Running 22 pounds in 03/04 WRX

[Robo]

Hi all,

Question:

Will a WRX (latest model 03/04) be able to run 22 pounds of boost on the stock turbo?

I had a quick run with a WRX (wagon) which went really hard, had a very quick chat with the driver and he mentioned he was running 22 pounds of boost...

Is that possible or is that new turbo?

Regards

Rob

[Gonad Man]

If you see that guy again tell him to take his hand off it!

Stock WRX turbo is a Mitsubishi TD04 which is bloody tiny. Gives great response and spool-up time but as far as flow goes anything above about 17psi is just frying the air and begging for detonation. The turbo itself seems to be pretty bulletproof and won't fly to pieces to those shaft speeds but the inlet temps will definitely cause detonation and it won't be long before a ring land lets go.

Going above 16psi on a stock WRX turbo is pretty much a waste of time.

Maybe he had an Autometer Boost gauge and thought he was pushing 22psi of boost standard?

Cheers,

Ben

[Sonic]

Check his hands. That dude with the WRX must have some bad-ass callouses

[Blitz]

Sooooooooooooooooo.

Did you win?

[YRL05S]

He could be running 22psi, whether of not it is benifitical is a different story.

I don't know where the boost cut is on the MY04, but i have seen my brothers (standard with full exhaust that's it) spike to 19psi.

[Robo]

Haha,

It was neck and neck all the way until I had an extra 500 rpm in 3rd and got in front..

I have:

R33 gts-t ser 2

full 3" exhaust (turbo back) with high flow cat

10-11 psi boost

FMIC

oil air seperator

180 rwkw's (uni group eng.)

Regards

Rob

[Gonad Man]

He could be running 22psi, whether of not it is benifitical is a different story.

I don't know where the boost cut is on the MY04, but i have seen my brothers (standard with full exhaust that's it) spike to 19psi.

Hmmmmm.....the boost cut should pull up stumps at about 17-18psi.

My car's stock except for a 3" turbo-back and the most I've ever seen is 1.1 bar (about 16psi). Then again different dump pipe designs can cause higher spikes. Does your brother's car have a dual dump on it. These can cause bigger spikes than open-mouthed dumps.

I guess old matey might have been running 22psi but he wouldn't be going any quicker than if he was running 16psi and he's stuffing his engine to boot.

Cheers,

Ben

[Robo]

It could have been a different turbo... I never said it was the stock turbo, just wanted to know how much boost the stock one could handle..

I would have guessed upgraded turbo, just didn't have time to ask.

Regards

Rob

Ps. A couple of times he managed to get all four wheels chirping on slight bends (showing off).. Don't know how hard that is but look impresive......

[franks]

didn't the APS GC8 WRX run like 20+ psi in their car? the thing flew and it had a stock turbo...i wouldnt say its impossible at all.

i personally had my 98 wrx, allbeit with a 1994 td05 turbo, at 1.35bar with only front mount and exhaust doing 180kw at all four wheels. and its hit 1.4bar too.

[Gonad Man]

I'm with you Franks. I'm not saying it's impossible. I test drove a MY99 that had a 2-stage boost controller. I flicked the switch and it went to 24psi. Went pretty good too but the massive amount of smoke that came out the back when on boost made me decide to keep looking. Rough idle was a pretty good sign that a ring land had been smashed.

I remember reading about the APS GC8-it was a white 98 or 99 wasn't it? From memory it was tuned to run about 17psi but spiked to 22 under certain conditions (uphill in higher gears). It had a Unichip piggyback engine management which are notoriously difficult to tune to hold consistent boost on a WRX. I think they eventually sorted it out to stop the spikes though.

I reckon the TD05 is a great BFYB mod. They'll comfortably push pretty big boost safely and it looks like you got some great results with it Franks. I was going to get one but a VF29 came up pretty bloody cheap so I went for that.

