PLANS CHANGED!

Thanks anyway

Will

 

turboxs stealth-back used the stock sized axle-back.

iirc, stromung makes a 2-1/2" turboback, so you could go with that use the s203 axle-back.


but weren't you going to leave the powerplant stock because of warranty concerns?

 

Very good memory, and thank you very much for the information, you are the first person to acutally answer my question.

Everyone on Nasioc was like "i have prodrive FTW!" and im like "i dont want to know your exhaust set up...." so thank you for finally answering my question.

As for the warranty, yes i want to keep the powerplant stock due to warranty concerns. I got a set of those Race Ramps/Rhino Ramps, and danm do they work gooooood, but anyway i got those now and i can literally change out a turboback exhaust in an hour or less, depending on it anyof the bolts give me a problem or not.

So i figured i can get exhaust and switch it out if i need to get any major service done on the motor. My only concern was if they would or could void my warranty if i went in for a simple oil change and they saw the TBE.

I might not even put full exhaust on it and i might just put the S203 exhaust on it and switch out a simple axle back whenever i had to take it in for service.

 

You could also go with the Cobb DP, it has the stock donut connector at the midpipe.

 

When I worked for a Subaru dealer three years ago, service writers were told to take notes of warranty-questionable mods and file it under the "comments" section of their Reynolds & Reynolds computer database. I'm sure ADP, AutoMate, et al have similar functions. That allows the list of mods spotted to automatically pop-up on their screen if they search your profile based on various information (name, phone #, VIN #, license #, etc). You can't run away from that kind of tattle-tail unless you can find an endless supply of Subaru dealers and go to a different one every time. Even then, certain customers get a reputation with district managers and have nowhere to run.

Even if it's a "mod-friendly" dealer, they may still take notes to cover their ***. Keep in mind, "warranty" work is free to you, but it costs someone in the end. If the dealer performs warranty work on your vehicle, and SOA determines after-the-fact that the repairs aren't covered (many times due to an inspection of the parts that came off your car), the cost of parts and labor is charged-back to the dealer, who has absolutely no recourse to chase you down for the bill, either.

Last time I checked, dealership service managers and general managers (not to mention the person who has their name next to 'Subaru' on the front of the store) don't like to eat a $3,000 repair bill because you fragged your clutch and transaxle.

 

I went to Herwalt Subaru in Fresno and they left a note of my mods. Most of their comments were bs. They said I had nitrous because I had some stainless steel braided lines. I went to a dealer here in Sacramento and they pointed out all the comments the other dealer left. They went ahead and deleted them and did most of my warranty work.

If you went into a dealer to do anything, i'd take all my power mods off. Suspension is ok but some of them make a big deal of that as well. I guess it just all depends on where you go. Herwalt Subaru wouldnt fix a rattling noise on my car because i had aftermarket coilovers. Just to be safe though, i'd take everything off.

 

Thanks thats very usefull information. You answered my second question.

pj21086 - thank you as well, your information was very helpful, also the personal story proves how crazy subaru is. I dont need to worry about suspension becuase all my suspension parts will be subaru parts.

I was thinking for like oil changes and stuff i would just go the dealer i work at (Nissan) and have them perform all the oil changes, tire rotations, so on. Then i know they wont make a note of any of my mods. Also i will still have all my services logged into the computer so it will show up on a carfax report if i were to sell the car in the future. I mean everyone always likes it when you sell a car and they can see that it was in for service regularly.

 

Glad to be of service.

 

JDM Subaru and USDM Subaru are very different things, and some places may call you on it.

 

Yes i understand that, i am using USDM STI suspension bits. They are basically the same suspension bits used on the S203. ie aluminum lateral links, trailing arms, rear sway bar...Thank you for the heads up, only thing i am worried about is the suspension...but im not sure if the S203 4 way adjustable struts are the same as the USDM ones....still trying to source a reliable informant for that.

 

Well, given that the S203's are 4-way adjustable, and the stock STi struts aren't.......or are you talking the overpriced STi coilover set?

The only comment that I'm going to make is that if you're not going to make a full replica with all OEM parts (which I think is asinine as the factory parts on any car, no matter how madJDMtyte, are a compromise and there are some areas where you can improve, like the exhaust above, for example) then why kill yourself trying to make a "replica" that will never be complete or correct since it's LHD, EJ257, etc? Just say "I like S203 parts, and I'm going to incorporate as much OEM as I can into my project buildup." Then you're not artificially restricting yourself to building a car you can never complete. The S203 is a special car because it is a limited edition in Japan. Why spend all your money trying to create something that was created as a marketing tool?

I could see if if you wanted to pick and choose the specific mods you liked on the car in order to create a car for cheaper than you could pick up the real thing for.......but you're just pouring money into parts that are functionally identical or inferior at the same time as being more expensive than aftermarket parts.

Let me ask you a question, in all seriousness. What are you going to do with this car? Put it in car shows? Track it? Polish it with a diaper and never take it out of the garage? What do you want out of the car, in the end? An internet star because you "did it first" or the ultimate expression of a given car?

Why doom yourself to a project that has no endpoint? That's why people are busting your ***** over on Nasioc, too. There's a ton of guys who have sunk stupid amounts of money in their cars. These are guys who have done it a dozen times. They're trying to make points so you can realize what you're trying to do doesn't have a possibility of a realized endpoint. As someone who's had to give up on a number of project cars due to time and money, it's frustrating as hell, and you're left with an empty hole in your wallet and no sense of accomplishment.

