Subaru Tuning that affects 5EAT Operations & Performance

Post by **west_minist** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 10:31 am

Subaru Tuning that affects 5EAT Operations & Performance by Xtreme Racing Tuning (XRT)

Many H6 & LGT customers have been complaining over the years on the Lag/delay and the performance of the 5EAT to the point of selling their cars or just no attempt to drive in a way that would cause an accident like over-taking quickly, etc. In other words, downright disappointing and disgusting, leading you to denial and constant frustration

Some tuners are able to offer tuning, like XRT (Xtreme Racing Tuning) where the 5EAT performs better. Some does it better and I believe XRT through feedback from its customers, shows just that. We do it better with continuing success and we are happy!!!

Generally, the following are expected when the ROM is tuned (The Transmission Computer is not tuned):

Quicker shifting
Firmer shifting
Appropriate Gear selection for less labouring or load on the engine
Enhance SI-Modes once available
Less ping/knocking due to the transmission wanting to be in 4th to 5th gear all the time.
Less pedal moving to make the transmission shifting
Better fuel mileage
Easy over-taking and maneuvering due to quicker acceleration due to the above points.

So far The DBW is huge improvement and the torque through the first few gears is good. Since I do a lot highway
driving and encounter cars doing under the speed limit I appreciate a good quick lane change and pass. You have
done allot with what little I have given you it's know wonder that you are the 3.0 guru, I am glad I found you.

RichL

I have not yet test drive the v1a (just written it to ECU 10 min ago), but with the v0, there are already huge improvement over stock!
I drove 10 min with SI-mode I, the car seems to be driveable now in this mode, before it was just a nightmare and never selected this mode. The car is smoother and more reactive, also less shaking at low RPM, sounds promising!

In S# the car accelerates stronger in the range idle - 4000 RPM, no lag at all, I like it!
NicolasD

I had to load stock rom back on the car for a few days so I could do a stock 2nd gear pull for the log and also so my mechanic wont freak out when he hits the gas and realizes this is not a stock car. I’m still getting used to the changes to the drive by wire, my mpg has gone down but that’s due to me flooring the pedal in 1st gear just to feel the power I never had in this car before. People must think I’m trying to race them off the light when my car launches forward when just touching the gas, lol. So far Ed has done an amazing job!!! I’m very happy with the way the car is performing. Just waiting for raptor to get their new set of headers in stock so I can get them and have Ed retune them. The car feels better than ever! The power is great over hills, doesn’t have to shift down to get power, the gear changes are smooth and the sound of the engine now is unreal. I just need to do one more log and gear pull for final results. I can’t believe how fast and fun tuning really is when you have a great tuner that really knows what he’s doing and when he does it he does it right! I can now see why XRT is known as “vicious tuned, driven hard” stay tuned for more updates on my car.

RichardZ

DBW is great.I feel like the car pulled a bit harder on V5 with the avcs changes.Overall the car is feeling quite good with the wheels wanting to spin in the wet now.

MattC

I cannot recommend Edward’s (XRT) tuning service highly enough. He has taken my stock H6 3.0 Liberty (auto) to a whole new level, it drives like a completely different car. More torque, more response and more power. I was a having a few troubles getting the tuning working at first as I was not familiar at all with the Tactrix Cable and software used but Edward took all the time needed to ensure I was brought up to speed with how to use it and get it working. Ed is a great guy, always quick to respond and continuously works with you and your queries the entire way through. I am up to version three of the tune on my stock ride and each new version saw great improvements after Ed makes the necessary adjustments. A special thanks goes to Ed for the improvement in the reduction of throttle lag. One of my biggest issues with the car was the throttle lag in the Auto gear box. Before the tune, when i put my foot down it took a few seconds for the car to respond with the power. I told Ed my concerns and he has managed to significantly reduce this throttle lag. There is almost no lag whatsoever now, especially when I’m in sport # mode using the tiptronic controls, its just amazing how much performance the stock car provides. After having my car tuned by Ed my advice is GET YOUR CAR TUNED! The factory tune does not do these engines/cars justice and Ed will prove that to you!

BenL

Subaru Outback - Subaru Outback Forums - Reply to Topic

cracklincrotch wrote:So for the last few days I've been working with Ed @ Xtreme Racing Tuning. Got a engine log sent off to him and he asks me,"When was the last time I had the engine serviced?" So I listed off what I've done and when since getting the car. When I woke up this morning I'm thinking to myself that Ed is going to tell me I need new spark plugs.

