first wrx modification
 

hey guys, i just purchased a 03 wrx and im loving it. i want to modify the car but i dont know where to start. any suggestion would be very helpful. thanks!

snorkus delete
 

Take out the snorkus! It's a free mod that will enhance the sound of the bov and create a bit faster spool up time.

these are good first mods:

suspension to get rid of that nasty wheel gap in the front

exhaust... catless upipe and catback or full tbe if you wish

snorkus removal as sababu said, you can buy a snorkus elbow type product...
or can go free like I did and hack your stock one...

Those should keep you busy for a while, and have your car looking nice and clean.
By the time you complete those you should have a good idea on what route you want
to mod your car. :p

^^x2 :D

1. Aftermarket Alarm with gas/ignition cutoff (don't pay for mfg)
2. "Clear Bra" film for leading edges of the car (our paint sucks)
3. New wheels and rubber
4. Fender gap

First mod: if you would like to improve handling upgrade to 17 X 7.5" wheel as light as you can afford. Best if as close to the 16 lb weight of the OEM wheel as possible or lighter. Put on some 225 45 17 sticky rubber (SO3s or Kumho Ecsta MX excel here). This is a easy (but potentially expensive) first mod that will have a huge affect on the WRX's cornering and ability to power out of curves.

Show caution and do your homework before trying engine mods. Read the stickies posted in the i-club engine forums first. Many intake mods simply make the air/fuel mixture run lean and can ruin an engine.

sorry but what exactly is the snorkus? is it the factory air box? my friend's buddy blew his engine because it was running too lean with the intake modifications he did. is there anyway you can actually richen up your fuel mixture?

When you look at your black plastic air scoop in front... it leads to a hole in the fender...
And 2-3 inches away it comes back out and and attaches to the air filter box.

Now that you know where it is, just jack up your car on the front passenger side.
Get under your car, and remove those plastic holders, and bend back the inner plastic to reveal the snorkus.
It's a big black squarish plastic container really. To remove it---You gotta unscrew one bolt underneath, and one bolt thats located exactly between the two holes in the engine bay.

If you got a stock turbo you'll now here the turbo spool up with a wavy suction sound.
If you upgrade your turbo to vf-39 or up, youll hear a whine during spool up.

And, im not sure about the intake modification your friend did. But he probably added a CAI, and theres only a few cai's you can use safely on your car, and they cost big bucks.
Just replace the stock air filter to blitz, green filter or k&n if you wanna be on the safe side.

Oh yeah, for future reference, if you got any questions use a search on i-club, [url]www.nasioc.com[/url], or [url]www.scoobymods.com[/url]. You'll find tons of faq's, how to guides, and other great information stored on all these great sites. :)

rear sway bar is always a good idea.
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Just an FYI, yungjin recommended K&N. There has been much debate on this site, and I'm sure many others, that it will damage your MAF sensor. causing you to replace it, which is about a $400 part. You might want to look into that.

The air box mod that jacked your friend's scooby could have been due to an aftermarket air intake (highly debated mod item) but it would have nothing to do with removing the snorkus. A great resource for you in modding would be Unibomber's manifesto on Nasioc... the other major subaru site It has helped me a lot in my decisions for what to mod and what to leave alone.

[QUOTE=jvick125]Just an FYI, yungjin recommended K&N. There has been much debate on this site, and I'm sure many others, that it will damage your MAF sensor. causing you to replace it, which is about a $400 part. You might want to look into that.[/QUOTE]

yeah should of mentioned that...
when you use oil base filters, when you reoil them make sure to apply a light even coat, and let it sit for a period of time.

I read on nasioc about someone getting oil built up on his maf sensor around 60k miles. He basically had to pay the dealership 30-40 dollars to have his sensor cleaned. Other than that, I haven't heard of someone having to replace the whole Maf sensor because of the oil build up...

so removing the snorkus wouldnt cause much of a problem huh. i was thinking about buying a bov. you guys think it will be a good idea even though the car is pretty much bone stock?

[QUOTE=bluewrx82]so removing the snorkus wouldnt cause much of a problem huh. i was thinking about buying a bov. you guys think it will be a good idea even though the car is pretty much bone stock?[/QUOTE]

When you remove the snorkus you already know that your car sounds a bit louder.
But I've also heard that you lose roughly 1 hp by doing it, but boost 100 rpm quicker.

Using a BOV on your bone stock car may lead to your car idling rougher.
You'll also waste a little more gas then usual as well.
I've been wanting to take off the hks bov on my car, but since I lost my stock bov, im stuck with it. meh, it sounds cool and makes it funner to drive. Until you get sick of hearing it that is. :p

Welcome to i-club...noob, try a search first :D

I say Up Pipe and Down Pipe right off the bat.

Skip the bov
 

IMO I'd skip the bov. If you are looking for a louder "pshaaawww" sound just remove the snorkus and install an ic "y" pipe. This will really make the sound of your stock bov more pronounced. This sound will become even more pronounced later when you install a turboback and uppipe... A small, but added benefit is that you will get a bit faster spool time and about 5 extra horse power or so. You can buy Samco or Perrin for about $120.

As far as the bov, skip it. Essentially by installing an aftermarket bov on your stock car, you are blowing off all your boost, which in turn blows out extra gas and power. Most guys who run bov's end up running 50/50 anyway which is the same as stock... so unless you're putting in a fat turbo, it's not worth the money. Most tuners agree that unless you are running 400hp you don't need an aftermarket bov.

IMO on the cheap side I'd start with a rear sway bar and endlinks. If you want to go more spendy replace your wheels and tires.

i did rear way i hsould have done the clear front bra

but im happy with the sway

debadge it!!!
I know you payed extra for the wrx but if you advertise it you get alot of jurks that just want a fight... That and badges look ugly!! IMO

Bump for sigmi pi, he's right, do a clear bra for the car as a first mod. Very non bling but will keep your car lookin nice. I got one a month after getting the car and it was well worth it. It has saved me many a paint chip on my hood.

i think i might do the clear bra first. im putting about 44 fwy miles on my car every day. even though its not a lot of miles, i think it would be the smart thing to do. as far as performance modifications go, im gonna get some lowering springs. any suggestions?

personally, I don't do much in the way of modding,

but I have a friend that has spent 1000s modding his WRX wagon
and he SWEARS that the best mod he has done yet
is to get new shifter bushings (not sure if that's the exact/correct terminology)
I think he got Cobb ones
he said it was the most noticable mod he's done performance-wise,
and he said it was quite cheap AND very easy to install...

I am not technically inclined by any means, so this is NOT an explanation
from me, but I did find some more detailed info about the shifter bushings
and what they do (FYI)

They keep the fenuber valve from welding shut. This can happen if the car has been running hot and you've been shifting a lot. See, the fenuber valve usually only needs to open if you're running hot and in the same gear for a while. So if you've been shifting, the fenuber valve will stay shut. Do that long enough, and it can actually weld closed. And we all know that can spell disaster. So the shifter bushings will actually cause the fenuber valve to open a tiny little bit every so often even when it's not necessary. That keeps the air flowing through it a tiny bit, which is enough to keep it from welding.

just thought I would pass that along....

i just ordered my Kartboy shifter bushings, im very excited! the first mod i did was silencer delete and a k&n air filter. it sounds good and i like to know my cars breathing a lil better. next i did little simple things and im gettin my cat-back exhaust i just ordered in a couple days. but once im done with the full exhaust (catback, Dp,Up, and maybe greddy manifold) im focusing the next couple months on suspenion upgrades and probably brakes.