COBB's finally done!!!

I just sent mine out an hour ago, they said I'll be enjoying it Thursday morning!!!

Stage 2 baby!!!


:banana: :banana: :banana:

Let us know your mods and your impressions. It will be 2-4 weeks before I can send mine.

I WILL!:)

BTW, did you get any "special options"? I will be installing a Stealthback this week and will be welcoming myself to the CEL world because of it. Since the normal CEL fix doesn't work on 04s, I am presuming they can tailor the ECU to fix this like they can with the 02-03 models.

Yup,
I asked for the rear O2 CEL fix and they said no problem, they already have it fingered for the '04s.

I'm still working on picking a TBE. Leaning towards APS. I think I will jump right to stage 2, 93octane . 93 is easy to get here in Texas, and my wife's XT (stock for now :devil: )will most likely be the cross-country vehicle.

Come on Cobb!!! Hurry and get the AccessECU done for the STi. I can't wait.

Punk

Punk! Wassup!?!

Need more power in the STi? 300HP not enough? Modding is a sickness. I'm right there with ya.

I can't wait to send mine in as well. Keep us posted as to your results.

I just ordered mine. I am buying an ECU and having it flashed to stage 1. Figured it would be nice to have a pristine stock ECU for reference. BTW, the price went up on the 2004 ECUs a bit. Cobb didn't have the ECUs in stock, so now I wait...

For reference? Wow that's a lot of $ to throw down on an extra ECU. Congrats on the purchase-I can't wait!

COBB got it, reflashed it, and shipped it. I get it Thursday morning and I'll have it in by lunch, hehe.

What I meant is that I can always go back to stock in 20 minutes if I need to or want to. I plan to eventually do a turbo back as well--no down time. And if the Access thing ever comes out, I will have two ECU's--one to play with and one that always works.

I figure in the end the cost of the ECU will only be about 15%-20% of the mods I am planning.

brahmzy:

(man our handles are similar)

Let us know how things go. Are you getting stage 2 (inferred from your requested CEL removal)?

Anyone else out there getting stage 1 on a 2004?

Yeah, Stage 2 91octane. I've got an Autospeed flex uppipe and the full TXS turboback. ONE MORE DAY!!!!!!!!!

:banana:

Well, I got it in the car an hour ago and WOW! I'm very impressed. I've only driven it 11 miles so I think it's got some more learnin' ta do, COBB said it'd take a day or two to do wat it needs to do. But I'm happy with it NOW.
The wierdest thing is the smoothness. I know everybody keeps sayin' this but it's true. Things even SOUND smoother. My TXS t-back sounds awesome now! Even the turbo sounds better!
Lag is improved tremendously. I accidentally hit the 1st gear rev limiter (something I've never done before) because it rips through 1st so quick. In fact it rips through 2nd pretty quick too. When driving along with traffic, in 3rd or 4th gear, so much more power is on tap, part throttle. It is very enjoyable to drive-I remember when the car was stock, the lag kinda wears on you after a while in daily traffic-not now.
I have yet to get the car on the highway but I can tell it'll be fun.

Now some questions.

To those of you with the Stage 2 91 AccessECU at 5,000 ft. or above, what is your pressure reading?

And, I have a TXS short-ram (ya know, the one TXS swears won't mess with the MAF) and I'm wondering if I should take it off and put the stocker back on. COBB hasn't had enough experience with this intake yet to give me a solid suggestion. And TXS won't tell me either because it's not their engine management. I don't have an A/F guage and don't plan on getting one. So, should I leave on the intake? Anybody been in my exact situation with an A/F guage or a meter of some sort?

Thanks!!

Another VERY satisfied ACCESS ECU owner!!!!!

Thanks for getting back with the report. Sounds like money well spent. I am getting the week after next off so I can send in my ECU. The wife thinks it's so they can "fix my CEL problem" (half truth) from a buddy of mine that "hooked me up with some straight pipe" (lie, unless people hook you up with a Stealthback) so I guess I will in for some grin time! Thanks again and if you have any more to report in the next few days, please do so.

