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What would you do?

2K views 15 replies 5 participants last post by  WRX-maniac 
#1 ·
Hey guys, im in a bit of a mix up here about what I want to do next to my car. As it sits, my 2011 wrx is stage 2 with an invidia catted dp, invidia q300, aem cai, and a torqued performance stage 2 tune. With tax time upon us and me yet to do my taxes, I am not sure how much I will be getting back. My initial plans were wheels, tires, coilovers, and a front lip. Which altogether will cost around 3k. But if I dont get at least between 2-2.5k back in tax return it will be result in me having to add quite a bit out of pocket. So it got me thinking. I have also been considering doing the following mods to my car in which my tax return will certainly cover:

-Process west tmic
-forge bpv
-protune from IAG
-a couple engine bay dress up pieces (perrin rad shroud and pulley cover)

All of that will cost me around 2k. But will these mods (mainly the bigger tmic) actually net me any gains over my stage 2 setup? Now im not all about power like some people. Im more about a smoother ride when it comes to the power I do have which will def come from a protune. Drivability is more of a plus than added power in my eyes. But it would be nice to know if the above mods will actually help in the power department.

So if you were in my shoes, what would you do? I am still leaning towards the wheels and suspension but if I have to fork out another 500 bucks or more to get there, and the thought of a smoother ride with increased drivability and a few more hp would also be nice. So please weigh in on your thoughts and help me out here. Any quidance and wisdom here is much appreciated.
 
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#2 ·
I would start with front and rear swaybars and endlinks.
That will cut the body roll. I know I say this a lot but bushings.
Also stainless steel brake lines and DOT4 fluid. Maybe some new pads.
I'm with you 100% on the PW TMIC and BPV. I'm doing that as soon as I have the funds.
Definitely get tuned for the TMIC you'll be able to boost at like 20 psi. And replace your throttle body hose and turbo inlet. That's where I would go with it.
 
#3 ·
Yea I plan on doing bushings and sways soon. Actually forgot to mention if I do the tmic and the bpv route instead of wheels and suspension, I will be replacing the stock pitch stop with a perrin one while im there. Also plan on the kartboy sts kit with the bushings.
 
#4 ·
Also do the front and rear positive shift kits and the rear differential inserts. It shifts awesome with those.
On mine I did the subframe inserts as well. I got the Beatrush forged pitch stop mount.
You'll hear more NVH but it's not bad. Go to Turn In Concepts they have the whole kit.
I would leave the factory struts and springs in there and just do the swaybars and endlinks. Coilovers make the ride incredibly jarring, I don't care for them myself. That's just an opinion mind you.
 
#5 ·
And I very much appreciate your opinion good sir! I love coilovers. I have had coilovers on all of my wrx's and the ride never bothered me. But thanks for the info here. I have followed your build thread pretty closely to assist me with what bushings to go with. I was also looking into the Beatrush pitch stop, but the perrin one has great reviews. (so did the beatrush) But if i remember correctly the perrin one was a litter cheaper.
 
#6 ·
The Beatrush pitch stop is $40 more than the Perrin. They are both good.
Coilovers are definitely a personal preference, where you've had them before go with what you know.
Sometimes I forge that you've had 2 before this one.

The thing I'd be a little hung up on, is witch PW TMIC to go with. The standard or the new VERTI-COOLER.
Decisions decisions. I'm thinking the standard, but we'll see. Which one were you thinking of?
 
#7 ·
You know I was torn between the two myself. But if I go that route, I decided on the black stardard tmic from them. I love the idea behind the verticooler, but there just isnt enough road time with that intercooler to show if it truly is superior to the stardard one. When I order my stuff in march, wheter it be the wheels suspension, etc, or the intercooler and the other stuff, hopefully there will be more logs on how much better, or lack there of, the verticooler is in comparison to help weigh in on my decision.
 
#9 ·
Thanks for your input irickchad. But a few questions. If I go this route these are the things that I am doing FOR SURE: PW TMIC, Forge BPV, Perrin pitch stop mount,pro-tune. On to my questions.

-Why the ebcs? I understand that it is a great tool for better boost control, but at stage 2 idk if it is neccesary. I planned on adding the ebcs when I went to my ewg setup.
-Why a fuel pump? From all of my research and understanding the stock pump and injectors are efficient for stage 2 modifications. I intend, again, to do the pump with injectors when I go EWG.
-As far as the AOS goes, if i go with the intercooler and stuff I think I will get an AOS while im at it. I remember when I took the stock intercooler off to get better access to the downpipe when I went stage 2 that there was a little bit of oil in the intercooler piping. So an AOS will be beneficiary. What brand(s) do you recommend for an AOS?

Thanks in advance to anyone that can better explain these things to me.
 
