Just got Bertha back from the workshop and tuner and boy, my Bertha feels like a new animal now. After months of sourcing and collecting all the parts needed for my stage 1 upgrade, its finally complete and ready to be assembled like a fine lego set and transplanted into Bertha. A human equivalent would be doing a brain, heart, lung transplant in one operation.
I've finally chosen a workshop to do the 'operation' on Bertha, which was Lim Tan Motorsports located at Sin Ming. Good quality workmanship and service with a reasonable price. I would like to say thanks to their chief mechanic 'skyteck' for putting up with my price haggling whilst still maintaining a smile on his face.. :-) I just hate workshops that give you this "My fancy workshop don't need your cheapskate business" face when you try to haggle the price down. Anyways, LTM did a good job in apeasing both my car and EGO, so they got my vote! However, I still went to Edgetuning for my tuning as alot of good things has been said about their in-house tuner Ken.
Anyways, got Bertha back from LTM earlier than expected, couldn't say the same type punctuality from my tuner! I scheduled an appointment for the tuning on Saturday morning 9.30am, he came at 10:30am! And when he finally did arrive, he had to do some minor re-tuning of another car first, excuse moi, whats the whole point of a booking system when someone can just cut the que. But i stayed calm, no point creating a ruckus over it as this man will be tuning my baby, the last thing i want to do is make him pissed at me. Unfortunately, both me and Bertha are at his mercy. Its like when you are at a restaurant, no matter how bad the service is, last thing you want to do is piss off the waiter, coz god knows what shit they put in it if you did. Anyways, tuning started at about 10:45-11am and I got my car back at about 3pm. Went for a test drive and woahhh, Bertha has been reborn. Its like a totally different animal once you go WOT(wide open throttle) and the numbers are in... Bertha is running 313horses on wheel with 440nm of head slamming torque running at 1.3bar peak boost! All 3 figures are almost a 30-40% improvement from a stock wrx, daddy is proud. All that time and money spent sourcing out all the parts has finally come into fruition. Actually, the tuner said he could have squeezed more torque to a mind blowing 500nm if not for my stock clutch slipping. Well, this figures will do for now... For how long you ask? For as long as it will take me to save up to buy an aftermarket racing clutch of course.. hahaha...
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Cool Down Bertha - Oil Cooler
Just got back from KL, tired, exhausted but since this is my last off day, I had to fully utilise it. What better way to utilise it by rewarding Bertha with a proper car servicing, and while we are at it, install an oil cooler at the same time! This used oil cooler was previously on a Legacy GT.
Anyways, wanted to install it at Lim Tan Motorsports, but their schedule was fully booked for the day and asked me to come back on Saturday morning. Even then, I will only be able to collect it on Saturday afternoon, 2pm. Fair enough, a workshop popular with Evos, Wrxes, this type of waiting time is expected. So told the guy I might come down on Saturday and went off to meet another Subaru bro who wanted to sell his downpipe. Went to his regular workshop, EdgeTuning with the intention of just seeing the downpipe and nothing else. Before you know it, i've decided to install my oil cooler and my scheduled servicing with them. Was promised it would take around 2-3 hours but in the end, i spent close to 5 hours there. That oil cooler was a pain to custom fit it on Bertha, but it was worth it in the end, looks sweet on her.
Review on the workshop, the mechanics there top notch. One of them was formerly from BMS, so he knows his Subaru cars. Not many cars yet as the workshop just opened, but the problem is that they only have two mechanics. So even if there are not many cars, their turnaround rate for cars is not that good, hence long waiting time. The bosses of the shop, like most bosses, give the friendly service, very proffesional. Got a proper air-conditioned chill out area for those long waits like today. Price, definately not the cheapest and I sensed they got abit offended when i tried to bargain the price, which i didn't like at all. So this is not the place to bargain for a better price. Also, they had spent some time on my car, and there was this Legacy customer there and I overheard the boss saying to the mechanic to not too spend too much time on my car and to attend to the Legacy GT car. Is my Bertha not as important as that Legacy guy. Arse. Hmmm, in front of my face they say they will give their all to my car, hence the higher prices but behind me, say this, arse. Anyways, asked their chief mechanic about this and he told me not to worry, he will do a proper job on my car first before moving on to the next. He also knew I was fasting, so he rushed to finished my car before 6pm. Anyways, would I go there again? Maybe, maybe not. I would go back there for the excellent mechanic, not for their fake face managers.
