Subaru guy with noob SHO questions

[drewvdw]

Hey everyone, let me just start off saying that I don't have a SHO, but my brother who isn't so tech savvy does. He's looking for a sleeper status car. I'm not familiar with what you guys are saying when you're talking about stage 2, 3, or 4 tunes. I come from the Subaru community (2010 WRX Stage 2), so apparrently the "stages" aren't the same. To me, stage 2 is full turboback exhaust. Is it the same here?

What are the big no-no's of modifying a SHO?

As far as tuning systems go, is SCT the preferred route? Or is there one that I haven't heard of?

My brother wants an intake and catless turboback exhaust, is there anyone here who has done that? Has anyone done a custom made exhaust?

Here's the future goals of the car: achieve sleeper status with a little extra power while maintaining a reliable platform.

When the SCT tuner is unmarried from the car, will the PCM show any trace of it being reflashed?

One popular modification among Subaru owners is a lightened crank pulley, is there one out for the ECOTEC engine? Any adverse effects from it? Is it a recommended modification or not?

Is there an aftermarket suspension company that makes swaybars for the SHO?

Is anyone running a pure E85 protune? That's a massively popular upgrade in the Subaru community, what's required to do so in a SHO? Will the fuel lines handle the extra fuel load? How about the Fuel pump and injectors? I know nothing about direct injection. Are there even aftermarket injectors out there? All of this work would be done by a local tuner.

My brother really wants to hear the turbos and blow off valve, will an intake help? There's a lot of sound baffling in Subarus intake systems that keep it quiet, is it the same in the SHO? If not, is there an aftermarket blow off valve that would bolt right up?

Anyone running a catless turboback exhaust with a protune, what are your WHP numbers?

Is there an aftermarket intercooler kit available? Where is the stock one located? I haven't had more than 5 minutes looking at the engine bay of his car. Are there any problems with that? Is it large enough and effective even through higher boost levels and extra horsepower?

And finally, what do you guys recommend for modifications? Is there anything I mentioned that would adversly effect the car? Is there a weak point that manifests itself within adding 50-100 WHP? Has anyone had any transmission problems?

Thanks in advance.

edit: this is a 2011 SHO if that makes any difference.

 

[gregoire]

Most of these questions have been discussed at length on this forum and a search should yield plenty of results.

I will answer a few of these questions quickly for you,

Yes Ford will be able to tell your car has been flashed,

H&R makes a spring kit, I am unaware of swaybars etc.

Corsa, Borla, NESHO and others are have designed catback exhaust systems, I have Corsa and love it.

I don't know the WHP numbers, There is fellow on here (darreli) that has a 12.38 110 MPH plus 1/4 mile

There is a thread with WHP dyno numbers somewhere, maybe a couple places.

 

[steve142857]

Livernois tunes with SCT tuner adds about 40hp by itself
CAI from Airaid can add a few more but not that much
Magnaflow, Corsa, Borla and Nesho have made exhaust system
HR springs are available and Eihback (sorry for spelling)... didn't hear of swaybars
Ford can tell if reflash
Darreli used methanol to achieve 12.38sec at more than 110mph
The livernois stages 2 3 4 corresspond to :
stg 2 : extra 1.5 psi of boost with tq management
3 : same but no tq mgt
4 : extra 2.5 psi no tq mgt
all tunes have mods for transmission and shifting
I run daily stage 3 with HR springs and just ordered CAI.
Even without the CAI or exhaust, I can assure you that the car is definitely a sleeper and faster than 99% of cars on the road... you can look at my video of 0-60 under steve142857... on stage 3 and nothing else it makes it in about 4.5 seconds.
Unless your bro wants the ultimate machine, I believe that smaller mods are enough...
but hey! to everyone its addiction and goals in life.

Cheers!

 

[drewvdw]

Haha, he just wants to beat me I'll try searching a little.

 

[drewvdw]

So really the different stages are only affecting the tune itself, not relating to bolt on's whatsoever. That seems wierd to me, to me, all of your stages are effectively the same as a stage 1 Subaru. My brother says he's gunna call his a stage 53 protune when he's done. (his words, not mine. the numbering system didn't make sense to him either)

 

[RealityCheck]

I got rid of my '09 Stage 2 WRX (Cobb DP, Cobb canned tune) shortly after buying my 2011 SHO. Quarter mile and 0-60 times don't really tell the whole story. My SHO with only a Livernois stage 3 tune (93 octane) is much, much easier to run good track times with compared to my WRX. I could literally eat a sandwich while launching the Taurus and still run consistent good times. The WRX was hit or miss, requires a bunch of concentration, and was very difficult to run consistent times in. Furthermore, the SHO is much faster in the real world. The SHO's power is instantly available, whereas the WRX was a bit of a dog from a slow roll. Check out C&Ds 5-60 times. The SHO's engine flexibility has to be experienced to be believed.

The SHO doesn't have nearly the aftermarket support as the WRX, but it is a much better sorted-out car from the factory. I had a bunch of handling mods on my WRX and the SHO is simply more confidence inspiring bone stock. I thought the WRX was an amazing bargain, but the SHO is even more amazing for the money.

