I was about to come in here and alert you that a 207 is POSSIBLE in your chassis, but certainly not an easy or time sensitive adventure, but it looks like you are staying USDM EJ25x.

Way to power on, and congrats on going AP as well. Who is building your motor/who are you buying from?

Finally have an update here.

So first a bit of backstory: the original goal was to have a setup capable of reliably handling 500whp, with ample margin of safety, while still being very streetable. The plan wasn't to achieve that power on pump gas (which would be a bit dicey), but to be able to handle that power level if so desired eventually. Originally, my thought was to keep my Blouch turbo, and see how much it could make. It was really good on the street, and had a good powerband. In discussing this with Matt, however, he was convinced it most likely didn't have much more power to give, at least not reliably/efficiently.

We then started discussing what turbo would be best to achieve my goals of bigger power, but with good response. The Killer B Spoolinator looked like an enticing option--big power up top combined with good response down low--great for a street setup. Matt had never installed one himself, and there aren't many out there due to being fairly cost-prohibitive, but his feeling was this would be the best option for maintaining streetability at that power level, better than going with a Dom5 or rotated. While a front mount would be better for serious track work, sticking with a top mount was his advice for keeping the best response on the street; a front mount is also always be possible in the future. Moreover, this being a way to fit a full-frame GTX turbo in the stock location, it would be consistent with the car's subtle aesthetic.

Having the impression that this setup would be ideal, and getting reassurance from Killer B that the lead time on the kit would fit with Matt's schedule, decided to pull the trigger.

Unfortunately, the Tial compressor housing necessary for fitting the turbo was back-ordered. Tial kept giving estimated shipping dates, only to have those dates come and go and get pushed out week after week, which Killer B kept relaying to us. It was originally ordered in the beginning of February, supposed to be ready to go by the first week of March at the absolute latest. It didn't get to Matt until the end of March.

And then fitting the turbo proved to be a big challenge. Killer B says up front that some clearancing is required. Both the motor and transmission bell housing had to be significantly massaged to make things fit. To do this carefully meant taking the turbo in and out over and over again to not cut any more than necessary. Along with routing the AOS lines and TMIC in that tight space, this took a ton more time than expected. With the delays just getting the kit, and then the fitment difficulties, this became a far far more complicated and time-consuming process.

After discovering the motor was hurt in the middle of January, waiting until the beginning of March to drop off the car with Matt to get started, then until the end of April to get the new setup installed, FINALLY now have the car back and have started the break-in process. Even though the car has to be driven carefully in a specific manner (out of boost, below 4k, varying RPM and load conditions), just having it back is wonderful.

Did the 500 mile oil change over the weekend, all looked fine, but noticed a strange oil leak from the top of the block. Looks like one of the pre-assembled bolts on the block might have a bad washer/gasket on it, hopefully will be sorted out this week.

Still over 1000 more break-in miles to go, and the car clearly wants to get into boost and GO (which, after all, is the whole point), but doing my best to keep it out of boost and below 4k as much as possible. The car will definitely be a blast to drive no matter what the final numbers say...it already feels very quick with no boost at all.

Hopefully once it gets tuned the final outcome will prove all this time and treasure and sanity expended was not for naught. And that it will stay reliable for a good while. Only time will tell.

Barely driving the car for 3 months, and not having it all for half that time has been the most trying period of ownership. It's understandable why people give up on projects, or decide to sell them once they're finished. One begins to lose the visionary gleam.

With all that now in the past, however, can get on to what you all came here to see, the setup. For clarity, will include the few relevant parts installed previously, but almost all are new.

IAG Stage 3+ closed-deck short block
Stock EJ255 D heads resurfaced/refreshed, valve job
GSC P-D valve spring and titanium retainer kit
ARP head stud kit
Killer B oil pan/baffle/(pickup)
Koyorad aluminum radiator

IAG topfeed v2 fuel rail kit
IAG AN6 fuel line kit
Aeromotive AN6 A1000 v2 fuel regulator
AEM 320lph E85 pump
(ID1000 injectors)

Grimmspeed TMIC and couplers
IAG TGV deletes
Killer B Holy Header w/EWG up-pipe
Killer B Spooiinator kit:
- Garrett GTX3576R Gen II v-band with Tial compressor housing
- Killer B up-pipe v-band adapter
- Killer B 3" v-band downpipe
- Perrin 3" inlet
Turbosmart 40mm comp-gate
PTP 35R lava turbo blanket
DEI thermal tape
(H&S 3" catback)
(Stock intake)

Accessport V3
AEM 3.5 bar MAP sensor kit
AEM intake air temperature sensor kit
(Grimmspeed EBCS)

While blended speed density tuning will mean the MAF sensor won't be maxed out with the stock intake, it's likely it will become a restriction at this power level, so may have to upgrade that too.

