MateB Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 Hello everyone, I recently bought a 2010 hatch wrx and am considering getting it mapped. I am a little worried after I heard the factory tune runs lean and don't wanna get any trouble because of it. Hence I want to get the car tuned. (Obviously the extra power isn't exactly a downside either haha) Who do you recommend going to? I live down south in Dorset but I don't mind travelling a bit. I've read good stuff about scoobyclinic on this forum... Are they the goto people for tuning Subarus? Thank you in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siluro Posted May 30, 2020 Share Posted May 30, 2020 This is the ultimate question. You can find horror stories about most so called specialists and you will see their praise also. Same for mappers. You will get many different opinions on the mappers. I had mine mapped and I later found out the nick name of my mapper (TNT). Certain people would never touch him on scooby forums. I have no issues after 3 years and the thing pulls like a train (car totally stock bar air filter). The one piece advice that I learnt after my map is to have them rolling road it and then road tune it not just the rolling road. This makes sense to me now as the road is where you gonna be driving it. Another reason I presumed my mapper was ok as it was done on RCM's rolling road. I thought if RCM's name is somehow attached he cannot be that bad. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 it's a 2.5 so its pot luck. People say alot of things about the cause of the failures, but i know cars that have everything done to try to stop it and they still fail. drive it, enjoy it and if problem comes up just get it sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siluro Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 I not questioning what you say about the 2.5 (hatch being the worst i believe) as there is no doubt they are weaker than the 2.0 and do have problems stock but how many 2.5 failures are down to idiots which skews the figures a bit. I am not sure but plenty of yank youtube videos with Cobb access ports with random maps downloaded and put into ECU, surely this is asking for trouble too. How many idiots beat on these cars too and expected it to last. I watched one the other day were this bloke sold Hawk STI cause he thought the head gasket had gone. No it had hose leaks and was overfilled with twice the amount of oil. His specialist told him it was the head gasket. The guy who bought it fixed the coolant leaks and drained the oil but it still smoked after a bit. He then cleaned the Intercooler and now it is fine. I did not think it possible to overfill by that much but it seems you can. I jumped the youtube video to the oil part wow. But yes you need an "Oh ****" fund just incase on the 2.5. I have my fingers crossed for mine and toes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay762 Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Given your location I would suggest Engine Tuner - Alan Jefferys in Plymouth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Meat ware issues, aka the meat behind the wheel haha, are the same across the models tbh no mater the brand your gonna get that. The 2.5 issue is a % problem, aka the failure % on them is alot higher than any other engine in the range. The faults are well documented, head gakets and ring lands, but the cuases of the failure is the unknown. I know of some 2.5's that get beaten with a big stick repetedly and dont fail, then others that get kid gloves and fail. What i can tell you is do the pistons, headgaskets and headstuds and you wont have any issues after that, asssuming your not going big power of course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MateB Posted June 4, 2020 Author Share Posted June 4, 2020 Thank you all for the replies. So as far as I understand it is down to luck. Mine may or may not blow a gasket and it may or may not need new rings. Fair enough I guess haha I'll just keep an eye on it, should any symptoms show just get it sorted ASAP. It currently has just over 83000mi in it, don't know how soon that might come?! TBH as long as it doesn't send a rod through the block or something catastrophic as such then I don't mind it that much. My father has been running his own mechanic garage for 25+ years and I am a competent mechanic myself so not paying labour should head gaskets or piston rings need replacing then it really isn't too bad. Car is quite happy at the moment anyway, just done a big overhaul service. New clutch which was definitely needed... pedal was heavy as hell (was good for haggling on the price tho) and it slipped on my second day of driving it during a harder pull, timing belt kit and water pump, the rubber and metal intake manifold gaskets (the rubber rings were leaking), oil service, spark plugs and a few suspension parts. Come to just under £650 in total which wasn't a great start but it is what it is. I like knowing my car in as good of a condition as possible so it's worth it for me. Regarding the mention of big power, for now I am not aiming for much power at all, just getting it mapped (probably in a month or two) and see what the car is comfortable with. Further down the line (in about a year or so) if I still have and want to keep the car, I'll might want to get a little bit more out of it, probably about 300ish hp. As far as I'm aware stock internals should be OK for that. At that point fuel system will be upgraded, inter cooler maybe even turbo if needed and exhaust if I haven't changed that already.. stock exhaust is currently fitted and it is a bit too quiet. Then if I wanna push it more forged internals are going in. Anyway, long story short.. Thank you all for the welcoming and useful answers! I will look around to see where I should take it to get it remapped. Further recommendations are much appreciated should anyone else read into this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Look after it properly, 3 or 5k oil changes depending on how you drive it, do bits that need doing and it will be as good as it can be, don't look after it and it will fail. its the ring lands that fail rather than the rings so new pistons needed, problem is how catastrophic it is, if your lucky then just ne pistons, rehone etc and rebuild, if your unlucky then whole engine is a right off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay762 Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 Investigate the 4th cylinder cooling mod and also another mapper of repute is Thwaites (TDR) in Warwick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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