Subaru TS 1.6 Automatic Turbo charged

Subaru TS 1.6 Automatic Turbo charged

Saturday started off with lethargy from the leftover fatigue from long hours of tuning rides. If those ride were any simpler, it wouldnt have been this bad. MX-5 turbo, its infamous reputation of being harder to tune than most other japanese makes have kept ang mohs in the US quizzled over the way the mazda ECU reacts to aftermart modifications.

Subaru TS 1.6 turbo with automatic transmission is slightly easier to tune as compared to 2.5L NA, but, simple as it is, it has kept many tuner on their toes, each with their own individual way of interpreting why the car reacted like this and like that, all of which only made the customer more confused than ever. Too many have heard from those who failed and floated the community and too few have been fortunate enough to hear from those who made it work. Subaru TS's formidable ability to relearn matches those in Suzuki swift 1.5. The ability to relearn is a tool which you can use, and a pain in the arse if you don't know it well enough to use it.

Owner is a tall handsome chap, don't worry, I'm straight. Sam on the other hand may be not hahaha... just kidding. I told him that if he rubbed his dick in a horizontal motion long enough, he could draw some lines on his dick with a marker and use it as a short ruler.

I asked if Doctor liked the setup, he said if Doc didnt like it, your phone will ring liaoz... hahaha...

My conversation with the owner is pretty interesting, for example, he requested for me to boost 1.x bar on his engine. I told him this will destroy the engine in no time, he wasnt quite surprised by it, to which I starred at him with the most inquisitive look. And he further explained that he intended to upgrade his engine to a more devilish setup, something which will generate 200++ bhp. I was dumb found. Instead of keeping the 1.6 block, blowing it to pieces and then upgrading it, wasnt something I had in mind and would have done to someone, even if I dislike the fella. Till date, I havnet met another of such, and this owner is the second of such I've met so far.

I explained the various setup which can generate that kind of horsepower, and owner seems to be absorbing every bit of information I'm blasting at him...

Automatic transmission has its limitation, and we must work within our limits, much as the owner wants us to push beyond the limits, discipline holds sam and myself back and left last mintue instruction on how to DIY blow the engine. Well, there is a boost controller inside the car, one direction reads, "Less"... the other direction read "Hell".

Just turn and turn like you would with a jar of peanut butter in hell's direction, plant your foot on the gas, and sing your way home. Surest way to get a new engine. :)

Tuning this ride is straight forward. You use the same technique as you would with a TS with WRX engine. Except that you would tune it for one which has higher compression ratio than the latter. Owner pumps ron 95 fuel, between 95 and 98, in turbo charged application, ron 98 will yield better results. Of course, if power is not everything, then ron 95 will make economical sense trading off torque and bhp. A quick inventory check on what doctor sam has put into this ride, we're off tuning...

Gear 1, car moves off as per normal, allowing the automatic transmission to fully engage, flooring the accelerator, garret TD04 turbo spools up rapidly, the smooth chopping of air swirling past the turbo into the engine is clearly audible, especially for subarus. At 3500 rpm, the turbo awaken from slumber and jams the engine with as much pressure as we allow it, at this point, the car surged forward. Shoulders pressed back into the seat, boost meter shows the maximum boost we allowed it to go. How much? That we keep it to ourselves :)

Gear 2 engages and glancing at the rpm, its 3500 rpm, again turbo audible spool up coupled with super sprint version of boxer symphony takes a second or 2 to clear 5500 rpm for gear 3.

On gear 3 and above, the exhaust is still acceptable, given the output this ride is churning, the exhaust system after decatting is barely sufficient. This however, is not a major issue since after market exhaust system for TS comes in an arsenal of selection, the only headache is which one to choose from. For now, we have to make do with whatever hardware we have.

Looking back in time, since we were wacking about in seletar with Sean's TS turbo, I recalled how estatic sam felt when I tune his first TS turbo,... Today, it seems so long ago, the excitement and trill have since dwindled to a responsiblity and a job. This excitement is not lost, for it will be revived again with the owner.

Verdict:
Nostalgic feeling for sam and myself.