Keeping it at desired performance specs is more than a visual inspection (we agree that is necessary as is how it feels, ...there is more).
If you have a high performance subaru / modified vehicle, here are some proactive ways to keep your vehicle in tune and performing as you intended it to.
Having your car dyno tuned is not a once and done deal, especially if you want that level of performance to last. Every time you make a physical change to the engine (and the slow wearing of parts does count), you need to reprogram the ECU so it knows what you've done.
Because our specialty is High Performance vehicles, we have seen many cars that over time tend to change, and performance becomes altered, this is normal wear and tear when maintained at proper intervals.
Tunes don't wear out, parts do. The programming a tuner does within the ECU is considered non-volatile memory, let me explain a bit deeper:
The data will not be changed or lost if electrical power is lost. The data also does not degrade over time. Hoses, belts, and metal due wear out though. Air leaks, loose connections, fouled sensors and worn parts can feed the ECU with bad information causing the motor to run poorly all the time, or just in places.
This general wear and tear usually happens slowly and gradually. Most drivers won't notice there is even an issue until gradual wear leads to broken parts. Because we keep data on how long parts will last (of course that depends on your driving habits), we recommend checkups regularly.
How do you find, identify the root cause, and maintain / repair these problems?
By coming back to the dyno regularly, you can monitor the health of your vehicle. Every time you come in, you get the eyes and ears of our experts.
Once you build your vehicle to a higher level of performance, (especially here in Denver performance cars need to tuned to the altitude) it is a good idea that you keep those parts operating within proper specs so you don’t experience a catastrophic failure.
Much like a purpose built race car, all components have an expected performance life and depend on other parts to ensure strong performance. keep your vehicle in good shape, get a checkup based on good evidence / experience. Enjoy your ride.