mit

iTrader: (10)

Im going to buy a plug and play ecu chip for my 95 RA,and the guy that maps them said i could up the rev limit to 8000rpm from 7500rpm. Is this safe, and are there any benifits to doing this?
The cars done 60000 miles.

Thanks,mit

myblackwrx

iTrader: (1)

Some info/link on the chip may be useful.

RedScoob

I can't talk about the RA specifically, but with the WRX most of the power's produced earlier and there's hardly any point using the last 1000revs or so anyway....

Tidgy

genric maps, are a big nono!!

mit

iTrader: (10)

It's a polar performance chip,sorry!
I'll keep the 7500 limit then,thanks

Tidgy

well scotts on here, and he knows i disagree with him on the subject but depends who you ask, so its just my opinion.

on a side note mate of mine who went down that route now needs a full remap

mit

iTrader: (10)

Ideally i'd like a power fc,but don't have the 7-800 fitted/maped. Im not planning big mods,just headers,exhaust and standard air box filter change.
The main reason for fitting the chip would be the running on uk fuel(v-power),as i've heard some horror stories. Also, a few extra psi boost won't go a miss! If i can get near 300bhp,i'll be happy.(i believe the RA is 260 ish standard?)

Mit

Tidgy

personaly i'd go for ecutek map, the generic maps cheaper, but i don't know any of the big tuners that will use them, so speaks for itself realy

borat52

You cant ecutek a 1995 car, and in any case theres absolutely nothing wrong with the replacement chip scott.T uses from a technology point of view.

As for the map on the chip, well subaru certainly dont map every car they sell, they simply put a generic map into the car and they seem to be pretty reliable from factory. I've had a replacement chip from ESL in my car for 2 years, with boost set to 1.1bar (up from the 0.7 bar on the standard Z4 ECU) and it has not missed a beat.

Having said that I'm no expert, but if subaru can use generic maps then I dont see why a clever chap with a bit a real world knowledge (ie that the early engines can take 1.1 bar boost without dieing, something subaru did not fully know when the car was released) and dedication could not come up with something equally worthy.

Ultimately a live remap is best, but I've not had a single problem with the postal chip in mine.

mit

iTrader: (10)

As it's a 95 car,i can't ecutek it,can i? I thought it was a plug in chip,a mappable chip like the esl, or a new ecu such as the apexi.

Mit

mit

iTrader: (10)

Sorry borat52,i didn't see your post till i put mine up!
Do you think it's safe to run 8000rpm on a RA? (just 500 more)

Tidgy

should have said ecutek or equivelant for the earlier years, although i'm not sure what the software is called? anyone help me out on the name?

The standard map on any car is designed to take into account the worst possible tollerances of an engine, what ever the tollerances set are.

the purpose of a remap is to tailour the map to the specific car and 'tighten' the tollerances in the map. Tighten them to much and you'll need a catchers mit to catch the piston (in the worst possible case) or do other damage.

so if the engien in question is at the worst tollerance and you apply a map thats to 'tight' for it your introuble, only way you find that out is to apply the map and then run it on a dyno and see what happens.

the other issue with this is the tollerances still have to be left to some degree to prevent problems, so you never get the best out of the map.

different cars run different maps, for example, i run an autronics ecu on my car, i used to have the normal ecu fitted whcih was mapped to the car, the same ecu, with the same map was fitted to an identical car, same mods, same year, even similar milage i believe. on my car it ran rich, very rich, all those who know my car know about its pop's bang's and flames lol, when the ecu was fitted to the other car at the RR day (want to be dyno straight away to check it) and it was run, i came back running lean, to the extent they took it off again untill mapping to be on the safe side

finalzero

Seems a bit pointless taking the car up to such high rev's unless the car produces it's power that far up i.e it's been modified for a later powerband.

From driving our RA you should get a feel where the power tails off, I know from experience our RA's are a bit mental due to the gear ratio's so not always easy to tell as they feel like they are pulling right into the redline (I know from experience my STi RA will pull right into 7,500 rpm just on it's stock VF28 thanks to the gearing).

I find my car tails off power after 6,800 rpm so I tend to shift up around 6,500 rpm to keep the power on, again due to the RA's having such insane gearing you don't need to rev the **** off them as the gearbox helps keep the power on tap.

Tidgy

no need, be outside the power band

mit

iTrader: (10)

Thanks for the replies,much appreciated. I'll keep the limit standard,and once fitted take it to my local rolling road to get the running checked.

Mit

borat52

You are 100% correct with all this. From my point of veiw (just speaking from my own car) the subaru map was very conservative with boost. My 1993 WRX has certainly handled 1.1bar without problem for 2 years and its completely stock internally. I also think subaru held a bit of performance back on the very early engines and then tweaked the maps (ie when they moved to the Z4) simply to be able to advertise the later cars as more powerful. Lots on here have used scott.t/ESL maps without problems, search hard and you'll find a few who have complaints but overall the feedback is very good.

A live map is best though as Tidgy says.

Couldn't comment on RPM as I know nothing about the RA's, but unless you bolt on a rather large turbo then I'd suggest its a good way to put your engine in danger for no benefit and with a larger turbo you'd probably destroy the engine before you got past 7500 anyway.

Scott.T@PolarPerformance

mit,
you contacted me regarding the RA and it's rev limit stating that you have already tried a chip from another supplier and you lost rpm. The rev limit being dropped to 7000rpm.
That's probably because they are just copying chips and banging them out and probably suplied you a map from a regular WRX with a rev limit of 7100rpm.

I mentioned that I could increase it to 8000rpm purley as evidence that I have the ability to do it. Personally I wouldn't, and even if it does have a rev limit of 7500rpm I wouldn't drive it up there anyway.

The rpm scales on the standard fuel and ignition map don't get anywhere near there, so TBH you do run at a little risk if you regularly rev that high.

In 6 years I think I have only been asked about the rev limit twice.
Yours being the second.

Live mapping is the way to go if you want ultimate power using the ESL Live Adaptor and Software, which I can provide.
But my entry level Chip solutions have been around for 6 years now and people seem pretty happy with them.

If your on a shoe-string then they are for you.
If your after a more bespoke solution then 'Go-Live'.

mit

iTrader: (10)

Thanks Scott,i was just interested to see if 8000rpm was useable,and as you've (and others) have stated,it's not such a good idea!
I have done a search for polar performance,and must say i've not read one bad post,which can't be bad!
My original concern was a chip i got from ebay,claiming it was mapped for the RA, but as you say, was probably just a standard WRX map, as it topped out at 7100rpm.
Unfortunatelly im on a shoe string,and would love to go the esl route,but it's a bit to much at the mo.(Don't spose you do trade ins at later dates? )
Sorry,just one last question,does the RA map have a totally different map to the WRX,or is it just a different rpm range?

Mit

Scott.T@PolarPerformance

The Z4 WRX and Z5 WRX RA are very similar.
The STi V2 is also very slmilar. the only difference really being a little more boost.

The only 2 maps I am aware of that run higher then 7100rpm are the STi 1 and Post Sept94 WRX RA.

satancom

As usual, I'll give a big thumbs up for the chip Scott supplies