psybic

I went XR5 after considering Mazda 3, Golf GTI, HSV VXR and sticking with WRX. WRX was pricier for the second hand ones of the same age at the time. Golf was more expensive and less power. Mazda 3 and VXR ( turbo astra ) had more power, but I went and looked at a few top gear reviews and fifth gear ones also. A common theme was that, Golf was most practical and comfortable, but the focus handled the best. I was never gonna hit a track, but I'd read a few reviews which really bagged out the mazda chasis and ability to put the power down. Plus the extra power in the mazda and the VXR were only thanks to higher factory boost, as the focus has the 2.5 5cyl, I knew it had more to be unleashed from a ECU flash. ECU flash for the VXR wasn't going to do much because the way HSV got the power up over the standard astra turbo was just a ECU alteration anyway. When I went for a ride in the VXR I was considering, it was awesome, but so was the focus, except the focus had four doors and I knew that if other people did their homework too, it would be easier to sell because all the reviews which put them head to head said the focus had a better chasis setup. I wasn't ready for spending enough money to get a new enough Polo for DSG but an older polo with more money spent on tuning was on the cards... again reviews suggested it wasn't quite there for handling and the XR4 was best at handling in that class... unfortunately with a non-turbo engine, so little chance of getting much more power on the cheap.

Oh wow... didn't look at the date, just saw a thread up high in the thread list, so figured must have been pretty current. Must be a pretty red hot forum then ... lol

Dreamscience or bluefin tunes are pretty awesome. I have dreamscience unit and it's really easy to use. The five tunes all seem to work well.

I have an XR5 with ECU flash, brings the power up nicely. They aren't as easy to get power out of as the XR6T obviously, but the reason I blame mostly is the turbo. It is small. Coming from jap imports, power is much easier to get out of an SR20 or to be fair, they are similar to an RB25. It's the turbo size holding them back, but the benefit of this is, boost comes on VERY early and it hardly feels like a turbo, compared to what I've come out of. Everyone who says FWD is a problem is bang on. It REALLY is. Boost is limited in first and second and it needs to be. After the ECU flash, it's only pushing about 155FWKWs maybe 160, but struggles to get traction with expensive tyres. Having said that, once it's rolling, it's good. Had a little accelerate next to another car also accelerating... boss 260 falcon and I'd say there wasn't a great deal between the two. and at the risk of getting flamed, I felt that, had we broken the law, which we didn't and gone to third gear, I would have started to hit big boost ( thanks to the flash ) and started pulling away. He also would have destroyed me off the mark if he wanted too, but both rolled slow at the start. AWD may have cost more, but it would be well worth it. Just look at 0-100 times of XR5 vs RS vs RS500... as they increase the power, it doesn't matter, they still can't get a good time off the mark because they all battle with traction. ps- I've put my XR5 back to stock tune to see what it was like... the flash makes a HUGE difference, much like it would in any turbo car.