I hear ya..... im in the same boat. The turbo and the IC are considered bolt on's though and can actually be done in a descent amount of time..... a day or so. The trick is tuning it to get the most. If you did go with these options i would definitly do EcuTek..... alot more flexibility for tune options..... better than blindly plugging in a map that may or may not take advatage and or damage the car.

The WRX's weak link, in my optinion, is the tranny. However you shouldnt have any problems using the stock gear box.... although it never hurts to bolster it a bit when increasing the over power transfered to it.


An MBC is always an option for a quick increase in boost however i always felt that it was more a cheat than an actual mod. This is one place that if you dont know what your doing you could blow your car up. For that reason im staying away from it. Ive heard way to many horror stories about blown motors due from overboosting.



-K

 

Retuned ECU is better. Theres actually a thread you should look at that has just been recently started - "MBC vs STOCK BC..."

 

no, its going to be a bigger turbo (vf-34) intercooler and some other stuff

and running an accessport you already have a remapped ecu(thats what the ap does) so you dont need another boost controller.

edit- you are hitting target boost right? reading on the AP should be 15.3-16.3 psi when you put it into read live boost mode

 

actually i dunno. When i had a friend read my ap while i went WOT in 3rd he got 15.x. I just installed a oem boost gauge and i went wot in 3rd and it won't go past 1bar. I read up on the wastegate actuator arm and i think i'll do it tomorrow.

 

dont go off the oem boost guage. that thing is craptastic!!!
use a decent aftermarket one or the AP reading

 

headers, CO2 intercooler kit, lightened flywheel (not hp but still)

 

Thanks you all for your advices. I think I am gonna stay with what I have now for the time being. I probably get a crank pulley and a boost and egt gauge. My car is more than fast enough for me, I guess the mod bug is pushing me to do other stuff lol. If I were to go big I think I will just trade in my car for an 05 STi (I love the new location of the cup holders).

 

port polish of the stock turbo sounds good or just upgrade to a bigger turbo later