FAQ

Some WRX FA20's will experience high knock values such as -7 or -9. 90% of the time, the user doesn't even see it happen or feel it and just sees it when they look at their Accessport and then they freak out. Unless this is happening all the time to where you actually see it happen, I wouldn't worry about it. I normally tell customers to log it happening and most if not all can never catch it in a log.

Answer: Fine Knock Learn aka FKL is the learned knock by the ECU. If your driving down the street and hit a bump, turn on the AC, and or have an actual knock, the ECU will store that knock value at that RPM & Load. Below is a Timing table. As noted Load & RPM is your axis. If you were cruising at 2000 rpm and were in the loaded row of 0.91 and you had any type of knock(-2.81for this example) then the ECU would store that -2.81 knock that happened at the meeting place of 0.91 load and 2000 rpm. Which that cell has a red box around it. Any time while driving and the car goes through that same Load & Rpm aka the red box above, the car will register -2.81. Please read the important facts below: 1) Even if your car is showing -2.81 FKL, that doesn't mean you are actually knocking. Remember, the ecu learned that knock event and stored it. Imaging hitting a bump and your car registering it as -1.41. It now stored in the ecu. Don't be worried if your car is still showing -1.41 while driving. If you're not hitting any more bumps then your car wouldn't be actually knocking, since the original knock event was caused by that bump in the road. 2) That Learned Knock can show on the AP any amount of times. Could be 1, 10, or 100 times. 3) That Learned Knock will unlearn itself over time. If the ECU doesn't see any knock that number will start to get lower towards 0. At times you will see positive knock and that's a good thing.

At Idle - You shouldn't see any knock at idle unless you have TGV codes and you push the throttle. Normal Driving - Normally, knock at low loads(-10PSI to 5PSI) is not a big deal. People will see -1.41, -2.81, -3, -4 from time to time. These WRX Fa20 are super sensitive and can knock due to many different things which I will explain below. DAM drop can also be expected to drop. At WOT - Ideally, you should not have a knock during WOT. The occasional -1.41 or -2.81 can happen from time to time, but I wouldn't worry unless it is happening all the time under WOT and or higher than -2.81.

As I said above, these FA20 WRX's are super knock sensitive. A lot of things can cause a knock on these cars. BAD GAS BAD/CRACKED PLUGS CARBON BUILD UP ON VALVES HARNESS PLUGS IN THE ENGINE BAY NOT ZIPPED TIED ANYTHING LOOSE IN THE ENGINE BAY BUMPS IN THE ROAD TURNING ON THE AC

If your tuner mentions you have a boost leak, Just know you will either have an easy time finding it or a very hard time finding it. You may even go get a smoke test and find there was no leak, but the biggest mistake here is that most people check over parts and end up fixing it before the boost leak smoke test. The biggest advice I can give is to make sure you recheck any parts that you touched while installing or removing parts. Any part that moves air through it can produce a leak. Anything over a +|- 20% in AF Correction/Learning would be considered a leak. ​ COMMON AREAS FOR LEAKS FOR FA20 WRX: COBB SF INTAKE FILTER NOT BEING ON EXACTLY ONE INCH ON THE PIPE CHARGE PIPE TO INTERCOOLER COUPLER CHARGE PIPE TO TURBO GASKET TGV GASKET OR NOT TIGHTEN DOWN INTAKE TO TURBO EBCS HOSES DAMAGED FMIC INTERCOOLER PIPING INTAKE MANIFOLD EVAP LINES JPIPE NOT TIGHTEN DOWN TO TURBO

Reflash the map and see if the problem still happens. If the problem still happens after a reflash then complete the 4 logs I asked for and send them to the tuning email we started for the tune.

Most EBCS like COBB or GS have 3 ports. Port 1 = Intake, Port 2 = Wastegate, Port 3 = Turbo ​ EWG will be set up with the following: Port 1 to Intake Port 2 to the Bottom port of wastegate, Leave the top port of wastegate Open(Vent to Air). If Dual EWG you will Tee off from the Port 2 and run both hoses to the bottom of both wastegates and leave the top of the wastegates open. Port 3 to Turbo

OEM Stock NGK should be fine. Plug gap - .020 to .022. Make sure to check the plug gap before installing it.

Most base maps sent will be sent with low boost settings. So it doesn't mean you have a boost leak. If a tuner tells you, that your car is having issues with proper boost levels then it can be any of the following reasons: ​ Boost leak Bad EBCS EBCS hooked up wrong Turbo is dead.

