I hate to post this... But... Cobb stage 2 question

[2k12sti]

I'm sure it's all over this forum but i just want to hear some honest opinions directly from users.

i have a 2012 sti, Cobb stage 1 ots tune. I've been seriously thinking about buying the catted or catless Downpipe, Cobb sf air intake and flashing ots stage 2. But I'm plagued by horror stories of broken ringlands on this engine. I personally dont "beat" my car, i mean heck i have the shift light set at 5500rpm. And probably launched it less than a handful of times (mostly when a mustang is sitting next to me at a red light revving at me :lol i've got roughly 27,xxx miles on the car and the warranty goes bye bye at 36 (if they don't check for an ecu flash, in which case it's already gone). Who has gone Cobb stage 2 with no problems and who has had disaster strike? What were the circumstances at which this occurred? Do you guys recommend it? Should i stray from the idea and what are your opinions on a "good setup" as far as name brand Downpipe and catted or catless? "Best in your opinion" intake?

Thanks a ton in advance!

 

[Spamby]

I've used cobb stage 1 and stage 2. I've also used Perrin stage 2. No issues with any of them other than the Perrin (didn't like it).
I'm using the Invidia catless DP. Good bang for the buck and has held up for 5 years.
I'd stay with the stock air box until later when you need a CAI though, the Cobb setup I hear is probably the best to use.
Honestly, if I had to do over, I'd skip to a protune and forgo the OTS maps. Protune provides much more power and driveability vs. the OTS maps.
Ringlands fail under protune, ots and stock maps. Tune is definitely a culprit but poor design and quality of materials is also a major point of failure.
FWIW, I'm at 40k without a blown motor and pushing almost 21psi of boost on the stock engine. Been tuned in some fashion since 09. With every failure story there is also a successful one. Still doesn't mean I'm not playing Russian roulette. Lol

 

[Spamby]

Oh, and a friends OTS Perrin stage 2, 09 Rex has had the holy hell beat out if it without engine failure. He's blown one turbos, on his third clutch and needs a third set of brakes. Blow off valve and less than stellar oils in the engine (sometimes).
Another coworker has an all stock 2011 with 70k and no engine issues.

 

[2k12sti]

I've used cobb stage 1 and stage 2. I've also used Perrin stage 2. No issues with any of them other than the Perrin (didn't like it).
I'm using the Invidia catless DP. Good bang for the buck and has held up for 5 years.
I'd stay with the stock air box until later when you need a CAI though, the Cobb setup I hear is probably the best to use.
Honestly, if I had to do over, I'd skip to a protune and forgo the OTS maps. Protune provides much more power and driveability vs. the OTS maps.
Ringlands fail under protune, ots and stock maps. Tune is definitely a culprit but poor design and quality of materials is also a major point of failure.
FWIW, I'm at 40k without a blown motor and pushing almost 21psi of boost on the stock engine. Been tuned in some fashion since 09. With every failure story there is also a successful one. Still doesn't mean I'm not playing Russian roulette. Lol

Youre absolutely correct about the Russian roulette part lol. Just don't know if I'm willing to play it. Guess I need to hear a few more of your kinda stories first.

 

[Spamby]

Youre absolutely correct about the Russian roulette part lol. Just don't know if I'm willing to play it. Guess I need to hear a few more of your kinda stories first.

Understood.
I'd still do it, over and over again if I had to. Too much fun and potential to be had with these cars.

 

[Alin]

Speaking of Russian roulette... I believe my gun was empty because the amount of hell I gave my baby, it still kept up. I am the 5th owner of my car, bought it with 49,079 miles. Beat the crap out of it with a shit tune and mods. (I believe I was on a stock tune, but there is no way to tell now. Had an AEM SRI and used to WOT all the time WITH a fuel cut...) Went stage 2 around 65k miles. Still had fuel cut and I still went WOT..... Sheesh man, looking back on it, I feel so bad for my car.... Now I'm at almost 112k miles, with all maintenance done and a fresh, reliable tune, thanks to [MENTION=9]HolyCrapItsFast[/MENTION]! :tup: My compression was spot on when I did it prior to tuning. No clue how and I won't question it.

If I were to do it again, with the 4 years of knowledge that I have gained (and great friends that I have met through this forum), I would do a Stage 2 for the time being and then have [MENTION=9]HolyCrapItsFast[/MENTION] fine tune a custom map for the ride. Since every car is different and reacts differently, the tune would be priority. Then would come the maintenance. I have kept up with the car religiously as I personally feel that is the way to go if you want a long lasting vehicle... :tup:

Stage 2 would be good for you. I recommend a catted downpipe because the flow would be better. I had some issues when I had a straightpipe on. Just don't WOT, launch, FFS, 2 step, ect.... Take care of the ride and when you are ready, get a reliable tune done. :tup: My 2 cents!

 

[2k12sti]

Speaking of Russian roulette... I believe my gun was empty because the amount of hell I gave my baby, it still kept up. I am the 5th owner of my car, bought it with 49,079 miles. Beat the crap out of it with a shit tune and mods. (I believe I was on a stock tune, but there is no way to tell now. Had an AEM SRI and used to WOT all the time WITH a fuel cut...) Went stage 2 around 65k miles. Still had fuel cut and I still went WOT..... Sheesh man, looking back on it, I feel so bad for my car.... Now I'm at almost 112k miles, with all maintenance done and a fresh, reliable tune, thanks to @HolyCrapItsFast! :tup: My compression was spot on when I did it prior to tuning. No clue how and I won't question it.

