In Part 1 of this 2 part series we removed the bumper cover, the crash bar and the beam. Now it’s time to re-center the tailgate and put everything back together.

It’s been about a month since the actual install so I’ll let the pictures and descriptions do the talking.

That pretty well covers it. The bumper cover has still yet to be replaced. It hasn’t even been washed since then so as long as it stays dirty, you can hardly tell it’s damaged.

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This article actually got started a few weeks prior when my wife was rear ended at a red light. The damage is not too bad, but since the car is new, we would like to replace all the parts to get it back to “like new” condition.

With that said, let’s get to it!

Tools for the job:

• long flathead screwdriver
• 12mm socket
• 10mm socket
• Philips screwdriver
• Panel Popper

I started by lifting the car and once again assessing the damage.

There are two philips screws on each side of the rear bumper to remove.

Normally, there would be two bolts to remove below the tailgate, but the bumper skin was broke therefore these could stay until I get a replacement bumper cover. That being said the bumper just kind of pulls straight out. You can use a flathead screwdriver to help with the clips, some you will get to from laying under the car looking up.

Now we can see the damage to the ABS crash absorber and check for other damage.

Now for the unboxing of the new Bumper beam and crash absorber from www.hondapartsnow.com. I like the fancy padded wood.

Now I remove the absorber even though it’s not necessary. I didn’t realize this otherwise I would have left it attached to the bumper itself. I also remove the bumper, though it could have been repaired by bending the tabs and welding it back together.

This post is getting a little long, I’m going to have to finish up in part 2. Thanks for reading.

Click Here for Part 2.

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A four hour drive from Vegas to Los Angeles followed by a drive back to Vegas less than ten hours later. Life can be rush rush as we battle endless todo lists along with other life “tasks”. I have driven through here more than a few times, never stopping to simply enjoy and take it in. Today is different. Today I stop. Today, I don’t have my camera so I did what I could with my phone. Enjoy the shots, I know I enjoyed taking them.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

No related posts.

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Pretty much any car designed for the masses is going to be somewhat neutral in many aspects. Suspension is a great example of this as the average person doesn’t want a firm ride or the worry of breaking the front bumper cover off when getting just a little to snug to a curb. Automotive enthusiasts however, are a slightly different breed. We notice that split second gab between turning the wheel and the car following along. We are ok with a little more noise, we want the car to be firm and responsive.

Springs vs Coilovers – The debate will continue. Personally I say springs. You can get a nice firm responsive whip without being overly jaring. Coilovers really limit the amount of suspension travel you have. For example, you might need to jack up your car 4 inches before the tire leaves the ground. With coilovers, it’s only going to be about an inch. The nice thing about coilovers such as installed here, are the advantages of setting ride height, spring rate and shock firmness.

This install is about coilovers. The install is pretty much the same as a regular spring install with a few key differences.

- Since we didn’t reuse the stock struts or top hats, we kept the stock assembly together simply swapping out the assembly with the new parts.

- Adjustments. Once you install the coilovers, the next step is to lower the car and check the ride height. Once this is done, you make adjustmetns, lower the car and check the ride height again. Do this until you are satisfied. Once the ride height is set, triple check everything is torqued down and you are now ready to set you spring and shock rate. I set the springs as soft as they would go which ended up being a little too soft. The lack of pressure on the spring caused a slight noise which could be adjusted out by putting more tension on the springs and therefore making them a little more stiff. For the shocks, I recommended he try it all the way hard first and drive it around a few days then all the way soft. This will familiarize him with the difference between a shock rate too hard or too soft. Either way, the result is a bouncy ride. The shocks will need to be adjusted over time so the ride is firm and well matched to the springs.

That’s it, check below for pictures of the install and feel free to comment if you have any comments or questions.

Related posts:

1. Epic Springs and a Downpipe Install on a 2009 WRX Hatch
2. Impreza RS Pulley Install – February 2008
3. 2005 Aveo Suspension and Handling Observations

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In a nutshell – not much. I don’t think this is all too fair though as I consciously drive in a way which keeps the inside of my engine clean. Here is a list of steps I have developed over the years to keep my engine running as clean as possible.

- Change oil every 5000-6000 miles (mostly highway)

- Redline (shift just below RPM cutoff) at least a few times a week. *This is great for the engine; however, make sure the engine is fully warmed up, not just the water, but the oil as well to avoid a blown head gasket or excessive engine wear.

- I run name brand gas exclusively. If there is a filler truck at the station, I’ll not fill up that day.

- Lucas fuel injector cleaner every 40k or so.

- Change the spark plugs every 40k. Check them every 10k or so.

- Let it cool a few minutes to turn it off to keep the oil from coking with hot spots. Coking is common in turbos when the turbo is glowing hot, the oil gets shut off and the oil remains on a glowing red hot surface. This will steam the oil causing a thick film to build inside the turbo. The Aveo doesn’t have a turbo; however, driving gently a minute or more before shutting it down will help avoid hot spots in the engine where the oil can burn.

