2006 WRX ?'s

[SkeetsWisconny]

My car-2006 WRX daily driven on roads only no AutoX, etc.

Mods:AccessPort2 Stage 2 Map (protune coming), K&N drop in filter, Cobb catted d/pipe, Borla "hush" catback exhaust, Cobb F&R sways

Questions:
1) I know the stock air intake is good but I wonder how much more power I'd get using a short ram intake w/the protune? Doesn't seem like enough bang for the buck for my power...
2) Wondering if it's worth getting a lighter-weight pulley-From what I heard it allows the car to rev up faster and accelerate a bit more w/out any drawbacks. Thoughts/Experiences?
3)Still having trouble getting rid of the clunking sound in my rear bar on medium stiffness setting- How do I get rid of it!? :/ Anyone have them? What do you think of the sway bar collars? I'm gonna try them since they are so inexpensive. I was told to check the Strut assembly (check the top”hat” to the strut), to make sure the strut connections are tight as I have already checked the endlinks, any other ideas?
4) I've heard the stock endlinks are good for daily driven cars who don't autoX, race, etc and that aftermarket ones are stronger but don't provide any other advantages?
5) Alignment-What kind of specs do you think I should set up for an aggressive but every day driven 2006 WRX TR?-(Zero toe front and rear-if anything a little toe out in the rear, Castor? Camber?) Do you have any other suggestions that I would want to consider for an alignment? Max out camber bolts (-1.4to -1.8)?

Keep in mind I live in Wisconsin where we see many snowy roads. I like to drive hard here and there, keep reliability in the highest concern at all times, spend as reasonably low as possible , and see how many G's I can pull on my Iphone Thanks again for any help/advice/suggestions Impreza fans!

[wrxtreme06]

i can only really answer your 1st question. i have a turboxs SRI with a cobb OTS stage 2 map and i put out 241 whp/ 272 wtq

with the protune you should be making a few more ponies though

[06wrx4me]

You'll find my mods on my 06 and dyno graphs in my sig.
I'm on the stock airbox.

[SkeetsWisconny]

Think I'll stay w/the stock intake as I've read it's pretty good up to 400hp and it's not worth the $ for me personally... I actually checked out ur mods and whatnot the other day looking on here before I signed up... nicely done, torn up about replacing the turbo b/c of the upgrades needed along with it and the $ What kind of mileage do you get 06wrx4me? Are you able to run an economy map of sorts?

[06wrx4me]

Originally Posted by SkeetsWisconny

Think I'll stay w/the stock intake as I've read it's pretty good up to 400hp and it's not worth the $ for me personally... I actually checked out ur mods and whatnot the other day looking on here before I signed up... nicely done, torn up about replacing the turbo b/c of the upgrades needed along with it and the $ What kind of mileage do you get 06wrx4me? Are you able to run an economy map of sorts?

Economy maps are a waste of time. I get 23MPG on California piss water 91 oct. Thats a mix of city/hwy.

Yeah stock box is where its at unless you swap the turbo.

[SkeetsWisconny]

That's pretty good from the sounds of the gas. I have noticed better mileage while I'm driving on the freeway on my economy map 27-30 mpg. I don't know how "our" gas in Wisonsin compares to Cali's but I'm pretty sure it's a little better quality...either way at least its not $4 a gallon. I can remember paying $4.39 for 93 this summer. REDIC!

[Sinister]

Castor and Toe keep at stock. Camber I have at -1.0 and am very happy. I do experience tramlining, but I believe it's more so because I'm using RE-01r tires than the Camber settings.

K&N claims something like a 13hp increase with their Short Ram Intake. I have one, and I'm not sure, but the sound, and the appearance in the engine bay are worth the money in my opinion.

I actually have the same anti-sway bars set on medium with absolutely no problems. I do have perrin endlinks though. I went with the endlinks just because of how thin the front ones are, and how the rear ones are plastic. Can't hurt, and they're not very expensive in relation to other mods. I would check EVERYTHING in your suspension. I also have an 06 wrx, and I have the service manual for it. Email me, and I'll send it to you. It has all of the torque specs for your top-hats, your camber bolts, sway-bar bolts, etc. Everything that could be loose!

Also a quick comment on the Fuel Econ... on a protuned vf39 with 91 oct I got 33.6mpg over a 50mile stretch of highway in utah while I was driving cross-country. But I do notice my city mpg is slightly lower.

I rambled a little, but hope I helped! ;-)

[pzr2874]

If you are getting a protune done, get a CAI... The hot air intakes do nothing compared to tuned for CAI. Unless you get flooded where you are ?

[SkeetsWisconny]

Thanks again guys, I think I might stick with the intake because it's already perty good and I'm a little short on $$. Endlinks may come in the future but the stock ones have done well so far, they are pretty cheap though but from what i've heard they arnt a necessary upgrade for street use.
We don't get many floods in WI but I don't know anything about a CAI?
Think I'll go with -1 camber and zero toe for the alignment.

Also thinking Im going to go with an Etune on the AP through cobb rather than getting a protune done cuz I think it'll be cheaper and just about as good. Thoughts on any of this are always appreciated, and definitely HELPFUL! thanks again Trying to get more w/out paying much more if ya can't tell!

[SkeetsWisconny]

Also, thanks sinister, I have a manual too, I'll get under the car and check everything I can figure out how to :/ Thanks for the offer though! Clunking is just so damn annoying, ALMOST wish i hadn't put them on...but i love them at the same time, no more understeer

[06wrx4me]

Originally Posted by SkeetsWisconny

Also thinking Im going to go with an Etune on the AP through cobb rather than getting a protune done cuz I think it'll be cheaper and just about as good. Thoughts on any of this are always appreciated, and definitely HELPFUL! thanks again Trying to get more w/out paying much more if ya can't tell!

From Cobb AP stg 2 tune to protune I picked up 40 WHP and 66.6 wtq. And all that was was tuning. I'd say thats a rather substantial jump.

[SkeetsWisconny]

Da**! Was that before or after the intercooler swap? I'm leaning toward the etune offered through Cobb cuz I think it'll only run 150$ but he said a "good" tuner might be able to get more but it wouldnt be much if at all and that "good tuners" are often hard to come by, I live in Eau Claire, WI, 2 hrs east of Minneapolis. But that is the kind of jump I want to see in hp, I like your style 06wrx4me, did u see a big difference from ur stock enlinks to the perrin's?

[SkeetsWisconny]

Ok wow, I just looked up some prices of an STI TMIC and vf39 and i could prolly pick up the both around 6-800$ and sell my stock ones for like 400$ish i would think... so tempting i might have to wait on the etune after all...this stuf is so addicting

[pzr2874]

You may not even be able to give away yur stock stuff... You can find a STi TMIC and VF39 for 500.00 - 600.00.

Look on several other sites... Namely IWSTI.com and NASIOC.com

[SkeetsWisconny]

how hard are the sti TMIC and turbo to install? Looks like all bolt on but am i missing ANYTHING? I am going to have a guy I know do it for me for a minimal cost but I want to know everything that has to be done before I do. Any reason to worry about the weaker than STI tranny for an average daily driven vehicle??? Thanks!