I came close to changing them a bit more than a month ago. The car had 138,000km on it when I bought it so they should have been changed at 100,000km/60,000mi. So I bought plugs just in case mine appeared as if they hadn't been changed. I took one plug out and I thought it was fine. I showed it to a couple of mechanic friends and they both said it was fine and to put it back in. I returned the new plugs - they were $18.50 plus tax at the dealer. They were going back at that price if I didn't need them.

So back to the engine log. Ed tells me my 3.0R is running between 190-200HP and I'm no more than 175ft-lbs at the wheels. I'm using ethanol-free 91 AKI Esso gasoline. I went over some of the log yesterday afternoon and I half looked at the IAM and thought that at .4 it was a little low. Anyway, here's the link to the engine graphs:

Dealer has the best price around on the NGK ILFR6B plugs. $18.50ish plus tax = $21.28 each times six = $127.68.

No wonder the gas use is nasty. Sure the car wants to take off when I floor it. But apparently I've yet to feel it "take off!" And it's -10C and I have no garage to work in. At least there's no snow on the ground here and the engine will be warm after buying plugs

cracklincrotch wrote:I'm still giggling when I punch the gas either way!

cardoc wrote:Makes you wonder why Subaru didn't just make it that way from the factory, eh?

cracklincrotch wrote:It's been a week and I'm about to flash v6 from Edward this morning.

When you figure that the car I drive (and every other ECU controlled car) went through 1000s of hours of development, what's another week?

This far into the tune I swear the car is telling me "C'mon! C'mon! Let's go let's go let's go! I wanna RUN!!" like a dog that just brought me a stick.
http://www.subaruout...tml#post1262641
This guy knows what he's doing!

Without any mods to my car he's improved the whole feel of the car. Before my car felt just okay. I used to drive a 2.2 Outback, 2.5 Legacy and Forester, and then my current 3.0R. Yeah, there was more power. After Ed @ XRT, my 3.0R has more power! I stick the car in 1st gear and punch the gas the engine begins to roar and the front end of my car wants to lift off the ground just to make sure I feel the back of my seat!

Patient, knowledgeable, experienced, and easy to work with: Ed @ XRT will make you think you're driving a different car entirely. Absolutely, bar none, worth every penny!
http://www.subaruout...tml#post1512898
I'm still learning how little gas I have to give my car to start moving in a parking lot or drive-thru. All the car wants to do when I touch the gas is drop it's @ss and throw itself forwards!
DonaldB

The tune has really improved the car so far. I am very happy.
I will do some more logging after the service for you.

I mode is 500% better than it was stock. It is now very usable and I will be using it 95% of the time from now on.
S mode I haven’t tested much, as I will be using I or S# all the time I think. But it felt good from what I tested. Holds gears longer then I and is quicker to downshift when needed.
S# is awesome. Car feels fantastic through the whole rev range.

Overall I wanted a more drivable car, and it definitely is. The off-the-line acceleration is much improved – it used to be quite slow in the stock tune to be honest.

Will let you know once the car is serviced and will send you some more logs.

Cheers,
JoshL

Ed,
I'm very satisfied with the car's performance so far and I'm sure it will become much more better when it learns.

Couple of interesting things:
- The car now jumps when launching, great response!
- Torque is great, you feel the power in the pedal!
- Learning!! whatever your driving style is, the car learns it fast.
- Shifting in the 3gear became a lot faster.
- Power starts in around 2500rpm, thanks to Raptor headers.
- More fuel usage.
- FUN, the great response makes it more sporty.

Ed:
- Patient and helpful, we reached v6.
- Knowledgeable and always ready to give answers and directions.
- Willing to help and support anytime, we might do another project
- I learned a lot of things from him and gained more experience.
- Strongly recommended for the next customer.

Car now is under some maintenance job.. injectors cleaning & spark plug replacement.. above number will definitely go higher as we are approaching winter session it was tuned in the summer session, humid too.

Thanks Ed for your efforts, looking forward to work with you again, maybe soon.

Regards,
Ali

Subject: Re:Re: Australia. '05 3.0 Subaru Outback.
From: "J"
Date: Tue, April 22, 2014 5:11 am
To: XtremeRacingTuning
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok. After your tune, I have NEVER felt the gearbox so smooth. I've always HATED that gearbox with a passion, but after your tune it was Absolutely PERFECT. **It no longer held onto gears which was my main gripe**. It simply changed up to higher gears as soon as it was able to handle the torque demand & with such a buttery smoothness that it was almost a seamless transition. I LOVED the way the auto shifted after your tune!!! Yes, it was That good!!

