- Subaru Wrx Project - "Crits plz"

[AvAlAnChE1090]

Originally Posted by -Dash-

this isnt the honda forums.

THANK YOU! SOME ONE FINALLY SAID IT!

[kichigaijap]

Dash its not that easy to control an all out loss of control... yes the random controled drifts are always fun... Anyone who knows how subarus handle know that we have some of the best traction in the world... But when you lose it, you REALLY lose it... Lots of people try and push the AWD to the edge and they think that they can control it when they lose it but its different trying to regain control with a FWD, RWD, and AWD... Just for your information so that you dont LOSE it and have your car in the bushes...

[-Dash-]

lol, of course, i didnt do it on purpose, heck i wasnt even pushing it that hard, it was just a very sharp turn.

but im sure not to take sharp turns that hard in the future.

the car is excellent, i dont want to sound like im showing off or anything, im very careful and protective of my car.
these roads are safe even if you went off the road, so i wasnt worried about hitting a tree or anything.

the good news is im much more confortable in driving my car now, i took it to subaru and they took it for a spin to test the oil chnage and stuff.
anyways i asked alot of questions and they showed me how to best drive the car, and how much it can take.

i was allways very careful never to redline it or go past 5k, and i was driving it like i would drive my delorean.
and it seems the car is best drivin in the higher rpm's and its ok to push those rpms.
and it seems the car drives and shifts alot smoother, so now im more confident in my car.

the guy was redline-ing it and i was like, is that safe?
he said its fine, because its mostly stock, he said modding the car and doing that is what causes problems.

heh, in any case, car runs smooth as a pentium 4 5.0 gighz processor.

[ragnarok720]

The engine can handle high rpm's no problem, modded or not. Just dont want to leave it there. I smashed up my first wrx by lossing control on a not so safe road. The road broke away and my car lost all traction as it was half in soft dirt and half on the road. I almost had control but i was heading towards a cliff so i aimed the car for a wall, fortunately it was also soft dirt and didnt do too much damage. AWD is an awesome thing but sometimes its not.

[SabreKhan]

Yeah, just don't push that redline too far because the rev-limiter doesn't bounce. It just shuts off the gas for a few seconds, which sucks a lot at an autocross or track event (possibly resulting in a spin-out... thankfully, not yet for me).

[danny8630]

is there a way dis engage that gas shut off?

[keita]

There is a way, but don't do it. People who are a lot smarter than you put it there for a good reason.

[SabreKhan]

WHAT?!? People who are a lot smarter than me, my @$$. Those same people also put crappy tires on the WRX, 3 catalytic converters, front-biased differentials, and LOADS of other stuff that is better suited to an old-woman driver than to the target market for a WRX. Disengage the shutoff if you so desire, my friend, but remember where it used to be in the revs and don't leave the motor up there very long. I bounced off the rev limiter in my Mustang all the time, and it kept running just fine. It had no such gas shutoff; it just didn't let you rev past a certain point. You just shift to get more speed. However, at an autocross or track event, sometimes it's preferable just to bounce off the rev-limiter for a second or so because you would lose more time shifting than you would gain via acceleration. In the WRX, though, you can't do that. You either have to lay off the throttle or shift, neither of which are good for your times.

PS- I'm sure the engineers and other post-graduated people on the forum would take offense at the idea that some other engineer is smarter than them just for placing an electronic gas shutoff on the ej20.

PPS- A better question: is there a way to convert the rev-limiter to the bouncy kind instead of the shutoff kind?

[kichigaijap]

Actually its called a fuel cut... Just go out and find a fuel cut defender and it should be all good in the neighborhood... then you would have a "bouncy" style rev limiter than a fuel cut style

[donkeyboy]

makes things really easy and buy a piggy back, more power, higher red line, no speed cut, no feul cut, safe, just make sure you dont go crazy with the programming, every engine does have it limits, and for good reason. Upgrade the fuel system, up the boost a bit, program it to run like a top, you wont need to peg the limiter...

[kichigaijap]

But actually a piggyback doesnt do that unless its specified from the company that you are getting it from... I think what you are thinking is a stand alone EMS... And if you are talking about that then dont spend $900 on and EMS when the car is stock and all you want to do is stop it from cutting fuel when you hit rev limiter... Just my 2 cents

[SabreKhan]

Does it actually remove the rev limiter and replace it, or does it set the rev limiter lower so you just never reach the fuel cut? B/c if it sets the revs lower, that's also no good. Revs = acceleration = speed = lower times.

[ragnarok720]

actually just because your car revs higher doesnt mean it goes faster. Its called your power band and it does curve off at a certain point no matter what. And those engineers that designed these cars are a lot smarter than most people. The reason they put cheaper tires on the WRX is so people can afford it a little better. 3 cats so the car passes smog no problem. i woudlnt just blindly buy a fuel cut defender. just get a UTEC or some other stand alone unit, get it dyno tunned and set so that way you dont end up like other people with blown motors.

[SabreKhan]

I know there's a *reason* for everything, I'm just not sure it's a good reason all the time. Like a fuel cutoff: yes, you need to have some sort of thing to stop you from blowing your motor, but a standard rev limiter works fine. If you stand on the rev limiter for an extended period of time, you deserve to rebuild your engine because you're stupid. Also, if you take the rev limiter out completely and over-rev your engine, you also deserve to rebuild it.

Yes, the powerband does curve downward at a certain point. However, when you have the clutch disengaged and the car is between gears (eg, when you're shifting), the powerband is nonexistent. There is precisely zero horsepower and zero torque being applied to the wheel from the motor (OK, there's the fluid movement between the clutch plates, but that's negligible and in many instances is a vacuum anyway). In certain instances the heartbeat it takes to shift (no power to the wheels) is longer than the heartbeat one would be bouncing off the rev limiter before having to brake or feather. Also, it is not a good idea to shift in the middle of a corner. Loss of power to the wheels when driving at the limit of a car's potential causes spinouts (been there, done that, sucks). Although I've never gotten the WRX all the way around, I've had some pretty spectacular sideways moments shifting in corners. I've learned not to shift in corners.

Example 1: At an autocross, the car is turning 90% of the time or more. Only very occasionally do you have a good place to shift. A big, sweeping increasing radius turn is not one of those places, but it is a place where you pick up a lot of speed. At the beginning of the turn, you may be way down in second gear, but at the very end of the turn your car may want to be in third. You can't shift in the middle, so it's better just to bounce off the rev limiter until you either make the straightaway at the end of the turn or slow down for the next turn after the sweeper.

Example 2: At a solo event, there is a definite finish line. You want all the power you can put to the wheels all the way through the finish line. If your car reaches a shift point on the last straightaway into the finish, ten meters before the line, what do you do? If you shift, you basically resign yourself to coasting across the line because by the time you've re-engaged the clutch you're across the line. Thus, you bounce off the rev limiter three or four times and retain as much power as possible for as long as possible. Once you're across the line, then you brake and revs drop back down.