The AEM in-tank fuel pump is E85 capable, but to make the most out of this setup on ethanol bigger injectors and additional pumps in a surge tank would be necessary. That will be on hold indefinitely until a full flex-fuel setup is possible--and deemed necessary

Of course, while my car was down, someone local was parting out their high-dollar 04 STi, and couldn't pass up on a nearly-new Driveshaft Shop carbon fiber driveshaft. In addition to saving about 12 pounds of weight, and reducing rotational inertia, it reduces the low-speed/low-rpm bucking caused by the joint in the two-piece driveshaft moving around.

The biggest difference driving the car so far is the sound. It just sounds different. Not better or worse, just different. Haven't heard it in boost yet, but even out of boost tunnels are wonderful--so not concerned. It's loud, but not terribly so, and not much more than before around town (at WOT it certainly will be). Even needing to stay at low RPM and out of boost the car is very drivable, easily able to cruise around town and the highway.

Hopefully will get the break-in finished and get the final tune dialed in soon.

Mercifully, it appears the majority of this ordeal is now in the past.

And now for some pics.







Comparison of the Killer B Holy Header (installed) to the HKS EL headers:





Turbo installed pic:







Hard to get a good picture, but the v-band downpipe is a really nice piece:



AEM 3.5 Bar MAP sensor for SD tuning:



Intake air temp sensor welded into TMIC:



DEI heat reflective tape meticulously applied:





The only carbon fiber part on the car: a driveshaft no one will ever see:



All together: the most stock appearing 35r setup possible.



And finally parked in my new spot at work:

Last edited by countriccati (2018-12-28 21:09:42)

Ohhh, very interested in your thoughts when it is tuned, almost went with the KillerB EM but got budget conscious and skipped it.  I've heard great things about the CF driveshaft too.

This thread delivers 

Awesome build!

Well folks, just about 6 months after the old motor was discovered to be toast, the car finally got tuned on the new setup, and made some decent power. It's definitely fun to drive. Also scary.



There is certainly more lag than my previous setup. A comparison of the various stages of the car over time helps demonstrate the trade-offs in response for bigger top end.



On the street, the thing is ridiculous. My first time putting my foot down the reaction involved various combinations of vulgarities in sheer exclamation/terror/excitement.

The power comes on really strong and you find yourself going muuuch faster than you realize. The external wastegate is obnoxious--it was definitely amusing at first, and adds to the theater of the acceleration, but after a bit (few minutes) it gets old; the plan will be to get the dump tube recirculated to the downpipe soon most likely. According to my friend driving behind me--it does cause the tailpipe to shoot flames on occasion, which is an ok thing Hopefully that will still be part of the program even if it's recirculated.

It seems like the stock intake is hindering things somewhat at the top end--Matt had to add some wastgate duty cycle to keep it holding boost all the way, which this turbo shouldn't need to do. But my preference is to keep it for now--running the stock airbox helps keep the sleepy look of things. Since Matt is using a blend of MAF and speed density there wasn't a need to go with a big intake or MAF--it uses MAF until it maxes out the sensor or reaches a certain boost threshold.

The result is driving around town is completely conventional--it's a bit loud by normal car standards, but otherwise it seems like a fairly normal car with an exhaust on the louder side. Having been driving it out of boost and below 4k for so long now, doing that feels perfectly normal, with no issue keeping up with and maneuvering around traffic. But if you give it more aggressive throttle and keep going above 4k, you start GOING. A bit of a Jekyll and Hyde type of old-school turbocharger feel. As before, it becomes a manner of adjustment, holding gears longer and keeping RPMs up nearer to the power band.

As mentioned before, this setup is absolutely capable of much more. As of now, it absolutely doesn't feel like it needs more power, and my plan is to drive it and enjoy it as is for a while. Though--to be fair--that's been my refrain since the very first tune. For the time being, the goal is to not get into serious trouble, with the laws of physics or otherwise.

Last edited by countriccati (2018-12-28 21:13:17)

Maybe if it was a Focus ST you would get more love on here...

All kidding aside, congrats dude I bet it's an absolute blast and feels great to finally have it all sorted and tuned. 

There are so many reasons I hate you right now!  Nice work! It looks fantastic.