I am currently on another tune.

Missing your gearbox tune right now Ed!!

Cheers, J.

http://www.subaruout...tml#post1558209
My transmission used to hang on to gears a bit more than too long, in retrospect. I didn't know it until after my tune. I just didn't realize how much better it could be until after you got a hold of my ROM and fixed up the DBW proper. Now it's sooooo smoooooth! And I thought the shifting was "fine" before your magic!

Before tuning my car it was an effort to get the torque converter to lock up in in-city driving with the hilly terrain where I am. Now it's down right easy!

I knew everything would be better before tuning but now I know just how much better better can be and is.

cracklincrotch

I cannot post all. so for review, just go to the link Xtreme Racing Tuning ? View topic - H6 3.0R Customer Feedback

PaulB · Post by **PaulB** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 12:11 pm

Hi Edward,

Thanks for the gearbox tune. It feels more responsive now and easier to "command". It seems that on the Tribeca (B9) it does not help tuning the engine only as the gearbox seems to negate any progress you make on the tuning, especially with my driving style which is more old man than race boy. Manuals and more modern autos should be better but with the Trebeca's 5EAT you won't get the full benefit if you tune the engine only.

I'm not sure how your normal aggressive throttle response will be but with the "long throw" pedal you tuned for me it seems very natural to command the gearbox now.

I had the sense that the car felt "lighter" today after the gearbox tune.

With all your tuning the car is not as frustrating to drive than in stock, i.e. I feel more in control because the car now reacts better to my inputs.

Thanks again.

Regards

Paul

Post by **west_minist** » Mon May 12, 2014 9:44 pm

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: XRT Tranny
Date: Mon, 12 May 2014 18:39:49 -0600
From: CK
To: XRT

Exact shift points, I'm not sure. I just know now that it is different, less lag...more consistent. I do know that when it would upshift before, it would drop to like 1500, 1800, 2200rpm as a start for the next gear pull. If I can explain. In a manual, if you shift deliberately and lazily, the rpms will drop before you release the clutch and start your climb again.

The XRT tune, has the trans, catching the gear at a higher rpm to continue on the throttle. Like heel-toe-ing...quick shift and keep the rpm in the power band.
Under loaded acceleration, there now is a quick shift, even power...vs the stock which was peaky and very boost-cycle dependent. Does this make sense, The car is more even now...not up and down with each upshift.

Post by **west_minist** » Fri May 16, 2014 6:53 pm

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/61- ... ost1625257

Ed sent me updated roms a few days ago to try out.

So far I've only had a chance to try one of those, with the results in the above video. Transmission performance improvement was immediate and very obvious. Shifting is much quicker than before and still very smooth. Even through the RPMs drop very fast when shifting I don't feel the shifts at all. The car feels as if there is more torque and that torque feels like it's available sooner. And although preliminary it appears my mileage may have improved too!
__________________
This is my fourth Subaru:
2005 Outback 3.0R 5EAT - 155,540km/96,650mi
Tuned by Ed @ Xtreme Racing Tuning
Before = 183WHP @ 6849RPM/170ft-lbs @ 4238RPM
After Ed = 195WHP @ 5756RPM/197ft-lbs @ 4861RPM, +7% HP, +16% torque, fully stock

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/61- ... ost1641482

I think Ed has got my 5EAT tune to just how I like it. Went through a couple of ROMs to see just how shifting performed and after four adjustments it's just WOW!

Car takes right off with seamless, unfelt shifting. No sooner do I get to the speed I want but the torque convert locks up sooner than it takes me to look down from the road to the tachometer to see if it had because I can't feel the shifts anymore!

My mileage is improving with the transmission tune as well. I don't need to give the car as much throttle to get the car up hills or to keep at speed on the flat. The torque converter doesn't unlock as quickly either. A modest nudge to the gas and the car just speeds up, no unlock. Give it a little more gas after that and it smoothly unlocks and the car takes off! Take my foot off the pedal and the TC locks right up again!

It's beautiful!

Post by **west_minist** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 6:36 am

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/109 ... ost1679938

Sent Ed my logs from v1 last night. Having driven a week on v1 because I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to log more for him for that long, I've got to say the performance improvement is very noticeable, especially when putting your foot down at highway speeds. The car is seriously quick at this point. I suspect it would give a stock 5EAT XT some very strong competition now.

