looking for a good setup...need help

I am finally getting around to planning my modifications. I have a 02 wrx 2.0, and looking for advice on how to get to my goals. Only upgrades so far is cat less turbo back exhaust and spectre drop in air filter. I don't have any info on the exhaust because it was installed by previous owner.

My goal is a daily driver that can beat most modern muscle cars, such as camaros , mustang , or chargers. Would this be reasonable?

 

This is doable. First off I would suggest looking for a replacement for your 02 WRX Glass Transmission. If you push too much power through this car you will break your transmission. I saw that Oak Leaf had a 6 Speed available for around 2K right now. You can also find used 6 Speeds or build 5 Speeds here (more rare) or NASIOC (more risk).

Then save money to replace your engine or think about a build. That is another weak link you will find when pushing that 2.0.

 

Kudos for a well written post!

 

Throw in a VF39, injectors, fuel pump, and E85 tune.

It will be pretty fun until it breaks. Then do that stuff ofspunk said.

 

I don't quite get your point of "beating" modern muscle cars.
You mean street race? Drag strip? Road course? AutoX? RallyX?

It is impossible to answer the question of what you "need" without knowing your real goals.

Yea, you can add a 6 spd, but what good will that do in some of the disciplines I described above? You can build a motor, but again same thing. Same with suspension.

So you aren't being "unreasonable". You're being TOO vague.

 

A lot of research will get you details on what kind HP+ with each add on. I do recommend getting a tune after every new part added as these cars aren't as easy as bolting on and seeing a difference right away. You'll need a proper tune to have the car run properly from the specific parts. If not, your setting yourself up for trouble and more money to fix everything later. I'm still a noob but just giving my 2cents from my research.

 

To make a street drag race car, which one can assume by his first post my suggestions were to set him up for success. If he does what most people do wrong first, he would toss on a larger turbo and a few supporting mods. Blow his budet.... and in a few months blow his transmission and/or engine and not have money to get his car back on the road. He has an 02 WRX. There is a reason that they upgraded the transmission in the car and moved away from that 2.0 engine. I would highly suggest that he sets himself up for a drivable car vs blowing all of his money on power and having nothing left when he has to drop a few K on a tranny or motor. Learn from the mistakes that a large portion of this clubs membership has already made. Again this is assuming he wants a drag or street race car. To beat cars like the ones he has listed above most would shoot for 350+ WHP (low end). That is not going to be too friendly on a glass transmission that you can find in his 02. Then add on whatever miles it already has on it. Seems like a good starting point from my end.

 

I am referring to street/ drag racing. And as I said, at this point my goals are to have a safe , fun and reliable daily driver that can out perform a 350 HP modern muscle car in a straight line.
I understand these cars are only entry level performance but they can still be a lot of fun. I just want to have a little more before upgrading engine and trans.

Thanks for all who responded

Also are there any tuners in the north metro

 

NF Performance is the closest to the North Metro.

Unless you like places that blow up cars

If you want to buy some semi fast parts (and replace them later with larger parts) I agree with Ben.

Edit: you can get correct size injectors and FP. However, you may go larger turbo in the future with the goals that you have in mind.

 

What if I don't want it to blow up??? I just want it to have flames coming from underneath like neon lights!!!

 

What size brand injectors/ fuel pump? What engine / trans would be a suitable replacement?

 

you are going to need a lot of upgrades to get to the 350 mark and still be safe. well I run 900cc injectors fuel injector clinics. upgraded fuel pump. e85 tune. vf48 pnp. turbo back exhaust. catless 44mm external upipe. at that point I was making around 300 maybe little more. those right there are not cheap to get done. you can do the injectors yourself but have fun removing those pesky brackets. tunning is not going to be cheap specially if its your first tune. once this all happens you will more than likely you will slip your clutch on hard pulls. honestly if you want to achieve what you want you should just buy a sti. save yourself some headache. but honestly its up to you. I would look into getting your uppipe changed out first.

 

I'm guessing that like most people he is talking about beating them in a drag race. At 250/whp in an 02 WRX you should be able to keep up with most of the cars that you have listed. It will require high RPM launches. I run a 16g with a front mount on a 2.0 and if I throw out concern for the transmission it will do pretty well in a drag race. In a race on an unprepared surface you probably have the advantage as most folks just blow the wheels off of the rear drive car on a launch. A highway pull, especially after 80 or so, your gonna need a good amount more power. I have gone thru 3 of the glass transmissions playing around like this.

 

I have the setup I described above. Stock motor and transmission.

Should be over 300WHP at the wheels and a much lighter car than most nowdays.

It will probably blow up any day now.

 

I guess I was thinking he may have been interested in some other discipline than racing in a straight line. Shoulda known better.

 

Would a 2.5 from a sti be a better starting platform with sti trans?

I am planning on finding new engine and trans, because mine has almost 200,000 miles on it. All upgrades would be after engine swap.

 

Good thing you have a Forester now! haha I have to wait until the new year before I get a company car so hopefully mine doesn't blow up until then.
I really don't want to end up driving the Suburban every day, the 7.4L gulps fuel.

 

Tell me more about your WHP at the wheels
Also about blowing up engines and transmissions


He could be fine with his transmission. I was just suggesting that he replace the weakest transmission ever put on a WRX first. Trying to help him out now vs later. You and I know all about having things blow up when you don't have fun money to fix them with. Also the 02 has been known to blow up so easly that the Subaru Community nick-named it a glass transmission.

 

Yeah. You won't have to worry about the 6-speed breaking and there are a ton of parts out there for the EJ25 because it was used on all 06+ WRXs and all of the USDM STIs.

 

Well we also have to concider this.

Profit of selling his WRX
Cost of a Used STI (year will drive this)
Out of pocket cost for the upgrade

Then once you have your STI, will you even be at the power level you want to be?

 

Oh definitely, I don't think buying an STI is what he wants to do. I thought he said he was already planning on buying an engine and trans for the 02 wrx because his has 200k on it.
But up higher in the thread OP said he just wanted more power before the engine and trans. I am a little confused.

If OP can afford a 6 speed swap and an EJ257 and have money for a bigger turbo an supporting mods then go for it! But obviously that is a lot of money and will probably take some time.

 

I was hoping to get setup and bigger turbo that I could switch over to sti setup after I can afford it. I know it seems a little confusing but to simplify, I want more now than new engine/ trans.

 

Company car and STI FTW! That's what I had, until I moved to a new role...then no more company car and bought a DD instead. Be warned though, the gas mileage on an STI is worse than WRX's in most conditions.

The STI would definitely be a much better platform to shoot for 350whp (can be done on stock STI turbo), except for the ringland issues on the 2.5L motors. Throw in some forged pistons and you're good to go!

 

Does anybody know of a good site to buy an ej257 and 6 speed sti tranny?

Thanks

 

I know everyone says ahhhh 2.0 rod knock...I have 200k on my 2.0 85k of that is on e85 at 25psi on a vf37 daily driving and it's still going strong. 320 320 using airboys on mustang dyno setting. On a unfinished 22psi e85 map I put down 280 270 on rs motorsports mustang dyno.

That said I went the power rout then the tranny and broke a ton of stuff. Transmission rear diff axles. Some was gentle driving some was During dirt road hooning

 

I keep hearing about e85 tuning, I have never modded a car before or had one tuned. So this e85 tune is it a specific map or tuning your vehicle to run e85 gas blend.
I would like to have a little more fun with it before saving for a new ej257, but I'm trying to find a new trans mission that will fit my 2.0 than the ej257. Any ideas?

 

Found 850 cc duetchwerks (?) Injectors and walbo fuel pump online for around $750.00 all together. Also found the vf43 for around $1000. Do these seem like fair prices?

 

Im going to chime in here and offer my 2 cents.

First off you should contact a tuner of some sort and get your engine management figured out. Most folks chose the tactrix route and another common choice is the cobb access port. Both are used to calibrate your ecu for your modifications.

Second, do you really feel like dropping easily upwards of 10,000 for an engine and transmission swap before any other mods? If your new to modding with little knowledge of these installs, it will overwhelm you. I know it can be done for less but with labor costs and hidden costs no one is mentioning like head work, clutches, gaskets and so on it will add up quick.

Third, keep it simple and take your time and learn. I recommend the set up that has been recommended already- vf39,43,48 (all the same) with the appropriate injectors and fuel pump, better tmic, and a good tune. If your concern is beating v8s in a straight line you might want to start thinking of a different car. The tuner can recommend injectors big enough for e85 later if pump power is not enough for you. Do some more research and see if e85 is ok for your life style. Hard to find in some remote locations.

Also is your uppipe catless? If not that is something that needs to be replaced before any more upgrades.

Those prices you found seem a little high. Used vf sti turbos can be found for around 3-400 dollars used here on the forums and injectors pop up from time to time too.

Good luck to you and have fun with the addiction your about to unfold.

 

I keep thinking of the movie Born To Race

 

Haha I just watched "Born 2 Race" the other night. It was pretty much the same plot as Tokyo Drift without the Tokyo part and more Subaru.
Very entertaining but a pretty terrible movie.

 

You're gonna have a bad time unless you're built. You have two options.

Swap (or built 2.1, see nuke or fuji) with rotated setup.
Join them, you may be able to hang with them for about 2500-3500, but thats only if they are stock.

 

why do you want to snack on popcorn?

don't you like steaks and lobsters?

 

I like my subie , if I wanted a pony car I would have bought one. I was simply wondering if I could get the kind of power I was looking for. I bought this car with the intent to swap engine and trans when the time was right. I understand this will cost around 10k, but I'm willing to take on that cost to have the " snack of popcorn" wrx that I want it to be.
I really do appreciate everybody's advice and future advice.

 

Having walked down this road (and still walking down it), sell your car and buy a more appropriate platform. Subarus aren't cheap to drag. Yes, you can get any amount of power you want but the cost effectiveness just isn't there. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't waste the time and money.

 

I'd look at either an LSx (budget) or 5.0L Coyote (a bit more exotic, I haven't seen one done yet) swap and look at Tremec or Getrag for a transmission.

 

i want to see how you drive first.

 

I like and see what you've done here.

 

The only things that were the same was the fact that it had cars, and the kids were white. There was no drift in born to race, there was no drag in tokyo drift. You obviously didnt watch it, stop pretending to be cool. SHIBBS is cool, just adding an N in front of HIBBs doesn't mean you can come in here and box.

I'm kidding. Or am I?

 

Haha I am a little confused but I didn't even realize there was somone here named shibbs. I wonder if we are related assuming it is based in his last name too...

But yeah I was mostly talking about the setup of the movie and the situation with the kid getting sent to his dads and the street racing and the highschool drama. Not exactly the same story but there are some definite similarities.

 

I can beat all them Muscle cars around the corners with thy Prius, rain, sleet, snow or shine. And that's not including MPG

 

Maybe 70s muscle cars, not modern ones.

 

Them too lol

 

I know you're a rembrandt behind the wheel, but you cant make the impossible, possible.