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Old 10-15-2013, 08:25 PM   #1
carmen.cal.
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Default accelaration problem

hello everyone im new to the forums and new to the 2011 wrx impreza I just bought. ive searched the threads but cant find anything about what im experiencing, please help if you can.in third and fourth gear and maybe fifth I just haven't tried it in fifth, when I accelerate somewhat hard but not crazy hard , the car pulls then lets off slightly then pulls then lets off, I don't really know how to explain it differently.this happens while accelerating. I bought the car used and the only thing I can tell that was done to it is the aem cold air intake, other than that I think the car is stock. is this a tuning problem because of the cai? should I buy a factory airbox and put that back on? please help
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Old 10-15-2013, 08:44 PM   #2
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Most would agree replace the after market CAI with the stock intake. It's hard to say for sure that is the issue though, but it could be.
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Old 10-15-2013, 08:46 PM   #3
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I'd throw the stock air intake back on reset the ecu and see what that does.
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Old 10-15-2013, 08:47 PM   #4
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lemme guess....you ride the clutch.
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Old 10-15-2013, 08:59 PM   #5
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no I don't ride the clutch, im off the clutch accelerating at 50 mph+, ,,,,, so I need to find and buy a factory airbox, the car was used when I bought it so the previous owner put the cai on it. thanks for the help
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Old 10-15-2013, 09:09 PM   #6
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If you want to keep the CAI you could buy an COBB AP and flash a Stage 1 map on there. They do have a supported map for AEM. Oherwise buy a tactrix cable and an etune. It really depends on what you plan on doing with you car.
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Old 10-15-2013, 09:21 PM   #7
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I don't really plan on making it any sicker than it is. what is a tactrix cable and a etune?
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Old 10-15-2013, 10:16 PM   #8
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Find a reputable tuner, ask him what simple bolt on mods you can buy to make the most out of your tune, then go get a tune. I say to ask him what simple mods to buy for 2 reasons. First is, eventually your gonna want more power. "I don't wanna make it any sicker" won't last for long. Second, if your gonna pay 600 for a tune you might as well add a few more hundred to squeeze more safe power out of your tune. If you have no check engine lights odds are the problems your experiencing is the tune is off.

That's what I would do anyway
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Old 10-15-2013, 11:01 PM   #9
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holy crap that's how much it is to get it tuned? 600?
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Old 10-16-2013, 12:29 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by carmen.cal. View Post
holy crap that's how much it is to get it tuned? 600?
Depends what kind of tune. Dyno or pro tunes could be that high but I've never seen 600 around here in jersey. STi Mike does road tunes for 200-300. All depends but I think 600 was put up to get your attention. Lol. That's a little high
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Old 10-16-2013, 01:02 AM   #11
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It just depends who is tuning your car.
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Old 10-16-2013, 07:40 AM   #12
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Depends what kind of tune. Dyno or pro tunes could be that high but I've never seen 600 around here in jersey. STi Mike does road tunes for 200-300. All depends but I think 600 was put up to get your attention. Lol. That's a little high
pro tune and dyno tune are the same thing. And sorry I was actually speaking of a Cobb pro tune which usually cost 100 more than just regular e tune since the tuner has to create your maps. My tuner is Keith at pure tuning in Ohio. Your first Cobb protune is total like 600 but retunes after that are only like 100/hr which it shouldn't ever take longer than hr for simple adjustments
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Old 10-16-2013, 08:44 AM   #13
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Sounds like an air leak try tightening up the couplings on the intake and look for any vacuum hoses that are not connected.
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Old 10-16-2013, 08:44 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by carmen.cal. View Post
I don't really plan on making it any sicker than it is. what is a tactrix cable and a etune?

Well you want to make sure that your car is properly setup so that don't damage anything. A Tactrix cable is just an device used to interface with your car's ecu. A COBB AP does the same thing. (See Engine Managment FAQ in the link below) An "etune" is a type of tuning that can be done remotely as long as you have either a Tactrix cable and laptop OR the COBB AP.


carmen.cal. you need to start by reading this:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=533787

Pay special attention to the Intake FAQ and the Engine Management FAQ. For now you have 3 choices:
1. Find a Stock airbox/intake put that on your car. Verify that everything else on there is stock including the current tune on your car.
2. Get the car tuned for ANY intake that you want. (Read Engine Management FAQ)
3. Damage your engine.
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Old 10-16-2013, 09:02 AM   #15
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Quote:
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pro tune and dyno tune are the same thing. And sorry I was actually speaking of a Cobb pro tune which usually cost 100 more than just regular e tune since the tuner has to create your maps. My tuner is Keith at pure tuning in Ohio. Your first Cobb protune is total like 600 but retunes after that are only like 100/hr which it shouldn't ever take longer than hr for simple adjustments
I know they are same thing. Lol. I used "or" to show there's 2 terms for it.
Ya. I guess 600 for that is close. There's a lot of tuners around here and are willing to work with you on pricing. A lot of competition clustered here
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Old 10-16-2013, 09:08 AM   #16
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Many things you should be checking on...

