$1000 budget for new 2010 mods

[Whimzkal]

Ts'up guys?

Picking up my Satin 2010 WRX standard in 7 weeks. Wedding present from my parents, so to ease their purchasing minds, I chose the more cost-conscious standard package. I milked them a bit by adding on some interior peices I would normally have forgone if I were buying it. Sport grill, molding, cup-holders, luggage nets. However, since WRX's are known for modding, I figured I'd be able to bump that 265hp up a bit as soon as I got it with some personal funds. I have about $1000 I can spend. I have a couple of questions for anyone that knows.

1 - Thought about sway bars. Couldn't get a definitive answer on this from the web, but does this car come standard with any strut bars.....what about sway bars? If so, should I think about replacing the factory? Will this void the warranty?

2 - Are there any dealer authorized power mods for around $600 or so that are easy to install for a beginner? I'm not a beginner to the automotive world, after taking care of and building up a '93 eagle talon tsi awd for about 10 years. I'm just new to the boxer-engine set-up

3 - What are these "stages" all about? Is there a Stage 1 kit I could put on, what does it cost, what does it entail? Should I wait until I'm able to put a whole stage 1 kit on?

3 - Are there any groups in NC that like to go curve-riding? I'm a member of a bike group that goes out on weekends to tear some kneepads up....do you guys go tear tires up regularly? I love gettin' side-ways every now and again.

Alright that's it for now. I know I'm such a newbie, but... I'm so pumped...not sure how i'm going to wait 7 weeks.

Let me have it!

[wrx1234]

Stage 1 is just a tune. You can go open source which you need a laptop and a tactrix cable ( ECU Tools ). Or you could by an accessport ( CobbTuning.com - 09 AccessPORT ) which is plug and play.

Stage 2 is a downpipe, you can also add catback exhaust to get a little bit more power.

Stage 1 - Tune (about 250-260 HP/TQ to the wheels)
Stage 2 - Downpipe and a tune (290 - 300 HP/TQ to the wheels)

I have an 09 and i got the AP to go stage one. I will eventually sell it and go opensource once i start doing more mods.

with 1K you can get a full Exhaust (DP, Catback) and a tune... which would put you at stage 2.

[Whimzkal]

Sounds like a vote for opensource...if I'm pretty savey on a pc? didn't think about that. Also, could I keep my stock muffler with the new down-pipe and cat-back? Does this mean that I'll be getting rid of the cat? I don't want to do that, if so. Preesh for puttin' up with me. Tryin' to learn.

[brfatal]

You seem to be warranty conscious. Anything that will put a noticeable dent into your power gains goal will potentially affect warranty claims.

[Pavia]

I'd throw most of it into suspension mods.

Here's what I would do...

Get a Cobb or Whiteline rear sway bar w/ endlinks.

Then get STI, Prodrive, or Eibach springs.

Forget about the strut tower bars unless you have extra funds to do the rear.

Upgrade in this fashion for the biggest bang for the buck:

1) tires (your covered there)
2) suspension
3) brakes (you should be ok for DD)
4) a tune, Stage 1 is a better ECU program on stock setup, but you could run into warranty issues. Stage 2 (downpipe and tune) is awesome , but warranty unfriendly...

[wrx1234]

Here is your catted DP. I did some research and it seems like the high flow cat doesn't eat up much HP. You might lose 10 -15 HP with the catted DP.

CobbTuning.com - SS 3" Downpipe

I am going to go for power over handling at first since i don't do any twisty turning unless im getting on the highway.

[Pavia]

Here is your catted DP. I did some research and it seems like the high flow cat doesn't eat up much HP. You might lose 10 -15 HP with the catted DP.

CobbTuning.com - SS 3" Downpipe

I am going to go for power over handling at first since i don't do any twisty turning unless im getting on the highway.

+1... You won't lose any hp with a Cobb hiflow catted downpipe. Cat, no cat same-same... with a stage 2 application.

[mangostick]

SWAYBARS/ENDLINKS!

made a huge difference in my car.. and I went mild. the stock stuff is a lil on the soft side.

shifter bushings

.. the stock shifter is akin to playing pool with a rope.. its a bit soggy for a sporty type car.

If you want to go with a tune a stage 1 should bump you some power without even needing to do any physical mods.. downpipe and cat-back + retune would be all you need after that to go stage II.

drawback to tuning.. warranty becomes quite questionable at that point.

[EJ257]

RCE/GTWorx are doing a strut/spring combo which is great for the '08+ WRX; Billstein shocks and RCE springs. The cost of that would be ~$1000 and would be some of the best money spent on suspension. Since you have to align the car after the springs, pick up a set of camber bolts and get rid of the garbage OE alignment spec.

[Whimzkal]

Suspension:

All good suggestions. Does the swaybars/strutbars/endlinks way to go ruin the everyday NC backroads ride that I'll have with the stock stuff? I guess my worry is understeer. I've heard the stock stuff really slides a bit unless heavy braking is used. I just want something to help me bring it around, without having to beat me to death to get it done... if you know what I mean.

Goin' from a pow/weight ration of 13:1 in my Eagle Talon, to a 12:1 in this thing is already gonna be a shock to the system off the bat. Think i'll begin with the suspension. I put on tower bars in my old car. Is that full x-style brace for the trunk good? I've seen a couple of them. And, again, will it make me lose the smooth ride that the stock feel has? Again, I just want to be able to turn better.

I'd much rather be dirt capable, but fairly agile on hwy.....instead of being agile on the hwy and useless on dirt...
am I a loner on this forum? hope not


do any of you keep a second set of wheels for the Winter? I've got a set of racing 15" with nobby mud and snow tires that I used to rock on the Talon... gonna see if they fit on this thing.

[brfatal]

They (the wheels) won't fit.

[Whimzkal]

They are deep dish racingwheels. Thought maybe they would. It just depends on the size of the brake calipers I guess. I know the height of them is fine for the wheel-well. Thanks for the heads up though...I won't be getting my hopes up.

[mark49brown]

I am curious about getting the suspension tighter on my 2010 WRX too. It understeers something fierce. Any suggestions?

[poly_poly-man]

Get a good tune. Spend a few hundred on this.

You'll technically be at "stage 1" - some HP gains, probably some MPG gains, and if you go the opensource way, you can even flash back to stock for warranty claims (cobb makes it a lot harder, from what I hear).

Basically, you buy a tactrix openport ($170), then you take it to a tuner (don't tune the car yourself unless you read up on the process A LOT, have access to tuner friends to help you, and are ready for some pain/frustration (if you do it wrong, get ready for some explosion too). The tuner charges by the hour, and it'll probably take him a couple hours (2 should get you pretty darn close to maximum everything with a reputable shop), so get ready to shell out about $500. You can make it a bit cheaper by tuning over the internet, if you can find someone to work with. He'll give you a map, you datalog, he'll give you another map, etc.

When you've got your final power map on there, you can flash between your stock map and this map, and maybe even a few other maps (you can set things like rev limiter and speed limiter - put speed limit at 25 and give to a valet, for example), simply using a laptop and a minute or so.

Read Unabomber's Manifesto - especially the entry on tuning.

[mangostick]

I would think (and from my research) that the cobb AP would be easier to "reflash" back to factory if needed.

No tuner involved and ots maps included. Seems a bit more complicated to use open source and switch back and forth.


for taking out the understeer, see earlier posts about sway bars