Anyways, there goes my last day off before going back to work tomorrow and like all off days, most of that day was spent at a car workshop... :-) So Bertha, hopefully this will help you to cool down on those hot days. Next on the list, injectors and TMIC.. I can't wait!
Anyways, wanted to install it at Lim Tan Motorsports, but their schedule was fully booked for the day and asked me to come back on Saturday morning. Even then, I will only be able to collect it on Saturday afternoon, 2pm. Fair enough, a workshop popular with Evos, Wrxes, this type of waiting time is expected. So told the guy I might come down on Saturday and went off to meet another Subaru bro who wanted to sell his downpipe. Went to his regular workshop, EdgeTuning with the intention of just seeing the downpipe and nothing else. Before you know it, i've decided to install my oil cooler and my scheduled servicing with them. Was promised it would take around 2-3 hours but in the end, i spent close to 5 hours there. That oil cooler was a pain to custom fit it on Bertha, but it was worth it in the end, looks sweet on her.
Review on the workshop, the mechanics there top notch. One of them was formerly from BMS, so he knows his Subaru cars. Not many cars yet as the workshop just opened, but the problem is that they only have two mechanics. So even if there are not many cars, their turnaround rate for cars is not that good, hence long waiting time. The bosses of the shop, like most bosses, give the friendly service, very proffesional. Got a proper air-conditioned chill out area for those long waits like today. Price, definately not the cheapest and I sensed they got abit offended when i tried to bargain the price, which i didn't like at all. So this is not the place to bargain for a better price. Also, they had spent some time on my car, and there was this Legacy customer there and I overheard the boss saying to the mechanic to not too spend too much time on my car and to attend to the Legacy GT car. Is my Bertha not as important as that Legacy guy. Arse. Hmmm, in front of my face they say they will give their all to my car, hence the higher prices but behind me, say this, arse. Anyways, asked their chief mechanic about this and he told me not to worry, he will do a proper job on my car first before moving on to the next. He also knew I was fasting, so he rushed to finished my car before 6pm. Anyways, would I go there again? Maybe, maybe not. I would go back there for the excellent mechanic, not for their fake face managers.
Anyways, there goes my last day off before going back to work tomorrow and like all off days, most of that day was spent at a car workshop... :-) So Bertha, hopefully this will help you to cool down on those hot days. Next on the list, injectors and TMIC.. I can't wait!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Buying The Big Guns For Bertha (Part 1) - Blouch Turbo and Fuel regulator
Found a guy selling off his 3 month old Blouch TD05-20g hybrid Turbo unit at quite a decent price. For those who don't know what this turbo is all about, its basically mating the quick spool efficiency of the TD05-16g with the high end power capabilities of the TD06-20g, so what you get is a turbo that is the hash of the two.
Condition is not bad as well, but to be on the safe side, I might go to the distributor to have them a proper balancing and cleanup of the unit. On top of that, the same guy was letting go his Sard Fuel Regulator with all the ionadized piping etc for a ridiculous price so I just couldn't pass on it. Only things missing for my turbo upgrade to be complete is a bigger TMIC and bigger set of injectors, which are essential parts before I can bolt the bigger turbo on safely on Bertha
On a side note, the guy that sold me the stuffs said that he had decided to sell all his wares because the wife is pregnant with his first kid (congrats Danny). From my exprience dealing with other demodders, most decided to stop modding their cars due to paternal reasons as well. Will that happen to me to? Only time will tell i guess..
Condition is not bad as well, but to be on the safe side, I might go to the distributor to have them a proper balancing and cleanup of the unit. On top of that, the same guy was letting go his Sard Fuel Regulator with all the ionadized piping etc for a ridiculous price so I just couldn't pass on it. Only things missing for my turbo upgrade to be complete is a bigger TMIC and bigger set of injectors, which are essential parts before I can bolt the bigger turbo on safely on Bertha
On a side note, the guy that sold me the stuffs said that he had decided to sell all his wares because the wife is pregnant with his first kid (congrats Danny). From my exprience dealing with other demodders, most decided to stop modding their cars due to paternal reasons as well. Will that happen to me to? Only time will tell i guess..