All you have to do is say you're going to put as much S203 into the car as you can, and people will leave you to it, and encourage you to blow your money on what makes you happy; noone likes seeing a project unfinished. There's nothing wrong with a continually evolving car, but by grandstanding with your "noone's done it before, I'm building an S203" you're jsut begging for people to pick apart the holes in your plan. You set yourself up for all or nothing.

Your questions about the exhaust above show that you've got too many goals for the car, and they're diametrically opposite: max performance, but with factory warranty intact, by using as many non-USDM parts as possible which will void your warranty on the affected systems anyways. Don't even get me started on putting parts back to stock for warranty work. Pay to play and accept the risks.

 

Sybir, i appreciate the constructice criticism i really do, i will take a lot of it into consideration, and please dont take my follow comment as a ignorant one.

i want to respond to your post and explain myself and correct your statements that i feel are incorrect but to be honest with you im tired of doing it. ive done it for so many people before you that i just dont have the energy to do it again.

I am not saying that i think all you wrote is BS, actually i agree 100% with a lot of the things you said, i am going to take a lot of what you said into consideration. but some of the things you said are incorrect and i feel you misinterpreted some things, and jumped to conclusions on some things but its really not a big deal.

but here nor there i dont want to go through the process of quoting everything and explaining everything just to have more people disagree and make it a big mess on here. I appreciate your comments and will probably change some of my plans in the project due to the things you said, cause like i said a lot of the things you said are correct and im going to take into consideration.

So please dont take this response as a ignorant one or a rude one, maybe when i get home from work tonight i will sit down and write up a response but for now lets just let it drop and get back to the topic at hand...

my question about the exhaust. WHICH YOU CAN SCRAP!

Will

 

Works for me. I'm not trying to be a dick, I've just seen lots of projects and wanted to offer my opinions. If you're reading people's posts and hearing what they have to say, then your decision is made, more power to ya. I've just seen some of the feedback you've gotten and wanted to throw out my perspective on why you're getting it instead of just rippin' on ya (you're getting enough of that).

Honestly, good luck, and I hope your car becomes all you want it to be. I've got an OB, I understand doing something different

 

Yeah i understand and i agree with a lot that you said....like how i should of approached my post differently and what i should have said differently so that i didnt get bagged on as much.

But what no one seems to get and what i said right up front is im building a replica! replica means its not going to be the exact thing, i just like the way it looks, so im building a replica. So i just dont get what everyone seems to insist on telling me how ill never get it to be a S203 because it wont be right hand drive and it has a different motor and this and that. My response is NO S**T! Thats why i said REPLICA! and why i said in my very first post "no i wont make it right hang drive, and no i wont swap turbos, i just want it to look like it" hence a REPLICA! i guess no one seems to get it.

and you asked why i would throw all this money into a car and into parts that will hoenstly never really get the money back out of it. well the funny story with this is everyone asks me that same question yet bags on me when i think about buying a replica lip and a replica wing to save money. So what is it that the subaru community wants? You want me to buy authentic parts, but bag on me for wasting money, and when i try and save money, you bag on my for buying fake parts. everyone is so contradictory and so ridiculous...(over generalization, not everyone is).

i guess no one really gets what im trying to do, and maybe i dont really knwo what im trying to do, i think its a little of both. You commented on me not knowing what i want to do and you are correct, i dont.

I want to mod my car, becuase its my passion, i want to make it faster and stronger, but you and i both know that i cant becuase of the warranty. I just get excited sometimes and jump the gun a little, then remember i cant because of the warranty.

As for what i want to do, i knwo what i want to do, i want to make my car look as close to a S203 as i can. To be honest with you, all that matters to me is that the axleback is authentic. 9 times out of 10 a person would not know what to look for or be able to tell the differenace between a replica lip and a real lip, a replica wing and a real wing. So now my second battle is what i want to do with replica verse authentic. Becuase to be quite frank with you i dont mind replica, i can care less what all the other people say, its not their car, its mine. But i would love to use all JDM parts but like you said its bank to buy them!

Now my third delema, is the money worth it....well heres the thing...if i was 45 with money to burn HELL YEAH IT WOULD BE! but being young and in need of money its probably not the smartest thing.

Like i said i took a lot of what you said into consideration and i think i will do a lot of things different, like i said i ned to remember its my car and it doenst matter what anyone else says cause its my car and i can do what i want with it.

 

See, that kind of response is what the tools on Nasioc need to see. Trying to make it look more like an S203 is cool. Do it with whatever parts work for ya. Ignore the guys talking about "authentic JDM" ****. I've seen guys nut over $400 Ti lugnuts. If that's JDM, **** it.
I've had 17 sets of wheels on my car. Rays. Prodrives. OZ's. BBS's. Rotas. Some of my Rotas were my favorite wheels. If the Formula Meshes make you happy, go for it, you can get different colors, and **** the people hating on it becuase they're not BBS's or whatever.

Personally, I was on a "mad JDM" kick; looking at my car, pretty much everything that can be replaced with a Japanese equivalent besides bumpers has been. I've got trick stuff on it that no other Leg in the US has. Then, I went to Japan. I looked at OEM Leggie's and realized how stupid it was to try and swap every part, as it still wouldn't be the same, so I just said **** it and went with what I liked.

I hear ya on the exhaust and stuff. Lips get trashed, so noone's gonna fault you for replica parts on a DD, etc.

Saying you want an S203 look works. The car looks hot from the factory. I guess all I'm saying is that it's a good diea to have a plan of where you want the car to go and build towards that in stages, and it sounds like you're on the right track to building what *you* want, which is all that matters.