Gnuman Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 OK, we know that FHI's legal department made the engineers put in a high speed fuel cut at 115MPH because that is what the original tires were rated for. My question is this: when did that fuel cut start? Is it coincidence that my Emily tops out at 120, or is that the artificial top end implemented by the ECU? I want to kow if I have actually found the top end of what my 191K mile engine will put out, or if the plug is being pulled by some engineer because it is too powerful for the tires. Don't get me wrong, 120 is fairly amazing for a 14 year old NA engine with 190K miles on it, and without mods at all. I was just wondering about that speed cut. It does not feel like I'm hitting a cutoff (I can feel it in lower gears as I hit redline, but 120MPH does not feel like that, it just simply will not go any faster). Color me curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Is this an automatic or manual. I have gotten my 98 (180K) Legacy up to about 118. Gauges are inacurate at their minimum and maximum postions, so its possible. Arent these engines great OOps just saw its a manual. Did you try it in 4th gear? In %th Gear (and sometimes 4th) cars actually loose top end because they are fighting a large wind load. Downshifting usually helps and gives you a few more MPH in top end. Its the equivilant of down shifting to go up a hill. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted March 26, 2006 Author Share Posted March 26, 2006 Is this an automatic or manual. I have gotten my 98 (180K) Legacy up to about 118. Gauges are inacurate at their minimum and maximum postions, so its possible.Arent these engines great OOps just saw its a manual. Did you try it in 4th gear? In %th Gear (and sometimes 4th) cars actually loose top end because they are fighting a large wind load. Downshifting usually helps and gives you a few more MPH in top end. Its the equivilant of down shifting to go up a hill. nipper I have yet to check the redline MPH for 4th. it is 80 in 3rd, 50 in 2nd, and about 25 in 1st. 2nd I can start from, 3rd needs a good 15mph to do any good, 4th needs 25, and 5th is no good under about 50. nice wide powerband there. gives me two to three gears at any speed, when needed. Gotta love that kind of flexability. Yes, i love the engine in my Subie, and the tranny is at least as good. That damn thing actually belongs in a truck, not a car! I have seen cars with twice the engine size pushing half the tranny as my Subie. My question was not how to get more MPH out, however, but is the MPH I got the actual top end, or os there a speed limit on this year? I did not list my tranny in my original post as that is not germain to my actual question. If I was posting a problem, I would have listed it, but I don't have very many of those. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roamer Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Well I did not know about the fuel cut off, until one day I was driving from NYC to Michigan. At some point in time on I-80 I got the car to hit 115 and then suddenly felt a jerk and saw my rpms drop and immediately turned on my hazards thinking that the car died. Then once the car hit 110 I regained full power. So my experience is that you will definitely know when the fuel cut off engages, b/c the sudden loss of power and jerk by the car is real obvious and scary to a point. OK, we know that FHI's legal department made the engineers put in a high speed fuel cut at 115MPH because that is what the original tires were rated for. My question is this: when did that fuel cut start? Is it coincidence that my Emily tops out at 120, or is that the artificial top end implemented by the ECU? I want to kow if I have actually found the top end of what my 191K mile engine will put out, or if the plug is being pulled by some engineer because it is too powerful for the tires. Don't get me wrong, 120 is fairly amazing for a 14 year old NA engine with 190K miles on it, and without mods at all. I was just wondering about that speed cut. It does not feel like I'm hitting a cutoff (I can feel it in lower gears as I hit redline, but 120MPH does not feel like that, it just simply will not go any faster). Color me curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pBIIKS Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Gnuman, See my post from earlier today regarding the top end on an 05 turbo, link below. One member posted the link to a site that says the turbo has an electronic cut out at 136 mph. I tried to find your 92 listed but no luck, sorry. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=55493 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tattooboy Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 I would have to say that you have reached the max on your motor. Someone said in a reply about the computer making the car jerk and slow down, and that is exactly what the fuel shut off does. Its really noticeable when you hit it. If you had your 92 up to 120, your car probably was either overlooked, your computer has some issue thats bypassing it, or they werent putting that option in yet. I bought a 92 wagon myself, a few months ago, but I havent had it to its limit yet. If I had to guess, if your wagon is an airbag model, it has a fuel shut off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted March 27, 2006 Author Share Posted March 27, 2006 Nope, no airbag. I just have the L model, not the LS. Granted I am in the process of upgrading most of the parts the the LS level. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 First gen's have no sort of speed limiter other then drag I topped mine out, when it was fwd & at at around 130...or that's what the speedo said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted March 27, 2006 Author Share Posted March 27, 2006 First gen's have no sort of speed limiter other then drag I topped mine out, when it was fwd & at at around 130...or that's what the speedo said. Thanks, 777. Does your speedo seem off to you? I get the impression that mine is about 5MPH high at speed, but OK on surface streets. I plan on robbing the speedo from the donor just to be sure. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. RX Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Sounds like a JDM setup, they all have fuel cut outs at around 180kph (approx 115mph). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted March 27, 2006 Author Share Posted March 27, 2006 Sounds like a JDM setup, they all have fuel cut outs at around 180kph (approx 115mph).Nope this is a plain jane USDM setup. Bought here in CA by an older gentleman that drove it for the first8 years of it's life, then my stepdaughter drove it annother three years before giving it to me (with a dead clutch and bad balljoints) at 135K miles. Heh, in the year and a quarter that I have had it, I have logged 56K miles all by myself. . . I truely love this car. I got it with a fair amount of body damage (original owner disdained bodywork unless it affected systems he was interested in, and the stepdaughter lived in SF, so bodywork would not have served her well. I'm in the process of correcting that) but a good powertrain (other than the clutch), did a few PMCS type things (plugs, air filter, oil change, gear oil change for the tranny) and drove it until the clutch went. Then I put in a new clutch and balljoints. I admit that I have not been "nice" to this car, other than keeping up on oil changes, but the car seems to love it as it performs as well or better than most of the new cars on the road. I still get between 19 and 30MPG depending on how I drive, and if I'm towing something heavy. And a top end of 120MPH is more than enpough to satisfy me, as it is more than I will be using on the open roadways. Car was rock stable at 120 as well. Felt like most cars doing 80. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Thanks, 777. Does your speedo seem off to you? I get the impression that mine is about 5MPH high at speed, but OK on surface streets. I plan on robbing the speedo from the donor just to be sure. . . yeah, mines probably 5mph off or so at least due to tire size differences. There's a shop in the seattle area that can make adapters to correct speedometers, even mechanical. So if my speed is off a certain amount after I change my tire size, I should be able to have it corrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subarian Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 I haven't been up to 120, but my speedo (94 Legacy LS) is within 1% of my Garmin up to 80+ MPH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juan Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 You'll know it when the fuel cuts off just like Roamer said. My '98 L wagon bucked off at 112mph. Don't know if it would have bucked back on had I kept my foot into it; I let off the gas as soon as the buck-shutdown scared the crap out of me. It woke my wife and, man, I had some 'xplainin' to do. It's surprising how fast a Subie wagon coasts down from 112mph. Juan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 OK, the first gen Legacy, it seems, did not have the fuel cut, as I have been faster than where it would be, and the fuel did not (from your descriptions) cut. This would tend to mean that the top end is a good solid 115 (if my speedo is 5MPH high) on this 14 year old NA 4 cyl wagon. At the very worst, this is still pretty damn good. The car was rock stable at the top end as well, and that was with worn struts. With the planned addition of rear swaybar, and new AGX struts, this should only improve. Just in case you get some impression that I'm particularly pleased with the mechanical condition of my car. . . You are exactly right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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