soon to be owner looking to prepare for purchase and customization

[TheMafia]

Hey ive decided to lease a subaru wrx base model in one years time.

Id like to say hello and tell you i will probably get great benefit from conversing everyone here.

What can you guys tell me if you know im leasing and looking to change the following

Chip mod to unlock the engine
Exhaust
Wheels & tires

[SD_GR]

What can you guys tell me if you know im leasing and looking to change the following

Chip mod to unlock the engine
Exhaust
Wheels & tires

Hello,

I'd tell you not to change any of it. It's not your car. I'd much rather spend money on a car I owned rather than one I didn't, and even if I owned the car I'd think twice, preferring to keep the money and keep the car as is at least initially (example: the car came with wheels and tyres; I'd use those...). Since the duration of a least rarely extends beyond what is implied in "initially" above (2 years?) I'd stay with a stock car.

[mangostick]

I agree with SD about keeping it factory until you at least run out of warranty. They're pretty snotty cars right off the fatory floor. FYI, there are no "chips" or "unlocking" of the engine. There are quite a few methods for tuning and all can have good results. Play with the search function and read read read.. there are huge amounts of information available on forums like this one and NASIOC.

but I strongly suggest that you drive the car before determining any changes. Spend money only where you need to improve the car and dont spend where it doesn't need improvement.

[Ying]

If I was leasing a car, I would not change a thing to the powertrain. If you end up getting a tune that leads to an engine failure, you could end up paying for a new motor for a car that you don't even own. Is purchasing the car out of the question?

[TheMafia]

Im not ready to own a new car just yet for several reasons

as for the chip....maybe im using the wrong words here, but my friend owned a 2011 wrx sti and got a computer to modify the formulas for the fuel ratio and such things. he noticed a strong improvment in the cars performance, the claimed hp raise was 50hp, and you could feel it.

[MainFrame]

Im not ready to own a new car just yet for several reasons

as for the chip....maybe im using the wrong words here, but my friend owned a 2011 wrx sti and got a computer to modify the formulas for the fuel ratio and such things. he noticed a strong improvment in the cars performance, the claimed hp raise was 50hp, and you could feel it.

Any "chip" for these cars is a complete rip off. You can just hook into the factory ECU and edit it, no additional hardware needed.

[TheMafia]

Any "chip" for these cars is a complete rip off. You can just hook into the factory ECU and edit it, no additional hardware needed.

guess i worded that wrong, that was my intention: to edit ECU (the chip)

[Mikie13]

guess i worded that wrong, that was my intention: to edit ECU (the chip)

It's all good...you are speaking correctly in that sense, though it's still not a chip. It's an Engine Control Unit...more or less a computer as opposed to a chip. It actually has many chips built into it if you want to get technical though.

Cobb Accessport or a Tactrix Cable/Laptop running OpenECU/ECUFlash are what you would use to flash new maps to the ECU.

The Cobb AP is simple plug and play with simple instructions. The Tactrix Cable route is also pretty easy, if you have an idea of what you are getting into and a little bit of patience.

However making changes to a Leased vehicle is not something I'd do myself...it's not yours....