Sunday, September 30, 2007
I Want To Touch You Bertha - Book Review
High-Performance Subaru Builder's Guide: Includes the Impreza, Legacy, Forester, Outback, WRX and STI (S-A Design) (Paperback)
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: S-A Design (August 15, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1932494510
ISBN-13: 978-1932494518
The more I get into this car modifying thing, the more urge I have to want to learn more about cars, especially the techincal aspect of modifying it. So I've started by purchasing the above mentioned book with the purpose of doing just that, how to go about doing simple mods on my Bertha. Unfortunately, this book does none of that. Its editorial review and book title is misleading to say the least. It does a good job of providing info on the different models, engine parts, equipment, turbos etc. But all this info can easily be extracted for FREE from any pro-scooby forums out there. So to any guys out there wanting to buy this book intending to want a how-to book on how to do simple mods on your scooby, give this a pass. But if you want a book that details the diff type of scooby parts out there and the mods available for your scooby, this will be the book for you. Click on the above link if you want to know more about the book.
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: S-A Design (August 15, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1932494510
ISBN-13: 978-1932494518
The more I get into this car modifying thing, the more urge I have to want to learn more about cars, especially the techincal aspect of modifying it. So I've started by purchasing the above mentioned book with the purpose of doing just that, how to go about doing simple mods on my Bertha. Unfortunately, this book does none of that. Its editorial review and book title is misleading to say the least. It does a good job of providing info on the different models, engine parts, equipment, turbos etc. But all this info can easily be extracted for FREE from any pro-scooby forums out there. So to any guys out there wanting to buy this book intending to want a how-to book on how to do simple mods on your scooby, give this a pass. But if you want a book that details the diff type of scooby parts out there and the mods available for your scooby, this will be the book for you. Click on the above link if you want to know more about the book.
Let Me Feel You Better Bertha - STRI X-line gauges
I've had used the same line of STRI gauges on my previous car, but sold it off to the guy that bought it. A pity, i really would have loved to use it on Bertha. So when it came to buying gauges for Bertha, I was eyeing for that same line from STRI as well. Some of you might ask why i'm not going for more distinguised brands like defi? Simple, Price. A set of used defi gauges (3 gauges+controller unit)would easily set you back 1k+, which is pretty insane for stuff that for most of us, serves more as a decorative piece in the car than anything else. Sure, it churns out important readings on our cars, but for me, STRI gauges serve the same function, at a fraction of the cost. So, i got my hands on a set of used, practically new STRI gauges. The previous owner bought it but decided to not use it as one of the gauges, the oil pressure's sensor adaptor couldn't fit in his Forester.. Hmm i didn't really think too much into it and he said that it shouldn't have any issues fitting a wrx, so i bought it, something that would bite me in the ass later.
Decided to have it fixed at the same workshop that installed my exhaust. Yes, I practically swore off going to that workshop again after my last experience, but decided to go back there still because that workshop sells the same brand of gauges, so they shouldn't have any problems fixing it on my bertha, and plus, their service charge was cheap. Being the stingy fool that I am, I lamented. Well, that oil pressure sensor fitmet issue on the forester i've mentioned earlier, guess what, it doesnt fit on my wrx as well. Actually, i found out later that this fitment issue depends on the oil pressure adaptor you were using. This workshop used a special T-joint adaptor just just feeds off from your oil return line in the engine bay. And the size of the sensor adaptor is such that its too big to fit in the small confines of the oil return line. There is a normal and more conventional method though, which is to use an oil pressure/temp adaptor sandwich plate that sits in between the oil filter and your oil exit area(not sure what to call it). But that requires having to put the car on the lift, take out the oil filter, wait for the oil to drain out... In short, the latter method is more tedious, messy and I guess the mechanic didn't want to go down that route. Even after i insisted, he said that it still wouldn't fit, whatever. No worries, i'll just install the oil pressure when i install my oil cooler, which already comes with the oil pressure/temp adaptor sandwich plate. So this 3 gauges (Water temp, Oil temp, Boost) will have to do for now. Yummy, bertha's interior looks so much more fiercer after installing this 3 amber faced gauges. And of course, now i know when Bertha's running a lil hot under the collar... Papa loves you bertha.. :-)