These steps keep the internals clean and running smooth. Redlining frequently also will get the valves glowing red hot, which combined with the added intake and exhaust flow will help force out build up on the valves and inside the exhaust manifold.

That being said, most people don’t do this. Most people wouldn’t even think about all of this and quite frankly that’s ok. This is good to know when a car starts losing some power over time, buying a used car, perhaps you are fixing a car for a friend or family member. This might also help clear a check engine light and even get a non passing car through an emissions check.

On to the Seafoam Process.

A can of Seafoam will set you back about $10 at a local auto parts store. According to the directions a third would be dumped into the gas tank, a third in the oil, and the remaining third into the intake VIA a vacuum line as close to the throttle body as possible.

Get the car to temperature, once it’s fully warmed up start sucking the seafoam into the intake line. You will also need the car to be at around 2000 RPM for this part, otherwise it will stall out.

While sucking the Seafoam there should be a lot of smoke coming out of the tail pipe. This is why you should do this at night in a well ventilated and preferably windy location. I didn’t have hardly any smoke so I guess was starting out with a rather clean engine.

Once this part is done, go for a spirited drive. By spirited I mean redline it in second and third if possible. Run it hard for a few minutes to force out any engine buildup.

Once returned home if you poured a third of the can into your oil, you will need to change it now. It’s not a good idea to leave a cleaning agent in for any length of time.

That’s it. You are done. If you want to try out Seafoam, check it out in the link below.

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2. Building an Aveo Brace Brace – Eliminating the Torque.
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Another spring install on a WRX along with a Downpipe install. This time its a 2009 Impreza WRX Hatchback. Not only do these Epic Lowering Springs give the car a much nicer stance, it’s also a great suspension modification to improve the handling of the WRX without sacrificing ride quality.

Scroll through and click on the images for descriptions of the install.

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1. 2009 WRX Coilover Install
2. Impreza RS Pulley Install – February 2008
3. 2008 WRX Gets to Exhale March 2009

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Installing a pulley on an Subaru with an EJ engine such as the Impreza or Legacy is pretty straight forward. Basically just lock the engine either by putting the car in gear or using something such as my pulley removal tool to lock the engine as you loosen the crank pulley. Once the bolt is loose, work the pulley off and replace with your new lightweight pulley.

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1. Emanage Install on an Impreza Part 2
2. WRX GT Spec Headers April 2008
3. Epic Springs and a Downpipe Install on a 2009 WRX Hatch

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Months into this paint job and I am now fully Convinced.

Hours have been spent straightening, sanding, cleaning, painting, cleaning, painting, sanding and so it goes. The first coat was a little thick and had some massive orange peel, as I progress I get better and faster. I still have two coats of black but I got anxious. I had to see the finish product. I’m glad I I’d too and for two reasons. One, I have a better understanding about the wet sanding. Two, I can see myself in that paint! After some wet sanding with 1000 grit on a block I followed up with 2000 in my hand. A few spots of primer are showing up which can be expected as I’m still a few coats away from being done.

I wrote up a little more, talking about the highs and lows of this evening, me battling the shine but I lost it. Turns out I should hit save prior to done and since I’m making this post from my phone I really don’t want to go back into it. Important thing is the shine.

Now for some pictures. I took a few pictures of the hood, as you can see I only actually buffed a small section. I also have some pictures of the front fenders after two coats of paint. The mix is two parts Rustoleum hunter green to one part Lowes royal blue enamel.

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Click play to watch Tanner Foust drift the well known Mulholland Drive.

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This is the original article from when I built up my original kit in 1999.

Disclaimer: This article is written for information purposes only. In no way do I suggest doing this. If you do… this information should be interpreted as a tool or learning device, not a “how to.” I take no responsibility for what you do on your time. That being said, this information is correct to the best of my knowledge.

Introduction:

After seeing turbo cars pop up in magazines and after owning a 1990 Eagle Talon TSI Turbo, I decided to look into turbo charging the Impreza even more. Once Minnam Racing came out with a turbo kit for the Impreza, I realized that it is possible to feasibly turbocharge an Impreza. At this time the thought of 4 spinning tires, neck-break acceleration, and the quarter mile times of a Porche 911 turbo were mostly just fantasy. Soon after however, something pushed me over the edge. The March 1999 turbo magazine. On page 130 lies Byron’s now 500+ horsepower daily driver Impreza.

With an “if they can do it, we can do it” attitude a friend and I started looking into turbos. The first project was a 1990 Toyota Tercel. A Garret T3 was sourced from a retired Turbo Thunderbird, and soon mounted up. It worked, though maybe a little too well. Tercel’s don’t seem to like 15 pounds of boost and that was that.

Research:

If you are reading this and considering actually building your own kit, I recommend you do some research on your own. Most of my knowledge was gained from www.turboneticsinc.com, www.turbonetics.com, JC Sports (which is now out of business), Turbo magazine, and doing lots of Internet searches for turbo cars. Research at the time was a bit sketchy given the amount of time aftermarket turbo Impreza’s roamed the streets. The small consensus was 5 pounds without an intercooler or any other electronics and 7 pounds with an intercooler and fuel and timing management. According to JC Sports, their front wheel drive 1.8L Impreza went from 83hp at the wheels to 142hp with only 5 pounds of boost, no electronics and no intercooler.

