frree power

[stiorbust]

I have a 08 sti with 3" center pipe with a single 4.25" rear HKS muffler. bye bye dual exhaust... Engine upgrade is only a Injen intake. My question is...is there anything I can do without spending any money to free up more horsepower? I recently lost my job (thanks economy), and have no money to tune or upgrade. I am very able when it comes to working on my car. Thank you
Grant

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

Yes... Put back the stock intake. :tup:

Do you have a tune for the injen? It is very important to tune for any intake you are using other than stock.

The only intake systems that flow better than stock are the Cobb intake or a larger MAF housing intake. You would only go larger if you have replaced the turbo. Anything else is going to be negligible and yeild you little to no power gain and just put you at risk for engine failure if you dont tune for it.

There is little else you can do to improve power without spending any money. There are some low cost solutions but each one really requires a tune.

 

[jswansti]

+1
Work on the driver mod, but that still costs you in gas.

 

[BAD STI]

George pretty much covered it. Unfortunatly STI's really do need to be tuned to see any benefits from a mod... so much so that mods that would add some power on other cars (like an intake) can actually cause harm to the car if left untuned.

The good news is that A LOT of power can be gained from tuning.

Sorry to here about your job. Good luck with the search. I'm sure something will turn up. :tup:

Let us know if you have any other questions.

 

[stiorbust]

Thank you for the advise. I have had the combo for almost 8 months now. Btw, the injen was not just a filter but the whole intake tube etc.The intake over 2 years but I do not beat the car on a regular basis. I havent noticed any issues with the engine but have noticed a remarkable gain in power which I was shocked about. No check engine lights (knock on wood). I used to be a subie tech and have been driving wrx/sti since the wrx came out in 02. We have a really good import tuner around here so I will try to work something with him to avoid engine issues. Thanks again guys.

 

[Vermont]

If you want a cheep mod for the car then buy your self a Tactrix and learn how to tune your self...... Will never have to pay for tuners ever again and you will be able to know if your car is healthy or not at all times......

 

[Vermont]

just don't let your dog get a hold of the cable...

you can use romraider and ecufalsh (which are both free) to flash in/out maps... I have several maps that i have gotten for free like the grpN and ppp now i am not a tuner so i had a buddy of mine adjust the maps for my wonderful power eating elevation... but now i have them so when ever i want i can just flash in and out what ever map i feel like running... the tactrix cable is about $170 and a well worth it investment imo... Cobb has nothing that can compete with that price... considering each cobb map a couple hundred dollars and not to mention you can make your maps for free when you open source... plus there are tons of free maps out there...

There is nothing wrong per say with the AP.... Alot of people have no desire or interest to learn about tuning they just want something simple to get the car more power. The only problem with that is you are going to be paying for that convenience. If you do end up buying a Tactrix let me know. I have a whole bunch of base maps you could use..... Stage 1 and stage 2..... Both with and with out intakes and catless DP's..... Also have maps saved from my previous mods like 38mm EWG and Grimmspeed parts......

 

[Td_d]

If you want a cheep mod for the car then buy your self a Tactrix and learn how to tune your self...... Will never have to pay for tuners ever again and you will be able to know if your car is healthy or not at all times......

This is a great investment, trust me. 8 / 9 months ago, I didn't know a thing about tuning. Now I feel quite confident tweaking my tune personally, and I always know what's going on with my car. That being said, the AP is a great, low effort option - you just pay for it.