick with my warranties I probably should avoid the AccessPort since they would reject the claim. It's true that you can revert the tune to stock but in my case I would ride out the warranty and save myself the trouble.

Thanks Zax

 

[goodysgotacuda]

Yes, this is a form of confirmation bias in some ways. Certainly a bias towards hearing about engine failures.

I don't know the true statistics, but I can tell you that Subaru has every right to reject a warranty claim if an AccessPort has been installed (and routinely do) even if the failure was a manufacturing defect. So many people on forums will tell you "But the MMS protects you!" These individuals do not understand how the judicial system works with regards to the MMS. Frankly, the only way to ensure that Subaru will not reject your warranty claim is to keep the car in the same form as the manufacturer designed.

Definitely. I'm in full agreement there, you're own your own. However, after tuning many vehicles in my life, I've never lost sleep over it. The car could get totaled tomorrow and nobody would care.

Buy a reputable and safe tune, buy quality fuel and carry on living your life.


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[zax]

:thumbup:

 

[XJman]

Maintenance on these vehicles can be extremely expensive and engine failures on factory, and it's tunes is not something that's unheard of. The fa20f seems to be slightly more robust piston wise but the platform isn't as aged as the ej. The ej had had a long enough life it's failure modes are very well documented and complained about, but the fa20f doesn't have this luxury.

There is a thread on nasioc about blown up fa20f engines, but some could just be bullcrap, nobody knows.

So here is your option. Put a $650 wager you won't loose about $7k, or keep your 650 and have someone else foot the 7k bill for the near future.

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[why2kmax]

Believe Subaru wont care about a cat back, but if you tune it with the accessport, no matter how mild your tune, and even if you put it back to stock they will know and likely not warranty any engine claims. Choice is yours.

 

[cwo1984]

Believe Subaru wont care about a cat back, but if you tune it with the accessport, no matter how mild your tune, and even if you put it back to stock they will know and likely not warranty any engine claims. Choice is yours.

I'll play devils advocate and say, get the AP.

Hopefully you're also mechanically inclined to due maintenance yourself as stated the car is expensive to maintain. With AP you'll be more of a lead foot driver, and spirited driving warrants things like more frequent oil changes, or maintenance to the components in the engine bay. The more you do the more maintenance will be needed. It's like mo money mo problems.

With that said. Read through the forum and figure out how far you wanna go with the car. Once you get an educational standpoint for the WRX, let alone Subarus and the quirky boxer motor, then you'll be able to understand the outcomes of what you are doing (make sense right?)

When you ask if you should do something you will always get mixed decisions, this in turn should help you decide if you REALLy want to do it or if you should just wait . Some people value warranty and mod after it runs or others who want to mod and are not worried about it. In the end, we all really know that you want to get AP and you eventually will want to add stuff to the car to personalize it to fit you.


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