Parts:

This made the page too large, so check out the 93 Impreza “Simba” Initial Turbo Parts page for more info on the parts used.

Turbo:

The first place I looked was www.turboneticsinc.com to look at the different turbo’s and compressor maps. The compressor maps are somewhat cryptic to read, but they basically let you know what size turbo components you need for different engine sizes. After getting hyped up about a Turbonetics T03/T04 hybrid with a ceramic ball bearing center, I went over to www.turbonetics.com to check on price, about $1300 for the turbo and $220 for the wastegate. Too much for me… time for a new plan. My friend with the turbo Tercel was able to get a T3 off a Thunderbird for $45. I however couldn’t find one. What I did find were numerous Subaru turbos. Total search time lasted about 3 weeks. Once I found one in good shape, I was able to pull the turbo with wastegate, up pipe, and downpipe in about 45 minutes. Would have been quicker, but the junkyard wouldn’t let me take the pre cat, so I had to cut it off with a dull hacksaw. One modification was needed for the turbo to make it work. It comes with a 1½ outer diameter outlet flange which is too small. Good luck finding a 1½” to 2” reducer. I had the outlet part of the turbo machined to a 2” outer diameter so I could actually get a silicone hump hose on it, problem solved and they also bored out the actual port for me as well. (thanks S&H Racing in Beaverton Oregon) They have done a lot of machine work for my friends and I, always great work, good turnaround time and they are nice too which is important to me, especially with my strange requests. One place actually said “no one modifies Subarus” and laughed at me. This was for some custom suspension work and new bushings, needless to say, I never returned.

Oil Feed/Return:

This should have been easy. I knew how much steel braided line I needed to get from the turbo to the oil pressure sending unit. I also knew I’d only need about two feet to return to the pan. To the pan was easy, I had a fitting welded to the pan and just ran a two foot #12 11/16” steel braided line. I used silicone to help seal the top and A/N fittings to hold it on to the Oil Pan. For the Feed, I used #4 7/32” 3’ steel braided line and the necessary fittings for the turbo and oil pressure sending unit. The unit pictured below with the A/N fittings on it is actually from ISR. For the feed, go through ISR. The line is about $40 and already has the fittings mounted to it. It also takes the oil from right below the throttle body as opposed to the oil pressure sending unit.

For the oil return, you should be able to get a fitting that returns the oil directly into the head on a 2.5, but not for the 1.8L. Just use an A/N fitting at the head and slip the other end over the turbo or an A/N fitting there depending on preference.

2¼ high flow cat and muffler:

I used a Dynomax muffler (28-2371) and a 2¼ cat that is actually for a Chrysler turbo, but I lost that receipt so I really don’t know the part number for the catalytic converter. All of my exhaust work was done locally at a muffler shop. It really helps to know someone here, otherwise they might not be too willing to work with you. Another tip is to go to a shop that does a lot of custom work. The shop I had it done at is really into building muscle cars for drag racing, so they appreciate what I am doing. I would leave the name and shop, but it’s under new management now.

Here’s a picture of the old up and down pipe that came off the car. Prime example of how NOT to do it, notice the crush bends and overly bad design.

UPDATE: That exhaust is off. I made a custom 2″ up pipe, 2.5″ down pipe and all the way back with a 2.5″ exhaust.

Wastegate:

A few years ago, I drove a turbo wagon and seem to remember it having about 5 to 7 pounds of boost. Armed with this information, I left the stock wastegate on the turbo. The very first drive I watched the needle shoot up to 10 pounds. WOW, not much lag, but too much boost. Get a Turbonetics or Tial 3-5 pound wastegate. Other turbo owners are complaining about the Deltagate by Turbonetics, saying they are getting boost spikes due to a “sticky” spring. That said, the TIAL might be a better option. Even if you want more boost, because you can always turn it up, but you can not turn it down. More information is available in the FAQ section under wastegate. I was able to get a good deal on a Deltagate, so this is what’s going into my install.

UPDATE: The current setup uses no external wastegate. With the TD04L on my 2.2/1.8 hybrid, I peak at 7psi.

Intake:

This was the most expensive part of my whole setup. I have a Weapon-R intake that goes to the turbo. From there is a 2” hump hose to the 2” exhaust tubing, to a 45’ silicone elbow, to more exhaust tubing, to a 90’ silicone connector, to more exhaust tubing, to a silicone 2” to 2.75” transition into the throttle body. The silicone connectors were purchased from www.turbonetics.com and cost about $210 with shipping. Actually it cost me $295 for the connectors, but I had 2 extras. If you are using a Weapon-R intake, it is important to get the Air Filter mount from Kartboy Kustoms as the “universal” MAF mount that comes with the intake is more comical than practical.

