2013 Subaru Impreza WRX STI - Project Log

[YukonCornelius]

Originally Posted by AbeisAverage

The car is new, it should be more than capable of handling lower octane fuels. It is just up to the discretion of the owner. People keep saying it will net lower mpg number I am just curious as to how much of a difference it would make.

No.

The car is built to run on premium, it's a forced induction performance car. If you ad 87 it will knock, even if you don't hear it, and pull timing. The computer will add the timing back in, causing knock again then pull timing. It will continually do this because the ecu doesn't know you put crap gas in it.


OP that bumper looks terrible. You have a brand new STI that looks like it was wrecked already. Plati-dip doesn't stop rock chips totally, but you will find plenty of other places that will get chipped up as times goes by.

You may be able to use just the Glossifier instead of the regular plastidip.

Edit: Here, pretty reasonable http://www.clearbra-kits.com/store/p...&nSubmodel=753

[Jasen]

hmmmm,
My son got his 2013 STI a few month's ago, he took me for a ride the day he got it to show me the 0-100/160 mph/kmh acceleration in 4 nano seconds and 100-0 with the Brembo's in 1.5 ns and 27g on the skid pad. Well that's what it feels like when you drive a fully loaded cargo van every day and refer to the wife's Wrangler as the sports car
He took us to lunch last weekend for his mom's bday, and she slapped him upside the head for his driving. Not the sorta rig I'd think anyone would buy to hypermile.
Life's to short, what ever makes you happy

[UltArc]

Originally Posted by Jasen

hmmmm,
My son got his 2013 STI a few month's ago, he took me for a ride the day he got it to show me the 0-100/160 mph/kmh acceleration in 4 nano seconds and 100-0 with the Brembo's in 1.5 ns and 27g on the skid pad. Well that's what it feels like when you drive a fully loaded cargo van every day and refer to the wife's Wrangler as the sports car
He took us to lunch last weekend for his mom's bday, and she slapped him upside the head for his driving. Not the sorta rig I'd think anyone would buy to hypermile.
Life's to short, what ever makes you happy

Performance vehicles are great for ecomodding and hypermiling!

Kill Switch page is done, let me know if I missed anything.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...elp-23225.html

[AbeisAverage]

Originally Posted by Lbar

No.

The car is built to run on premium, it's a forced induction performance car. If you ad 87 it will knock, even if you don't hear it, and pull timing. The computer will add the timing back in, causing knock again then pull timing. It will continually do this because the ecu doesn't know you put crap gas in it.

So you think the car can't even handle a few tanks on regular and midgrade I don't believe that for a second. I am not saying they switch to lower grades for good, I just want to see how much the fuel effects economy.

If they didn't want to do that, I would totally understand.

[YukonCornelius]

Originally Posted by AbeisAverage

So you think the car can't even handle a few tanks on regular and midgrade I don't believe that for a second. I am not saying they switch to lower grades for good, I just want to see how much the fuel effects economy.

If they didn't want to do that, I would totally understand.

Throwing mid grade in the mix now?

As far as 87, I don't think, I know. Subaru doesn't have any provision in the tune to handle low octane. Nor should they on a turbo charged engine. Forced induction, timing tables meant for high test, and low octane equals detonation, and possibly a blown motor. Detonation damages everything from the top of the piston on down, ending at the bearings. It would make sense to you if you had a better understanding of engine management and tuning. Take it from someone who does, or better yet do a search.

Some performance vehicles can run either 87 or 91/93 based on a versatile factory tune that will switch but those are reactive systems and not ideal. The OP could pay for a Cobb Accessport and find a Subaru shop that would try to do a custom 87 octane tune. It would cost him over $1000. He would void his warranty, lose power, drive-ability, and probably MPG.

The STi is designed to run on 91. Going to 89 probably wouldn't induce part throttle detonation, but I'm not sure. Light detonation would not be heard while driving so you might have a problem you aren't aware of. 89 would in my opinion cause some detonation under wide open throttle. With the minimal cost savings for the gas it would be better not to risk it if you ever plan to push the pedal down.

My CTS-V is naturally aspirated and it can't function with 87 in the tank. Even with the knock sensors pulling timing the amount of detonation at part throttle is scary. I have a separate custom tune for 87 but I have to load it onto the ecu before filling up because the car can't be driven without detonating. I don't use it though, the car is somewhat lethargic in comparison to the normal tune and the mpg loss negated the fuel cost savings.

[Jasen]

i'm with the others on the 87 octane. that is a precisely tuned performance engine, it's designed to run on 91/92

[jedi_sol]

Originally Posted by Lbar

OP that bumper looks terrible. You have a brand new STI that looks like it was wrecked already. Plati-dip doesn't stop rock chips totally, but you will find plenty of other places that will get chipped up as times goes by.

You may be able to use just the Glossifier instead of the regular plastidip.

Edit: Here, pretty reasonable Clear Bra Kits Subaru paint protection film to protect your vehicles painted surface from rock chips and road debris.

