Why is my car quicker and more powerful all of a sudden?

[harrymaneuvers]

So this might sound weird but please understand that I have put 90k miles on my car in the last 3.5 years so I know what to expect from it.



As crazy as it might sound, ever since my car was in that fender bender between my lady and another car, my car is running like a bat out of hell... from a dead stop, if I am taking a right onto a road, I can get on the gas hard enough to get the tires to almost break loose, they are talking to me to say the least.

Even with the AC on, the car seem WAAAYYYY quicker than it ever has. It used to be ULTRA sluggish with the ac on... like take 15 seconds to get up to 20 miles an hour slow...

Now with the AC on full blast I can barely feel the difference from not having it on...


I am stumped... Oil was changed from 5w-30 to 10w-40 last change but I know that isnt it...


The K and N has been in it for a couple months so I dont think that is it... unless it took a while for my engine to "learn" with it in... but even then, this would be a HUGE gain for just an air filter.


Anybody have any ideas? I mean its not like I am looking to get my car back to how it was, but it just is noticably quicker and I have no clue why!



Only thing done to car is LWCP (18 months ago) and K and N...

Before someone says it... no I havent reset my ECU any time recently or had my battery disconnected (I know what to expect with that as well)

[mycargoesvroom]

Are you troubleshooting why your car is running better? I think you got it backwards...

[harrymaneuvers]

Lol I knew it was going to sound weird...


But I am not the type of person to think that all of a sudden... for now reason, my 230k mileage car is running WAY (I mean WAY) stronger than it EVER has... even at 140k.

[Bookem]

Engines always run better right before they let go............. :shock: J/k might want to check trans/front diff, possible you are not awd anymore, and thus the feel of more power and possible breaking traction on acceleration.

[Baddog]

My car does this everyone once in awhile. Some days she will run like a raped ape. Sometimes she is just sutle. I have noticed the harder I drive it the more "peppy" it feels.

I know my AWD works. I use it off road all the time and have checked it.

[harrymaneuvers]

Yea I am nearly positive I am all good when it comes to the driveline...

The only thing I can even think of is the K and N but... Please... someone else with a phase 2 (or 1) 2.2 chime in here... has your car ever really felt fast... like "shift the weight to the rear" and "feel a good amount of push into your seat" fast?

[Huffer]

Perhaps the k&N oiled filter is thin on oil and letting more airflow into the throttle.

Could just be a placebo because youve been modding your gf's wrx. Maybe youre just driving more aggressively after driving a turbo that needed a push to spool up

[harrymaneuvers]

Yea it could be a combo of that... considering my car is jumpy and quick in the low end and hers wasnt (gutted up-pipe and stage 1 changed that!))... but even getting up to 60 just seems a lot quicker than normal... the car PULLS.


And the K and N was fresh out of the box... so it shouldnt have been light on oil by any means...


Doesnt really matter as I am extremely happy with the extra "gettyup"

[Drakien]

Unless your car had a clogged CAT and that "bump" unclogged it, or if you had alot of buildup in your motor and the bump broke that build up off, then I don't know what could have caused it. 15 seconds to 20mph is awful, even if you had an Auto...lol

[harrymaneuvers]

Tell me about it... because I live in Northern California, I would just come to expect that when it hits 85 degrees (meaning ac on) my car would just not be fun to drive... damn near like my car was in some sort of limp mode.

haha I would actually anticipate the colder weather so that I could start driving my car without the ac and have a car that is WAY more fun to drive.

[ouch1011]

Crouching turbo, hidden BOV?

[98outbackpdx]

Crouching turbo, hidden BOV?
^^very nice^^


with my outback it depends on where i get my gas at. if it is local gas for a couple of tanks it eats through the gas and is sluggish. i get it in Portland and at a 76 and the car gets better fuel economy and is quicker. and the only places i go locally is Shell or 76.

[mike-tracy]

Every time I reset my ECU, the car seems more powerful. Perhaps the ecu had learned the previous owner's slow driving habits, and was reset when you got it fixed?

[harrymaneuvers]

Well unfortunatley the whole state of california is supplied with "bad gas"... I cant wait to see what oregon gas will do to the leggy... I will be driving up there on Thursday for the 4th of July and my B-day.

[MarkSubi]

My car is like this to and everything is fine with it and my awd definitely works. cuz It can take off like nothing but I never have spun tires unless i was rolling back and pushed her into drive.

[Grafton]

sounds like something was majorly out of wack before, and now it's back into place

[LIMITED]

you learned to drive the car.

Jk

[harrymaneuvers]

hahahaha well those damn automatics are a fine science to drive...

[rougeben83]

Could just be a placebo because youve been modding your gf's wrx. Maybe youre just driving more aggressively after driving a turbo that needed a push to spool up

I'm putting my bets on this...

[ouch1011]

I could almost agree with that as well. After driving around m 06 for a while, my 98 feels more peppy at very low rpm, like below 2500, which is where most of my driving is done. And the EJ205 is far worse about this than the EJ255.

Of course, after 2500rpm, the 98 feels considerably slower lol. For now anyway.

[harrymaneuvers]

That is probably a big part of it... but again, I have never been able to make the tires talk to me on a reliable basis.

[anothernord]

Did you accidentally do a WRX swap?

[harrymaneuvers]

hahahah wouldnt that be nice... my car would still probably peppier in the low range though...


I feel like I dont need a wrx swap with this... at least up to 25 mph!!!!

[98outbackpdx]

i almost always run plus in my car and i can really tell the difference between running regular (87) and plus (89). the car runs smoother and does not feel down on power when the a/c is running. i do need to do the timing belt and a tune up, but it is not in the cards right now.

[lord flashheart]

Have you accidently put a turbo on your car recently?
Cuz turbochargers can make ur wheelz fast.







jk
It's all in your head.

[lord flashheart]

Did you accidentally do a WRX swap?


Read this after I posted LOL.

[Legacy89]

I definetly feel the difference in fuels out here. All the local gas stations got crap, a mile into Finland i get 98 Octane with 10% Ethanol and i runs smoother.

[Huffer]

Maybe someone stole your spare tire and wheel jack...