How are you guy's tuning your ECUs?

[whitrzac]

I'm thinking of picking up a baja turbo automatic. I haven't driven a subaru 5 speed that I like and they aren't known for being the strongest things in the word...


How are you guy's tuning your baja ECUs? romraider, accessport, ECU swap from something, etc

[Hawk296]

someone on here said the newest version of then accessport supports the Baja ECU. I as well as several others have used rom raider with excellent results. Others have used piggybacks such as TurboXS Utec.

Depends on how much you want to spend, what you want to do and what your tuner is comfortable working with.

Regarding the 5 speed: All Subaru transmissions feel pretty much the same. I personally like the mechanical feel. The Baja Turbo uses the revised version that the FXT and legacy GTs got. It is not the same as the "glass tranny" of the bugeye wrx days. It has the thicker gears (same width as the type RA gearset)

[whitrzac]

someone on here said the newest version of then accessport supports the Baja ECU. I as well as several others have used rom raider with excellent results. Others have used piggybacks such as TurboXS Utec.

Depends on how much you want to spend, what you want to do and what your tuner is comfortable working with.

Regarding the 5 speed: All Subaru transmissions feel pretty much the same. I personally like the mechanical feel. The Baja Turbo uses the revised version that the FXT and legacy GTs got. It is not the same as the "glass tranny" of the bugeye wrx days. It has the thicker gears (same width as the type RA gearset)

I come from a miata with a megasquirt stand alone...

I will do all of my own tuning, maybe a dyno day once I get it close.

[whitrzac]

Is there a list of the year to year changes?

Wikipedia says it was lifted a few times, cars101 doesn't mention anything...

I've read that the engine is different from the 04-05 turbo to the 06 turbo models too...

[whitrzac]

I emailed cobb. They say they don't have anything for the baja...

[Hawk296]

Ah, Miata guy. That would explain why the transmission feels like crap to you.

When you get to the turbos everything was pretty much the same. They all had the 4 speed auto with sport shift. The only things that really changed were color options and 05/06 had the net between the rear seats and a rear power outlet. The automatic trans turbo bajas had the optional leather package which had the leather seating surface (the side bolsters are still vinyl) and that package also included heated seats, different alloy wheels and a hard bed cover.

Manual trans models are pretty much the same as well. They were not available with the leather option and all had the 5 spoke gunmetal wheels. The 2006 model had the newer push style clutch/transmission like the 2006 WRXs got while the 2004-2005 had the pull style clutch. Also, the 2006 received top feed injectors while the 04-05 had the yellow top side feeds like the 04 sti/fxt. This is probably true for the automatic cars as well but I have not personally seen an 06 turbo automatic to verify. If you are looking to upgrade, the top feeds are a lot cheaper with more options, although you can convert side feeds to top feeds, but you kind of loose the cost savings

As far as I know everything 04 and on had the extra inch of ground clearance (suspension). I have seen that 05 got an additional lift from some sources but don't know if that is true. There is a thread about it somewhere.

You should have no problem tuning the Subaru. I used a wideband and individual EGT with romraider. The only cost was the cost of the tactrix cable. It is the cheapest way to go if you DIY and is actually pretty good software.
If you want the extra features like map switching and the other bells and whistles then you may want to look at the aftermarket options.

[Hawk296]

I emailed cobb. They say they don't have anything for the baja...

Some people have been swapping out the ECU with an STI one and then using the AP

Cobb does not support it directly.

[whitrzac]

Thanks.

I never noticed the leather package vs normal.
The leather package wheels are fuggly, they just don't look right...

Will 15in wheels fit? I have 2 sets of OEM 15" alloys from my 2001 forester.

[Hawk296]

As far as I know OEM 15s will not clear. The Baja has the same brakes as the WRX up front and the Legacy H6 rears in back. Supposedly there are some aftermarket 15" rally wheels that may.

[whitrzac]

Speaking of H6...

I've only read of the swap being done once/twice...

About how long would it take to start with a ~03 baja NA + H6 outback and have at least the baja running? Is it something that 2 guys and a solid weekend of working(16-20hrs) accomplish?

I know there are a few electrical gremlins that take longer to figure out. I just need the car to move under it's own power.

[STI2NR]

I actually run E85 on my baja year round as well as on my STI. I am self tuned via romraider and a couple of windows 7 netbooks.

I actually like the baja ecu better than the STI. There are fewer tables and it seems easier to tune for me than the STI. Besides finding and 04 STI ecu is hard to do nowadays (thieves love to use them to steal 05 and up STI's because you do not need an immobilizer input).

[goodlivin]

Hello,

Just to add a quick note - I grabbed an AccessPort V3 for the 2.5 K-Line engines, and tried it today. No go, doesn't recognize the '05 Turbo's ECU. Since a few people mentioned in this forum and others that it might work, I tried it. Ahh well, it was worth a shot.

I have a line on a 2004 STI ECU that's just sitting around gathering dust, so I guess I'll be doing the swap.

Joel

[Darksurfr]

My dad is just about to get his Baja and I am pushing him towards the turbo for the extra power and better ability to haul.

I have a tactrix cable.

Anyone know exactly what programs I would need? I have ECUflash for my Stealth and I downloaded RomRaider.

Is there a better setup? Wondering what I can get set up for him once he gets the vehicle. I think it will make him more comfortable to know I can log and diagnose anything that comes up with my current ECU flashing setup. I have that power block that I bought extra with the Tactrix cable as well. The little 4 pin thing.

Oh and I am sure there are little things that subaru did for over conservative tune from factory that I am sure you guys have all figured out already. Mapping wise what can easily be changed from stock to make the truck/car (i don't know what you guys like to refer to them as so I apologize) smoother/better/more efficient.

I know having a WB02 would help but I also know there is also always headroom to play with straight out of the box and there seems to be known safe numbers that are usually slightly higher then a stock flash. Any info would be great!

Thanks.

[Hawk296]

Romraider and ECUFlash are all you should need to data log, pull the rom, edit the rom and reflash it.

You can change pretty much everything in the ECU with that setup so it's up to you how far you wan't to go with it. rev limits, boost, timing, fuel, AVCS etc.

[Darksurfr]

Alright. Sounds good.

thanks again.