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Comments
Going back to the swaybar. A rep from Mofugas emailed me and said that he doesn't think he's ever sold a 20mm in the U.S. and is even having trouble locating one. If he can't, I may have to go with the 22. Anybody have any thoughts on this? I'm worried it may be too much.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
(update on the bike wrenching-- cleaned & rebuilt the ignition switch last night, starts right up now. now to clean and balance the carbs...)
Lakepop, there's no doubt the torque chamber's small volume limits its effectiveness, but it's better than nothing. Look at the size of the intake manifold plenum though... the FHI engineers are trying to build something with a broad torque curve, as the shallow intake manifold is great for high rpm but not so great for low-rpm, especially transitions from part-throttle to wide open.
-Colin
By the way, where is the filter on that thing? is it in the pipe?
I notice he's also got the cone air filter conversion for '97-'99, but I don't know how much I like that mod. Sucking in hot air from the engine compartment just doesn't seem like a big performance boost to me. Maybe I'm wrong. Anybody try this? It would be nice if he had some dyno results for that one, as well.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
bit
The 00+ Forester and Imprezas have the air filter located in the airbox right before the throttle body. The pipe you see in the Ganz Flow is just that -- a pipe.
For the 98 and 99s, there aren't a whole lot of options for a cold air intake, as you've found out. The easiest thing to do is remove the snorkus which will not only make your intake air colder, but it should increase throttle response a bit.
Ken
is that that protruding thing at the intake that doesn't seem to go anywhere?
What is the purpose of that thingamagic anyway?
locke2c..I agree that there is an air supply available in the boxes...but that is gone rapidly under hard acceleration and then the associated plumbing becomes a hinderance. Moreover, watch your tach under hard acceleration...mine gets to higher rpms pretty quick and thats where everything starts to do its thing. If you are refering to things under 3000 rpms ala rockclimbing....I think you are probably right.Its just not where I look for improvements.
.
The second best air is that which is in the torque chamber, on the "dirty" side of the filter. This volume is important under the given conditions because the only restriction left in its path-to-use is the filter.
What happens when the throttle is suddenly opened is that you immediately "drain" the air on the clean side of the filter, and to make up for it, all the air in the upstream supply rushes to take its place, each fighting the restrictions along the way. The faster the air gets replaced, the better the performance. Less restriction is obviously better, and the least restricted air is, again, the volume in the torque chamber, mostly on the clean side of the filter.
One of the reasons I like K&N filters is because of the lower restriction, they decrease the capacitance in the system, which makes for better response.
Regards,
Frank
The snorkus is just another name for the intake silencer. The location of the snorkus varies between model years. For MY98 on Forsters/Imprezas and up to MY99 on Legacys, it's located in the fender:
http://www.remarcable.net/misc/legacy_outback/mods/snorkusectomy/
For the newer engines (not the 2.0 turbo) it's located directly in the engine bay.
There are other tubes and protrusions from the air intake hoses that I'm not sure what they do, but my guess is that they also serve to reduce turbulent flow.
Ken
-Colin
Where did you get the 20 mm sway bar? Is it a Subaru item? If so, do you have the part number? I've been reading up on these on this forum, and I intend on adding a beefier bar to my '01 Forester S (5 speed). I'd rather go a bit heavier than the 18 mm if possible. The car has too much body roll for my tastes. Thanks in advance for any info.
Len
Lakepop - ah, i see. Well, at least your not as outdated as me. LOL. Not that I'm that old, but most of my mechanic experience comes from cars that you can crawl into the engine bay to work on (i.e. big carbureted beasts). Which is why i try to limit myself to everything outside the computer controlled components.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Colin-
OK so I went out there and wrangled the JC Sports intake off. I then reconstructed the stock set up with the torque chamber leading to the stock intake arm, but then from there re-attached the JC cone intake/MAF assembly. I lost the cool growl, gained the infamous DOHC hum. It does seem to have less hesitation at the very bottom, but overall throttle response is less now too, according to the Butt Dyno. Maybe its because I miss the growl? Dunno. Awaiting your input....:)
Lucien
Lucien -- I'm having a hard time visualizing yourset up. Doesn't the JC Sports intake have a bend in it? How do you get that to fit if you've re-attached the torque chamber and intake arm?
You might want to try an ECU reset to see if that helps your car adjust to the new intake.
Ken
thanks in advance,
-tac
If $$$ is not an issue...I think replacing the tires will probably give you more results. I have not done that yet and given the sidewall flex that is now in my stock tires...I expect good results once I upgrade...my .02
It does have the bend- I ditched that part in favor of the stock intake arm. I kept the cone filter, which had an adapter to mount it to the MAF. So I am stock (for today) from the MAF-back.
There's two things to the side of the fog light. The upper one is a parking light, the lower is the bumper vent.
I've driven in crazy rain lately and no problems. I sure wouldn't attempt to drive through deep water though.
Loosh: let us know how your experiment goes. I think you'll find a lot more low-end torque with the chamber. The good news is that your MAF is very robust, since you have a '98. The JC Sports intake can't hurt you in that way at least.
Oh, and someone was asking where to buy Ganz Flow intakes... didn't see that anyone answered, but you can find them in the products section of www.imprezars.com -- no, this isn't the old iClub address it's Larry Ganz's site.
-Colin
update: i went in for my "test", i was pulled over for my headlights (hella xenon H4+30's) being too bright and forced to put my car through a state DOT emissions test (the cop noticed my exhaust after he pulled me over). they told me that my car passed with flying colors and that i no longer have to pay the fine (i have a 2.25 cat back and stomung exhaust).
seamus
Good to hear you don't have to pay that fine. I think the cop is the one that needs to go through an inspection if he things the Hellas are "too bright".
