Hello guys,

I just installed the ETS FMIC with IC pipes and went to test the car and now it's slower. I'm not bashing ETS, I know the IC is not the problem. Just want to know if I need to re-tune the car or if it's supposed to be faster with the same tune which would mean there was a problem with my installation... I ran with my buddy's wrx wagon with 290whp and I was neck a neck with it ! My car had 365whp... At WOT the car started to show some sorts of stalls and it didn't run smooth all the way to redline. It had like some hickups and the wide band was reading 10.0-10.4.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

look for leaks.

 

what is size of IC?

 

I'll start looking :s

The IC is the 3.5 core.

 

i would also do a re-tune for good measures...

 

Do a boost leak test, check/adjust your boost, and retune the car.

 

with a larger front mount, the boost will drop by 2-5 psi. do a leak test, check if your boost is the same, adjust it to the boost you were running before, you should not need a retune. your AFR is rich though???

 

you definitely need to check for boost leaks, adjust boost and retune to take advantage of the bigger hopefully more efficient IC. like was said before you probably dropped a few PSI's

 

I thought that it was pretty much common sense that anytime you upgrade performance parts, including the intercooler, you would need a retune.

 

The loss on the 3.5 is not much.

I would say just do a boost leak test, one of your couplers is probably slightly leaking. Your AFR's are not right. Do a log and see if you are getting counts of knock up at high RPM after the boost leak test.

Also, as another member said, double check you boost pressure was the same as before.

Good Luck

 

+1 on boost leak

 

Not always true. Depending on the setup the stock core can actually be a very large restriction so installing an aftermarket intercooler will raise the boost. This was the case on both my IX and X.

 

***Update***

Did the boost leak test. No leaks.

 

My plan was to get a retune. I was going to wait till I installed the cams and FP Red. I thought that maybe the IC would add some power to the current tune, and it would add even more with a new tune. I wasn't expecting to make less power. Thanks for the advice.

 

Something isn't right. You said your car had 365whp prior to the installation, then after install, you were neck in neck with a car that was pushing 290whp, and you were running really rich? What other mods does your car have?

TBH, you should get a retune after something as significant as a fmic with all related piping, but if you were already at 365, which I'm skeptical of, your car would already have been tuned with whatever you had, and the IC and related pipes would have had a relatively minor effect on any given load cell in your timing/fueling maps vs a car that was untuned.

Also, correctly installed and leak free, the ETS core would probably have pushed your boost up a pound or 2, and leaned out your fuel mixture a bit, not vice versa.