XV secret.Answer to life the universe & everything's 95

gregjet

gregjet

Forum Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2015
Messages
173
Location
Bundaberg, Qld. Australia
Car Year
2014
Car Model
xv
Transmission
manual
XV secret.Answer to life the universe & everything's 95

Ok The XV is gutless. No arguements. So gutless that if I had known how much less power and torque it had than Sally's Toyota corrolla which has 200cc less I would have bought something else. Like an idiot I believed the published figures which are just plain lies. HOWEVER this post is about something a bit positive. I took my XV to a local place that does reflashes. He rang me and said there is stuff all he could do. The AFR's were pretty much spot on ( 13's) and the ignition and burn looked good. He did say that it pinged a fair bit and I should try 95. And he didn't charge me at all. I did. He was right. Different car. Still gutless overall, but the shudder when changing gears has gone. I can accelerate around corners in 3rd instead of 2nd and smoother. Takehome message. If you are running an XV use 95. Seriously.
 
Bugger, GJ.

When the XV first came out I had a look at it. Almost the same size and weight as my SG series II, with a lot less grunt, much narrower torque curve - more like an inverted ski jump than the SG - no DR box for tricky bits, and gearing reminiscent of my '93 Impreza. It didn't impress me, although I didn't drive one.

It strikes me as strange to put such an underpowered donk in sucb a heavy car. Same with the EJ-18 in my Impreza - gutless as hell!

Glad that the 95 RON helps it along a bit.
 
Seriously considering turboing. And I hate turbo petrol motors. Don't get me wrong , this car handles well ( taking into account the lack of engine responsiveness) and is very comfortable but a 2 litre motor should not be this gutless. I had a Nissan pulsar SSS ( Bathurst model) N14. It had advertised 110KW, the same as this car. It was a rocketship. This motor just feels listless. I would have thought with a flat motor and long induction momentum it would have low down torque but is just doesn't. I have been moding car and motorcycle motors for decades and it just feels wrong. I am sure my old 1980's 1800cc Subaru had more power and torque. In fact I am sure of it. It used to tow my sailing cat like it wasn't there. This won't tow a motorcycle camping trailer without having to use 3rd gear up hills on the highway.
 
It's the sheer size/weight as much as anything, GJ.

Your Nissan and previous Subaru were much ligther and smaller. My '93 Impreza only weighed about 1175 kgs (IIRC). The XV weighs around 1400 kgs.

Even an HR Holden only weighed about 1150 kgs!

Combine this weight with a N/A 2L donk ... :(.
 
GJ,
Glad to hear that you have some positive news.
You may recall seeing on this forum that Subaru Australia lent us a brand new XV whilst they rebuilt our SH's motor at their cost. I had the XV for over a month and did over 4,000 km in it. The longest test drive I have ever had. When I returned the XV I cheekily said to Subaru to get a Subaru used car salesman to ring me as I could be interest in it !
I wanted a manual but they gave me a CVT auto instead. I loved it. It went like a rocket and ran on the smell of an oily rag. I have noted your disappointment with yours in various posts.
I also ran the XV on ULP91 without an issue. We live on the edge of the high country and I made the most of this taking it for a run each weekend. The CVT performed beyond my expectations. By comparison at work we have the Nissan X Trail with CVT boxes and they are pretty uninspiring to drive by comparison. I would be very happy to own an XV with a CVT although I am still a bit unsure about the CVT longevity (and the approach angle).
I still don't understand why (apart from cost) Subaru don't offer low range in the manual, given all the advertising is off road orientated. I also note in the EU the XV has a 1.6ltr motor and low range with the manual.
 
It's not just a heavycar/ small thing. As I said I have driven cars ridden and raced motorcycles for decades. The motor feels listless. Like it has a cold. It doesn't feel like it is a well running motor pushing a heavy load. I raced proddy bikes and I know the feeling. It feels like it just isn't efficient. That is why I had high hopes for the reflash. It's that sort of feeling. I suspect ( with almost no evidence ) that it has to do with the ridiculously long and voluminous inlet. The words helmholtz resonation spring to mind. Maybe pulse problem. Who knows . Still thinking turbo. That would fix the inlet problem and shove more air through but I hate to admit defeat on a normally aspirated motor.
 
Greg, I suggest you give Matt McLeod a Buzz (Throttlehappy tuning)
a lot of the "older gen" tuning guys only look at fuelling and ignition when they're tuning,

I had Matt tune my NA H6, and it went from a no-low-down torque barge, to a tyre frying pleasure to drive, we almost doubled the torque output at 2000rpm. :D

The factory tunes are rubbish in the newer engines, as you've found you need 95RON to stop it pinging.
the problem is the learning tables still pull out so much timing in all areas of the IGN map that the rest of the rev range is compromised.

Matt will re-tune a huge amount more tables than just fuel and ignition.
the DBW mapping, in-gear torque limiters (if applicable) the AVCS maps, etc.

these cars also hold onto "closed loop" fuelling for far too long to meet NOx emissions and fuel consumption figures,
all of this reduces available torque in the low to medium engine speed range.

giving the engine the fuel it needs and better airflow through the AVCS and DBW mapping makes them no more "powerful" but you get a big boost in torque where you want it

https://www.facebook.com/Throttle.Happy.Tuning

here's a new 2.5i liberty
look at the torque gains

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I just contacted him again. Last time I hadn't done enough km as he prefers to do them after they have done over 5000km
 
Looking at the graph of the power and torque. There is those dips again. Does that engine have variable valve timing. If not, I am willing to bet that is inlet tract resonance and particularly nasty at that. It wouldn't surprise me with an inlet this long and voluminous.
 
Just join up Facebook under whatever name you want - same as signing up for a forum like this.
 
Just google Throttlehappy Tuning
Matt McLeod
it'll turn up some results.

that Liberty has a CVT aswell as Dual AVCS i Believe
the CVT on the dyno is tough to control, they don't produce a traditional power and torque graph due to the nature of the gearing changing.

but the before and after on the torque graph is the tell to how much better the car is going to be on the street.
At no point (during a WOT run) does the factory torque curve produce the same result compared with after the tune.
 
I contacted him via facebook sorry.
Just google him with coof's harbour. It should give you what you need
 
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