RE: Silicone connectors needed for intake, Joel wrote me this:

<<For those wishing to save a few $$, you can get the silicone fittings in

many colors direct from the manufacturer in Spokane WA. The company is BelAir Composites:

Belair Composites

3715 Longfellow

SPOKANE WA 99217

(509) 482-0442

There’s a good chance this is the company that supplies Turbonetics. I know

they supply Greddy, Majestic turbo, HKS and many others. Cool guys to work

with, prices a lot better than retail.

Joel >>

UPDATE: The intake charge pipe has been replaced with all mandrel bent tubing and Silicone connectors from Belair Composites.

The turbo to MAF is still in process.

Boost Gauge:

Quite possibly one of the most fun parts to having a turbo. The first time you see positive pressure, you’ll smile. This is the first part that should be put on the car, even if you don’t have a turbo. It lets you know how your car is running. Also without it, I would have no way of knowing I was getting 10 pounds of boost. The boost gauge I have is an Autometer 2” (P/N 5703) boost gauge and a mounting cup (P/N 2204) as well. Now that Autometer makes pillar mounts for Imprezas, I’d much rather go that route.

Blow off Valve:

For the blow of valve (BOV), I used a Bosch from Turbonetics. Basically drill a hole in the intake and stick a Home Depot 1″ O/D pipe on there, plug a 1″ heater or dishwashing hose in, then connect the hose to the BOV. The Bosch is plastic so you can’t weld it on like you can a more expensive one. The Bosch BOV is also only $40 so it was the BOV of choice for my initial build up. The air from the BOV is then returned to the filter side of the Intake via hose, but on the turbo side of the MAF so as not to confuse the computer. With the BOV unhooked, it makes a nice loud PSHHHHH sound when letting up the gas, but the car doesn’t idle very well, in fact it usually just dies and is hard to start. The BOV is not absolutely necessary, but I recommend it, read the FAQ on how it works for a better explanation.

Fuel:

Just putting an Intake and exhaust on a car can cause it to run lean. That said, something has to be done about the fuel and every car is a little different, so the settings will differ by car. A more powerful fuel pump is in order to supply fuel. I have a pump from an Rx7 twin turbo for mine. A Rising Rate Fuel Pressure Regulator (RRFPR) is needed to increase the fuel pressure. The car will run “ok” at 5 pounds with no fuel mods, but you will be running lean. For the RRFPR, most people use a 4:1 which means for every one pound of boost, the fuel pressure is increased by 4 pounds. Dyno testing is really needed to get a better setting. 92 octane is also necessary as it is slower burning and less prone to detonation. I would STRONGLY recommend engine management, but if you can’t do it please don’t go cheap on the fueling. At least get an SAFC. The RRFPR is somewhat of a “patch” job and is simply not enough.

Conclusion:

If you are even considering this, I recommend more research. Read turbo magazine, check out other sites with turbo cars such as Jon’s. Don’t limit yourself to Subarus, some of my research is from turbo Civics. One other point I would like to mention is the fun factor of owning a turbo. The whine is great, the blow off, spinning all 4 tires, and smack talking mustang GT’s. That is about it. Thanks for reading this through, I hope it helps. If you have any further questions, comments, or just want to chat, be sure to check out the FAQ, or email me.

Related posts:

1. 1993 1.8 Liter Impreza Turbo FAQ
2. Darshu’s Turbo Build
3. RSLRA Turbo Relocation April 2008

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Disclaimer: This article is written for information purposes only. I have done a lot of research on these subjects and though to my belief it may be true, I do not take responsibility for any misinformation. These are the most common questions I get and so I thought I would write a FAQ. If you have any questions or comments please fill out the feedback form.

How much boost will my Impreza handle?

This of course depends on the setup. I didn’t originally have an intercooler so I could only run about 7 pounds before hearing any kind of detonation. Realize this is on a 1.8L with 9.5:1 compression. Your results will vary depending on location. To keep it safe, I would recommend  keeping it at 5 pounds until you can get some sort of electronics or SAFC to change the fuel ratio and an intercooler to get the intake temperatures down.

How much Was it?

The initial setup for me ran about $1000 for everything described in the turbo build up page. Expect to spend about $1500 for everything if you shop around and you’ll be a little more safe. Or if you like, all the necessary parts are listed, call around. It’s said that speed cost money, how fast do you want to go?

How does a turbo work.

If you look at the picture, it shows 2 sections. The Turbine section is the part that connects to the exhaust. When you accelerate, the force of the exhaust spins the wheel. The wheel is connected by a center piece that spins the compressor wheel on the compressor section. That is the wheel that sucks air in and forces it through the compressor housing and ultimately into the motor.

How does a Wastegate work?

A wastegate is a bypass for the exhaust. When boost reaches a predetermined level, the wastegate opens up and allows the exhaust to go around the turbo instead of through it and thus maintaining boost at a desired level.

How does a Turbo Timer work?

All a turbo timer does is tell your motor to run for a set amount of time before shutting off. So if you pull into work, you can take the key out, lock the door, and your motor will still run for a little while before turning off. What this allows is for the oil to continue to flow through the turbo and prevent “cokeing.” In other words, the turbo gets red hot from working and if you just shut the motor off after a hard drive, the oil sits in a red hot turbo and just bubbles up which causes it to stick to the internals on the turbo and can damage it.

