Newbie with mods question
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Newbie with mods question
Hey all I am about a week or two away from owning an 02-03 WRX pending the sale of my 3rd gen RX7. I am going to have about 4-5k to spend on upgrades immediately when I buy the car. I am just curious as too is there anything I should do before something else. Are there any reliability mods that I should look out for? The 7 I needed to do a dp, radiator and a few other rotary only things first off is there anything like that on the WRX.
The mods I would be considering to start are as follows...
1. Exhaust
2. Intake (someone told me this is not a good mod and I should just do remove the snorkel or something like that)
3. UP and DP
4. DEFI Gauge Pod with Boost, EGT, and Air/Fuel
Also, what is TBE?
Where should I get this stuff?
Any help yall give me would be great thanks.
The mods I would be considering to start are as follows...
1. Exhaust
2. Intake (someone told me this is not a good mod and I should just do remove the snorkel or something like that)
3. UP and DP
4. DEFI Gauge Pod with Boost, EGT, and Air/Fuel
Also, what is TBE?
Where should I get this stuff?
Any help yall give me would be great thanks.
first off welcome to i-club. now, i'm sure this will all get covered, but intake is one off the last mods u need to do, as u need to generate more than 300 hp, b4 this becomes beneficial. tbe= turbo back exhaust (uppipe+downpipe+catback exhaust). this is you best bang for buck mod that i have done to my car so far. check w/ your state for emissions laws, as you will run catless, and my car smokes alot out of my exhaust. guage pods and guages would be needed after you alter your ecu, unless ur driving your car hard. please use the search on this forum. it is your friend 
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iTrader: (3)
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 4,499
From: town / kaneohe
Car Info: gc w/ neons and a wrx that needs neons
TBE is like stated above, but i thought it was the downpipe and catback exhaust.
as for mods you can free up all your cats, get a bigger turbo with injectors and fuel pump with a upgraded intercooler, i think that would eat up all your money though.
a nice way to distribute everything would be a
TBE
ecu reflash
short shifter with bushings
good Wheels and tires
rear sway bar with endlinks
IC hoses
springs, or heck a coilover system.
have fun, and do a search, it works wonders when you want to learn about things
as for mods you can free up all your cats, get a bigger turbo with injectors and fuel pump with a upgraded intercooler, i think that would eat up all your money though.
a nice way to distribute everything would be a
TBE
ecu reflash
short shifter with bushings
good Wheels and tires
rear sway bar with endlinks
IC hoses
springs, or heck a coilover system.
have fun, and do a search, it works wonders when you want to learn about things
As stated above a TBE is a Turbo Back Exhaust and the upipe is not a part of it. The factory upipe has a cat in it and if a piece of the cat breaks off it could trash your turbo so an upipe is a great idea (also quicker spool).
If you plan on modding I would suggest looking at the reviews section and do some extensive research so you end up with what is best for you. After you find something that meets your criteria ask questions about it on these boards. It is important to tell people what you want out of your exhaust (all power, quiet, 4" tip or whatever else you may want). A lot of people like the Blitz Nur Spec R cat back but you may not want a muffler with a 4" tip that is as loud as a Harley. I have the Blitz catback (with the silencer) and will be selling it when I get something to replace it since I just bought a TXS DP which will make it way too loud for this 30yr old man.
Are you only going for power mods or are you also interested in improveing the suspension, wheels and tires?
Im glad to see you are going for the bug eyed version of the WRX.
If you plan on modding I would suggest looking at the reviews section and do some extensive research so you end up with what is best for you. After you find something that meets your criteria ask questions about it on these boards. It is important to tell people what you want out of your exhaust (all power, quiet, 4" tip or whatever else you may want). A lot of people like the Blitz Nur Spec R cat back but you may not want a muffler with a 4" tip that is as loud as a Harley. I have the Blitz catback (with the silencer) and will be selling it when I get something to replace it since I just bought a TXS DP which will make it way too loud for this 30yr old man.
Are you only going for power mods or are you also interested in improveing the suspension, wheels and tires?
Im glad to see you are going for the bug eyed version of the WRX.
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iTrader: (1)
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 345
From: New Jersey
Car Info: 2005 Metallic Gray STI
Reco...
