Complete noob under-the-hood question!
 

I would like to do intake,header,and exhaust after giving all you manufacturers time to fabricate and tweak your products...

I take it from all I've been reading that "tuning" the ecu/engine/whatever will then be highly suggested if not outright mandatory...

A. What exactly is "tuning" and how does a noob go about it?

B. Should I tune after each step as I will probably add I/h/e in steps?

C. Is there a particular order that's best to do I/h/e?

Just looking for explanations and maybe a little guidance...

Thanks!
Scik Graeson

Can you honestly say you can take the car in stock form anywhere near the limit? Maybe work on that bolt-on first..

Tuning is modifying the air/fuel ratio and the ignition timing curves, as well as changing the variable camshaft phasing schedule. (That's an exceptionally watered down version, so before someone wants to rewrite Corky Bell in a forum post, relax its an answer that I hope the OP will understand.)

Should you do it yourself, no. Not at your present knowledge level. There are resources and entire sites dedicated to it so if you chose to, you can learn enough about it.

The best order really depends on the car, as in what it's going to gain the most from, and your personal taste. If you want a louder exhaust, do that first.

Tuning won't be mandatory on most parts, if it is, the manufacturer should list that info. You just won't get the most out of your parts without tuning. For that matter, you might even see equal gains by tuning the stock motor over not tuning the I/E/H.

Cobb is working on a solution that is typically very user friendly. Take a look at their site, cobbtining.com and their accessport. Hopefully, they will be able to offer tunes for various upgrades individually and together.

You can do the exhaust. Find a good schematic that shows all the stock parts including gaskets and torque specs. Get good jack stands and tools. try this site http://techinfo.subaru.com/index.html but remember that the stuff you need for the BRZ is not posted yet so dont buy a subscription. Look online and read read read.

Be careful not to go high and right on this.

Tuning is a hobby; not unlike performance driving - it just involves a different skill set.

Also, neither is a requirement for the other. Tuning is not necessarily the logical progression from "mastering" the driving skill.

Although my personal opinion is that HPDE should be a part of the licensing system for safety reasons - then perhaps stability control nannies wouldn't be necessary...

OP, to answer your first question - I think a "noob" should go about tuning by doing it on an old car that is paid off and has little value. Pay a pro to tune your baby, practice your skills on a beater. If you've never baked before, would you bake your wedding cake?

Read on the the internet you find all the information you need it would take pages for a person just to answer your question...

Thank you to all!

My wording may have been poor... I have no intention of "tuning" a brand new car myself - the beater would definitely be a good place to start for that...

I guess what I was getting at - in the interest of not screwing anything up - gaining knowledge of how mandatory tuning was and if/when I should have a professional do it. I've installed my own springs, exhausts, and intakes on my last three scions after getting dealer quotes that were like "really??!!??". Case in point - I ordered and received TRD lowering springs for my '11 xB and called my local dealer for install. I was told "that's two men for 5 hours - $560.00..." After I picked my jaw up off the floor I called a friend of mine who had a lot of experience with modding Scions and we handled the job in 1 3/4 hrs... I immediately called the dealer back, told them this, and they were like "uhhhh, b b b but..."

That being said I don't want to get bent over or taken advantage of, but I'm more than happy to pay a professional to "tune" my car if/when it needs it...

This vehicle has a MAF based fuel control system, so for the most part (watered down for understanding) during closed loop operation (when you are not flooring the car to get the most performance out of it) the system will adjust the fuel trims to account for additional flow from and intake, or headers or exhaust, you will be safe, however like posted above you will not get the most out of the new parts without tuning the vehicle.

This is not a MAP based system like honda's or GM's that REQUIRE tuning when you change the flow characteristics with simple bolt on items.

However you do run the risk of the engine running out of parameters while in open loop operation due to the lack of O2 feed back, this is precisely why you want to see AFR (air to fuel ratios) posted on any dyno chart that you see from parts manufacturer's that alter the flow characteristics of the engine.

Why do people answer like this? The ENTIRE reason I joined this forum is to learn from knowledgable people in a centralized location about our specific car and to share my thoughts and ideas as well!

A. Tuning the ECU means reprogramming the tables and parameters that it uses to determine how to properly manage the engine. By reprogramming the ECU you can take full advantage of mods you perform, or correct issues that those mods may inadvertently introduce.

B. No need to tune for an exhaust after the catalytic converter. But if you remove a catalytic converter, you will likely need a tune to shut the Check Engine Light (CEL) off. Unless an intake manufacturer supplies a dyno plot showing that the Air/Fuel ratios in Open Loop have not been changed by the installation of their intake, expect to get your car tuned if you install one.

C. Install the cat-back exhaust first. You'll get to enjoy the sound and won't have to worry about a tune. Then do the header/intake/tune at the same time. That way you'll get a custom tune that takes everything into account and won't have to do it a second time.

Thing is, there likely won't be massive gains from a full exhaust and intake. I'd get the cat-back and just do that for the time being. Watch the results people are getting from doing what you plan and make a decision. If header/intake/tune only nets 15 hp, I'd say forget it and stick with the cat-back. If those mods get something crazy like 30-50hp, then I'd be all over it.

Hey everyone. I've been trolling this great site for a while and finally decided to come out from under Mordor. This site was a big reason I bought my first sports car which is of course the FR-S or FR-YES as I like to call mine. Love the car. It's a blast to drive but I want to mod and I am in the same boat as Scik.

I like what draco said as for as going exhaust first and header/intake/tune later. Didn't really like hearing that the h/i/t mods are possibly only going to net 15hp and not be worth it. Is this most likely going be the case? I was looking forward modding, gaining some hp, and just making the car more my own.

Everybody gets caught up on the actual horsepower numbers, Do they really matter? If you want to make your car your own, Mod it and if you're not happy, keep modding it until you are. We all have to remember that this car weighs 2700 lbs, so 15 whp will feel alot better than you think it will.

Perhaps you don't understand the scope of the question you're asking...

It's big, and you seem to be expecting that some kind of compressed answer is even possible.