how many of you have made it to 100,000 miles with little or no trouble on a modified WRX? list of mods if you dont mind

 

dear Lord, are u at 100,00 miles? i have an 03 with 47,000 miles and an 04 with 16,000 miles. . . what exactly are your main concerns?







aloha from the summit of *-^-Mauna Kea-^-*

 

I have a lightly modded 02 with 80XXX. Used as my daily driver in my commute from East Bay to SSF. So far so good.

Engine Mods
-Vishnu Main Crank Pulley
-Vishnu Up-Pipe
-Perrin Intercooler hoses
-Intake resonator delete

J

 

the reason i ask is because i'm coming up on a successful 30,000 and i'm thinking about begining to mod. mainly just Access Port and exhaust. i don't drive hard on a regular basis really, i just like to be the first onto the freeway occassionally and sometimes i have to smoke the kid in the civic next to me who thinks he's fast because he's got a Greddy sticker in his window. anyway, i'm wondering if i run my car at 280-290 HP and i commute daily in it will it last me to 100,000 or more?

 

Good question. I have Hks uppipe/downpipe/catback and Cobb tunning Stage 2. I am also wondering how long my automatic 02 Wrx with 47,000 miles will last. I do not abuse it and don't drive hard.

 

wrxpkr @ nasioc > 108K being stg3 from12K on.

 

no troubles brianh?

 

If you perform all the proper maintenance on your car, with a stock-size/power turbo, you should last just about as long as stock.

 

No problems

 

I'm actually facing the exact same dilemma right now; 36k miles, my engine warranty has just expired and my model ('02 WRX) has marginal trade-in value here; I'm afraid the new-look 04 and 05 models hugely outsold the bug-eyes, and dealers don't want the older models on the lot. My wife/kids will need a new car next year (the Legacy wagon is in great shape, but too small in the back for 2 car seats side-by-side and 2 strollers in the back) so that pushes back any new/replacement car for me to 2008/2009. Meanwhile I'm a little frustrated by some of the limitations of the car (low torque, bad MPG for the displacement size, body roll/sway, poor top end on the highway) all of which can be fixed with about $3600 in mods, parts and labor. So, sell the car right now and get what little of its resale value is left and buy an econo-box, or mod it and make it last another 3-4 years... or just keep it stock, and be patient

I too would love to see my car get to 100,000 miles; I've coaxed two previous cars well past that mark (to be fair, one of them came with 60k already on it!). However, with mods that push the stock turbo and transmission to their limits, I think you will definitely be shortening the overall life of the car. I think modding an 02 WRX to between 265-285 hp would be a modest, safe goal, but anything over that would definitely shorten the life of the turbo, block and heads (and the transmission, of course). Adding a V34, pink injectors, a fuel pump and intake (essentially making a 2.0 liter STI) is definitely at the limit of what that block could take, from what I have seen, even with a really great ECU tune.

I agree with BAN, there's no magic to it. Do the scheduled maintenence, use high-grade synthetic lubricants, keep the air filter and cabin filter clean, keep the tire pressure correct and EVEN (very important for the life of your differentials) and it should last. I think one part of the service manual that everyone seems to forget is critical advice: drive the car MODERATELY (which I interpret as "stay off boost, moron!") until the engine is at full temperature. Your drivetrain depends on a large number of different lubricants and fluids for survival, all of which are designed to work at a certain temperature and pressure range. When the car sits at night, all of these fluids go back to their little resiviors and pans; it takes a bit of time (3-5 minutes for mine, but we have cold nights here) for all of that to get back to its optimal level of functionality. Don't floor it until the temp gauge is dead level, and I'm willing to bet you save HUGE amounts of wear-and-tear.

Another important point that a friend of mine makes again and again is that with AWD cars, especially if you have 17" or larger wheels and sticky tires, it is extremely important to ROLL on and off the gas, rather than jabbing the pedal to the floor. Not only does this save your differentials and transmission from a sudden shock, but from my own experience with "spirited driving" in this car vs. others I have had in the past (both N/A and turbo) is that it seems to help minimize bogging and turbo lag.

I'm definitely interested to hear from someone who is 30k past their first mod; I do know of two heavily modded (330 whp on pump gas) bug-eyes models here in town that are essentially show cars, but have been driven all over the US to various shows and events; both of them have 65k+ on the odometer, but they were also fussed over by pro mechanics their entire lives. Anyone with a real-world story to tell?

 

Think of it this way meilers- the potential worst-case scenario for repair costs on your car, plus awesome mods that take their place, are far less expensive than a new car would have been. If there's nothing you don't like about your car, it's silly to sell instead of modding. Hence my grandiose modding plan for the RS.

 

yeah, i looked at that. i've been researching power packages for a long time and i narrowed it down to 3. Pro drive, vishnu, and cobb.

i decided against prodrive because i want to keep a stock looking exhaust and they dont offer one and the price for what you get seems high, vishnu is also more than i want to spend really but cobb's access port sounds good. this way i keep all of the engine stock and just flash right? all i've done is pulleys and K&N. if i do AP stage 1 and a HUSH back i should be around 270 BHP, no?

if this is in fact the case i can live with that and it shouldnt stress the engine too much and allow for a long happy life. thoughts?

 

I really want a WRX or STI, but with all of you guys talking about motors, turbos and transmissions blowing up, it's really scaring me.

Hell, I think I drive it hard and my mustang has 195000 miles on it.

 

Care to post a picture of your dashboard?

I'd be happy to invite my brother into the discussion, his Legacy just crossed 220k...