Hey so this winter I'm looking at doing a replacement to my AST, downpipe and catback, intercooler, and rad (preferably V-mount set up if I can). My question is do I need to get a Power FC or something of the sort for this? I just want the car to be a bit more reliable/run a bit better.

 

Absolutely

 

You should always get a tune whenever you make any performance modification on your car. Hell I would say it's the first mod you should make on your car. Without it the upgrades will never reach their intended potential and could possibly make your car run worse since it wasn't set up to deal with the differences they make.

The question I've been contemplating would be is power FC the way to go. I know it's the most common but what about AEM and all the other options. I've been researching it a bit but it's hard to find a definitive answer.

 

The PowerFC is what a HUGE majority of the FD community runs. And for good reason - plug and play, reasonably priced, and very flexible.

I wouldn't look at anything else unless you're going for HUGE horsepower and wild mods.

Dale

 

I totally agree that that would be the way to go. My question is can i get away with out it for a few months?

 

You can if you want to sacrifice power. Keep boost around 10psi or less and you're OK on the stock ECU. Go over that or spike, you're in dangerous territory.

You might want to unplug the factory boost control solenoids, that would do the trick.

Dale

 

As Dale pointed out a stand alone ECU is not necessary if you stay at stock boost.

Just to reiterate what he said: Do not boost above 10 psi and that includes no elevated boost (by either cranking up the boost or simply caused by a more efficient IC), or spikes or boost creep. Otherwise you could be kissing your engine good bye.

So make sure that you are monitoring your boost response before changing anything.

 

Plain and simple. Yes

 

I'd think that if you are going to the work and $$$ of a V-mount rad (and intercooler I assume) than the PFC should be in the same bucket, if not first.

Metal AST and radiator don't do anything for tune or drive-ability (and thus no relevance to a PFC), we do those for durability - and yes, very worthwhile.

With downpipe (I call this a reliability and performance mod - double benefit), intercooler, and catback a PFC, or related tune updgrade, is generally recommended. And I did.

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I did some more research and decided I probably will go for a new ECU/Management system. It all comes down to PFC or an AEM setup now. Thanks for the advice.

 

Let us know what you come up with!
If it's a toss up, go with the one that has an expert in your area to help you out.