CHRIS WISE

I have a 1995 WRX STI RA, It currently has a few engine modifications but I would like to fit a front mounted intercooler.
Can anyone tell me how bad the turbo lag will be if I keep my standard ecu?
The car has a balanced and lightened fly wheel so this should shorten spool up time but was unsure just how noticable the lag will be on a car which hasnt been re-mapped.
The reason for going fmic is due to the tiny tmic on the 95 car and I am concerned with too high intake temperatures.
Thanks

tiny gsy

Tbh mate, by the sounds of you`ve already had a few mods done to the car so by now it could probably do with a remap. Simtek ecu`s are only around £950 and are well worth the money. Not only that but it would give you as much benefit as possible without running any risks

As for the lag, I `m afraid I can`t answer that. I`ve heard that once mapped there can be hardly any difference though

borat52

If you have the standard ecu take a look at the polar performance website, postal chips cost about £200 and take a car with just a decat and decent panel filter to 280bhp and if you do fit a FMIC then it would probably be wise to also fit 440cc injectors and go for an ESL live map at a cost of just over £500 which would be a custom mapping of the car to cater for your mods, over 300bhp is easily achievable with this set up.
Will

CHRIS WISE

Thanks for your help.
If i was to fit the 440cc injectors and the FMIC how much would the live map cost encluding the ECU?
The car already has walbro pump, FSC regulater, parallel fuel rail mod, competition bearings, fully rebuilt engine with all new internals, 4-1 headers, de-cat full system, balanced and lightened flywheel, paddle clutch and fully rebuilt gearbox so should be able to take the power increase.
Just heard how much an after market ECU and map can cost and was a bit put off. Why does it cost more the first time aswell?

Thanks for the advice

borat52

Mapping is a bit of a nightmare area as it all depends on what year you have, and then there are usually handfuls of aftermarket options to cater for each year. I'm no expert on ECU's or mapping but heres a rough outline of how I understand it.

Sometimes the initial fee to map the first time is high because you have to pay a licence fee in order to map the ECU - this is the case with ECUTEK which I believe is the standard ECU on later impreza's (late 90's on - not sure of year). You do keep the stock ECU for this though so no paying out for new hardware.

For the rest of the aftermarket ECU's you must buy the actual hardware to begin with, this adds cost onto the first map if your mapper also supplies it. (the apexi power FC seems to be popular as its cheap and pretty good, though more expensive ECU's have more features)

Pre 1996 ECU's are slightly unusual as they cannot be remapped directly, but have a spare slot on them for a replacement chip containing a new map to be installed. This is as a result of compliance with rally regulations of the time. This is where the 'scoobyecu' fits in. Its a map which has been made by members on here (scott.T is the only origional part of that group who still sells them as far as I know, under the name polarperformance - Products)

Its a postal map so is produced within the safe limits of all cars its intended to be fitted to, raises boost and adjusts fueling and timing. Great map with examples on here having clocked over 100k miles with the chip fitted from what I have read so its proven reliable - about 280bhp is what to expect from it.

The ESL live map is similar to the scoobyecu in that I think it plugs into the same slot on a pre 1996 ECU but is capable of live mapping, I think you can buy just the hardware with the same map as a scoobyecu chip for about £350 but its really only of use when you have it mapped specific to your car. Mapping of it wil cost about £200 I think.

Maps can also be tweaked for less money than a full remap if only slight mods are made for less than a full remap but it depends on the mods in question.

A well set up 2l with the mods you have and a TD05 16g will develope 300-340bhp depending on how much boost you run, just keep an eye on your gearbox as over 320 can start hurting the early ones, again from what I have read not experience.

I can however recommend the scoobyecu from experience, best £200 I ever spent on the scoob, I imagine the live map board is even better and will be getting one when I finally get a engine sorted.

One of the things I want to do is write up these snippets of information about tuning and stick them either on here or elsewhere as its one of those area's where a little background knowlege can save a lot of money and time if reading it stops you from buying something you dont really need.

Tidgy

wouldn't advise having a genericly premapped ECU or map put anywhere near your car.

Too many people have issues with them going pop due to fueling issues and other problems.

unlike most other cars, like evo's, vxr's etc, scooobys can't be garentied to be successfull running the same map, theres to much tolerance difference to make then safe. The same map may run 245bhp on one car and be set up idealy for that car, may transfer to a different car and run 256bhp without even being adjusted to suit that specific engine, but run like a bag of spanners.

if your gonna get it mapped get it tech 3'd.

try Scooby Clinic | The UK's Largest Independent Subaru Specialists | 01246 590 807 - Chesterfield S42 6QX

yes its more expensive, but then how much does it cost for a rebuild?