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2017 WRX

3K views 26 replies 7 participants last post by  MainFrame 
#1 ·
I just bought a 2017 WRX and I am not able to find much info on what I can do to the motor for more power.. Is it worth just getting an STI? Or can the new motor for the WRX take a beating? Please bare with me I am new to owning a WRX, as well as subaru, but I just want to know if It's worth beefing this thing up or just trade in next year for the 2018 STI. I'm wanting to make serious power so please tell me what you guys think/suggest. Thanks!
 
#2 ·
1. What is "serious power" in your opinion?
2. What is the primary purpose of the vehicle?
3. Why do you need more power?
4. Will the car see track time and is the rulebook important?
5. Have you ever driven a high-powered AWD car before?

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#22 ·
1. What is "serious power" in your opinion?
2. What is the primary purpose of the vehicle?
3. Why do you need more power?
4. Will the car see track time and is the rulebook important?
5. Have you ever driven a high-powered AWD car before?
1. I'm not really sure. What is considered high power for an AWD? I was thinking like 500WHP
2. I drive it everyday
3. I doubt it for now. I'm just now getting into this side of driving. I was wanting to drag race before all of this but I wanted to try something different.
4. No, nothing like this. Maybe a 4x4 truck but that's it.
Sorry I missed one...

I want it because I love going fast... that's really all there is to it. Maybe try to learn to rally cross with it? Just because I can.

What is considered "high power" for an AWD vehicle will vary from person to person. Some may feel that over 350whp is high power, while someone else might only consider >1000whp to be high power. There are some AWD cars making over 2000whp now days. 500whp won't be enough to even be a camera car at TX2K.. hell, you'll probably need more than 1200whp to even make it onto the dyno board at TX2K17.

At 500whp you're not going to be driving the car every day anymore.. if something breaks every other time you drive it, and it takes 2 -3 months to fix it driving the car every day isn't a possibility. Just for reference, my WRX has only been drivable for a total of about eight months since 2009.

If you're wanting to try rally cross "high power" is the last thing you want. Most rally cross cars make between 150 and 200whp. Anything over about 330whp will be increasingly difficult and less fun to drive.



I understand it will be expensive, I want to know what I need to do. The money isn't the issue. It's that I don't know enough about these cars to just jump in and throw parts at it to make it go fast. I really want to stick with subaru though. I mean if it's 10k then I want to know what i need to do to make that worth it.
Oh ok. I'm just nervous about building the 2.0 up that I've got, just to find out that I should have just invested in the STI from the start..

For your goals, my recommendation is a Nissan GT-R R35. That's going to be one of the lesser expensive AWD cars that will make 500whp and still be daily drivable with decent reliability. If you REALLY want to stick with a Subaru, you're going to want to start with a STI, preferably new, take it to a reputable shop (like TiC, Prime, IAG, P&L, etc), explain your specific goals to them in as much detail as possible, write them a check, and leave your car there for several months until you get the call that they're done. You don't have to know much about the car if you're just looking to throw money at a shop and tell them to make it "fast".
 
#3 ·
1. I'm not really sure. What is considered high power for an AWD? I was thinking like 500WHP
2. I drive it everyday
3. I doubt it for now. I'm just now getting into this side of driving. I was wanting to drag race before all of this but I wanted to try something different.
4. No, nothing like this. Maybe a 4x4 truck but that's it.
 
#14 ·
1. 500AWHP is a death trap waiting to happen having no/little prior experience
2. At 500WHP, you're taking the chance of breaking something every time you drive
3. Something different sounds like driving a tuned WRX in the first place
4. If you wanted to build a car, wouldn't you have researched the car before you bought it?
5. USE THE SEARCH FEATURE. There's only a million threads talking about how crazy and involved 400AWHP is to achieve.

It instantly angers me when people post stuff like this. You obviously have done zero research and haven't even tried. There is a plethora of information about the paths one can choose to improve performance on these cars. Everyone here on this forum is more than willing to help with anything for anyone, but you're completely ignorant and going about this entirely the wrong way.
 
