by tom_kauf » Fri Feb 09, 2018 9:43 am
I mostly think the tuners that charge $1000+ for basic mods like yours are a rip-off (unless you get a lot of Dyno time as part of the tune). A high quality Ceramic coated dump pipe with a good Cat, that fits perfectly is worth $1000 imo. I paid about that for a PhatGT one (ex forum member who makes them, and sells them through Garage 88 where he works in Sydney). MRT also charge $1000+ for their dump pipe, and Invidia are $800-$1000. But of course you shouldn't pay for a local company putting a big markup on something.
If you're on a budget, or get eg an X-Force Dump Pipe (which is worth $600 at best) then $1000 is a rip. Especially since the X-Force required cutting when I had it, and isn't a great fit.
At a tuner that isn't experienced with Subarus, you're paying for the time they need to learn how to tune our cars, instead of someone who's done Subarus a lot and can just get straight to it.
Torqued Performance in America, who is extremely reputable over there, has Stage 1 off-the-shelf tunes for US$125. I'd only recommend an OTS Tune for basic mods, and I think it's only for WRXs unfortunately, but I heard that custom tunes were about US$200 last year (may have slightly gone up). You just need to borrow something like a Tactrix to connect to your ECU to do logging, and you're set. You do some road driving, incl wide-open-throttle runs in 3rd gear, and you send the logs off and receive an updated tune no later than next day.
It's similar to what Matt does, except Matt visits all the towns and does it locally. But with anything except serious mods, sending off logs is just as effective.
I can highly recommend Eric (Torqued Performance)!
I just didn't suggest him before, because you need the OBDII Cable to the ECU. But I'm sure someone in your area would have one to borrow.