Hey i know everyone already knows this, but those guys at gruppe-s are great ! did my wagon up today with an up and down pipe and were just real nice guys and did great work ! thanks Gruppe-S
Joe - 05 CGM wagon

 

make sure to get some engine management like a Cobb AP or EcuTek. after 03 the ECU has a significant open/closed loop fueling delay.

 

thanks for the advice mcdrama i was planning on an Accessport actually... funds be a little low at the moment or else i would have done it all at once. you have a preference on either the ap or the ecuteck? ive had a couple people vote each way actually.

 

ive been told that a cobb ap or any kind of fuel mgmt is not required if you do the basic boltons

 

hmmmmm good to know, but the Cobb AP bumps you up to like 280 with just an up, down and catback though i thought... or atleast there website says?? i cant go too crazy she is my everyday driver

 

You didn't get the memo?
do some searching on i-club and nasioc, here are a couple of threads:

One from Shiv:
https://www.i-club.com/forums/vishnu-performance-925-648-7863-105/04-wrx-ecu-digging-deeper-53407/

One really long but point proven one on nabisco:
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...sed+loop+delay

Post #6:
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...sed+loop+delay

You've now received the memo!

Personally, I would go with a Cobb Access Port. You can unmarry it and sell the AP if you decide to switch engine management later on or sell the car.
With EcuTek, its there for ever.

As for tuneability, there is no difference that I am aware of, I have been told the editable values are the same between the two. You can ask Moike(Gruppe-S) or Ed(EQ Tuning) and they can explain any details I am missing.

Good luck, happy motoring!

 

Forgot to comment on the power:

I have an ERZ flex uppipe, stromung 3" short divorced wastegate downpipe, stock 3rd cat, and 2.5" stromung catback.
I started with a gruppe-s EcuTek tune on just an uppipe, then as I added more parts(DP/catback) had some funny boost issues, traded ECUs to someone for a Cobb AP.
Been running the stage 2 cali map and its running great, but I would suggest a custom tune from either EQ Tuning or Gruppe-S.

I have 57K miles on my daily driver 04 wagon now, and its still running great the turbo just likes to eat oil.
I put the uppipe in at 19K miles, got engine mngmt. around 30K.

 

thanks mcdrama ! that really helped ! i appreciate the advice and info on your cars stats ! very helpful !

 

I would go with ECUTEK over Cobb AP. But that's just from what I've seen personally. ECUTEK tuned cars with the same mods will make more power than cars tuned with the Accessport.

 

Yeah now all you need is a bigger turbo!!!

 

...I believe that's all up to the tuner

 

you can't beat the fact that you can store multiple tunes with the AP, if I would've known that, I wouldn't have done the ECUTEK...

 

depending on when you got the ECU is what matters. IIRC ECUTek can store 2 maps, while if you got a ECUTek before ProTuner was out, ECUTek was incredibly better than AP. Though, after you could get a ProTuner the scales tipped the other way, and AP with more than just 2 map storage and having the AP code reader and everything made it more convenient. Though, IMHO, you don't really need more than 2 maps... just the code reader would be nice...

 

the two maps is the reason why I haven't gone to a bigger turbo...it's tempting, but I gots no money right now

 

a custom tune will most likely yield better results, in some cases though not much.
Cobb does a fairly good job with the off the shelf maps in most cases, not sure about AFRs though, they do update their maps pretty often though.
And I think with the release of protuner they might even learn some stuff from tuners using the software.

02/03 ECUs can store 2x boost maps, thats all. They are not full "maps" like the actual reflash that has timing/fueling/sensor stuff. I am not a tuner so I don't know everythign that goes in the ECU. But I do know that the older ECUs could store 2 boost maps.


Can we get a word in from some of hte BA tuners?