Subaru Enthusiasts Car Club of the Sierras - View Single Post

MikeK · 2004-04-11, 04:36 PM

Well last friday I had cobb stage 2 installed, so I thought I would give my first impressions after about 1000 miles of mostly highway and some city driving.

Firstly, although the increase in torque is noticable, the difference really isn't that great. What is hugely noticable though is the fact that the torque comes on much much sooner, almost 1000 rpm sooner, and it stays strong until much higher in the rev range. The power is also much much smoother than before ... I used to have an annoying flat spot at around 4500 rpm (which showed up nicely in the baseline dyno chart) but that is gone now. (I will bring the dyno chart to the meet this week).

So in the stock car, I would put my foot down and have to wait until around 3800 - 4000 rpm for the car to start pulling, then almost straight away it would hesitate as it went through the flat spot, then it would pull again before quickly dropping off above 5500 or so.

Now, when I put my foot down it almost immediately takes off, and it pulls smoothly until much higher in the revs than before. The torque curve now is flatter, much wider and slightly higher than before. It starts earlier and finishes later. Overall, a superb improvement.

I am now using cobb's turboback as well. The sound quality from this is awesome, really deep and mean sounding. The only problem has been the volume ... this thing is LOUD! It sounds very similar to the vishnu setup on scott's car, but louder. I will see how long I can last with it before I opt for something quieter.

Overall, this is what the WRX should be like from the factory. The power is stronger and smoother, and comes on much earlier. This is what the old WRX used to be like before subaru decided to get it past california's emission laws. It is definately nowhere near STi power, but it is a lot more less gay than it was before.

The only down side ... on the way home my tranny started making some expensive sounding noises under engine braking. I got the guys at Cobb to whack their spanky gear oil in it, I am hoping this is just normal for this oil. It definately shifts about a million times smoother and easier than before so hopefully everthing is alright <fingers crossed>

I also came home with an AccessPort. This thing rocks!! I haven't explored everything it can do yet, but just to give an example, at the hotel I stayed at on the way home, I plugged the thing in, switched the ignition to "on", and on the AccessPort selected "switch map -> anti theft A". 10 seconds later it said it was done, so I unplugged it and tried to start the car. As soon as the engine caught it would cut out straight away ... (they have another anti theft map as well, it didn't come with a list of what the maps are so I will have to try that later to work out what it does). In the morning, I plugged it back in and chose stage 2 91 octane map, and it started and ran perfectly.

They have all kinds of other maps on their site, including an STX legal map. Overall, a great product. They said the STi version is still months away though, so STi guys, don't hold your breath.

2004-04-11, 04:36 PM	#1
MikeK Captain Turbo Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Reno Posts: 3,318 Car: 05 STi	Cobb stage 2 early review Well last friday I had cobb stage 2 installed, so I thought I would give my first impressions after about 1000 miles of mostly highway and some city driving. Firstly, although the increase in torque is noticable, the difference really isn't that great. What is hugely noticable though is the fact that the torque comes on much much sooner, almost 1000 rpm sooner, and it stays strong until much higher in the rev range. The power is also much much smoother than before ... I used to have an annoying flat spot at around 4500 rpm (which showed up nicely in the baseline dyno chart) but that is gone now. (I will bring the dyno chart to the meet this week). So in the stock car, I would put my foot down and have to wait until around 3800 - 4000 rpm for the car to start pulling, then almost straight away it would hesitate as it went through the flat spot, then it would pull again before quickly dropping off above 5500 or so. Now, when I put my foot down it almost immediately takes off, and it pulls smoothly until much higher in the revs than before. The torque curve now is flatter, much wider and slightly higher than before. It starts earlier and finishes later. Overall, a superb improvement. I am now using cobb's turboback as well. The sound quality from this is awesome, really deep and mean sounding. The only problem has been the volume ... this thing is LOUD! It sounds very similar to the vishnu setup on scott's car, but louder. I will see how long I can last with it before I opt for something quieter. Overall, this is what the WRX should be like from the factory. The power is stronger and smoother, and comes on much earlier. This is what the old WRX used to be like before subaru decided to get it past california's emission laws. It is definately nowhere near STi power, but it is a lot more less gay than it was before. The only down side ... on the way home my tranny started making some expensive sounding noises under engine braking. I got the guys at Cobb to whack their spanky gear oil in it, I am hoping this is just normal for this oil. It definately shifts about a million times smoother and easier than before so hopefully everthing is alright <fingers crossed> I also came home with an AccessPort. This thing rocks!! I haven't explored everything it can do yet, but just to give an example, at the hotel I stayed at on the way home, I plugged the thing in, switched the ignition to "on", and on the AccessPort selected "switch map -> anti theft A". 10 seconds later it said it was done, so I unplugged it and tried to start the car. As soon as the engine caught it would cut out straight away ... (they have another anti theft map as well, it didn't come with a list of what the maps are so I will have to try that later to work out what it does). In the morning, I plugged it back in and chose stage 2 91 octane map, and it started and ran perfectly. They have all kinds of other maps on their site, including an STX legal map. Overall, a great product. They said the STi version is still months away though, so STi guys, don't hold your breath.