I am wondering about making an eco-mod purchase.
My 2001 Subaru its plagued by by the issue of power loss through the AWD system. Being mated with an automatic, the car is persistently wanted to downshift on any uphill. This only compounds the issue as the quick shifts leave the car even more loss going uphill. I would simply just drive faster, but i can't stay above 2K rpm unless I am speeding or rear ending the next person in front of me. Living in PA this occurs just about every mile, and every back road is marked 45mph (perfect shift point for the Subaru's 3-4 gears).
Now, in my mind's theory, if the subaru had just a little more power it would be able to maintain speed/gear longer and hopefully reduce downshifting on hills. And even once it does downshift, it will be able to run at a lower rpm thanks to the header. I am also hoping that I will be able to gain something on highway since going 55-65 falls between 2100-2300rpm. So better flow may reduce engine speed thus using less gas.
Now I understand that at idle I will probably lose some because of increase flow, but what I gain in actually driving will probably outweigh the idle loss. The Subaru has an amazing low idle at time (~500-600 rpm), so it maybe not be too bad.
Any one else have concerns or maybe feel I would loose more than gain? Its hard to find any comments about performance enhancements to improve cars mileage