Brahmzy, we should give each other rides tomorrow after work - me in your modded WRX, and you in my STi. Email me.

Larry

WOAH!!! I've just been drivin' my car (back home from work) and this things has gotten a WHOLE lot faster. I've got 53 miles on the new ECU now. I can't believe the difference!! The car just pulls hard through all gears and it is very hard not to hit the rev-limiter in 1st.
The reflash has totally transformed this car. I don't think I've ever seen one particular mod make this much difference to a car. for under $400.00!!! Of course it took $1,300 before this to 'prep' the car with the t-back and uppipe. And basically I think that's all those mods are. They pave the way or 'prep' the car for better engine management (more boost/better map). I guess I'm stating the obvious here.
When I got my uppipe/turboback in, I was like 'Those helped it out a bit...' but this reflash as FAR more of a jump than either one of those.

Thanks COBB again for a wonderful product!!!

Did you get/use the little wastegate bleed valve thingy? I have heard varying success/failure here about it and wanted to see if they still give it out, or what your impressions are if you used it.

Can you describe your boost level in all your gears too? I am mainly interested in starting RPM, full boost RPM, max boost PSI/mPa, and where it starts to fade off, if at all? These can be rough, I know it is a PITA to watch the guage and the tach at the same time.

Aug 11th my ECU goes to Cobb and I am this anxious about it: :banana:

Geez that's a long wait-you're gonna be dying!!! Make sure you do at least 2nd day AM ups to and fro-it was cheap. I'lll try and grab some o' that info. You won't regret this mod. Keep in mind, I never had an MBC or anything like it before so I'm probably experiencing something most of you have already experienced, but much safer than an MBC. Smoother too I'm sure.

Yeah, it is a long wait. I figure if I keep nagging you with trivial questions, it will make the time go faster! ;) Funny how you can be jealous of someone 2000 miles away and you will be getting the same thing in 2 weeks. :) Thanks for the reports, your info is reinforcing my decision. Tick, Tock.....more time gone!

One thing I've been noticing with my new reflash is, really wierd actually. I think I like this feature-I'm getting used to it. When I'm driving (normal or hard) and I shift, they engine keeps the rpms revved for about 1/2-1 second longer before I start to see them drop.
In other words , let's say I'm in 2nd gear, rev to 4000rpm, push in clutch to grab 3rd, the rpms stay at 4000rpm for like a half second longer or something before they start to drop-and by that time I've grabbed 3rd and am engaging the clutch only with less rev-match required. Does this make sense? It's like I doubled the weight of my flywheel or something, without any of the negatives. I dono-hard to explain. Maybe this is due to the additional boost affecting something mechanical?
Anybody else experience this? Like I said, I don't think this is bad, I like it actually. Just have to relearn the rev-matching points from stock.

Originally posted by Brahmzy
One thing I've been noticing with my new reflash is, really wierd actually. I think I like this feature-I'm getting used to it. When I'm driving (normal or hard) and I shift, they engine keeps the rpms revved for about 1/2-1 second longer before I start to see them drop.
In other words , let's say I'm in 2nd gear, rev to 4000rpm, push in clutch to grab 3rd, the rpms stay at 4000rpm for like a half second longer or something before they start to drop-and by that time I've grabbed 3rd and am engaging the clutch only with less rev-match required. Does this make sense? It's like I doubled the weight of my flywheel or something, without any of the negatives. I dono-hard to explain. Maybe this is due to the additional boost affecting something mechanical?
Anybody else experience this? Like I said, I don't think this is bad, I like it actually. Just have to relearn the rev-matching points from stock.

Doesn't that make it take longer to shift? The flywheel is already super heavy and the 1-2 shift already takes forever. Are you sure it's really holding rpms longer?

Yeah, I'm sure. I don't think it takes longer to shift, 'course I could be smokin'. It's really hard to explain what's goin' on.