The Ganz Flow only works if your intake setup is like those found in the 00+ SOHC motors. I'm guessing the the 96 Legacy has the snorkus in the fender and the air filter located right after the snorkus. If that's the case, the Ganz Flow won't work.
engine? if so then i guess it won't work, unfortunately.
i took the halogen's back since you said that the hella's are legal. i told the state patrol guy that was there that i didn't appreciate being singled out because of the appearence of my car. the cop thinking that because my car was noticibly modified i was trouble, i'm not. he didn't agree, and i left with an A+.
Cheers Pat.
PS. that cost is each rim.
Wondering if a custom made rigid pipe from the reservoirto the filter would be the solution. Not sure regaining the low end grunt was worth it...These phase I engines deliver most of their power higher on the revs than Phase II, so the loss of higher end response seems magnified.
I doubt you've really lost significant power above 3000 rpm. What you felt before was a big rush at 3k not because there was a huge improvement over stock there (some, I have no doubt) but because there was a huge LOSS below 3000 rpm.
The only real way to find out if I'm right about the power above 3k or not is to do some instrumented testing of WOT acceleration. A dragstrip would be ideal, but a gtechpro used properly would give you fair results.
-Colin
The noise alone is worth it for boy-racers.
-Colin
I'm prolly better off putting the stock filter box back on! Then at least it is drawing cool air from the wheel well, as opposed to the cone which draws air from the bay!
So where are you concentrating your tuning? I remember the cam job.... suspension I guess? I take it you have the stock intake with an aftermarket exhaust. right? I think I remember your exhaust being a flowmaster or some such thing.
OTOH, the K&N panel filter on my wife's OB changed the sound only slightly.
Dennis
custom cold-air intake (deleted snorkus, amsoil filter in stock box, MY00 fender plug, removed bumper vent)
Tein HA coilovers
Cusco camberplates (front), STi Group N upper mounts (rear)
Whiteline 20mm adjustable rear sway bar
Cobb Tuning Street Cams
DIY cylinder head port & polish (very light modifications)
2.25" midpipe (catback), 2.25" Borla turbo muffler
Goodridge braided steel brake lines
I've also got the following parts gathering dust pending installation:
ClutchNet 6 puck clutch & heavy duty pressure plate
Whiteline solid swaybar endlinks (front & rear)
Kartboy shifter (Ken is going to smack me)
Not to mention my old KYB AGX struts and we're not even going to bring up wheels and tires.
-Colin
I s'pose you had that exhaust built for you locally, I remeber you telling me that via email. That's a good idea, and prolly cheaper than ordering Stomung SS and such. AS soon as I can afford it.....
-mike
Oh I sure didn't type in all those tags by hand. I wrote that in an editor and then plunked the source here.
Sorry to hear about the job. (Yeah I know you posted in another topic.) I'm sure you'll find something that suits you better.
-Colin
Hey, that's cool. I'm just interested in hearing your comments on it.
BTW, how big a difference did the braided brake lines make? Were they easy to install?
Ken
I decided I wanted to do this right so I ordered a set of Hella Supertones. The horns arrived last night and I promptly got to work. The entire intallation took less than an hour.
The horn behind the front grille was super easy. Just popped off the grille, removed the old horns and plugged in the new ones. I reused the wiring that came with the Fiamm to ground the horn via the mounting bracket.
The other horn, located behind the passenger side headlight, required that I unhook the wiring harness from the fastener so that I had enough flexibility to snake it up to the horn's terminal. Otherwise, it was just plug and play.
So how is the sound? Freaking LOUD! I tried them in my garage and my ears were ringing after a quick blast! The horns are much louder than the Fiamms and just blow away the stock horns.
Below is a picture of my new armor-piercing horn behind the front grille. I like how the red horn grille peeks through the Forester grille.
Here's the other horn behind the headlight.
Ken
-mike
The brake lines made a noticeable improvement in initial pedal feel and responsiveness. You can still tell there's a squishy dual-stage brake booster though. Overall, for $125 I'm happy with them. Bigger improvement would take a bigger investment.
-Colin
Is the install for the brake lines difficult?
Ken
The total capacity of the brake system is but 10.2 ounces, but you might want as much as 32 oz on hand to completely flush and bleed.
-Colin
Although the Supertones do sound considerably louder than stock, I'm still toying with the notion of getting a pair of compressed air horns (if I can find a suitable unobtrusive place to mount them). Why you ask? As Tim Allen would say: "More Power!" :-)
-Frank P.
The Forester's stock horn position is one behind the grille and one behind the headlight. I didn't want run new wiring for the horns so I kept the stock positions. I figured I had one pointed forward for the long range effect and another that would reverberate in the engine compartment for a wider spread.
That toggle switch is a good idea. It's hard to "politely" honk with those things.
Ken
Thanks for the input; 1st auto-x is July 1 on my RE92's!
I think the Impreza fender plug won't work. I bought one for my Forester and it didn't fit. The GT probably has a different shape too.
I did find that closing the hole made the intake noise a little less noticeable but it also seemed to make the engine not rev as freely as with it open.
Ken
Did I miss where you bought them?
Ed
-Colin
I am purty happy with the 18mm bar from the OB, but I think that, even stock, the suspension can take more. When I upgrade my tires I may order a 20-24mm...certainly when I replace struts etc.