First off, is your car tuned for the intake? If not, you need to either go back to a stock airbox or have it properly tuned which will cost more because you will have to either buy an AP or purchase a protune which is going to be 300$+ unless you can find someone to flash with a Tactrix cable. If it's not tuned, you would be better off buying a stock airbox system as it would be cheaper. You aren't really gaining much from the intake anyways even when it's tuned.

Secondly, if it is a stock tune, it sucks and has dips during acceleration, I experience and asked the same question on here when I first got it.

Third, you need to check to make sure you don't have any boost leaks. These models are NOTORIOUS for blowing off the hose that connects to the throttle body to intercooler. The fix for that issue is... pulling off the TMIC which takes all of 5 minutes (if that) and then pulling the hose out and removing the OEM gaskets inside the hose and throwing them in the trash. Then you just need to reattach the hose to the IC and TB and clamp it down, using new T-Bolt clamps are better precaution of it not happening again, instead of using worm clamps.
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Old 10-16-2013, 09:09 AM   #17
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It sounds sounds like boost fluctuation. Do you have a boost gauge?
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Old 10-16-2013, 09:10 AM   #18
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Quote:
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I know they are same thing. Lol. I used "or" to show there's 2 terms for it. Ya. I guess 600 for that is close. There's a lot of tuners around here and are willing to work with you on pricing. A lot of competition clustered here
i didn't pick up on the "or" my fault. Average I would say is like 400 for e tune and 500 for Cobb tune but there's usually a fee for hooking the car up on the dyno so you add that in and yea. Everyone is different though I'm not familiar with the prices in your area but either way OP that's what I would do. Good luck
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Old 10-16-2013, 09:11 AM   #19
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My 2008 blew the stock vacuum line off the T-Bracket.
Id say its a boost/vacuum leak. I showed similar symptoms at the time.
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Old 10-16-2013, 09:13 AM   #20
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Quote:
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My 2008 blew the stock vacuum line off the T-Bracket. Id say its a boost/vacuum leak. I showed similar symptoms at the time.
yea actually I can't remember if I said to check your vac lines first but if I didn't definitely check your vac lines, whether that's the problem or not still go get a tune bc the car is used and so you don't know whether it's been tuned or not for the intake
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Old 10-16-2013, 09:40 AM   #21
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I ordered a factory air box last night , and no I don't have a boost gauge.. It's definately something to do with the turbo because it only does this when it is boosting, it will boost then let off then boost , so I will check everything like you guys described ,, I will let you know if I find something, thank you all
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Old 10-16-2013, 09:43 AM   #22
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I ordered a factory air box last night , and no I don't have a boost gauge.. It's definately something to do with the turbo because it only does this when it is boosting, it will boost then let off then boost , so I will check everything like you guys described ,, I will let you know if I find something, thank you all
just so you know if your car was tuned for the CAI then your tune is gonna be off with the factory air box
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Old 10-16-2013, 11:54 AM   #23
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Start by putting you stock air box and filter back in, then check for leaks and either reset your ecu or go get a new tune and see if that fixes it. May just be a bad tune or no tune with a intake. Both would cause issues like you stated.
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Old 10-16-2013, 12:40 PM   #24
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You'll need a tune for that intake.
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Old 10-16-2013, 05:18 PM   #25
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Just to reiterate what I said earlier, I had my car tuned and while on the highway in forth it would do the same thing you are describing it would boost up then back off 2-3 pounds then boost up again. What is happening is the BC is reading the boost you are producing and there is air coming in from somewhere else that shouldn't be so it is over boosting for the target. The BC will then back it off to where it should be then figure it is correct while the air keeps leaking in causing it to over boost again and so on.

I checked my vacuum lines and intake couplings and found that my intake coupling was almost coming off I tightened it up and it never happened again.

So the easiest thing you can do to get started is pop your hood and check for anything loose or not connected to your BC and turbo. All this buy a stock intake and get it tuned isn't bad information, but there should be a chain of diagnosis that goes from cheapest/easiest to fix an issue and a leak is most likely your real issue.
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