Virtual Light

Hi All,

Just after Christmas I was toying with the idea of sorting the PPP for my nearly 1 year old Scooby, but had a few questions.

I was warned by the dealer that this will reduce the MPG further as the replacement ECU, and uprated fuel pump throw more fuel through the engine. Has anyone had experience of this. I'm interested to here views of those that had a standard STi and then had the PPP pack fitted. (I currently only get 250 miles out of the tank before the light comes on as it is ).

The dealer did say that the difference in performance is worthwhile if you can accept the extra fuel hit.. but is it worth £2000. This is a hell of a lot of dosh for effectively an exhaust, fuel pump, and new ECU.

I had thought, quite wrongly, that this must include fitment of the new ECU and mapping, but apparently not. The ECU is simply swapped in and your car runs on defaults. I'm not a mechanic, but do know that there is a variance from one engnie to the next, hence an ECU mapping that is perfect for one car will not produce the same results on another. How is the high cost for an off the shelf unit justified in that case?)

Q) Does anyone know if the Prodrive ECU can be re-mapped. I say this as obviously once the warranty runs out I would prefer to have the ECU mapped to better suit the individual characteristics and fueling of my engine.

If this is my plan am I better not bothering with the PPP and waiting and going for a more specialist ECU and mapping when the time comes??

Thanks for your views as always guys 'n gals.

Scott

RLE

iTrader: (2)

Scott.

I personally wouldn't bother with the ppp option @ £2k. Warranty issues would be the only reason why you should want to go down this route.

The ecu can be reprogrammed at a later point (Ecutek software) and this will cost you iro £550.00 depending on mapper but the first map will include a license fee. The map alone will be a worthwhile mod as this is bespoke to your car unlike the ppp equivalent. Plus you can mod as and when money allows and have further tweaks of the map to suit for around £250.00.

I had the PPP on my 53 plate sti and later had the TSL 333 remap which is basically the ppp bits (exhaust etc) remapped. Fuel economy actually increased once this was completed rather than going the other way and I had an additional 30 bhp. I've since added to the car and and mapped a further two or three times!

I would never go down the PPP route. A good mapper is important (Bob Rawle, Andy Forrest, Richard Bulmer in no particular order) and you will be suitably impressed with the results. £2k going down the DIY path will get you a much quicker car and bigger smiles for your bucks.

My thoughts to the dealer package :

davedipster

The PPP is a rather good pack for the sti and WRX. The cost as you know includes all the parts and fitting and a remap of the ecu by prodrive to their specs on a return basis. All this including VAT for £2000.
The cost includes the continued subaru warranty and a sports CAT for MOTs.

Other remaps specific to your car, on the day of the remap can be carried out by other companies. TSL for example do a similar pack to prodrive for £1880 including VAT, fitting and a sports CAT.

Evo magazine did a performance test a while back including a ppp'd sti and a 333'd TSL sti. The ppp'd car did 0-100mph in 12.9secs and the TSL was 12.6Secs, and 30-50 in 3rd 2.4secs ppp and 2.6secs tsl.

So you could say that performance wise these Two are the same, I've seen this on the road as well. The ppp kit is £120 more expensive, yes but you get continued warranty and a nice prodrive certificate to keep when you sell the car.

GREGGYG

iTrader: (2)

Or you could try Powerstation, who do everything under one roof, remap and fit a high performance exhaust, which some of the other mappers will not do. Very very inconvenient if I have to order an exhaust and have it fitted seperately, then drive to another location for the remap. Another point is some mappers dont actually have premises where the telephone's are manned during business hours, it's all answerphones, not very professional when you're spending over £500 for something. Another mapper has an 0870 number, so not only is he making a profit on remapping your car, but also on your phone calls to him!

I agree with others who say don't go the PPP route, as it is very expensive for what you actually get. I've had 2 STI PPP's, both lacking in the low rev range. Now have JDM STI, far better driveability.

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

If you want to retain your warranty go PPP.If you're not bothered about it try elsewhere and save £120...........I know which I'd go for. (again) And PPP made no significant difference to my fuel consumption

Virtual Light

Thanks to all for the replies. Some mixed views here then. I'll have to think about it some more. Just 2K sounds a lot.

Cheers,

Scott