All is not sunshine & roses in the SHO world, however. The stock brakes fade alarmingly easily. There are no top-level performance tires available for the SHO. My car has the 12S Performance Package with Goodyear F1 Supercar tires, which I consider to be tier 3 performance tires. My intention was to replace them immediately, but none of the top tires are available in the correct size.

Still, I sold my WRX within weeks of buying the SHO. I simply wasn't interested in driving it anymore.

 

[darreli]

WOW!!! That's alot of questions...the majority of which can be answered by using the "search"

I'll take a stab at some of them that haven't been discussed at length elsewhere or in this thread already.

There isn't a lightweight crank pulley that I'm aware of

There arent really any aftermaket suspension pieces except for lowering springs..Eibach and H&R have them. No swaybar upgrade that I've seen although the stock ones are pretty good.

Catless pipes? Kirk at NESHO was working on some but I'm not sure where he is in the progress. Nesho, Borla, Corsa and Magnaflow make cat backs as mentioned.

The intercooler seems to be ok, there arent any "specific" intercooler upgrades....however, you can always go the custom route if need be

Not sure where things start failing yet....I have quit a bit more hp than from the factory and everything is ok so far.

Our cars arent compatible with E85..not sure what would have to be changed for that to change.

Mods Id recommend...Tune! A tune is really where it is so far with these cars as far as making power. My second upgrade would be a drop in K&N filter and alky injection.

 

[yamahaSHO]

There should be no reason that you can't run E85. Like the Subaru (the OP can relate), you'll have to probably swap the pump, inejctors (maybe FPR) and tune. Just like the Subie, it won't account for Exx changes. Personally, I think we will these cars hitting 11's with intake, exhaust and E85 (and tune). There's no free tuning available like RomRaider for the SHO.

 

[EcoBrick Bob]

Until a source is found for a larger volume Direct Injection Pump, one is limited in how much HP you can generate. Also, no one really knows the max HP - torque, the bottom end of this engine can handle.

A friend on a Pontiac board was a contract engineer on testing the bottom end. Won't say much, other than they tried to stroke the engine to 3.7 L and they had big time issues.

 

[yamahaSHO]

What fuel pressures does the SHO run?

 

[Unknown_Driver]

hey i had an 4EAT 02 wrx cobb stage 1 93oct with hp+ brakes and proxes4's


right now theres not much we can do about tire... you can drop down to a 19" wheel and a lot more tire choices will be available, but who are we kidding the car is a boat you shouldn't really be doing autocross or touge hoping the tires hang on LOL
(i actually like driving on my winter tires more than my stock not really all season tires)

everything is stilll taking time... I believe livernois is the top route for the tunes i'm not too sure about wastegate noises i think it has to be on full duty cycle with the tune?

as for the weak point the cars brakes are somewhat terrible and should be upgraded


tranny issues seems to be the weird hesitation to downshift at a low speed and usually fixed with a tsb software upgrade at the dealership

but anyway search around these questions get answered a lot... more importantly just get your brother on here LOL

 

[Crash712us]

What fuel pressures does the SHO run?

I believe it's 2200psi

 

[Crash712us]

My source that has work with ford engineers says they say they cannot tell if your car has ever been flashed. But one thing is for sure, there are many opinions on this subject.

 

[EcoBrick Bob]

FYI

There are 2 Fuel Pumps. The one in the tank, which no one is sure just how much fuel pressure it has, and the Stainless Direct Injection Pump on the front valve cover.

I have a BAP hooked into my system that I turn on when doing WOT runs. Seems to help DI pump, but hard to quantify... From my experiences, the FRP seems lowest in second gear in the 37-47 mph range. (Note that my Flex came stock with 255-45-20's and a 3.16 axle ratio. I have 255-44-18" tires which are 2" shorter, and Tire RPM of 772 vs stock 718. This gives me an effective axle ratio of 3.40.)

At higher speeds, the FRP comes back to almost full pressure, but does move around some.

 

[turbosho]

My source that has work with ford engineers says they say they cannot tell if your car has ever been flashed. But one thing is for sure, there are many opinions on this subject.

When you use an OBD scanner with the proper(newest) software on it it tells you when it was last flashed, how many times total, how many engine start cycles, and some more that i am forgetting.

Edit: I am not talking about the autozone style scanners, I am talking about the diagnostic scanners that cost $6k+

 

[93rev2sev]

I think actual owners of gen4 SHOs will get these cars hitting 11's

Fixed

 

[yamahaSHO]

I think we will SEE these cars hitting 11's. No need to further push the owners of different generations apart.

 

[Crash712us]

When you use an OBD scanner with the proper(newest) software on it it tells you when it was last flashed, how many times total, how many engine start cycles, and some more that i am forgetting.

Edit: I am not talking about the autozone style scanners, I am talking about the diagnostic scanners that cost $6k+

Was merely repeating what I believe to be very knowledgable source had told me. But as do work for ford myself, and have dealt many engineers over the years. They not always best sources.

 

[drewvdw]

could be, i spoke with an engineer and this was what she said "The SCT system makes a copy of the production software and can load it back to production level. However, if anyone looked carefully at the restored software, they could tell that it had been messed with because there would be no stored history."