How does an SFC or Fuel Computer work?

SFC stands for Simple Fuel Computer. It’s a piggy back computer which means it wires into and works with the factory computer. What it allows you to do is adjust the amount of fuel going to the motor at a given RPM by increasing the duty cycle or the amount of time the injector sprays during a pulse. This allows you to keep a constant 14.7 to 1 (is that right?) air fuel ratio throughout the RPM range even with the added air from the turbo. The actual ratio you would want is more like 12 to 1 to be safe on a boosted engine.

What’s a RRFPR and how does it work?

A rising rate fuel pressure regulator or (RRFPR) raises the fuel pressure a predetermined amount based on the amount of boost. For example, a 4:1 setting would raise fuel pressure 4 pounds for every 1 pound of boost. What this does is force more fuel in through the injector during each pulse. Again this is related to solving the fuel starvation issue.

Won’t you blow your motor?

I usually answer this with an enthusiastic yes. When the turbo went on, the car had about 120,000 miles. Now it has 150,000. The motor will go either way, but my belief is with a relatively low amount of boost, and some proper precautions such as an intercooler, the motor will not be overly effected by it’s newly found life.

UPDATE: Sure enough, it blew. The motor had 153,000 miles when it went. Apparently I’ve only been running on 3 cylinders for a while now. When I lost another one, the car just wouldn’t start. I was able to get another motor though for $600 which only has 30,000 miles so it’s worth it. As for why it blew, I think that’s because of my wastegate problem. As stated earlier, it’s best to keep it at 5 pounds until you have the electronics to control the fuel starvation issue. I would spike at 10 pounds.

Update2: The 3rd engine is now in. Pulling a heavy trailer in 100+ degree heat over mountains is simply too much for a non properly intercooled and fueled 1.8L engine.

Can I tell a difference in power?

Yes. The first time I took it out after putting the turbo on, I had four people in the car. When I accelerated from a stop and around a corner, all four tires broke loose. Normally it would have just slowly inched forward. So yes, I can tell.

Will a turbo effect my gas mileage?

With five pounds of boost, not really. I can’t even tell a difference in gas mileage. With an SFC, yes it will because the whole point of an SFC is to increase the amount of fuel going to the motor.

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In Part two of the series we do a little more advanced modifications.

Race Cat: Having a CAT right after the exhaust manifold is great to help your car warm up and fight cold start emissions. It’s not so great for good exhaust flow. Here are some pictures and results of replacing the Cat with a straight pipe.  I also did some light porting of the exhaust manifold, most of which was on the outside to remove casting marks.

UPDATE: The “race cat” causes a CEL and has since been replaced with the stock CAT.

You might notice  that even after all of this exhaust work, the car does not seem to want to go any faster. I suspect the reason is the 2″ opening into the air box. In other words, the car can exhale, but it simply can not get enough air in to make more power. That said, the air box is the next focus of this write up.

Air Box: Phase two of the air box modification involves cutting off the factory pickup and enlarging the hole.  The goal is to get the box opening about the same size as the hole in the fender. This can be done with a Dremmel, or you could use a RotoZip type tool. Here are the results and some pictures.

Since the last writing, the air box opening has been enlarged and a Cold/Ram air pickup running to the front bumper has also been installed. There is also an air dam on the car which doesn’t do much for straight line acceleration, but helps keep the car stable.

RESULTS: So what happened? I am getting a much cooler air into the air box and if it’s true that every 4C the air is cooled, there’s about a 1% increase in power, then I should have about 3% more power now. Well, the preCat was put back on the car due to a continuous Check Engine Light. I suspect that at higher RPM’s there is just not enough exhaust flow.

E-Tech Mod: There is a common Daewoo mod known as the “E-Tech Mod”. Claims such as “50% more power increase” sound too good to be true, but are they? In short, yes. While carrying out the previous testing, I decided to tie up the intake valve as the “E-Tech Mod” pages describe. I have always been skeptical, but now I have actual data.

Results: Half a second slower on both accounts, hardly worth it if you ask me.

More Mods, no data

Cold Air Pickup: Well since this write up the intake has been modified more with a ram air setup that goes from the fog light cover to the airbox. Mounting it required enlarging the hole in the fender under the airbox a little more and simply removing the foglight cover. Once I did that a dryer tube shoves the air from the fog light hole  into the airbox.  There is also a space between the airbox and the tube to allow for a “backup source” in case I go through deep water and to help protect from the rain. It does rain a lot in Portland…

Choco Chip from Daewootech: Get this mod. It works, I didn’t record a large difference but it was near freezing the day I tested it. Not only that, but I think I have other limitations on the car keeping it from having more power.

Exhaust Reducer: There is a spot on the exhaust right after the 2nd CAT where it goes from a 2.5″ to 1.75″ and has no reducer. I noticed this when I took off the exhaust and there was a half inch ring of black all the way around. I picked up a few reducers at a local autoparts stores and mounted it up. This allowed me to pick up an extra inch in exhaust flow. What I mean by that is you can have your hand 14 inches behind my exhaust pipe and feel the pressure. Exhaust velocity = power so this is a good thing.