If I were to do it again, with the 4 years of knowledge that I have gained (and great friends that I have met through this forum), I would do a Stage 2 for the time being and then have @HolyCrapItsFast fine tune a custom map for the ride. Since every car is different and reacts differently, the tune would be priority. Then would come the maintenance. I have kept up with the car religiously as I personally feel that is the way to go if you want a long lasting vehicle... :tup:

Stage 2 would be good for you. I recommend a catted downpipe because the flow would be better. I had some issues when I had a straightpipe on. Just don't WOT, launch, FFS, 2 step, ect.... Take care of the ride and when you are ready, get a reliable tune done. :tup: My 2 cents!

Thats actually rather reassuring lol. I just love the car and would hate to kill it when it already runs so good!

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

Without question, a protune is always the best, provided of course that the tuner is knowledgable. If at all possible, find a tuner that specializes in Subarus or get ahold of HolyCrapItsFast. I imagine the Cobb maps are setup like they've always been...a little rich and conservative. This of course isn't optimum for power but reduces the possibility of engine knock. I see no problem with going straight to Stage II.
Of course don't roll on WOT with 1/4 tank or less and don't bounce the rev limiter and you'll be fine.

 

[2k12sti]

so i was talking with my buddy who owns a tuner shop. he said almost every downpipe he has installed on a newer wrx/sti has been catless. he has an awd dyno and does protunes on the spot. but every time i ask him what to do with my car to get more HP out of it he says "sell it and buy an evo" lol. another good friend of mine who has a bit beyond stage 2 on his sti, says catted all day to avoid the smell alone. he also said that he put the cobb sf intake on then tried the cobb airbox and only saw a 3-5 degree air temp difference. opinions on this? 100 bucks worth 3-5 degrees of intake air temp? catted or catless? because honestly, odds are that i will only throw the cobb ap stage 2 ots map in it and call it a day. but i really do love the sound of the turbo whistle with a catless lol.

 

[Alin]

I guess sell it and buy an evo!

I would recommend catted but i personally have a catless. For ots stage 2, catted should be the route you take. It helps the flow from turboback. The intake alone with the box wont do too much but with a modified snorkul and a duct from the foglight, you will see a drastic improvement!

So catted and intake! You should do fine!

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

I would only get a catted downpipe if it is required by your state, either via emissions testing or simply a visual inspection, each state is different. Honestly, I can hardly believe that anyone would run a cat specifically because of the smell. When you first go catless, you will notice it, but in no way is it bad enough to warrant a cat. I am catless and I don't notice it anymore unless I'm standing right behind the exhaust on a super cold day at startup....or am idling it in the garage. The only other reason I can think of that you'd want to run a cat is to keep boost spike or boost creep under control. With a proper protune, this is almost never an issue. An OTS tune MIGHT cause a bit of this, but that's debatable at best.
Most of the turbo noise you'll hear is actually escaping the air filter when you have an aftermarket intake installed. The stock airbox flows more than enough for the stock turbo, so if you don't plan on many upgrades, I'd first recommens that you remove the factory intake silencer. See how you feel about that noise level and then afterwards, going to a Cobb SF intake would be the best option (unless you get a protune, in which case you can run almost any intake).

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

The only other reason I can think of that you'd want to run a catted downpipe would be exhaust noise level. It will be a bit louder and you will have a slight drone while highway cruising. Again, I don't think it's that bad at all (I don't really notice it these days) and probably has just as much to do with the catback that's installed.

 

[Alin]

Lets see from a tuners standpoint! [MENTION=9]HolyCrapItsFast[/MENTION] catted or catless?

 

[Spamby]

Huh? Catted over catless ?

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

All I could say is My car was tuned for over 500whp and it had a cat.

Of course that was just before it decided to shred its bearings and die one last time just for good measure and one last "Fuck you George"

:tup:

 

[Spamby]

Well, it makes sense given that all of the super cars are running cats with huge power.
I guess it's really just up to the person and how strict their local emissions are.

 

[Alin]

Are cats' specific use only for emissions? I understood that the restriction helped improve overall flow.

 

[Spamby]

Are cats' specific use only for emissions? I understood that the restriction helped improve overall flow.

Catalytic converters are emissions devises. They basically scrub the noxious elements from the exhaust leaving behind a less polluted gas.
Oxymoron? Restriction and improved flow.

 

[Alin]

Catalytic converters are emissions devises. They basically scrub the noxious elements from the exhaust leaving behind a less polluted gas.
Oxymoron? Restriction and improved flow.

Maybe "improve" is a bad word. How about "control"?

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

I wouldn't say it improves flow. It restricts flow. The only positive in this is that it can control boost spike/creep issues with the turbo. The extra back pressure can keep the turbo from exceeding the rpms it needs to produce the desired boost levels. As far as I know, turbos operate at the highest efficiency level with no back pressure at all. Think about some of the Porsche 911's you've seen with the turbos hanging out the back with almost no exhaust hooked up on the output.