Cheers,

Ben

[wreckedhead]

i think most people have the same problems with wrx's, i have my98, i installed a 2 stage boost controler running 10psi and 18 when racing, standard turbos were fine holding 18 but in the higher gears spiked to 22-23psi and on cold nights, but i know of a few poeple who race there wrx's and just change the fuel govenor helping to stop detonation by adding more fuel on boost, and they take the waste gate hose off and run full boost down the track, it might be stupid but you should see these stockers fly.

[franks]

black smoke out the back, allbeit not pretty, is okay. its just your factory ecu overfueling because its gone off the map?

i'll give you a hint - don't buy a MY99 the theory is, the fuel pump from the 98 is the same as the 99 whilst the injectors went from 380cc to 440cc. Not surprisingly the 00 had the same 440cc injectors but had a different fuel pump....i would think slightly larger.

it is thus theorised, the fuel pump wasnt quite big enough for the larger injectors of the 99 and hence the more cases of ring lan failures at higher boost levels in MY99 GC8's...

cylinder #2 also sits on the end of the fuel rail hence another reason why this cylinder is prone to failure due to fuel starvation...

the aps car, i actually tend to think it was either a 97 or 98??? the non-forester dash is coming to mind for some strange reason so it may have been a 97??? my memory eludes me it was damn quick thats for sure though and it was running stock turbo ...

to your boost issues, maybe get an electronic boost controller? i know i had slight bit of overboost but thats the way i tuned my avcr

as for the td05...yup! couldnt agree more. best $300 (second hand) i have spent on a car

[meshmesh]

I have some mates with 03Sti's who run 23~psi or 1.6-7bar & still can't catch the gtr!

[APA]

i got a mate running 1.5 bar on stock turbo, but this is with rebuilt engine, link management running antilag hehe very quick car

adrian

[Gonad Man]

black smoke out the back, allbeit not pretty, is okay. its just your factory ecu overfueling because its gone off the map?

It definitely wasn't overfuelling Franks. As soon as it came on boost there was a thick plume of blue smoke that hung in the air for a couple of minutes. It idled like a car that had a stuffed MAF sensor but revved cleanly. I rang Rigolis and Tony was certain it needed a rebuild. I was hoping it was a stuffed turbo seal or something but based on what I told Tony he was 95% certain it needed a rebuild. I was surprised that it ran OK with a stuffed piston.

Funniest thing was when the owner and his mate told me the smoke was because it needed a service. :bs!:

23 psi is big boost for a stock 03STi. These run a VF30 turbo which becomes inefficient on a 2l engine at about 20psi. This is just what I've heard but for some reason most big tuners like CRD, MRT etc don't push them past 19psi. The fuel system needs upgrading too-it's barely adequate.

Cheers,

Ben

[Guest RedLineGTR]

I have some mates with 03Sti's who run 23~psi or 1.6-7bar & still can't catch the gtr!

i was wondering about that..they are nuts when i saw em.

[wreckedhead]

in sydney 03sti running 23psi on elf fuel with anti lag, ran 11.5, not bad for a stocker..

sorry found out was strocked to 2.5l

[Guest INASNT]

i think most people have the same problems with wrx's, i have my98, i installed a 2 stage boost controler running 10psi and 18 when racing, standard turbos were fine holding 18 but in the higher gears spiked to 22-23psi and on cold nights, but i know of a few poeple who race there wrx's and just change the fuel govenor helping to stop detonation by adding more fuel on boost, and they take the waste gate hose off and run full boost down the track, it might be stupid but you should see these stockers fly.

Unlimited boost on the track hey? If u take the wasteate hose off, the turbo will just keep spinning until it blows itself to pieces!!

I was setting up my mates 99 wrx profec b spec 2 on saturday and we put high boost setting to 15psi. We ran upto 18psi but got alot of weird screaching noises coming from the turbo at that level so i dropped it down to 15.

[wreckedhead]

well i know that i didnt really care taking the waste gate hose off, max boost was 25psi, and in a rexy it screamed, only weakest link was the gearbox.

[Guest INASNT]

at 25psi the stock rex turbo would be out of its efficience range and just chopping the air and creating heat i would have thought.