Grounding Kit: I originally thought this was dumb, but after trying it on the Impreza, I’m impressed. Better throttle response, smoother running engine, and the lights don’t dim when the stereo hits. I haven’t done it yet on the Lanos, but it’s something that can be done well for less than $20.

Conclusion

That’s it, unfortunately I seem to be tapped out of low dollar mods to extract more power out of the little 1.6L. The next step in my opinion is to replace the entire intake manifold with one that flows a little better. This will get rid of the E-Tech, but a properly tuned intake manifold could get some good results. Porting the head might do something, but it depends on the original head design. I have never removed it, so I don’t know. Another option is boost.

Click here to go back to part 1

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1. Daewoo Lanos Intelligent Performance – Part One
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Since the motor is basically a big air pump, the first thing I will work on is the breathing. Increasing the volumetric efficiency on a newer car does not have the results it would on say an 80′s car, but it’s still the best place to start. The goal is by allowing the engine to breath more easily, it will breath more and hence, more power.

Notes regarding performance testing: For a baseline run, all I have is the 0-60 times I took soon after buying the car. For a more accurate 0-60, I should have a space of road that I can go both directions and take the average, but that’s not available. All the 0-60 times are taken from a specific stop sign where I’m not breaking the speed limit. Also, since the car is an automatic and doesn’t have enough power for wheelspin, the times are very consistent. Future MODS should have the other information as well.

Stock Quotes

0-60: 11.5

30-70 MPH Time: 11.5

Ambient Air Temp: N/A

Air Intake: The first thing to do is look at the stock system and see where there might be any obvious points of improvement. While looking over the Daewoo, I noticed an air box muffler prior to the air box, wrinkled intake line, and a 2″ diameter tube going into the intake box. I’ll try to address all of these to find where the most restrictions are. Another way to check would be making a “manometer” which would measure the pressure drop in inches of water. This can be made with a 20 oz soda bottle, clear tube, wooden dowel, and some food coloring.

Air Box: The first MOD was done within a few days of buying the car new. Simply remove the intake muffler that resides in the fender, and place the flared piece directly on the air box to draw cold air from the fender. It’s important to retain the stock position when drawing in the air since the air in the fender is much cooler than that in the engine bay. For every 4 degrees C, that the air is cooler, that is about a 1% power increase. Though the results are not very good, the sound was much better, but still not well enough. Not bad for a free MOD that just took a little time.

Air Box

0-60: 10.5

30-70 MPH Time: N/A

Ambient Air Temp: N/A

Exhaust: The exhaust for the most part looks pretty good, 1.75″ and crush bends. I really don’t think a new exhaust will do much for this car, but there are some areas that can use some tweaking. The first is the CAT right after the exhaust manifold. While this is great for emissions, it’s too restrictive for performance reasons. Also, since the car is a LEV, removing this CAT might not have that bad of an effect on emissions. Also of course is the stock muffler which as a general rule, especially on cheap cars, is restrictive. Finally some mild porting to the exhaust manifold might yield a little bit of power.

Muffler: Stock mufflers are generally rather restrictive. From an automakers standpoint, people are more interested in a quiet car and one way to make a car quiet is with a cheap and restrictive muffler. I simply cut off the old muffler and welded on a 2.25″ straight through design muffler with a “ricey” tip. Normally I would not buy that particular type of tip, but I got the muffler used with the tip already on it. The resulting sound is non intrusive.

Muffler

0-60: 10.7

30-70 MPH Time: 11.76

Ambient Air Temp: 50F

Location Of Probe / Hi Lo

Temp @ Airbox:   58.4C/137F      8.6C/47F

Temp in Airbox:   41C/105.8F      5C/41F

Temp in Fender:   23.1C/73F        7.4C/41F

You might be wondering why it’s a little slower on the 0-60. Well, in True Portland style, the testing was carried out during rainy conditions which led to wheelspin.

Click here for Part Two of this Article.

Related posts:

1. Daewoo Lanos Intelligent Performance – Part Two
2. Measuring Performance
3. Subachad 1993 Impreza 1.8 Liter Turbo Build Up – Original Article

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With this brace in place, it would triangulate the engine brace with the lower part of the transmission and mount to the torque mount.

Feel free to leave comments in the comment section if you have any questions.