Brake inspection was definitely warranted with how quickly you find yourself going...many thanks to eurocoffee for taking the time do go over everything.

Took the car out to autox the day after getting it tuned and turned in a bunch of sloppy laps while getting used to the power delivery--and how my brakes are still the same. Had a blast, but the need for driver mod remains pretty clear Did manage to equal my best times from last go around...but plenty of room for improvement. Thankfully, the people are friendly and helpful, looking forward to going back.

This setup struggles with heatsoak while idling, such as waiting in line at the start, and not having any open road to cool down afterwards. Had to park the car after each lap and open the hood and wait a while for the intercooler (where intake temp sensor is located) to cool down. On the open road things are fine (may have tested the extent of 5th gear at some point on a cool night), but in stop and go traffic on a warm day there just isn't much flow, let alone a tight autox course.

Did a little experimentation with a spray bottle to see if spraying water mist on the intercooler would cool it down while just idling (04-07 STi's have a factory spray system), and the thrilling conclusion is that it does do something, but not an appreciable amount (a 2 degree F drop when you're a good 50+ degrees above ambient temp is not significant). In fact, the best results seemed to be spraying and having the hood open...so probably will just bring the spray bottle to autox.

Gave a co-worker who owns a mustang a ride and seemed to scare him in just first and second gear--but being a passenger is always scarier.

The ewg remains somewhat amusing on occasion--and garners the occasional thumbs up after tunnel runs--but will probably still be getting it recirculated. Probably.

Also, here's hoping Photobucket collapses soon. They've bricked so much of the internet, had to spend my whole afternoon switching all my pictures over.

Last edited by countriccati (2023-03-19 20:55:52)

Rodman wrote:

Car looks great, is there anything that can be done to improve cooling with better radiator fans ?

Thanks

The engine cooling system itself is fine temperature-wise, both coolant and oil temps stay well within normal ranges. It's specifically the intake temps as measured at the top mount intercooler that are hot, which, unfortunately, isn't cooled by the radiator fans.

It might be possible to install some kind of fans on the top mount itself, but for the handful of times it's needed (doing autox really) it's probably not worth the added complexity.

I understand now, perhaps keep the hood open till you are at the starting line and ready to go, keep a bag of ice on top of the intercooler 

Did something that should've been one of my first activities with the car over the weekend--went to an autox driving school (Evolution Performance Phase I)

It was a ton of fun, learned a lot from the instructors, and got a bunch of good seat time.

The instructors are past SCCA regional and/or national champions in different classes, and you are paired with two different ones in the morning and afternoon to get different perspectives on things.

They set up a short (~30 seconds), tight, technical course, designed to have some of the hardest elements you might encounter on a typical autox, and the format was to keep practicing the same course throughout the day to get the hang of those different elements.

The program for the morning was:
- walk the course with the instructors giving comments
- walk it on your own
- then do 3 baseline runs
- 2 runs with an instructor with you
- 2 runs with the instructor driving your car with you as a passenger
- 3 more runs on your own

In the afternoon they focused specifically on what they call "looking ahead", keying in looking at cones further down the course rather than at any of the ones close to you, and again

- 2 runs with the instructor with you
- 2 runs of the instructor driving your car with you as passenger
- 3 runs on your own

And then at the end doing another 3 runs on your own.

By the end of the day my time around the course dropped significantly, and more importantly, my approach to it was quite different. Instead of trying to stay in the power as long as possible once the turbo finally spooled, then brake late, instead switched to carrying more speed earlier, to then brake earlier to be able to get back into the throttle quicker and be better set up.

The instructors only drive your car at around 80% effort or so (though that was still pretty fast!)--and by the end of the day my time still wasn't quite as good as the ones they put down, but was within half a second or so, having started being closer to 3 seconds off.

Interestingly, most of the discussion ended up being about--the car itself, and how the very nonlinear power delivery (and relatively narrow tires) makes it more challenging to drive it cleanly--the fastest way through some parts ended up being driving beyond the limit of grip, and just keeping it under control as best possible.

Put together a video of my best morning and afternoon runs side by side (the quality of both video and audio is fairly atrocious--headphone users in particular watch out!), having been recorded on the $29 eBay special combination reverse camera and dash cam that's been on the car for a year now--it works, is about the beginning and end of positive things to say about it.

Highly recommend doing this course if there's one in your area, regardless of future intentions to autox or not (my interest is very causal). Practicing driving your car at the limit in a safe environment, and getting really good instruction and seat time is excellent value for money.

Last edited by countriccati (2018-12-28 21:15:36)