IT RUNS!!! - My 500whp build - Element motor and Moore Performance Twin Scroll Kit! by dexterous

11 minute(s) of a 312 minute read

As Moore Performance mentioned, I finally got my second hand AccessPort here and working. There was a bit of a misunderstanding on the sellers behalf about uninstalling it from his car. It's all good now and that's what matters.

I also finished up my fuel system which turned out pretty well. Buddsautoparts.com helped me get two fittings from aeromotive that allowed me to re-use my expensive goodridge 910 fuel lines without any modifications.

At this point I need to finish up some wiring work, put the alternator back on and install the mid-pipe in the exhaust. I should be able to get this all done tomorrow as I have the tuner coming on Thursday. I am really trying to get the car to the largest car show/meet in Pittsburgh which is coming up this weekend. With a little luck I will make it..

7-19-2012

Update:

Its 12:46AM here and the car is back together and ready to start! All the mechanical and electronics work is done which took a really significant amount of work. The tuner is arriving at 11AM now (we pushed it up) so we should know in a matter of hours. He is pretty confident that he will be able to tell if there are issues still present very quickly. I gave him a pretty good description of the issue and he is bringing a few spare parts just in case.

Here's a few picts:

The Engine Bay (not much of a visible difference):

Here's what a $30 -6 ORB to -6 90 degree swivel fitting looks like (drivers side return):

A quick shot of the fuel line and rail on the drivers side

The -6 union that allowed me to re-route the passenger side fuel lines:

7-19-2012

Tuner is here and so far it seems ok. I wont say its working but I will say that its not "not working". I will say that I am impressed at the idle of the ID2000s on 93oct.

The tune lasted about two hours and I think things went pretty well. The car has a few driveability issue but nothing that crazy. As far as the tuner can tell, there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with the car which is really good news. The AVCS system appears to work perfectly as both cams are typically at the exact same position (sometimes they vary slightly). The new fuel system routing also appears to be pretty good as thats all working well too. My idle is now very smooth but as others have predicted, it idles fairly rich with 2200cc injectors.

7-25-2012

So my local tuner has been working directly with the guys at COBB to get my idle under control. He sent me a new map tonight and after a few minutes of testing I can tell you that there's an amazing difference. The car now idles at 14.7:1 on ID2000s and 93oct! The idle isn't super stable as its got about a 100RPM wonder but for doing this remotely I am pretty impressed. He tells me that COBB is working hard at improving the AP software so that the stock ECU / ID2000 combo will idle at near stock stability. In the meantime, this will work!

7-28-2012

I am super super happy to tell you guys that the uneven bank problem that has plagued my car since I put it back together this winter is 100% solved!!!

This pict is from today, plugs with the underlined numbers are from the drivers side:

Here's what both drivers side plugs looked like previously:

This may seem like a small victory for some but trust me when I tell you that its a VERY big deal to me. After everything that happened last year, the pain of the rebuild and the discovery that the car was still unusable this spring, I couldn't even stand to go into my garage. Its an amazing feeling to know that I can jump in the car any time I want, drive it to work, drive it to the store or just drive around the block and ENJOY doing it.

I would like to say thank you to all my local friends who came over to help, drink a few beers and offer encouragement while I forced my self to wrench on a car that I couldn't even look at.

I would like to say thank you to all of my "Built Motor Discussion" friends who have been so positive and encouraging throughout the past two years. 

I would like to thank Phil from Element for putting up with the ten thousand emails that I sent him and all the advice he has given me.

I would like to thank Adam at Buddsautoparts.com for his continued support.

I would like to thank my Wife Molly for being such an awesome "car Wife" as she calls her self.

Finally, I would like to thank God for blessing me with a life where a basket-case, over the top, sports car is one of the most worrisome thing that I have to deal with.

8-1-2012

So here's what I will add to this:

For eight years I worked with Hill at Agile Automotive to get my various Subarus tuned using the Access Port. I always had fantastic success with the stock ECU and Access port so in my mind its a pretty good system. I purchased a Hydra 2.6 because I wanted to run meth and Phil very clearly has the best game in town when it comes to the Hydramist. As an engineer I can tell you that absolutely NOTHING comes close. I found the Hydra to be super flexible and with the one exception of the horrible tuning software architecture (it only runs well on 32bit Win XP computers with real serial ports), I found the Hydra to be pretty easy to work with. I loved the programmable outputs, auto map switching, 3rd party device integration, wide band integration, etc. I have never been able to understand why so many tuners dislike the Hydra because it seemed pretty darn good to me. I am 100% positive that Ryan Moore will vouch for me when I say that my Hydra tuned car ran every single bit as well as a STOCK STI even thought the only stock parts on my car are the body panels!

