Alastair Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 Just posting to say thanks to Alistair Dinnis at Trackhound tuning, he mapped my hawk eye this morning. The mapping process is really interesting and he explains everything in an easy to understand way, taking his time to get everything just right. The car feels much more alive through the revs now, running 1.4 bar with 350ish BHP... Thanks for a great morning, the drive home wasn't bad either.
mystery machine Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 Nice! What hardware mods had you made prior to the remap?
Alastair Posted February 26, 2011 Author Posted February 26, 2011 (edited) Over the winter I fitted, walbro 255l fuel pump, cobrasport 3" down pipe with sports cat with 3" blitz centre section and rear box,blitz blow off valve and a do luck panel filter.... Edited February 26, 2011 by Alastair
mystery machine Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 (edited) Cheers Alasdair. I have a Hawk STI and at some point might like to make mods similar to yours. TBH I'd be happy with anything over approx 300lb/ft and 320bhp, but the figures aren't that important to me. Sounds like it's been very worthwhile for you though! You're not worried about running 1.4 bar and 350bhp on one of those 'chocolate' 2.5L engines then? Edited February 26, 2011 by Mystery Machine
Alastair Posted February 27, 2011 Author Posted February 27, 2011 Cheers Alasdair. I have a Hawk STI and at some point might like to make mods similar to yours. TBH I'd be happy with anything over approx 300lb/ft and 320bhp, but the figures aren't that important to me. Sounds like it's been very worthwhile for you though! You're not worried about running 1.4 bar and 350bhp on one of those 'chocolate' 2.5L engines then? Most failures I have read about and I did some reading,, seem to happen in under 20000mile cars that were modded before the engine was run in and its to do with engine clearences bieng very tight that causes the failure. I decided mine with 25000m should be run in and I don't red line it or push it to the limit much, just use it for what it's ment for spirited runs on country roads. If I have any problems I'll post on here to let people know, that's what the forums about learning from experiences of others. There are a few hawks on here running similar bhp without problem so I'll hope for the best.
jimser Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 nice one alistair,350bhp/390 lb/ft shouldn't be a problem
bobbyc Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 Nice one Alasdair I found that power just about right and never had any issues with my 2.5
burgy_51_ Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 I'm the same mate, got my hawk done 2 years ago 349bhp and 400 lbs torque and never had any problems with the engine.
kennyuk300 Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 Nice one Alastair How does she feel now ??? Kenny
Alastair Posted February 27, 2011 Author Posted February 27, 2011 Kenny , I can't get the smile off my face full burble, pops, bangs and smooth power all the way... Love it !!!
kennyuk300 Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 Kenny , I can't get the smile off my face full burble, pops, bangs and smooth power all the way... Love it !!! Good to hear Alastair Need to get a wee run in it now Kenny
mystery machine Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 Most failures I have read about and I did some reading,, seem to happen in under 20000mile cars that were modded before the engine was run in I found that power just about right and never had any issues with my 2.5 I'm the same mate, got my hawk done 2 years ago 349bhp and 400 lbs torque and never had any problems with the engine. FWIW, I reckon the faulty map that was supplied with some of the hatch STIs has a lot to answer for – doesn't sound like the 2.5 is half as fragile as some people (2.0L owners?) would have us believe...
scooby222 Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 im basing it on actual experience of people i know, not hearsay having spoken with someone formerly of this parish who bought a hawk sti from subaru at a year old and had a catastrophic engine failure id be wary! but i think most of the problems are either badly maintained examples or modded too much - there isnt any 2.5's running over 400hp on standard internals i know of and if 2.5's are so good why dont jdm's have them huh?
x444wrx Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 Another fan here for Mr Trackhound and his magic, will defo be using him again for mapping cant speak highly enough for him and his work..........and another fan of the 2.5 Here's mine in all her glory!! Hopefully getting it mapped again later this year.
mystery machine Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 and if 2.5's are so good why dont jdm's have them huh? WRC homologation I'd have thought, sure the rules still state they have to use an engine based on a production car? (prob had a load left over after they packed it up too). Don't take it personally – the 2.0L I'm sure is a great engine, and it sounds like it is built a bit tougher than the 2.5L. I'm just a bit wary of folklore that's repeated around and around on forums about 'chocolate' engines, often based on very little actuality – e.g. "I knew one guy who had a 2.5 blow up"... as if, never in the history of Subaru has a 2.0 turbo engine failed! Watch this, after me defending the 2.5L it'll go up in smoke next time I fire it up
frank c Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 I thought it was chocolate pistons rather than the whole engine?
mystery machine Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 (edited) Aye, I've heard both being referred to as 'chocolate', but aye – the pistons are supposed to be the "Achilles' heels" of the 2.5L... To me, any engine that can reliably develop power approx 25% above its manufacturer's spec (as suggested by the reports above and plenty others) is made of anything but 'chocolate' Plenty of stories about Hatch 2.5L pistons in bits, but give any engine a duff map that causes detonation and/or a rev limiter that's too aggressive and you stand a good chance of running into reliability issues somewhere down the line. Put forged pistons into it and run with the same map and you're probably just masking the problem and delaying the symptoms. Now the newage shock absorbers, that's a different story... Edited February 28, 2011 by Mystery Machine
mystery machine Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 Over the winter I fitted, walbro 255l fuel pump, cobrasport 3" down pipe with sports cat with 3" blitz centre section and rear box,blitz blow off valve and a do luck panel filter.... Is that a loud system, Alastair?
frank c Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 Yup, you can only take engine to a certain level before having to either pop in a set of drop in pistons or going the whole hog.
Alastair Posted February 28, 2011 Author Posted February 28, 2011 Is that a loud system, Alastair? loud mmm yes very loud .....couldent daily drive without a bung ,,, but it pops bangs and the roar is awsome...
mystery machine Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 Yup, you can only take engine to a certain level before having to either pop in a set of drop in pistons or going the whole hog. True – and forged pistons aren't necessarily always desirable either. I remember Dunc from Hypetech telling me that after replacing cast pistons with forged, the motor will tend to sound a little more noisy and clunky than before. Maybe that's a price well worth paying... maybe not...
mystery machine Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 loud mmm yes very loud .....couldent daily drive without a bung ,,, but it pops bangs and the roar is awsome... I'll maybe have to source something a wee bit more conservative than yours!
Alastair Posted February 28, 2011 Author Posted February 28, 2011 I'll maybe have to source something a wee bit more conservative than yours! it may be ok with the bung you get with it. i'll need to try it and let you know....do you go to any monthly meets i could bing it along and let you have a listen see what you think...?
mystery machine Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 I don't really get along to the meets, Alastair (bit of a loner that way ). Might go along to the Falkirk Wheel one again in the summer, mind. Who supplied your sports cat and how much was it if you don't mind me asking? Is it the type that replaces both cat pipes with a single section? Cheers again
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now