Transmission shifts are no longer "lazy" and manual shifts happen more quickly than they ever did before.

I have been using more fuel...probably because it's just so much more fun to put my foot down now. I don't particularly care about fuel economy anyway .

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/61- ... ost1625257

Ed sent me updated roms a few days ago to try out.

So far I've only had a chance to try one of those, with the results in the above video. Transmission performance improvement was immediate and very obvious. Shifting is much quicker than before and still very smooth. Even through the RPMs drop very fast when shifting I don't feel the shifts at all. The car feels as if there is more torque and that torque feels like it's available sooner. And although preliminary it appears my mileage may have improved too!

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/61- ... ost1641482

I think Ed has got my 5EAT tune to just how I like it. Went through a couple of ROMs to see just how shifting performed and after four adjustments it's just WOW!

Car takes right off with seamless, unfelt shifting. No sooner do I get to the speed I want but the torque convert locks up sooner than it takes me to look down from the road to the tachometer to see if it had because I can't feel the shifts anymore!

My mileage is improving with the transmission tune as well. I don't need to give the car as much throttle to get the car up hills or to keep at speed on the flat. The torque converter doesn't unlock as quickly either. A modest nudge to the gas and the car just speeds up, no unlock. Give it a little more gas after that and it smoothly unlocks and the car takes off! Take my foot off the pedal and the TC locks right up again!

It's beautiful!

Post by **west_minist** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 7:05 am

http://www.xtremeracingtuning.com/forum ... 1614#p1614

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

Hey Ed,

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

Post by **west_minist** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 6:08 am

stevenc1703 - 2011 USDM Subaru Legacy H6 3.6R 5EAT - Tuning
http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php ... tcount=667

xrt controls the shift points indirectly. This car shifts completely differently, it's way smoother, you can hardly tell it shifts in auto and about as fast as a manual in paddle mode

Post by **west_minist** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:26 am

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/109 ... ost1856481

Got my version 0.0 Xtreme Racing Tuning tune logged and loaded an hour ago, and man is it a nice difference so far !
Shifts firmer sooner and smoother ! and the lock up seems to engage much sooner
also my engine light (due to no cat) was turned off
so far this is way better than the cobb stage 2 off the shelf and we are just getting started. much props to ED at XTR ill keep you guys updated on my coming versions as well as 0-60 comparisons of XTR vs Cobb vs Stock

car is an 05 outback 2.5xt with tsudo up pipe, Invidia turbo back w a random technology high flow cat, a cobb sf intake w box, and perin inlet hose

Post by **west_minist** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 6:41 pm

http://www.xtremeracingtuning.com/forum ... f=40&t=546

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: v0
Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 01:07:23 +0300
From: KaiK
To: XRT

Hi,
The car really feels like that and even more. The car is way better than what it was with stock ROM. The transmission is a lot of faster than what it used to be. This is how the 5EAT should have worked when it left from the factory (or engineer's table). Now the gear flaps are finally useful.

Post by **west_minist** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:35 am

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/109 ... ost2117154

Just wanted to pass on a quick update - I've spent the last week or so finally having my '08 3.0R e-tuned by XRT - and WOW!!!!

Originally, I was looking mainly to get rid of the frustrating 'lag' in my 5EAT equipped Outback (it seems we all get extra lag from the fly-by-wire e-gas pedal, and the stock 5EAT programming doesn't help), and any performance gains I ended up with I would just going to consider a bonus . . .

Well, from the very first ROM version he supplied - the lag had completely gone, replaced with "instant" throttle response - so much so, I'm in the process of re-learning my throttle, especially when backing into a parking spot!. The car drives much better, shifts more appropriately and 'feels' quicker and faster, using my well calibrated butt-dyno!

Xtreme Racing Tuning

Subaru Tuning that affects 5EAT Operations & Performance

Subaru Tuning that affects 5EAT Operations & Performance

Triceba Transmission Feedback

ChrisK - 2005 Subaru Legacy Outback XT 2.5 5EAT - Tuning

DonaldB Transmission feedback #2

New updates: June-2014

Update for June-27, 2014

Update for June-29, 2014

gtonstilts - 2005 Subaru Legacy Outback XT 2.5 5EAT - Tuning

KaiK - 2006 EDM Subaru Legacy 3.0R 5EAT - Tuning

Finally worthy of the "R" designation...part 1.