#10 ·
As far as the TMIC offering gains, you should have cooler\denser air entering the motor, which alone can make more power and lower EGTs.

I am stage 2 on Cobb. If I were going with Process West, Id do the Verticooler. I feel it will cool better.

When I do an aftermarket recirculating BOV, I will be buying a Turbosmart.

With regards to the Perrin dress up kit, it looks nice for sure. I think if your working on a budget, you could postpone this.

On to suspension. For me, I am content with my factory 17's. Going to 18's is about the only thing that would make me buy new wheels. Then the tires cost more and the rims are more susceptible to damage. I don't know if you want to do it for looks or performance. If its looks, this could be postponed.

Ive done a number of suspension mods. Some are in my signature, some are not.

I have K sport Coilovers set at -1.5" drop. Up front I have the SPT strut tower brace, Eibach sway bar, Perrin endlinks with spherical bearings and Perrin pitch stop mount. In the rear, I have Eibach sway bar,Perrin end links with heim joints, Cusco sub frame bar, Perrin sub frame bushings and Whiteline sway bar braces. All this makes for a more stable ride. There are other mods I can make, but im good for now.

I have a factory short shifter with Cobb shift knob. I would like to do the shifter bushing kit, because the guys that have done it rave about it. I also like the positive shift bushings.
 
#11 ·
TMIC, BPV, EWG, and retune

That will use up your $2K budget. If you can throw a fuel pump and injectors in there, youre golden.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#12 ·
I wish I could go ewg now! I mean I know that I could....... but i have this problem where I plan everything out in my head on what im going to do, and if I deviate away from the original plans it messes everything up. Call it ocd haha. But I planned on doing the ewg with my manifold when I did that, kind of a 2 birds, 1 stone deal. However, I take every bit of advice offered to me on here very seriously and weigh them all in on my original plans. Last night I did some research on some AOS and also a budget of 2500 dollars for parts. The more I think I about it, the more I want to go with the intercooler and stuff. So I made a list of the stuff I intend on getting. I know some of it is for looks and I could do without, but im going to the OCAWD in June and want it to look somewhat good and organized under the hood! So tell me you guys think of this list.

-Process west TMIC in black
-Forge BPV in black
-Perrin pitch stop mount
-Kartboy STS with f/r bushings
-perrin rad shroud in red
-Perrin pully cover in red
-IAG red AOS (figured I would just have them install this before the tune)
-Pro-tune from IAG
 
#13 ·
#14 ·
Thanks for the link Townline. I have looked into those before and plan on doing them, along with an abundance of other bushings. I may add these in if my budget allows. Right now my focus is on tightening up the stock shifting slop. From what I read and understand these are the best things for that:f/r bushings like provided in the kartboy kit, pitch stop mount, transmission mount, and motor mounts. As of right now with my plans I will be knocking 2 of them out of the way. Next things im probably going to do are the trans mount and motor mounts from perrin. Then after that start with many of the bushings/inserts like you have mentioned. Everyone's mod plans are different. Mine have changed drasitically over the past week. After the intercooler, aos, and bpv along with the protune my focus will be on bushings and tightening up the car along with sway bars and endlinks. Then next year around this time I will be ready for coilovers and wheels/tires to complete the handling/tightness of the car. SO MUCH TO DO!!!! lol
 
#15 · (Edited)
You're not doing the ECU calibration yourself...that means you'll be looking at paying an additional $XXX down the line to retune.

Suspension, bushings, etc. don't really cost you anything more than maybe an alignment.

I'm probably the biggest advocate for replacing mounts/bushings on the board (I wrote the FAQ)...but if you're looking to make the most of your money, you're better off putting your entire budget into power mods now, and buying the driveline/suspension stuff as you can afford it (most mounts/bushings are under $200) and can be stockpiled until you collect everything to avoid needless "reinstalls" of components (e.g., you don't do all four shifter bushings without replacing the transmission mount, since you've basically got it removed).

Assuming $2500 budget, you should be able to do everything I listed previously power-wise (including FP/Injectors), depending on the components you choose.
 
#16 ·
I am with you there. That is why I changed my mind in going with coilovers and wheels, to going this route. I figure ill get what performance parts done now that I can and start buying the bushings and stuff when I have the extra money. With all of the parts I want to complete my performance mods though its going to cost me a little over 4k. The mods I want to do are as follows:

-PW tmic
-Forge BPV
-IAG AOS
-Invidia race el manifold
-grimmspeed coated uppipe for ewg
-tial 38mm wastegate
-grimmspeed internal wastegate bracket
-ID1000cc injectors
-DW 65c pump
-grimmspeed ebcs
-Protune

So that why I figured going with the parts listed above would work for now, and ill start buying the other stuff piece by piece and just wait until I have everything else I need and do it at the same time. If that makes sense......
 
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