Brahmzy,what your experiancing is(revs between gears) was a comman problem on the 02 cars stock.I found it annoying,as you may latter.After one of my engine mods(not sure which lol) it went away thank god.
Im thinking of replacing my stg 2 unichip with a stage 2 Access fr the smoothness and to get rid of some hesitation that was inherint in the unichip.
Hoepfully the revving btween gears is not part of the stg 2 Access for me.
You still have a few miles fr your chip to learn, the reving may go away in time.

Rudy:D

Brahmzy,

Did your new toy come with a bleed air valve thingy and did you install it?

Somebody give him an 04 WRX and he'll get the tune.


Full_Clip is still saving.

Holy crap!!

I just drove about 20 miles to run an errand and absolutely PUNISHED a Type-S and a Prelude, hehe. Not even close. Gee willy dilly, I think this thing got even faster!

I think I was smokin'-it's not doiung that 'thing' any more, if it ever was. It wasn't really revving between gears, I think I'm just feeling the difference in the map.

Una,
The reflash did NOT come with any type of restrictor. Just my ECU. I guess I can call COBB and ask 'em if it should've. Is there a problem with the stock setup? I have heard of this 'bleed thingy' before, but I didn't get one.

I just wondered if they still sent it out. In previous postings about the AccessECU, people mentioned getting some sort of bleed valve that went somewhere in the turbo/wastegate hosing. Some said that it lead to over boost and immediately took it off. Some said to leave it in and allow the ECU to compensate for it over time so it comes down to higher than stock, but not motor cooking boost levels.

I assume that since you didn't get it, Cobb no longer gives it out for a good reason. You may email/call them about this, but I would imagine that they just discontinued it in the same fashion that Vishnu discontinued passing out the MBC in their Stage One.

Is that bleed valve only for the accessECU stage 1? I'm not sure...

I just got off the phone with the Cobb guys. The bleed air thingy is ONLY for the Stage 1, NOT Stage 2. I also asked about doing other things similar (e.g. 3/16ths mod) and they said don't mess with it. The ECU will eventually learn around it and in the meantime, your boost will be doing all sorts of crazy stuff. Max boost with a Stage 2 on the factory guage should be right at 1.1 MPa.

Max boost with a Stage 2 on the factory guage should be right at 1.1 MPa.

At sea level... The most I'm gettin' is .9-.95 Mpa. 6,800 ft.:mad:

I'm assuming this is normal.

I've noticed today that my car is slower. This happened when it was stock though. These cars are so suseptable to air/moisture/temperature! With a Stage 2, it seems even more sensitive. Some days I'm thrown back in my seat, other days it feels stock.:confused:

I just hope when someone pulls up to me at the local stoplight, it's on a 'good' day.:)

Anybody at my altitude or similar, with a COBB Stage 2 have similar boost readings?

.95 is it for you? If you check where I am from, you will see I won't be having that problem! :) Sea Level + 10 ft! I do appreciate your thoughts and feelings on your new toy though. A week from today, my ECU goes to Utah!

Received and installed my Stage 1 93 octane tonight. I did the Shiv reset, but I am not sure it worked. It is still hot out in the big D (90 degrees at 9:30 at nght. I hit about 0.095 mPa in 4th, and about 0.09 in 2nd and 3rd, which I am thinking is appropriate for stage1-93 and hot weather. I will see how it runs in the morning.

All of the things people say about the reflash are true. The car runs smoother. It sounds better. First gear is now scary fast. Second and third are now for real. I now make good power between 6000 and 7000 rpm (boost drops more slowly). I also noticed the little rev thing that Brahmzy was speaking of. I actually like it. Sort of like computer controlled power shifting.

I did not received the restrictor thing. If I start hitting closer to 0.1 in the next few days (in the cooler morning weather), I will stick with what I have. If not, I will give Cobb a call.

Now I just need to convince my wife that a TBE is a good idea.

brizey,

You can do what I did to my wife....convince her that you want a sportier sounding exhaust. When I ordered my Prodrive muffler, I also ordered an uppipe and Stealthback. That way doing all the exhuast work at once, I can blame the new noises on Prodrive. :D Make sure you use the funds from your Swiss account otherwise the $1000 you spent will be seen. I had to have all minus the muffler sent to a buddy's house. :devil:

ub:

The thing is, my wife would probably rather have me spend money on go fast bits than sound (her vehicle is a 2004 Forester XT).

