Planning out a high compression build for my '03 Outback. Tuning questions.

[Nickel Plated]

So I'm just starting to plan out what I'll be doing with my 2.5 '03 Outback with a slushbox. I decided I'd rather keep it N/A. I just want a fun daily driver, not a track car, so I'm fine with the fact that you can only get so much power out of these engines without putting a snail on them. And for some reason i just prefer N/As.
Anyway I figure I will do an engine rebuild, and that would be a good time to do some upgrades while it's all in pieces.
I'm thinking of a nice high compression build.
-High comp pistons and rods.
-Some mild street cams.
-Lightweight flywheel or pulley (not decided which yet)
-Mild DIY port matching and cleanup in the heads
-UEL headers and exhaust
-Most likely leave the stock intake since it seems the aftermarket ones don't really do much so no sense messing with it.

and other bits and pieces, but that's the major stuff.

here's some questions I got.
Would this be a streetable setup for a daily?
What about tuning? Seems like it's gonna be a must because of the bump in compression and the cams.
But I'm not seeing much out there for this generation.
Standalone is pretty much out since we have OBDII testing here in NY for inspections.
The Cobb Accessport looks nice but I don't see any maps for anything below '05. And I read that it's just not compatible with these older models. Am I SOL on the tuning? Don't see anyone doing much with this generation besides basic bolt-ons and an occasional turbo swap.

[nepbug]

Delicious Tuning is probably an option. Or you can convert to a WRX ECU and open-source tune.

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[Reason]

I would call a few local tuners to see what works best with Subaru's and get their opinions since you are most likely going to have one of them tune your car.

As for your intake, you will be surprised. If you had nothing done and wanted just an intake, then yea leave it for later. But once you start doing internal work cams, pistons, porting, then I would for sure build some sort of better intake to bring in more air.

[Nickel Plated]

Guess I will give the intake some more thought when I start to really figure out specific brands and parts for the build. Would love to make some sort of ram air system ducted either from the fog lights in the bumper or a hood scoop directly into the airbox. Something can be fabricated.

An ECU swap to something that's more readily tunable sounds like the best idea to me. Gotta pull up the carpet and see exactly what version of ECU I'm running so I can figure out what swap would be best for me. I'm assuming not all Subaru ECUs will be a direct plug and play.

[nepbug]

See here for ECU swap info.
http://www.rs25.com/forums/showthread.php?t=199059

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[Nickel Plated]

Thanks for that guide, I actually saw it before. Unfortunately I have almost no knowledge of electronics (all the electrical systems in my car might as well run on pixie dust and black magic for all I know) So it all kinda went over my head. :o
So to keep it simple for me and give me a starting point so I know what to search for and what questions to ask.
When swapping ECU's, am I going to have to really cut up my wiring harness much, or just reorganize the wires that connect directly to the ECU to make sure the existing connector matches up the pins on the new ECU?

Good thing I'm atleast very mechanically inclined so I can handle all the part installation, or I would be TOTALLY screwed. :laughing9:

Once the weather stops being so miserable, I will go pull up the carpet and see what version of ECU I have in there so I can find the right pinout diagrams and see what I'm dealing with.

[ajlabish]

any update on this build? i'm planning on doing something similar to my 01 L and was wondering about tuning options myself