hello all

just got my 05 sti last saturday and have a few questions for anyone that will help me.

1. this saturday im getting my boost gauge, manual boost controller (for now), greddy rs BOV, turbo xs T.B.E. and aps pod intake installed. anyway i was thinking in a month or so what mod next? either tuning with the cobb accessport or turbo xs utec. which one is better for my mods and future modding???

2. i need two new tires for the front do i have to get potenzas or can i get any 225/45/17 as long as the speed rating is the same?? make any difference in performance???

3. im not ready $$$ wise to go to a bigger turbo, so what about headers?? all i hear is bad news i.e. loss in power etc. plus r expensive to get installed. Any thoughts????

4. after the tuning i was thinking about pulleys? worth the $$ or no????

 

STAY AWAY from the BOV! What you have stock(BPV) is more than what you'll need for the stock snail, search if you want to find out why. The sound it gives off is so not worth the trouble you'll have in return.

Tires?, I'm not sure if you can replace just 2.....

BC, after the tune please.

Headers, you dont need it for now.

Enjoy the car and the extra 30 or so ponies the tune will give you.

After that, since you've worn the tires already, check to see if you stll got a good amount of pad left in those brakes, you still need to stop and slow down the beast.

Good luck....

 

u said the BOV would could nothing but problems? what kind of problems???

also what about pulleys?? havent read too many people posting about them. Good upgrade for the money??

also the stock boost is set at 14.7 psi. what is the highest boost i can go on the stock vf39 (safely)?? 15 or 16???

one more thing when should i upgrade the fuel pump?? when i upgrade the turbo or would it be beneficial to do it now??

some answers would be great

 

Just wondering, since you've had the car for just about 1 week now.....

The reason I'm asking...I just got out of a 2003 WRX that I poured a couple of thousands into, TEINS, UTEC, TBE exhaust...and when I got my STI just this past Saturday, there was no comparison! The STI is just too sweet as it is. I'm sure, there are several, "weak" points however. I'm just breaking it in and already notice that this car is waaaay more capable than my WRX ever was. In fact, I screwed all my warranties with my upgrades and when I needed service, the dealers just told me 'sorry'.

For now, I'm not planning on touching anything, and void the warranty.

Just my 2cents.

Good luck with your choices. I'll be watching.

 

A lot of your questions could be answered w/ a search. About the tires though, just cuz it has the same speed rating doesn't necessarily mean it's in the same performance bracket. You don't need the stock potenzas, you just gotta figure out what you want to get for your money. I also think you're supposed to replace all four of your tires at one time unless the back two are pretty new. If you don't you'll screw up your drivetrain. A search will yield results.

 

Tire rotation and replacement as specified in Owner's Manual, thread is in Maintenance & Warranty forum. If forum Search feature is used in that forum with keywords 'tire' and 'replacement', the linked thread is the first one listed in the results.

MBC (manual boost controller) is not recommended for turbocharged Subaru engines with current ECU. MBC does not provide proper ignition advance or additional fuel required for high load, high boost conditions and can lead to catastrophic engine damage from detonation and a lean condition. Search of the forums using keywords 'mbc' and/or 'engine management' will probably yield several threads on this subject.

Pulleys is another subject that comes up often - using Search will find results. Any additional power from a lightweight and underdriven pulley is so small that you'll never notice the difference except in your mind. I don't even know that it's recommended to use a lightweight pulley on the 2.5 liter engine. The heavy factory pulley is not a harmonic balancer or dampener but the weight does serve to smooth out some of the roughness inherent in flat-four engines.

There's more power to be gained from professional engine management (tuning). You can use i-Club's Search feature to look for (Cobb Tuning) AccessPORT or EcuTek engine management.

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

I would stay away from the manual boost controller and the bov. I assume you want the bov for that awesome sound. So do I, but unless you’re running 20 plus psi forget about it. The reason the bov is bad for a sti is because it will make the car stumble at low rpm and when the engine wines down like when you come to a stop light. If you want to hear the stock bov/bpv you will once you intake is installed. Most after market intake take away the sound deadening qualities of the stock intake system.

The turbo xs tbe is a good starting point, the aps intake may make you run lean which intern will cause detonation, notice I said may. If you do any other mods to the engine you need to choose and engine management system. I would suggest cobb stage 2 way over ecutek or any of the others. Cobbs stage 2 system doesn't give you the peak hp# like other em system. But the reliability coupled with the fact that you still retain the factory setting for cold weather start-up and all the other protective functions of the stock ecu is some thing that can not be ignored. I, like you have an 05 sti. The only power stuff I have done is stage 2. I have a cobb down pipe, hks carbon ti cat-back and cobbs ecu upgrade, those mods alone makes 345hp and 385 lb/ft. Let me tell you that is allot of fraking horse power and torque.

Concerning the header, it's a worth while upgrade if you get pro-tuned. If you don't get pro-tuned you maybe disappointed with the lost in low rpm torque. By getting pro-tuned you will be able to exploit the header in the upper rpm's like past 4k.

Check out Cobbs stuff, they are the only engine management stuff I trust. http://cobbtuning.com/sti/power-s.html#stage2

On the tire issue you will need to replace all fore at the same time. The reason is because even though their is only a slight difference in over all diameter of the tire over time the undue stress on the center diff will destroy it.

If you need to replace your tire I would suggest getting yokohama advan neova ad07 in 245/40wr17 (I wish I would have gotten the 245 instead of the 235). These tire work great, are wider that the stock one by 10mm (which is safe) and they will resist hydro-planning much better than the potenzas.

I would also check your front breaks because if you need new front tire is likely you need new front pads.

I would say getting pulley is o.k. but their is allot of debate about them.

All the mods you have mentioned are really easy to do why don't you install them your self.

One last thing, before you go with a bigger turbo learn to drive the car better (not to suggest you can't drive). Going for the most horse power, dependent on how you go about it, may take all the fun out of the sti.

I hope this help and this is just my .02 and experiance.

 

Dude! You sound like one of those guys from those catch-all tire service stations! Trying to sell a few more tires!

The only time this will come into effect is when you have a HUGE difference in diameters. Stick with the same aspect ratios, 225/50 16 or 225/45 17 what ever the rest of the tires are on the car. If you'd change the ratios on the tires for prolonged periods of time, then you'll probably come into some diff problems.

Look at the diameter of the spare tire. If it was that much of a concern then Subaru would have put a full size spare tire in the trunk.

 

* WARNING A NIT PICKING IS ABOUT TO COMMENCE* heheh

What TWRX is saying it true I have two issue to bring up. One why put the stress on such an expensive part even if it's for a short time and two the spare is only for short distances.

I only suggested the new tire bcause the advanes rock and wider tire are always cool.

* WARNING NITPICKING IS COMPLET* AHAHAH