New Car Purchase - does it need mapping?
 

Hi Guys,

ive just bought my 2nd Blob (WRX), its not had a map on it however its had a 3" straight through system put on it as well as a K&N induction Kit, is it ok to drive without a remap currently, my short term plans are:

VF35
Pinks
Fuel Pump
STI Intercooler
Remap

this will be hopefully all be acquired and ready to fit within the next month or 2 so is it ok to wait until then?

Cheers :)

Ideally most people would say no and get a remap. I personally have been running mine on a 3" system and sports cat, upgraded panel filter and upgraded intercooler with no remap. No problems, although a remap is on the cards.

thanks Jay, the car seems to drive fine with no flat spots (maybe a little before boosting) but a map is on the cards in the next couple of months anyways so im just thinking is it ok to hold out

Depends on who you ask. Ideally no, but the cars most likely been that way for a number of years. Most Impreza's I know of have had exhaust mods and not been mapped.

A lot of people say Impreza's don't like it. But as I said there's a large number of Impreza's out there not mapped. Including mine.

Only abit of advice I'd give is remove the induction kit as they do nothing for performance. Subaru's don't tend to like them. Go for updated panel filter.

If you are happy that it drives fine then crack on. But would you like it to be more driveable, better MPG and performance?

If so then get the best out of it you can with a remap. Or potentially be a time bomb engine.

Your call.

As above but if you 'must' drive it then drive off boost imo.

Drove my WRX with no remap for year, owned my current Impreza for over 6 years with no remap, and it had a few mods on it when i got it with no remap.

Not saying its ideal but most Impreza's you buy will have been driven for a long time with no remap. Exhaust change isn't the worst thing ever, i'd be more worried about driving with a dump valve.

Induction kit more air in.
3" exhaust,although a lot don't go with a true 3" down pipe(No taper to 2.5) is still more air flow out.
Both un-mapped is not something I would do,or at least an afr check.
Car might be ok,it might be shortening it's life? Gamble :)

Just out of interest what should the Afr reading be?

Depends on where in the fuel map You are.
That ranges from idle to redline
And from low to high engine load.

You could be right, but even a poorly mapped car could shorten the life, lack of oil changes, wrong oil, wrong fuel used, fitting a dump valve.

Is this the same with other cars? As done loads of mods to cars I've had in the past with no one mentioning about mapping. But as soon as i get a Subaru all i hear is about mapping, can't change an air filter without someone saying it needs to be mapped.

My down pipe isn't tapered, i made sure it wasn't as pointless having 3" system. And i don't believe you get more air from an induction kit than a factory system with uprated panel filter.

Seen so many dyno's with no improvement at all, sometimes performance loss from induction kits.

The Subaru engine management is very good,it might well be safe when adding mods,the ecu will detect knock,boost errors,and fuel trims on cruise.
When knock is detected then timing will be pulled to keep the engine 'safer but by pulling timing you lose power making it a pointless mod.
The ecu can only pull a little timing out so running lean fueling will cook your engine and that's a fact.
I generally do around 8k miles a year,a lot of Scooby owners do far less as they tend to be summer/weekend/track cars,I suppose in those cases it will be a slow roast if not tuned.
At the end of the day it's up to the owner,their car their choice.
Any car which you throw mods at will only benefit with a tune,not tuned the mod might as well be a fancy doorstop.

I've defiantly noticed performance improvement from the mods I've done. I was going to get mine mapped by Andy Carr but after seeing how he mapped Marts put me right off.

Nothing wrong massively with the map. Although he was complaining about kangarooing at low speeds. Which wasn't happening before remap. But it was the lack of feedback from Andy, I was shocked and his communication skills. Didn't ask what he was after or anything.

Bob Rawle seems the guy to go too. I don't having your self mapping courage Rich.

Mart never said who the mapper was,thought it was some dodgy guy when he told me how it was mapped.
You can't even remap the cruise part of the map especially when road mapping in under an hour,scary stuff.
At least when diy tuning you can take your time,keep an eye on how the engine/tune is running,plus you save £150 for every map tweak you might want/need.

I know. I went with him. Was just poor from start to finish. Think it was longer than an hour but that was including messing around removing restrictor pill out of 3 port. And after remap car didn't want to start or tick over so more messing around there.

When your paying someone £250 for just over an hours work you expect abit more than hand over your keys and that's it.

Think that's what puts me off. A lot of these garages suck at communication.

Shame that.
I think most people who get cars remapped would like to know a bit more even if it's just a chat about what you want from the tuner and how you'd like the car to drive.
Some quality time needs to be spent on your pride and joy when you're handing over your hard earned!
Was there a wideband afr set up and detcans worn before the mapping started?