Yes I have a case if 6 cans of glossifier thinking I can use glossifier only. However, after using one can, I realized glossifier is too thin to use it by itself. The bottle itself says its best used on surface that has already been plastidipped.

The black is only temporary for now because it is the only color available at my local home depot. Online forums say that the best way to make a clear bra with plasitdip is to use clear matte as the base, then glossifier on top. However, the only place that sells clear matte is online, so it would only be worth it to buy in bulk. I'll eventually get the clear matte when I get tired of black.

No I didn't buy this car with the intention to hyper mile, I'm not insane. This has always been my dream car ever since I was 15years old. When I graduated highschool, only could afford a Honda del sol. Like a typical kid, I souped it up yada yada. Then as I got older, gas prices started to rise, my job wasn't paying too well, then I stumbled onto this site and got into hypermiling. The best I achieved on the del sol was 50 tank mpg, I averaged about 40-44mpg. It's nice to have a hobby that can actually pay you back and not turn into a money pit.
So I finally got a better paying job , saved for a down, and bought my dream car. However the hypermiling bug stayed.

I like knowing I can have the best of both worlds. Go fast fun and good fuel economy. It's like having my cake and eating it too.

[AbeisAverage]

Originally Posted by Lbar

Throwing mid grade in the mix now?

As far as 87, I don't think, I know. Subaru doesn't have any provision in the tune to handle low octane. Nor should they on a turbo charged engine. Forced induction, timing tables meant for high test, and low octane equals detonation, and possibly a blown motor. Detonation damages everything from the top of the piston on down, ending at the bearings. It would make sense to you if you had a better understanding of engine management and tuning. Take it from someone who does, or better yet do a search.

Some performance vehicles can run either 87 or 91/93 based on a versatile factory tune that will switch but those are reactive systems and not ideal. The OP could pay for a Cobb Accessport and find a Subaru shop that would try to do a custom 87 octane tune. It would cost him over $1000. He would void his warranty, lose power, drive-ability, and probably MPG.

The STi is designed to run on 91. Going to 89 probably wouldn't induce part throttle detonation, but I'm not sure. Light detonation would not be heard while driving so you might have a problem you aren't aware of. 89 would in my opinion cause some detonation under wide open throttle. With the minimal cost savings for the gas it would be better not to risk it if you ever plan to push the pedal down.

My CTS-V is naturally aspirated and it can't function with 87 in the tank. Even with the knock sensors pulling timing the amount of detonation at part throttle is scary. I have a separate custom tune for 87 but I have to load it onto the ecu before filling up because the car can't be driven without detonating. I don't use it though, the car is somewhat lethargic in comparison to the normal tune and the mpg loss negated the fuel cost savings.

It seems like what you said is mostly true, specific to the sti, I can understand that the car is performance oriented but it seems like it would be good practice to throw in the knock sensors just for back up.

I could not find anything for 2013 sti but it seems like for the 07/08 ish models they didn't have the ability to retard timing for regular octane. Which I thought was weird, and was kind of what I was going off of from the beginning. I thought surely the newest one would have the ability to retard timing enough.

Okay finally found something, apparently in the manual it says it can run on 87 temporarily for emergencies, however it's for a 2010 wrx. I can't tell if the warning beforehand says it doesn't apply to the sti. That's what it looks like, though. Does it cost a lot of money to add knock sensing capabilities to the computer? Is it like entirely a thrown out idea because it's the sti version?

Now for an aside about the cts-V, how is rearward visibility? People always complain about how weird the back looks does it make a difference? I like the design of the rear, although, it does kind of make the car look stout. Which kind of goes with the trying to be muscle-y.

[Awd180]

Originally Posted by AbeisAverage

Okay finally found something, apparently in the manual it says it can run on 87 temporarily for emergencies, however it's for a 2010 wrx. I can't tell if the warning beforehand says it doesn't apply to the sti. That's what it looks like, though. Does it cost a lot of money to add knock sensing capabilities to the computer? Is it like entirely a thrown out idea because it's the sti version?

They both have knock sensors and the ecu accounts for it, the difference is that adjusting for more knock will damage valves, pistons, and in prolonged use worse. Any car that requires 91+ octane can use 87 for "emergencies", it not suggested to run a full tank. There are easier ways of gain mpg's or testing mpg performance in these type of cars. If you're looking at paying less at the pump a performance car isn't for you or save up and buy a tesla then never use the performance because using the 0-60 gets you a lot less miles.

[Jasen]

Originally Posted by jedi_sol

No I didn't buy this car with the intention to hyper mile, I'm not insane. This has always been my dream car ever since I was 15years old. When I graduated highschool,

I like knowing I can have the best of both worlds. Go fast fun and good fuel economy. It's like having my cake and eating it too.

Jedi,

I was a young man once building and driving 160 mph and 12 second cars.

like I said, life is short, do what makes you happy