My experience with Phil has been overwhelmingly positive. Phil has provided excellent advice over the years and thats been a real asset. My car ran extremely well with the Hydra installed and I couldn't have been happier. In addition, when things went south last year Phil really stepped up and helped me a lot and for that I am eternally grateful. When things were still not going well this year Phil continued offering me advice. However, since Phil neither had a crystal ball or physical access to the car he was unable to provide a solution (go figure).

After careful consideration of ALL the facts involved, I came to the conclusion that I needed to bring in LOCAL assistance in an attempt to get the car running. Phil's biggest problem was that he couldn't be here so whoever I brought in had to be willing and able to come to my house. Since there's not a tuner within several hundred miles of Pittsburgh that will touch a Hydra I really only had two choices, stock ECU or AEM. I was absolutely NOT going to buy an AEM so I made the choice to put the stock ECU back in. The actual fix had nothing to do with engine management, that was just a necessity to get the car running with a local tuner. One of my biggest goals was to get the car running in time to make it to the largest car meet / show in western PA (the Pittsburgh Vintage Gran Prix). Thankfully my massive parts swap (everything I could think of just for good measure) worked out and the car ran.

Getting things working on the stock ECU has honestly been somewhat of a struggle. I think this is mostly due to the extremely large injectors not the inability of the platform to perform as needed. I am very impressed with the development of the Cobb platform in the time since I last used it (2008). I can 100% assure you that I would NOT have been able run my car on an AccessPort in 2008! As I have said previously, I have very carefully retained all the wiring and hardware to allow me to very quickly return to the Hydra any time I want. I have had a few conversation with Phil regarding the Hydra 2.7 and I feel that it looks very promising. As of this point I dont plan on switching off of the AccessPort for the balance of 2012 but I need to see how well the car actually performs in its current trim.

In conclusion, I think both the Hydra and the AccessPort are very good platforms. Personally, I would trust the Hydra more in an all-out race car due to its architecture but thats my opinion. A skilled person (Phil) can do amazing things with the Hydra as has been demonstrated on many occasions. The hydra is very poor support outside of the relatively small number of tuners that use them. The stock ECU is almost universally supported by by tuners around the world which makes it a lot easier to find help.The stock ECU is absolutely better at starting the car but it has absolutely NO capacity for outputs or 3rd party device integration. Like anything in life, there are pros and cons. If Phil were local we wouldn't be having this debate as I would have had him adjust my Hydra for the ID2000s.


Edit: the last part of the last paragraph got cut off. I just added it back on.

8-2-2012

Does anybody else here with a JDM Twin Scroll header find it extremely irritating that every time you change the oil filter, the header gets covered with oil and smokes for two days?

Seriously Subaru, WTF?

Anybody have any suggestions on avoiding this because nothing I have tried seems to work. Thanks!

8-4-2012

The thing that sucks about modded cars is the worry that something is either wrong or going wrong. I noticed this strange noise the other day when I tap the throttle or when the ECU applies additional throttle angle (such as when the AC kicks on or the power steering is moved while sitting still). I also noticed that my turbo' s rotating mass appears to be slightly harder to move by hand than I remember. Its super hard to tell by looking at it but there also appears to be a slight amount of run-out on the compressor. If there's enough run-out that its visible with the naked eye then the turbo is cooked. I have no idea how that could be possible since it was just serviced and I know its getting oil.

It never ends, it really just never ends...

8-6-2012

I first noticed "the sound" coming from my car on tip-in sometime Wednesday. For all I know it was there the entire time but thats when I first noticed it. I did flash a map with some significant changes just prior to noticing the change. I was actually on my way to meet with the tuner so that he could take a look at my idle. He had no idea what the noise was but didn't seem to concerned.

Once thing I can tell you for sure is that the turbo runs like a champion! It is one hell of a big A$$ turbo yet it spools instantly so it cant be that bad (can it?).

In other news, I had the opportunity to check out a car with a motor with nearly identical specs to my Element Pro Comp and I was pretty amazed to hear how loud it was at idle. It made a very harsh metallic noise as it ran that I can only assume comes from the heads. My Pro Comp motor sounds basically stock which is pretty impressive if you think about it.