guzzla
Forum Member
I read somewhere here about someone asking about reflashing the ECU on their naturally aspirated Forester but can't find the post now.
What I was going to relate was when I got my XT reflashed by Chip Torque at Nerang in Nov 2012 I was able to browse through files of other cars they'd done. Most were Subaru turbos, some with lots of other modifications, but one different one that stood out was a first model Mazda6. It is a car with a similar sized engine to the Forester and with similar claimed power and torque (122kW and 215Nm). What I noticed is that whoever owned it didn't get much value for money. From memory it only increased the power at the wheels from 101kW to 103kW, an increase only a machine would feel. There would be more value in making sure the engine was in good condition and running to manufacturers specs. Maybe manufacturers know more than we give them credit for. I would think that an ECU reflash on a Forester would have a similar outcome and probably less because of the extra loss of power through the 4WD system.
The turbo reflashes are of course a different world with the turbos giving the tuners something wonderful to play with. Mine went from 126kW at the wheels to 142kW and the torque from 330Nm to 380Nm at the wheels. My printout only starts at 2000rpm (where there is 30kW and 200Nm) and only a small improvement but at 3000rpm there is a rapid change of about 15kW and 50Nm, this improvement staying right through to the 6900rpm cutout. The peak power max band is flat from 5200rpm to 5900rpm and there is still 290Nm of torque at 6000rpm. It is still over 200Nm at the 6900rpm cutout. The turbo is at peak boost of 13psi from 3400rpm to 4700rpm and doesn't really drop off much until nearing the redline around 6400rpm. Its graph is flatter than the stock boost which has a sudden spike at 3700rpm.
To date there have been no negatives to this modification other than to my wallet. $1100 for the reflash and $225 for the dyno. (I kept it quiet from SWMBO :biggrin: who thinks that money is a mysterious thing that must grow on trees and needs picking regularly)
What I was going to relate was when I got my XT reflashed by Chip Torque at Nerang in Nov 2012 I was able to browse through files of other cars they'd done. Most were Subaru turbos, some with lots of other modifications, but one different one that stood out was a first model Mazda6. It is a car with a similar sized engine to the Forester and with similar claimed power and torque (122kW and 215Nm). What I noticed is that whoever owned it didn't get much value for money. From memory it only increased the power at the wheels from 101kW to 103kW, an increase only a machine would feel. There would be more value in making sure the engine was in good condition and running to manufacturers specs. Maybe manufacturers know more than we give them credit for. I would think that an ECU reflash on a Forester would have a similar outcome and probably less because of the extra loss of power through the 4WD system.
The turbo reflashes are of course a different world with the turbos giving the tuners something wonderful to play with. Mine went from 126kW at the wheels to 142kW and the torque from 330Nm to 380Nm at the wheels. My printout only starts at 2000rpm (where there is 30kW and 200Nm) and only a small improvement but at 3000rpm there is a rapid change of about 15kW and 50Nm, this improvement staying right through to the 6900rpm cutout. The peak power max band is flat from 5200rpm to 5900rpm and there is still 290Nm of torque at 6000rpm. It is still over 200Nm at the 6900rpm cutout. The turbo is at peak boost of 13psi from 3400rpm to 4700rpm and doesn't really drop off much until nearing the redline around 6400rpm. Its graph is flatter than the stock boost which has a sudden spike at 3700rpm.
To date there have been no negatives to this modification other than to my wallet. $1100 for the reflash and $225 for the dyno. (I kept it quiet from SWMBO :biggrin: who thinks that money is a mysterious thing that must grow on trees and needs picking regularly)
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... far more useful and practical IMHO.