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4 minute(s) of a 127 minute read
4-29-2012
Invidia down pipe, nameless mid pipe, SMY cluster w/boost gauge, lc-1 w/ gauge, and GrimmSpeed EBCS
Got the Invidia on and heat wrapped. I went with DEI titanium heat wrap and some stainless zip ties from Lowes. The heat wrap is actually soft to the touch - not what I was expecting. Seems like high quality stuff though. The zip ties suck, but they work better than nothing. They don't keep a lot of force on the wrap, but I used a bunch and they are holding it on pretty well - just a bit loose in my opinion. Don't know if the wrap helped at all, but I thought it would be a better solution than making a heat sink for the wide band sensor (was getting some really strange readings at idle after a hard drive without it).
The Invidia pipe itself... Couldn't be happier. Car is a lot more responsive now, and it expanded my power band down a good 300rpm. I cruise at a much lower RPM now compared to what I used to. I had to pull a lot more timing than planned on - but that's a good thing considering the power gains in my opinion. Car just feels 'like it should' power wise. Sounds mean now.
As far as the SMY cluster goes, it works. It fits (after you get all the clips firmly pushed in). Probably as good as you'll get and keep a stock appearance. I wish the gauges sat in a bit further and angled up towards me a bit. The wiper 'stalk' actually bumps the front of the boost gauge time to time. Still - it matches and holds two useful gauges for me.
LC-1 install was a pain in my opinion. I hate electrical work on cars. Always a huge ordeal to get wires run. I mounted the controller on a small bracket above the turbo. It's probably a bit hotter than ideal, but oh well. I think it'll be just fine. Ran the wires through a hole in the firewall behind the IC. What a pain.
That being said, I don't understand how anybody can tune a car without one. No longer taking a shot in the dark. I just plug it into my OP2.0 and it goes to town when I hit the defroster.
EBCS... Meh, I figured why not. Seems to work. I have bad boost creep issues after the down pipe install though. Unit was a nice quality unit and bolted in with a bit of work. Needed a good bit of work tuning wise, but I could never get the boost spikes stabilized with it... Lesson learned - can't fix a mechanical issue with a bunch of tables sometimes.. Still, having an interrupt type solenoid instead of the stock bleed type is not a bad thing at all.
