RobertF - 2004 ADM Subaru Legacy 3.0R 5EAT - Tuning

[west_minist]

Info
Owner: RobertF
Rom:D2ZS002D
Tyres: 215/55-17
Car Weight: 1540kg
Driver Weight: 75kg
Total Weight: 1615kg

Mods
None

[west_minist]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Feedback
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 09:40:57 +1000
From: RobertF
To: XRT

Hey Ed,
I will mirror what others have said, I was wary of getting the car tuned by an international tuner, but I talked to friends who have had it done to their XT Foresters etc. They assured me it wasn't as big a deal as I was worried about. I contacted Ed, he got back to me straight away, seemed very nice to deal with so that was it, bought the tactrix cable, downloaded the software, logged some driving and away we went.

I am going for economy primarily, however the car is much more responsive, the adjustments made to the drive by wire made the most noticeable difference in my car. Transmission shifts quicker into the next gear, we had a little play around with this as it was slightly clunking into gears with the initial change. It also shifts down quicker when booted. The power has changed too, there is a spike of power at 3000rpm which wasn't there before, really feels like the cams come on and car pulls really hard from 3k onward.

I have also noticed the cruise control works much better with the tune, it doesn't struggle in hilly terrain. When cruising in drive in the hills it doesn't shuffle for gears anymore either, which is a huge plus.

So how did we go with economy? I did a round trip to the coast from Canberra (included spirited run from Tathra up Brown mountain) and managed 10km/L, average pre-tune was 9km/L at best. So highway driving will net even better. Around town the wife has been getting 8.3 to 8.5km/L about 50km more between fills.

Was it worth it? Yes in short it is more economical, more responsive, it feels like a younger less tired car.

Will it pay itself off? in the long run probably but for now the fun factor is high and the wife loves it.

If I had my time again I would get a CAI and Headers from Raptor before tuning. Would see much more power gain from the tune.

Cheers
Rob