PurduePhiGam

Hi all

I am now an official member of i-club. I recently got a 2005 WRX (Blue), and am now overwhelmed with joy.

I am not in a hurry to start modifications; however, I would like your input.

When I do start (within the next year), I plan to drop it 1.5" or so, add a boost controller, intake, and cat back exhaust, and possibly install an upgraded chip.
Now it's been a while since I researched things for the WRX so I need some advice.

So tell me, which suspension, intake, exhaust, chip do you prefer or have had good experiences with? Please include costs, etimated installs, etc.

black_s203

1. full suspension
2. uppipe
3. down pipe
4. full exhaust system

then

vf34
pinks
fuel pump
engine management

after im happy with that and want some more, then

fuel rail
grounding kit
fly wheel
clutch

thats would i get. or i mean planing now!!!:banana: :banana:

yeah...

WindingRoad

iTrader: (15)

1. Better tires
2. big brake upgrade (stoptech or brembo)
3. Coilovers (some good ones too)
4. Racing School...trust me on this one. you'll learn how to DRIVE your car and in the long run, you will have more fun with it.
5. anything else... you should be able to handle it after school

PurduePhiGam

i've been looking into a cobb tuning access port. which simply changes the maps to the ECU. This supposidly makes up for lost power. anyways, i didn't know if that'd be a good idea or not before modifications (they would of course come soon after).

so would you recommend an up/down pipe before or after exhaust? Would it be best to get an UP pipe first or a down pipe first?

keep in mind i am still in college, and have aspirations of dental school in the near future. I need to buy what i can now, before i am super broke.

Thanks fellas

jvick125

iTrader: (2)

I'll give my advice if you tell your football team to let us win this year.

Jack

nachomc

iTrader: (7)

A boost controller is not your friend. Not with the WRX anyhow. Nor is an intake.

It's really hard to tell you what parts to buy because I don't know what your budget is and I don't know why you're modifying the car. Are you going for performance or looks? A happy medium?

Here's what I've done to mine thus far ...

Suspension/wheels

STi pink springs on stock struts (for now). In the near future, I'll be getting some KYB AGX adjustable struts and an adjustable rear sway bar. Because I'm going for performance (for the occasional auto cross, or, maybe a track day at some point), but my car is also a street car and I want it to look good but still be comfortable when I'm driving 17k miles per year, this is a great solution for me. The car isn't so low that I can't go over speed bumps or get in to steep driveways, the ride is still good for the freeway or surface streets, but the car has incredible handling that is very predictable, and it looks great.

For wheels, I have had two sets now. One set of Rota Subzero and my current set of Rota Tarmac II. I like Rotas because they're quality wheels and they don't wreak havoc on my account balances. If you don't want Rotas, you an find a ton of other wheels for your car that are awesome, just check out some actual Subaru sites like www.gruppe-s.com, don't go to Americas Tire and pick up the American Racing or Konig special. My wheels now are 17x7.5", though with the sedan you can easily run 17x8" wheels. Right now I'm fitting 235/40/17 tires with no rubbing.

Power

I started out with a stg 1 ECU reflash from COBB. I picked this up because I got a smoking deal on it. It was an awesome mod - really made the car more driveable and gave it some decent pick up. Like the COBB site says, this really is how the car should have come from the factory.

Now, though, because I have a local tuner (the one nice thing about living in CA is that we have a ton of local knowledge and dynos), I would go (and did) with an ECUTek reflash, custom tuned on an inhouse dyno. For power, that would have been my first mod. I likely would have achieved higher power numbers from a custom tune than from the off the shelf COBB map, though I really don't know for sure since I never tried it out and compared.

The only other initial mod I did were Vishnu intercooler hoses (black in color). Since then I decided to big time and my car now has the following (in addition to the intercooler hoses):

1. IHI VF34 (I chose the 34 for the low/midrange power. If you want some high end kick, and that kick in the pants turbo spool rush, get the VF22).
2. STi 565cc Pink Injectors
3. Perrin up-pipe
4. Invidia downpipe, connected to a Perrin catback (3" all the way through)
5. ECUTek reflash and tune on a local dyno

The car is making 250whp and 220wtq. It really gets up and kicks ***. I love it

Just read up in the engine management forum and you'll pick stuff up - intake and boost controller (either/or) are not recommended for the WRX. And if you don't mind buying used parts, keep your eyes on the forums - I have saved literally thousands of dollars by buying used.

PurduePhiGam

wow, so no intake at all huh? i always thought intake would help any car breathe a little better. not to mention squeak out some extra horses

i've really (the past week) been looking into this Stage 1 power package from cobb (i dont know if that's what you were talking about or not, but it's just a fancy name for a hand-held map transportation device. anyways, the dyno looked real impressive.

beside the fact that it's $600, you can modify the settings at any time.


I really only have room in my budget say for something like this and perhaps suspension (until i get more cash flow). any other ideas/advice?

i'm baffled by the no intake suggestion (saves me money though, lol!)

PurduePhiGam

sorry to clutter up this forum, but i had one more thing

i was also looking into eibach sport line springs, with intentions of buying some koni shocks a few months down the line. any opinions on this?

nachomc

iTrader: (7)

The Eibachs are decent. The only issue with Eibachs is that they drop the car quite a bit and you're REAL low. If you want to spend a bit less than STi pinks, look in to the ProDrive sprins.

Wingless Wonder

iTrader: (7)

The cold air intake debate.

i-Club has dedicated forums for the WRX EJ20 turbo engine, the STi EJ25 turbo engine, and the Impreza suspension. You might find some ideas for what you want to do with your car in those topic-specific forums. In each of the forums there is a forum Search link that can come in handy, too.

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

Dynapar

i have heard most of the debate over the intake on WRXs. basically to sum it up you wont need an intake until you have about 300HP. other then the the stock airbox flows good enough. you can always put in a drop in filter (kn or perrin or other) and there is the silencer delte mod. hp gains are minimal if at all, but you get a cool sound!

jvick125

iTrader: (2)

No deal with the football teams?

PurduePhiGam

i actually know our quarterback's girlfriend quite well....i'll see what i can do for you. lol

jvick125

iTrader: (2)

Awesome. Thanks. . .lol