Ever since taking delivery of my WRX I’ve noticed inconsistent power delivery. Boost builds, spike to 19-21 psi, then settles back down and holds 14-15 psi. The rush of torque from the boost spike is a tease. Power delivery after the spike feels as if the throttle position is varying between 80 and 100% and in essence the car doesn’t rush to redline, but kind of coasts instead. Now with the colder weather it seems the exhaust note has also changed. The Subaru Performance exhaust always had a deep note but lately I think it’s gotten deeper under full throttle and even sounds like the engine is struggling to make power although power seems the same.
Not exciting. If I didn’t intend to modify this car with a Cobb Accessport V3 I would be rather upset. As luck would have it, today is Cyber Monday and many vendors are selling the Cobb Accessport at a hefty discount. Get yours from FAST WRX.
So why did I choose the Cobb Accessport V3? Well, first and foremost, if you want to tune your Subaru WRX or STI this is by far the most popular option with multiple tunes included. Cobb has been the leader in Subaru tuning for well over a decade. I had one on my 2008 Subaru STI and was a skeptic at first. Believe me when I say the difference was night and day for the better.
The Cobb Accessport is supposed to smooth out the power delivery to be much more linear. After the Cobb tune is installed, 25% throttle should feel like 25% throttle and not 50%. Power gains aren’t as large as previous generation WRX and STI received but I think this will produce about 240whp and 260wtq according to the forums. That’s about 20 horsepower and 30 torque over stock and should be noticeable.
It’s foreseeable that I may install a catted downpipe next year with a pro tune (cheap if you already have the Cobb AP) to get closer to that 300 mark. There isn’t much more to do after that other than replace the turbo with something larger. Luckily that’s expensive enough to stay out of mind until I hit the lottery.
Be sure to check out my WRX on WheelWell.com to stay up to date with all it’s modifications and build details.