I have a 2003 WRX & the first thing I did was to free up the exhaust flow restrictions. I had a great deal w/GT-Spec V2 Unequal Header system w/Up-pipe, Subaru OEM complete gasket set, Invidia Bellmouth Downpipe, & HKS Carbon-Ti Catback System.
Please note that if you ever decided to get a header system please get the Un-equal version & NOT the Equal version. Reason being that you lose the "WRX-Flat Four" engine sound if you go for the equal length header system.
Also, I have the APS short ram air intake system. Reason I bought it is b/c I'm switching to Front mount intercooler in the very near future.
Last thing, have fun with your WRX.
Marky
Please note that if you ever decided to get a header system please get the Un-equal version & NOT the Equal version. Reason being that you lose the "WRX-Flat Four" engine sound if you go for the equal length header system.
Also, I have the APS short ram air intake system. Reason I bought it is b/c I'm switching to Front mount intercooler in the very near future.
Last thing, have fun with your WRX.
Marky
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iTrader: (1)
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 345
From: New Jersey
Car Info: 2005 Metallic Gray STI
Reco Part II...
After you modify the exhaust system of your car you can start tooling with the turbo & the fuel system. I would highly recommend the IHI-VF22 turbine, STi Fuel Injectors, Walbro Fuel Pump, & Perrin Fuel Rails. This set up would be perfect for dragging or autocrossing. Good for at least 250+whp(from a wimpy stock 168whp).
As of right now, Gruppe-s.com is having a special on the mentioned parts above. I think they're selling the set minus the fuel rails for $1100 or $1200.
As for the ECU, you can get the Cobb Tuning reflash(cobbtuning.com) for the VF-22 mapping...
Marky
As of right now, Gruppe-s.com is having a special on the mentioned parts above. I think they're selling the set minus the fuel rails for $1100 or $1200.
As for the ECU, you can get the Cobb Tuning reflash(cobbtuning.com) for the VF-22 mapping...
Marky
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The noise volume will not bother me at all seeing that I came from a rotary with no cats at all which is about as loud as it gets. I like the loudness but I would like to be able to hold a conversation in the car with the windows up and not have to be talking above normal levels. I am going to get a coilover kit for the car will only upgrade the turbo once I have upgraded the tranny which I hear is a problem on these cars.
If you are thinking about modding the tranny you may want to look at this first https://www.i-club.com/forums/showth...?threadid=3540. Gearsets arent the best option since the WRX's tranny case flexes soo much. The STI 6MT swap is a better way to go but it is very expensive.
Do you live near any tuners that have an AWD dyno? If not and you dont want to mess with doing your own tuneing here are some good places to get an off the shelf map http://cobbtuning.com/wrx/accessport.html and http://www.vishnutuning.com/welcome.htm. There are a lot of good places to buy parts for your WRX on i-club's vendor list.
Do you live near any tuners that have an AWD dyno? If not and you dont want to mess with doing your own tuneing here are some good places to get an off the shelf map http://cobbtuning.com/wrx/accessport.html and http://www.vishnutuning.com/welcome.htm. There are a lot of good places to buy parts for your WRX on i-club's vendor list.
Last edited by MO REX; Sep 15, 2004 at 03:46 PM.
Congrats on the new Impreza. My 2 cents: exhaust with down and uppipe cats removed plus full exhaust is going to be LOUD and SMELLY keep at least the last cat in if you get a loud muffler. intake aint worth replacing, just put in a high-flow filter and possibly remove the intake snorkel to get more sound.
you can make good power with those modifications, the exhaust you pick is purely your decision but let me tell you, the sound and performance from just replacing the last cat and putting in a full catback system is very good, deep rich sound that grumbles a little inside the cabin and rarely smells/smokes.
good luck
oh also an ECU reflash is 100% worth it after you have put all your parts on the car.
you can make good power with those modifications, the exhaust you pick is purely your decision but let me tell you, the sound and performance from just replacing the last cat and putting in a full catback system is very good, deep rich sound that grumbles a little inside the cabin and rarely smells/smokes.
good luck
oh also an ECU reflash is 100% worth it after you have put all your parts on the car.
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