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1. Aveo Motor Mount Filling Take 2
2. 2005 Aveo Suspension and Handling Observations
3. Aveo Motor Mount – Round 1 – Transmission Mount

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UVNC-Uninstall.bat

@echo on

REM ~~~ uninstalling UVNC ~~~

“%ProgramFiles%\UltraVNC\unins000.exe” /SILENT /Y

“%ProgramFiles%\UltraVNC\unins001.exe” /SILENT /Y

UVNC-Install.bat

@echo on

REM ~~~ This Batch File will Install or Update UVNC ~~~

net stop uvnc_service

cd “c:\program files\UltraVNC”

copy \\softwareserver\UltraVNC\ultravnc.ini “c:\program files\ultravnc\ultravnc.ini” /Y

\\softwareserver\UltraVNC\UltraVNCSetup.exe /loadinf=\\softwareserver\UltraVNC\ultravnc\ultravncInstall.inf /silent /log

cd “%ProgramFiles%\UltraVNC\winvnc.exe”
“%ProgramFiles%\UltraVNC\winvnc.exe” -install

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The project started by loading up my welder, 4.5” angle grinder, electric die grinder, wire brush, gloves, welding helmet, porting bits and a few other misc fabrication tools into the Skittle and headed off to James for some work on his Beastly rear wheel drive Impreza.

In typical fashion the day started off with me checking out progress on the car. The roll cage is installed, multiple braces, engine, transmission. Sure it’s missing some front fenders and a dash but it’s a mostly complete car.

Seeing what needs to be done, we started by porting out the bolt holes a little bit with the aggressive electric die grinder. This allowed us to drop the flange where the up pipe bolts to the turbo. We then trimmed down some tubing and tacked that onto the flange. This allowed us to guesstimate the height of the turbo and do a little more trimming of the tubing. Clocked the turbo, marked the tubing, removed the extender and welded it up.

That’s pretty much it, you can see in the pictures the finished product which allows us to raise the turbo without actually hacking up the rather pricey Symms header/up pipe. One thing remains however is the downpipe. Not sure how it will be done, but we do know the current downpipe will not work. A future article will address it.

Thanks for reading.

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1. WRX GT Spec Headers April 2008
2. Impreza RSLRA Gets A New Race Friendly Core Support
3. Subachad 1993 Impreza 1.8 Liter Turbo Build Up – Original Article

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Total Fuel Flow (lb/hr) = Injector Size (lb/hr) X number of injectors

To convert lb/hr to gallons-per-hour divide by 6.25.

To convert from pounds-per-hour to liters-per-hour divide by 1.64.

To convert from gallons-per-hour to liters-per-hour, multiply by 3.8.

OK, now that this is out of the way lets figure out what I need for my 200 hp 1.8L.

The injector size we figured on is 29.4 pounds/hr

Total Fuel Flow (lb/hr) = 29.4 X 4

Total Fuel Flow (lb/hr) = 117.6

Now we have to convert it to Liters-per-hour since that’s what most pumps are measured by.

117.6 * 1.64 = 192.86

So the fuel pump needed will only need to flow about 193 LPH.

Related posts:

1. 1993 1.8 Liter Impreza Turbo FAQ
2. Injector Upgrade

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Some pictures of a Brake line install for a Legacy GT.

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1. Aveo Brake Line Reference Pictures September 2009
2. Impreza L Brake Upgrade March 1 2009
3. Replaceing an Aveo Valve Cover Gasket – December 2010

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Aero Horsepower: Drag x Speed or HP at the wheels

Frontal Area: Amount of Frontal Area (large hood scoops, mirrors and bumper openings add to this and decrease your top speed.

Cd: Coefficient Drag.

Speed: In MPH

Aero Horsepower (wheel horsepower) = 0.000007 x Frontal Area x Cd x Speed³

So using a 2000 Impreza RS for example, lets say we would like to know how much horsepower is needed to go 150MPH. Take .000007 times the frontal area which is 22 and the coefficient drag, in this case 35 times the target speed, 150 mph cubed.

.000007 X 22 X .35 X 150³ = 182

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Effective Compression Ratio = static compression ratio x (1 + boost/14.7)^1/2

For a car running 8.5:1 pistons and 18psi(~max on pump gas)

8.5 x (1 + 18/14.7)^1/2 = 12.67 ECR

If you run 9.0:1 pistons and want to maintain the same 12.67 ECR (~max on pump gas), you’ll have to lower your boost to: 14.4psi

[(12.67/ 9.0)^2 - 1] x 14.7 = 14.4 psi

So you have to run 3.6 psi less boost to maybe pick up a tinny bit of bottom end. Or to take it even further for 9.5:1 you can only run 11.4psi. I’ll tell you right now that the difference between 11.4psi and 18psi is huge. And at some point (12.67:1 in this case) you can run no boost and be maxed out on ECR for pump gas. And how fast is a N/A car with 12.67:1 compression, ask the Honda boys running 15′s.

Of course you get to a point where you don’t want to go the other way too much ether. A 6.0:1 car isn’t too much fun on the street, but it can run 50.8 psi boost on pump gas. But the kind of turbo that could support that much boost would never spool up. You have to find what’s right for you, but 8.5:1 is what most of the DSM guys like. My friend just built a motor for his DSM with 9.0:1 JE’s and he is quite upset to find that he’s getting lots of knock running 16psi. While lately in the cold weather, I’ve been running 20psi (8.5:1) on pump gas w/o any knock. And I drove his car and the difference in bottom end grunt isn’t even noticeable. And his top end performance is sad compared to mine.

I’d be real interested to hear what you guys think of this stuff.