#5 ·
500whp will cost a lot of money, void the warranty, and be (frankly) a terrible DD.

Perhaps you should consider a standard "Stage 2" setup to start. Parts and protune will cost about $2.5K and you'll have between 290 and 320whp.

If you want a lot of power easily, the new Camaro SS is the deal of the decade.

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#6 ·
I understand it will be expensive, I want to know what I need to do. The money isn't the issue. It's that I don't know enough about these cars to just jump in and throw parts at it to make it go fast. I really want to stick with subaru though. I mean if it's 10k then I want to know what i need to do to make that worth it.
 
#7 ·
10K, lol.

You're looking at closer to 12-15K just to build the engine.

Another 4K to beef up your transmission to hold it.

There's still a lot of unknown territory out there with the WRX and the FA20 engines.
 
#8 ·
If your goal is to throw money at the platform, I do hope you do this wisely. This wouldn't be an investment.

The injectors are ultimately the problem... I don't think any larger HP direct injectors exist for the FA20F yet.

Talk to a local tuning shop, they'd love your deep pockets to fund R&D.

Cheers.

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#10 ·
There are a lot of improvements with the FA20.

For >500whp you will need to build both motors.

The EJ has a lot more available parts for achieving >500whp.

The WRX tranny and rear diff will need to be built to handle 500whp reliably.

I think you should consider 300whp first.

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#12 ·
If your goal is 500whp, you should invest in the STI.

I keep saying this, but I'm not sure you're getting my point... there's a lot more to building a car for big power than the engine.

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#15 ·
:joy::joy::joy::joy: that's hilarious. Why are you so mad?? Lmfao I'm new to subaru. I really like the car and enjoy driving it. I'm not very knowledgeable about subaru specifically but I DO have experience driving an 800 HP corvette that I had. I know it's a different ballgame with AWD, but please don't tell me I'm gonna break things like it's going to scare me off of something. I'm a big boy I can fix what I break. I just wanted to know if the new motor can handle what the STI can. Also I know more goes into building a 500WHP vehicle, I just threw out 500 because It's the first thing that came to mind. I was just wanting some information and couldn't find my EXACT question in any of the threads, so I asked. Lol I'm talking about that b Wilson guy lol
 
#17 ·
I haven't found much of anything on the new motor.... at all.... if I've missed a thread please, for the love of all things, tell me where it is. That's really all I was needing. My bad if asking a questions angers that guy so much. Honestly it's people like him that give the car community as a whole a bad rap. Trying to make me feel stupid for asking a question when we all have the same love for cars.
 
#18 ·
You will find more info on the other forum, as it is much more active. As far as the FA20F goes, there is still a lot to be learned. It does seem the drivetrain, as well as the rods are the "weak" links as you start to push higher numbers.
 
#21 · (Edited)
I'm not mad, it's just annoying and clutters up the forum when people ask "I am not able to find much info on what I can do to the motor for more power" because I've read a million threads about making power with the FA20. I'm so new to Subaru I don't even have one and I never have before. I just scrape these threads trying to learn as much as I can so that when I become financially able to purchase one, I will know what I am getting and what it is capable of. Put simply, if doing what you're asking in this thread was your plan from the beginning, and you're unfamiliar with the platform, wouldn't you research it and learn? Here's just a few examples of the thousands out there on this topic:

http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/everyday-impreza-talk/134510514-making-400-hp.html

http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/engine-modifications/134425465-400-hp-help.html

http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/engine-modifications/134525273-what-mods-do-i-need-360-whp.html

Public Service Announcement. "I want 400whp!" Are you sure? - NASIOC

The fact that you don't even know how much horsepower is alot for these cars proves you've done no research. My being annoyed with your inability to research before you ask has nothing to do with any "bad rap" for the car community. It's the people who buy a car and know nothing about it and then say they want to make power out of a turbo 2.0 that will compete with big V8s that's more often the issue.
 
#24 ·
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