Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2007 05:30:53 -0500
Reply-To: Jim Akiba <syncrolist@BOSTIG.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Akiba <syncrolist@BOSTIG.COM>
Subject: Re: sube ecu tuning, was: Air mass meters Go Westy
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
On 12/23/07, Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
> By stock based I mean a real street car, as opposed to a dedicated chassis
> or funny car.
> A regular street car, stripped some I'm sure, but nothing 'pure race' or
> 'pure drag race..
> Yeah, ET"s don't mean that much to me but 173 terminal speed in the
> quarter sure does.
Yeah "streetable" is much more understandable than "stock based"
you'll get lot's of funny looks and head scratchers with that one, at
least with kids like me. ET's should mean something to you, just as
traps speeds do.. especially with AWD cars with good traction.. you
can make good power and put it down. Now next season, when we try to
field a vanagon at New England dragway to turn some heads, I hope
you'll be rooting for us.
> I also relate to 0 to 60 times, which can be like in the 4's for street
> stock WRX's even.
If ETs don't mean anything to you and only trap speeds do, I don't
understand how 0-60 would maintain your interest, they both contain
the 60 foot traction element except the ET's are better rounded out as
a metric than 0-60.. don't quite understand where your exception
resides on that one.
> I'm sure you familiar with off road dedicated tunable engine management
> systems. Sand rails run them. You could use on a vanagon if smog isn't a
> issue etc.
Yeah that's what stand alone means. Stand alone being short for stand
alone engine management system... unless it's OBDII and they have to
"plug in"... there is no inherent problem with emissions just because
you're running an aem for example.
If there's some 'limit' or technical electronic bottleneck, this
> would be the first I've heard of it. How are American guys getting up to
> 700 hp out of a turbo subaru 2.5. Doesn't sound like there's much
> limitation to me !!
The 700hp is being made with a $800-$2500 stand alone or piggyback, my
point is you can't do it cheap or easy with stock hardware.
> I know zero about pulling more out of stock subaru ecu's.. I admire
> power and technology and all that, but I build for reliability and
> fix-ability.
As if they are mutually exclusive?
> Like any engine conversion I ever build for a vanagon, I want
> it to be that you can go to any dealer, or flaps, or junkyard and get an "X
> for a such and such year US model subaru' or whatever. I stay very close to
> stock, want everything easy to work on, easy to get parts for, and solid if
> not arty some.
Great, that's the right thing to do.
> Bugatti is probably my hero in automotive technical design. Cost is no
> object, make it as elegant and robust as possible, and like mechanical Art.
I can appreciate that, my guy is henry. It can be tricky to make
something for a few people, it's even harder to try and make something
for many.
> .............i think he built an inline 8 engine ( when cars had inline 8's
> ) with no head gasket, block and head in one piece.
I'll have to google that, sounds very interesting..
> On magazines, 'scope' wasn't that could a word. Style or intent might be
> better. You know, a regular 'car mag' .......they review hot cars. European
> Cars would be another. Flashy cars, terrible writing...........i think
> European Cars had some in correct technical pictures once.....i commented
> and they said 'well, there's only two of us on staff, what do you expect'
> ...anyway....those 'car mags.'
I follow you, lot's of those mags have gone online only too.. like VW trends...
> I've never tried to undo that SVX manifold thing. Too busy sorting out more
> important things. Where were you when I was going nuts trying to get this
> 98 Imprezza 2.2 engine to fire right off, instead of after 2 to 8 tries ? .
Just been here in beantown smoking my clutch, or at the dyno :) There
is a guy here in my hometown, they call him the "subaru guru".. here
and there seem to be the only dense concentrations of subes anywhere
in the country, although CO seems to have a lot too.
> I'd be willing to try a stand alone system on a subaru. I think I'd
> really enjoy it even. But squeezing more power out of something has never
> been all that attractive to me. I like underdog cars even. I think it's
> cheating to use massive amounts of power to go fast. I prefer to use
> cleverness and driving skill. I like passing $ 40K SUV's in the snow in my
> 2WD turbo sedan Volvo that cost me about 300 bucks to acquire. That's my
> kind of fun.
Sounds like you like sleepers, and improbable cars that perform well
also.. doesn't sound like you're the type to not appreciate power. You
know you don't need massive power to go fast, you need a good power to
weight ratio, and you need to be infected by the bug that demands you
do so... if you take pride in passing $40k suvs, I guarantee you've
been infected. Huge power levels for streets cars don't have the same
effect as just right combinations for me either.. it gets too
expensive and too pointless very quickly. Doing more with less is more
interesting to me than just about anything else I can think of. In all
aspects of existence.
Jim Akiba