Kevin 90GSX

That basically covers all of it. Please make sure you have your information straight before posting such important stuff. There are many readers here that take everything posted as the complete truth.

Cheers,

MattC

“MattC” can be reached through the I-Club

Related posts:

1. Subachad 1993 Impreza 1.8 Liter Turbo Build Up – Original Article
2. 1993 1.8 Liter Impreza Turbo FAQ

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1. Aveo Motor Mount Filling Take 2
2. Building an Aveo Brace Brace – Eliminating the Torque.
3. 2005 Aveo Suspension and Handling Observations

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While swapping out the old mount with the filled motor mount I noticed 3 of the three bolts which hold the rear pitch mount bracket to the engine are actually missing. This in turn makes the entire mount swing and therefore the engine itself  is able to just rock as though it’s completely missing the rear torque mount. Below are the images of the filled mount, missing bolts and the installation.

The video is set to “The Underground is Cheap” by DertCheep

UPDATE: I setup a temp fix… which is now permanent. One of the three bolts can’t be used as the transmission housing where it bolts into is actually broke. I didn’t stick my head up where it would be attacked by my exhaust and therefore only noticed this last night. The third hole where the “temp” fix resides consists of a Subaru stud welded to a piece of round stock which is used for things like exhaust hangers. It twisted off with about 18 pounds of torque so the bracket will have to be removed to take it out. The other bolt gets tight as I try to remove it so I’m not taking it out in fear of it actually breaking. That said, it is how it is and that’s how it will be. The stiffer motor mounts will keep some of the pressure off the transmission mount anyway so I’m sure it will be fine.

Related posts:

1. Aveo Motor Mount – Round 1 – Transmission Mount
2. 2005 Aveo Suspension and Handling Observations
3. Building an Aveo Brace Brace – Eliminating the Torque.

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The minor port work I did had some surprising results. There is a “test turn” which I would normally take around 65 as that’s all the car could really muster. After the porting, I am through third, into fourth and find myself lifting as 75 is a little too fast for this turn.

Check out the slide show and enjoy the sounds of Blap Blap by Vegas DJ Dert Cheep.

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2. Aveo Motor Mount Filling Take 2
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Today I pulled some more interior panels, the “to clean” stack is rather high. I will probably be picking up some plastic paint and start the interior color change.

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1. Project Resurrection Interior Cleaning – Part 1
2. Project Resurrection – The Inspection
3. Aveo Interior Updates November 2009

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Other than the mystery screw to the right of the glove box, most of the interior cleaning went quite well.

Related posts:

1. Project Resurrection Interior Cleaning Part 2
2. Project Resurrection – The Inspection
3. Aveo Interior Updates November 2009

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The fan sounded as though a rodent was stuck in there as of six months ago. 3 months ago, a replacement that “looked” like it might work was purchased with the intention of installing it. As with many things, life runs on and more time goes without replacing the faulty fan. Why would I, when there’s so much more fun stuff to do.

So finally my lovely wife Heidy talks some other sucker, er, um, I mean friend into swapping it out. This is when we see the original replacement is not quite right. Back at Lowes today we try again, take that in for a store credit and look for a replacement. The replacement is $30, I also spot the motor and fan assembly or $15. Score! Worst scenario has it going back yet again for another, so why not.

With a little bit of persuasion i was able to separate the old fan from the old motor. I also placed the old vent in the bathtub to soak hopefully freeing up the dust. Next, I coupled the new fan motor and blade after quadruple checking orientation.

For inserting the fan into the casing, first check the location of the duct, this is so you know which way the fan plugs in. Once checked, insert the tabs first, and a screw on the other side will complete the bathroom fan assembly.

This fan assembly works the same as a turbo so it pulls air in the vent, and compresses it as it forces the air out the duct. Now for the moment of truth, applying power. Flip the switch and make sure the fan is turning the right direction. Is it? If not turn the plug around and check again. Pat your back, you are now ready for the trim vent cover.

Oh this is unexpected. Maybe I shouldn’t have soaked the vent cover. Who would have thought the vent cover is actually silver? After nearly 20 minutes removing wall paint from the vent and cover bolt, it was ready to do what trim peices do. Cover the ugly mechanical bits and make everything look good.

It’s now 9:58, if I wasn’t sitting in for the next 2 hours moving a couple of websites to a new server, I could tackle some hinges or cover some shelving with this really neat silver contact paper. Oh my!

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I did find one burnt fuse, mentions left illum, swapped it for a food 10a, turn the lights and… Nothing. Hm… All fuses pulled and checked, all fuses good. Hm… Internet time. Found a couple messages regarding a bad plug or melted wire in the underhood fuse box. Couldn’t find a problem, figured maybe I need to unbolt the box and look below. Pulled the plug and blew on it like it’s an old NES game, closed the hood and started the car. I’ll get it at home. No need, lights are working, hands are thawing.

Update: they went out again the following day. A write up with some pictures and a fix will be coming soon.

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1. Aveo Motor Mount – Round 1 – Transmission Mount
2. Aveo gets an Always on Power Option July 2009
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