i'm thinking if gettning a utec but then i wanna get an up pipe and down pipe because someone told me it would be better to get that first. what would u guys do? i only got like a grand to spend.

 

Get the pipes 1st!

 

Who is gonna tune the UTEC, cuz' it HAS to be tuned. Running it out of the box is not an option.

How far are you going with the car? Are you going to stop with performance mods after this round?

I'd forego the engine management for now and get:

Uppipe
Full Exhaust
Boost controller (JoeP put Wes into the 12's! I'm running 13.2 on mine)

With the above setup you should be running 13.7's (my slow *** retarded car did).

Save the engine management for when you need to control upgraded injectors or compensate in timing for an upgraded turbo.
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My opinion, you can't really go wrong with a UTEC, but just understand that the gains won't be there for you until you've at least freed up the exhaust.

I'd recommend that with $1k, you buy the least restrictive, most raucaus sounding exhaust you can find. I was most happy with the gains I made after we installed it. I wish I would have put on the uppipe at the same time as the turbo-back.

In the meantime, if you are like me and never tuned a car (esp. an EFI), I'd recommend studying up before you buy the UTEC. Also, when the time comes I'll be more than happy to give you some of my lessons learned.