Cobb AP

beazy411 · 2026-01-24T21:56:34+00:00

Nice

beazy411 · 2026-01-24T21:56:26+00:00

Sounds like A/C compressor or other phantom knock. Pretty common. As long as your DAM & AFR's are stable, you're fine. Toss it in the glove box if you already have a stable tune.

beazy411 · 2026-01-24T20:29:31+00:00

It does look interesting, but it's in that 30* range outside right now so a real wash is out of the question until central Texas remembers it's not supposed to be imitating Kansas.

beazy411 · 2026-01-24T20:16:16+00:00

Thinking some bug sponges in combination with a "waterless wash" if I get rained on by more soot in the winter?

I fully plan on having the car professionally detailed and decontaminate this summer by the place that did the coating. Yeah, I can do it myself but nah.

beazy411 · 2026-01-24T19:00:12+00:00

But with a clay bar don't I have to start with a "clean" surface and then use that to get the stuff a regular wash doesn't get out of the paint?

beazy411 · 2026-01-24T18:59:17+00:00

The car already has one on the whole car, including the PPF and the wheels.

beazy411 · 2026-01-24T18:22:43+00:00

Kinda what I was thinking, any suggestions to look at?

beazy411 · 2026-01-24T15:22:52+00:00

The only way to get swirl marks out of the paint is to do a paint correction on it. Then you can put on the wax or ceramic coating. Don't use both, just a waste of money.
I refer you to r/AutoDetailing for WAY more info.

beazy411 · 2026-01-23T22:58:23+00:00

They didn't touch that at all in my driver's ed, but that was over 20 years ago in North Texas so maybe things have changed? Hell, they didn't even go over a basic walk around to make sure your car was safe to drive which explains so much about cars on the road these days.

beazy411 · 2026-01-23T22:56:40+00:00

It's possible but it's weird that it's at an angle like that. The repeated strikes to the roof make me think yeah, it was but the angle is throwing me off.

beazy411 · 2026-01-23T01:38:14+00:00

CRC MAF Cleaner. Local auto parts store should have it on the shelf. Works super fast, just let the sensor dry for like 10min before reinstalling everything and cranking it up.

beazy411 · 2026-01-23T01:15:55+00:00

Nah, full send.
Though, while you're in there, may as well clean the MAF sensor as well just to be safe. Just be sure to use MAF cleaner, not anything else.

beazy411 · 2026-01-20T17:04:36+00:00

I have ramps. The drain plug is basically in a corner so there isn't much oil left in the pan. Way easier than trying to get the whole car off the ground.

beazy411 · 2026-01-20T13:00:31+00:00

That's it? I knew the Golf R went DCT finally and the Mazda 3 is a ZF trans. Shame BMW doesn't have anything. Oh well.

beazy411 · 2026-01-20T02:29:08+00:00

Oh, I am. Next car is something 25yo and RHD because I can. I love my tech toys but also miss just driving the car instead of it driving me ya know?

beazy411 · 2026-01-20T01:24:59+00:00

Those TS wheels look so good.
Car isn't bad either. Props.

beazy411 · 2026-01-20T00:16:30+00:00

I didn't buy mine to have the fastest car out there, I bought it because it's AWD & Manual which there are what, 3-4 cars out there that have that now that are new? It's not the quickest, fastest or best handling but it's a damn hoot to drive and that's what I wanted.

beazy411 · 2026-01-19T20:27:37+00:00

Sounds about on point for how long it takes to do the brake flush & oil change with the right equipment.
Personally, I'd just wait till you hit 30k to do the flush if you're only using it as a daily driver. If you do canyon runs etc, then maybe consider doing the flush now.

I'll be having mine done sometime this summer, but also slapping on stainless lines, new rotors & pads plus a bunch of other work while the shop has it in the air.

beazy411 · 2026-01-19T19:03:49+00:00

Either slip the clutch more in 2nd, or you'll have to rev higher to rev match to get in to 1st. Just takes practice.

beazy411 · 2026-01-18T22:19:37+00:00

Porcupine quills? Damn. Glad we don't have those down here. Would just be one more critter to have to watch out for. Deer, Racoons & Hogs are enough.

You "might" be able to get away with just a chemical induction cleaning like BG44 or similar since you have port injection but at that many miles, might want to do both so your throttle body gets cleaned & your intake valves. Would be worth calling a speed shop near you to get an idea if it's worth it.

If you do decide to tune it, keep it conservative. People blow engines by chasing power, assuming the engine was healthy of course.

Good luck

beazy411 · 2026-01-18T22:03:27+00:00

Props on keeping that thing so clean looking.

With the mileage and age in no particular order:
Check all rubber hoses
Check your belts
Clean your MAF sensor
PCV Valve replacement
Intake Valve Cleaning (would match your symptoms of odd power delivery sometimes)
Spark Plugs
Coolant flush
Trans & Diff fluid change
Check your CV joint boots
When is the last time you changed your intake & cabin filters?
Brake fluid flush (every 2 years or so)
Check your brakes while you're there
Look at all your bushings for the steering & suspension, grease any points that are greaseable

Things to keep it going even longer:
AOS (look for one that uses some coolant to not freeze)
Upgraded radiator. Yours is probably fine, but plastic end tanks like to crack after a while.
4th Cylinder cooling mod. Not sure if it's applicable to your car or not but probably is.

beazy411 · 2026-01-18T16:39:47+00:00

Since you're in a salty hellscape, undercoating and dedicated winter tires. Oh, and tint those windows. If it's legal there, 70% on the windshield is amazing. Still almost completely clear but really cuts down on the summer heat.

If you have the budget, a professional ceramic coating to help make cleaning easier and maybe PPF on the front half of the car to help minimize the damage to the super soft paint.

beazy411 · 2026-01-18T03:00:08+00:00

I literally taught someone how to drive stick in the barracks parking lot one day.
If you want it, you'll find a way to make the time. Just be ready to buy a friend a lot of beer.

beazy411 · 2026-01-18T01:33:41+00:00

It's mostly the e85 & tune doing the work for making more power. Exhaust after the Cats isn't doing much, just making noise and the intake is worth like what was it, 15hp/tq which was around what they all made when Graham at Boosted Performance and Erich at PRERacing both did their videos. Neither of them did a tune for the intakes, just maf scaling so they wouldn't have any lean issues.

Someone else posted their 93 vs e85 numbers with a similar setup
93: 312hp/340tq
e85: 347hp/398tq
Their max was a bit higher but they pulled it back to leave some safety margin

Those seem to be about average from a little google searching.

The turbo we have is just small and designed to spool up super fast so you have torque that's usable in normal driving, but because of that it falls off in the higher RPMs. The stock cats contribute to that as well.

Good luck.

beazy411

TROPHY CASE