But she would even more rather have me not spend any more money at all!

-brizey

I get in 1st and 2nd just under .1 on the stock gauge most of the time. In 3rd a get just over .1 most of the time. I have Uppipe, turboback, KN filter, silencer just removed and of course stage 2 91 map for the lovely gas here in CO.

Vegumkoho,
Thanks for the feedback-especially from someone in my own city!
I wonder if my stock guage is off -the car pulls like a bat outa hell, but I'm usually showing a consistant .9MPa. When the car is off, the boost needle has never been dead center in the middle of the 0 mark. It's about .1MPa down from 0. Maybe this is the problem. I mean boost holds very consistantly and the car pulls hard-I think my guage is off.

brahmzy/brizey = lucky as hell..:banana:

i can't wait until i get my aECU 2... still have to get the rest first.. lol
one good thing about the 2004 aECU = no restrictor needed because of a fix in the ecu.. i knew i waited for a reason..:lol:

good luck with the monster...:devil:

Brahmzy-

It had been slightly lower with this heat we have had, but this week it seems to be back to normal. My stock gauge I have never noticed it being off when the car is off, I will look closer now that you mentioned it though. It does pull so much better now.

capaWRX:

They told me that as well (no fix). I think that once the weather cools down I will see at least, if not more, that 0.1 boost in fourth and fifth, and maybe a bit more than .09 in second and third.

I think that Stage 1 is more about a better overall boost curve than about peak boost. The car pulls way, way harder between 6000 and 7000 rpm now, especially in second and third. I guess it does in first, too, but first goes by so fast you hardly have time to notice.

I hope to do stage 2 maybe next spring. I may wait to see what the Cobb TBE is like.

Still loving this reflash! Has completely brought back the fun factor I've experienced in very few of my cars. It gives me a grin when I'm weaving in and out of traffic in 3rd gear, hehe.

Now if only Prodrive would get on the ball and make our (MY04) springs for us!!! My car would be complete-yeah right!

I'm seriously considering the new TXS TMI. Everyone I've talked to said I would see nothing but gains from it. Man though-$940 smackers is a chunk for a not-so-immense-difference-in-actual-hp mod.

I guess we (Stage2 owners) are at the point where if we continue to mod our cars-it's gonna get expensive-new turbos, new fuel pumps, new injectors, utecs, FMI's, etc.

We have a nice balance between $, power, and durability/longevity right now with the stage 2. Past this point, things change exponentally. And you got to think to yourself-will I really be happy with a stage 4? Or will I get tired of it too?

You'll get used to any mod after a while.

My STi is a big downgrade from 500hp, but at least it handles well and stops well, looks good and should be reliable. When I first got it, it was like, "I could live with this", and now it seems slow...

:alien:

Yeah, hear that. My buddy let me borrow his Viper GTS ACR for 9 days as a wedding present for the honeymoon. In about 4 days I was already 'tired' of it. Funny how that works. Lasting satisfaction is a rare thing.

Whoooo Hoooooo! I got my ECU in from Salt Lake City today! I have logged 60 miles on it today and just thought I would say that if you don't have it, get it! Best $400 I ever spent! Cobb rocks and now I rock!

Amen brutha. Congrats!!! Best $400 I've spent on this money pit.

I'm thinking the "holding onto the revs" may be a function of having a much faster car? The speedo and tach move faster now, so when you engage the clutch, the standard delay and rpm dropoff seems slower? :)

That could be. I don't notice much anymore. All I know is this things has large balls now and I'm lovin' it. I can't imagine a stage 4 or better in one of these things.!
I pity the stock tranny in much more than the stage 2. I've done only one major launch (in which I still didn't even 'drop' the clutch) and it just hooked up and flew threw 1st in about 1 second. I'm gonna baby this tranny as much as I can. I've been there on the whole blown 2nd gear synchro thing on my old '92 VR6 Corrado. $2,700.:eek: