As someone who has never had aftermarket suspension in my vehicle before, I certainly notice the stiffer feel, but I'm noticing it less and less in the short time I've had the suspension fully installed. I love how well my car handles with the Group N STI tops, AGX struts and RCE springs - it's much more engaging. Yellows would be the better way to go if you want more of a drop, but I'll keep the Regular Guy springs; they're great for a daily driver.
I had Jeff The Alignment Guy mount four new tires for me. I went from 215/45/17 on 17x7 wheels to 225/45/17. Pics to come, but they do a better job filling up the wheel gap than my previous setup. My suspension is now where I want it until I can find a set of 18s next summer, but man that got expensive and quick. Still need to get bodywork done too.
I scheduled a tune at JM Auto on June 30th. I'm excited to finally get my car off of the Cobb Stage 2 tune. Also, here's a picture to compare the summer setup vs. the winter setup: Apologies for the pictures taken around dusk and not being on the same level/plane, but you get the idea.
Can you please report back on your results? I'm in the same boat and looking to do this in the very near future. My apologies if you get two quote notifications. I saw your post in the what did you do today thread before here. So basically just moved it here. Carry on!
The first or second owner (I'm the fourth) cut the rubber that "connects" the rear quarter panel to the rear bumper. Pretty much spotless underneath too! Ha, no need to apologize! I double-post because I'm egotistical like that. I'll definitely report back here. I'm adding a GrimmSpeed EBCS to the setup as well, so keep that in mind. My current OTS tune is for the one with with the stock EBCS. Fingers crossed.
Devin will be able to get alot more flexibility with the GS BCS. What fuel pump/injectors are you running?
Couple things. Can you elaborate on this rubber thing involving the rear quarters and how this affects the rust situation? Also, I re-read your previous posts. Do you have an aftermarket down pipe? Otherwise I think our cars are almost identical mod-wise. I've got an uppipe, full exhaust, GS ebcs, and stock fuel setup. Kinda would like to upgrade my fuel situation before scheduling a tune but I'm oddly excited to hear your feelings on yours. It's like I've put off the pro-tune too long...
That rubber thing. From factory, it keeps going down the bumper and harbors moisture. Keeping it as-is from factory will likely produce rust up in these parts. Yup, I have an Invidia downpipe with a cat and divorced wastegate that came with the car. Besides the EBCS from GrimmSpeed, we're pretty much identical for go-fast bits. I may add the 255, it's not that expensive. I need to see what the install is like too. What are the downsides of keeping my stock one?
Less fuel of course! Ideally a set of modded stock injectors and a Walboro 255 would be my official suggestion, but the Walboro is pretty much a must have at $80 and a little elbow grease. JMA can do installs too if you ask them to schedule it before the tune.
I shouldn't have an issue doing the 255 myself after taking a look at a few tutorials. In preparation for the tune on June 30: I have fresh transmission fluid and fluid in the rear diff, plus an oil change - should have ~700 miles on this by the time June 30 is here Fresh spark plugs, no clue when these were last changed, so probably a good idea to do so soon Tossing in an Optima red top, since the cheapo battery I have in now is nearly 7 years old and has a good amount of corrosion on the battery I may throw in a GrimmSpeed battery tiedown, but totally not necessary lol.
I know, it suckssss. Work has been crazy the last few months, so I scheduled it after it calms down a bit.
I picked up the 255 today! Thank you free one-day Amazon Prime shipping. I'll be installing it either Saturday or Sunday. Still need to do spark plugs though...I should probably do those this weekend as well.
Especially around an exposed gas tank. I was just frustrated by how damn hard it was to disconnect the larger fuel line to the assembly. I was certain I was going to rip or tear it.
The day finally arrived! Here are the results of my tune at JM Auto: The stage 2 map from Cobb is primitive compared to the tune from Devin this afternoon. The car actually feels responsive now lol. I did stick to 91 octane, though. I could have squeaked out more power with 93, but I'm happy with this.
So just out of curiosity, what would you need to upgrade on the car to make 300 WHP reliably? I have zero experience with turbo Subarus, but will be jumping into one in the near future.
I'd likely need the following: A bigger intercooler A bigger turbo Bigger injectors Going to E85 6-speed swap And that's at minimum, on top of the aftermarket items I already have. I'd likely just ask Devin what he would recommend and follow his guidance. The 6-speed swap is my biggest priority on this list, simply because I'm sure my transmission would give out before I'm close to 300. That said, I'm not in any rush to add more power. I need to learn how to drive my car with the tune I just got lol.
I'm running right around 300 with the glass tranny, and have been for about 90k. I agree with everything on your list except the tranny. Tho it would be a nice addition! The e85 is optional also.
And fwiw, your numbers are low because of the dyno. You're probably right around 225-230hp with what you're running. @housemusic1 , an STi is only about 260 or 265 to the wheels. 300 is a pretty large number to reach for a bugeye. But with cornbooze and a handful of mods, could be doable I would assume
That's reassuring, thanks Josh! How many miles does your transmission have now? Yup, you're right! Devin said it'd read out higher if I was on MAP's dyno. He was really happy with how the tune turned out and so am I. I went and drove some curvy back roads in Ham Lake, Blaine and Andover tonight and it's a blast so far. Lots 'o smiles per mile.
So, the last 2-3 weeks I've been having issues with my WRX hitting boost. At first, I was getting at least 7-8 PSI, but it kept getting worse until I had no boost, whatsoever. After reading through @Krazylegz1485's thread, I knew I had similar issues. @idget was kind enough to point out that if there's a boost leak between the turbo and throttle body, it'd be obvious. Well, I popped off my intercooler to have a looksee and... I'd say my OEM turbo inlet hose is fukked. I'm thinking Tomei is the way to go (unless the forum has other suggestions).
This is the one that i had in my bugeye. http://www.airpowersystems.com/wrx/intake/intake.htm I loved it and the hard inlet pipes really add some nice turbo/spool noises!
Glad you got it figured out. Cutting out the OEM inlet saves time. Installing a new one kinda sucks regardless. Silicon is easiest but usually has the worst fitment. OEM and aps tend to fit and then stay in place better tho. Some iteration of a perrin design was a good middle ground... Dunno if they make that one still...
After reading up on it more, I can handle the hard inlet pipe install. Looks like I'll have to hit up Boos performance and see what the APS inlet pipe is gonna cost me. The AMR one has good reviews from people who took their time lol.
Might be a good time to do your rubber fuel lines under the intake if you haven't ever done them? Otherwise if they've never leaked maybe just don't make eye contact with them while you're in there and they'll stay good.
That also crossed my mind. I might as well at this point, seeing as how the list of things I'm considering replacing just keeps growing lol.
That definitely looks like that inlet could stand to be replaced. Pretty common on those stock ones - they get soaked with oil over the years and start to disintegrate. That tear could cause some lean issues on a MAF car, but wouldn't be a source of a boost leak. The inlet isn't ever under boost. I'd say check your turbo for shaft play when you have the inlet out. If it's gradually been making less and less boost your turbo may have **** the bed. If you had a major boost leak like what idget was talking about, you'd hear it.
Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. I do not hear the traditional boost leak noise, so the turbo may indeed have gone to hell...
They are pretty easy to rebuild, and the parts are cheap. I have a ported & polished rebuilt TD04 that I just pulled out of my wagon sitting in the shop, has 3k on it! If you need a replacement. Let me know if you need help rebuilding the current one.
Thank you! I appreciate that a lot. I have an AMR inlet being delivered tomorrow, so I hope to dive in this weekend if possible. Side question, I'm not really seeing any fuel line kits besides this one: https://www.fastwrx.com/products/subaru-fuel-line-update-kit-2002-2003-wrx Is this what y'all recommend to replace while I'm at it? Looks like it comes with OEM TGV gaskets too, so I'll likely skip buying ones from GrimmSpeed.
That's just new oem parts. The issue is the connection between the soft and hard lines. Most peoples' solution is to either tighten down or replace the clamps. You could also go with an aftermarket fuel rail kit which replaces the hard and soft lines under the intake manifold. Upgrading to larger fuel lines (for $500) on a mostly stock powered car to address an issue that pops up occasionally is probably overkill though. Not to mention once most people do upgrade the power to a point that the fuel rails are helpful, they're probably not going to DD the car. But anyway, if you're thinking about a higher hp build it's an option that might fit your use case.
When I did mine I just got a few feet of fuel injection hose and some new clamps. Cut to fit as you take them off. Cheap fix but damn is it a pita getting to them.
Forgot to add.... position the clamps so you can tighten them if needed later without a bunch of disassembly!