Stage 2 w/93 Fuel (Turboback exhaust, headers, up pipe) – 320whp/349tq Estimate. Stage 2 w/90 Fuel (Intake, TBE, FMIC or TMIC, EWG, EBC, ID1000, FP Green) – 400whp/470Tq Stage 2 w/93 Fuel (Intake, TBE, IAG STG 2 Block, BPT 1.5xtr, ID1300, ELH, TGV, FMIC) – 368whp, 353tq Stage 2 w/E85 Fuel (Intake, TBE, IAG STG 2 Block, BPT 1.5xtr, ID1300, ELH, TGV, FMIC) – 475whp, 464tq Stage 2 w/93 (FP Blue, TBE, EWG, EBCS, AEM340, ID1300) – 342whp, 329tq Stage 2 w/E85 (FP Blue, TBE, EWG, EBCS, AEM340, ID1300) – 437whp, 387tq Stage 2 w/93 (ID1050, EBC, EWG, ELH) – 326whp, 330tq Stage 3 w/E85 (IAG Trojan Block, ID2000, FP XR Black, FMIC, EWG, GSCS2, TBE) – 660whp, 633tq Stage 2 w/93 (Turboback Exhaust) – 300whp, 333tq Stage 3 w/92 (IAG 2.5 Block, Kelford Cams, GTX3576, EWG, FMIC, ID1300, ELH, EBC) – 469whp, 439tq

Stage 2+ w/E30 (Intake, TBE, EBCS, AEM40, BRZMani) – 350whp, 324tq Stage 1 w/93 (STOCK and Tuned) – 259whp, 277tq. Stage 1 w/E30 (STOCK and Tuned) – 290whp, 300tq. Stage 1+ w/E30 (Intake) – 300whp, 300tq Stage 2+ w/93 (Intake, TBE) – 299whp, 299tq Stage 2+ w/E60 (Intake, TBE, AEM320) – 383whp, 343tq Stage 2 w/93 (TBE, EBCS) – 284whp, 292 tq Power Estimates 91/93 Oct (Ballpark from mods and dyno used and weather) - AMBOTTuned Stage 1 Tune 260-275hp, 260-270tq - AMBOTTuned Stage 2 Tune 280-310hp, 285-315tq Power Estimates E30 (Ballpark from mods and dyno used and weather) - AMBOTTuned Stage 1 Tune 300-330hp, 300-330tq - AMBOTTuned Stage 2 Tune 340-350hp, 340-350tq Power Estimates E60 (Ballpark from mods and dyno used and weather) - AMBOTTuned Stage 1 Tune 300-330hp, 300-315tq - AMBOTTuned Stage 2 Tune 350-400hp, 350-380tq

This will vary from car to car. I have seen some cars take e85 fine while others will only take e50. I believe this has to do with the clearances in the hpfp from the factory. The bigger the clearance the high the content you can run. I would start with e50 and then go up from there to see what your car will take. Some tuners set an ethanol limit in the tune to not go over to avoid issues. I set mine to 65. E50-60 seems to be the sweet spot. Plus the gains from e50 to e85 is very little.

This answer will vary. I suggest upgrading it anytime going stage 2 or having a tune with an ethanol content of e30+. Guys that are stock and want to go e30 can do so, but in time the pump may die.

There are two ways you can go beyond the stock fueling limit, but one way is wrong while the other is right. Meth - You can use meth as fuel to get more power then the factory fuel system can provide. THIS IS THE WRONG WAY and shit can go bad quick. Port Injection - This one is the right way and it provides a lot more support. You will have to install a port injection set up and an ecu box to control the port injection.

The stock DIT fueling system seems to provide around 430-500 whp highly depending on the dyno used. Once you hit about 42-45% Injector Duty on these cars the system will start running out of fuel.

I see a lot of people ask about if it's safe to go past 350whp on a WRX FA20. So decided to write this post on my opinion on it. The whp doesn't kill the motors the tq does. Anything above 370tq seems to be the threshold of gambling. Don't have the mindset that the car won't blow up if you decide to go past that. I tell most of my customers that when going past 370tq you are rolling the dice each time you do a pull. A Tune will not make it ever blow up. It will, however, decide how long the motor will last at tq levels above 370tq. A bad tune = shorter time the motor will last. A good tune = Longer time the motor will last. There are A LOT of FA20 WRX's at that 400/400 level or even more and they are fine. You can go 1 mile or 50k + miles. Bigger Turbos on the stock block, push more power but are safer for the motor due to the late tq rather then the stock turbo and early tq. Just depends on the Subigods and tune :)

Intake: COBB, ETS, GS ​ Catback: Any ​ Jpipe: Catted COBB, ETS, GS ​ Turbo: FP Blue or big turbo(ETS Kit) ​ Headers: KillerBee EWG ​ TGV: Just leave plugged in and OEM. It doesn't add much power, to begin with. ​ EGR: Just leave plugged in and OEM. It doesn't add much power, to begin with. ​ Manifold: BRZ Metal or Plastic ​ AOS: COBB or IAG ​ Tuning Mang: COBB ​ EBCS: COBB, GS ​ BPV: COBB or Stock ​ EWG: Tial or turbo-smart ​ Fuel pump: AEM 340 w/ DW Install Kit ​ Intercooler: FMIC COBB, ETS, PRL ​ This is my personal recommendation on parts that I have found worked well and had no issues with. ​ There are other brands/part that could be mentioned(tmic, verts etc) but I haven’t tuned enough of those parts to give it a recommendation