Decided to have it fixed at the same workshop that installed my exhaust. Yes, I practically swore off going to that workshop again after my last experience, but decided to go back there still because that workshop sells the same brand of gauges, so they shouldn't have any problems fixing it on my bertha, and plus, their service charge was cheap. Being the stingy fool that I am, I lamented. Well, that oil pressure sensor fitmet issue on the forester i've mentioned earlier, guess what, it doesnt fit on my wrx as well. Actually, i found out later that this fitment issue depends on the oil pressure adaptor you were using. This workshop used a special T-joint adaptor just just feeds off from your oil return line in the engine bay. And the size of the sensor adaptor is such that its too big to fit in the small confines of the oil return line. There is a normal and more conventional method though, which is to use an oil pressure/temp adaptor sandwich plate that sits in between the oil filter and your oil exit area(not sure what to call it). But that requires having to put the car on the lift, take out the oil filter, wait for the oil to drain out... In short, the latter method is more tedious, messy and I guess the mechanic didn't want to go down that route. Even after i insisted, he said that it still wouldn't fit, whatever. No worries, i'll just install the oil pressure when i install my oil cooler, which already comes with the oil pressure/temp adaptor sandwich plate. So this 3 gauges (Water temp, Oil temp, Boost) will have to do for now. Yummy, bertha's interior looks so much more fiercer after installing this 3 amber faced gauges. And of course, now i know when Bertha's running a lil hot under the collar... Papa loves you bertha.. :-)
Exhale Better Bertha - Fujitsubo Super Legalis R
One of the first mods I wanted to do on Bertha was to change its restrictive and quiet exhaust. Then bham, found someone selling an almost brand new (3 months old) FGK exhaust on the net at a reasonable price. SMS him immediately, did the final negotiation for the final price, and that sweet pipe was mine. To scobbies who don't know what this pipe is all about, shame on you. For everyone else, click this link to know more about this exhaust.
The deal closure was quick, couldn't say the same about the process of installing it. Those in Singapore, would know what i'm talking about. First, went to a popular pro-subaru workshop to install the exhaust, what a mistake! I came at 1pm and there was already a queue of subby cars there. Was told my car would be ready in an hours time, well, an hour had passed, my car was still parked the the same spot. Fast forward 2 hours later, still same place. Annoyed as I was, the workshop owner was very apolegetic about it, so i let it slide. Anyways, finally got it installed, ah, finally the wait is over, but those that know BMS workshop, you guys would know how packed that place is and how narrow the driveways are. While driving out the car, my side door got dinged with another parked car... haizz, I'm sorry Bertha, I will fix that ding later, had no time to cry over it now, I had to rush to the inspection center to have that exhaust legalized for Bertha. Reached the inspection center on time, got the approval stamp I needed to certify the exhaust and my dreamy/nightmare of a day has ended.
Actually, the day has not ended yet, now i have to explain to my wife a)about the new exhaust b)about the ding on the car.. which one you reckon would freak her out more.. :-) Let me enjoy the purring from my bertha first before i hear the blaring from my wife...
The deal closure was quick, couldn't say the same about the process of installing it. Those in Singapore, would know what i'm talking about. First, went to a popular pro-subaru workshop to install the exhaust, what a mistake! I came at 1pm and there was already a queue of subby cars there. Was told my car would be ready in an hours time, well, an hour had passed, my car was still parked the the same spot. Fast forward 2 hours later, still same place. Annoyed as I was, the workshop owner was very apolegetic about it, so i let it slide. Anyways, finally got it installed, ah, finally the wait is over, but those that know BMS workshop, you guys would know how packed that place is and how narrow the driveways are. While driving out the car, my side door got dinged with another parked car... haizz, I'm sorry Bertha, I will fix that ding later, had no time to cry over it now, I had to rush to the inspection center to have that exhaust legalized for Bertha. Reached the inspection center on time, got the approval stamp I needed to certify the exhaust and my dreamy/nightmare of a day has ended.
Actually, the day has not ended yet, now i have to explain to my wife a)about the new exhaust b)about the ding on the car.. which one you reckon would freak her out more.. :-) Let me enjoy the purring from my bertha first before i hear the blaring from my wife...
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