New to the subaru family.

[03_wrx_wagon]

Just bought my first subaru a few days ago. It's a 2003 WRX sport wagon 5speed. It a pretty fun car but needs a few odds and ends. Mostly shifter bushings. Its not anywhere near undriveable but I guess the B&M short throw on my CSVT spoiled me lol. Planning on curing that in the near future with a kartboy short throw shifter/ bushing combo. Don't really plan on doing too much to it performance wise right now mainly just a turbo xs short ram, 50/50 hybrid bov, godspeed tmic, and a good tune. Did the oil change as soon as i got it using Penzoil platnium 5w-30 and a fram filter. Car has a straight pipe from the downpipe back with a no name muffler. Sounds pretty good though not super loud has a nice rumble to it. I hope to get some really good tips from the forums and want to learn all I can about my subi.

[Rambo]

Welcome! Pics?

As for tips, skip the BOV, godspeed TMIC and the intake. Focus on the shifter, as you said. Who tuned the car? You ought to have a stage II tune for a full turboback exhaust. Then you could look at a more reputable brand of TMIC like Process West (need a tune for that as well).

Any suspension plans?

[teflon_jones]

Welcome!

+435 to what he ^^ said. No BOV (read the Big BOV thread), if intake only a cold air version (unless you like losing power, and even the CAI will only give you sound and no additional power), Make sure you have a tune to support that TBE because if you don't you're doing very bad things to your engine, skip the tmic (won't help you until you go to a bigger turbo), and just get a good tune and the shifter bushings. Then look into braking and suspension mods instead since that's where you'll notice the biggest overall improvements.

[03_wrx_wagon]

Thanks for the welcome lol. Don't really know too much about the car as far as what kind if any tune it has. Other than the exhaust and some audio equipment its bone stock. As far as pics I can't figure out how to get them to post. I'm using my phone and it won't let me drag and drop. I'm uploading them to photobucket right now so I'll post a link in a sec.

[03_wrx_wagon]

[03_wrx_wagon]

[03_wrx_wagon]

Excuse my total ignorance but why avoid these mods? I've never owned a turbo car and these seem like popular upgrades.

[03_wrx_wagon]

Almost forgot car has a koyorad radiatior and samco silicon hoses.

[03_wrx_wagon]

[03_wrx_wagon]

Pic of my subi and csvt.

[03_wrx_wagon]

As for suspension I just plan on replacing all the suspension bushings with the master set from Energy Suspension and a set of coilovers from Raceland. Had a set on my 1988 VW Cabriolet before I sold it and I really liked them. I don't plan on tracking the subi so I don't want to spend 1000 plus on a set of coilovers.

[Rambo]

Excuse my total ignorance but why avoid these mods? I've never owned a turbo car and these seem like popular upgrades.

Please read the starting modifications stickies. They explain exactly why these aren't good choices for your car at this mod level.

Why do you need to have coilovers? Raceland products are inferior to the competition, and are not good quality. A much more effective (and probably cheaper) route would be a set of reputable struts and springs. If you can't afford good coilovers (and you admitted you don't even need them), then a spring/strut combo is the way to go.

That said, for around $400, you can get a set of swaybars and endlinks. This is a very noticeable upgrade for otherwise stock suspensions. You'll notice MUCH tighter turn in and less body roll at the slight expense of ride quality (over the stock ride, anyway).

Lastly, the number one upgrade for handling is tires. They are what actually contact the road, and are the single most critical suspension component. If you still have the stock tires, take a look at a good summer tire, and possibly winter wheels if your climate requires.

Check out all of the modification stickies available in each forum section. They'll explain everything in much greater detail, and represent decades of combined club member experience. Happy research!

[zax]

set of coilovers from Raceland

Holy crap god no. I see you have an affinity for junk parts...

[teflon_jones]

Please read the starting modifications stickies. They explain exactly why these aren't good choices for your car at this mod level.

Why do you need to have coilovers? Raceland products are inferior to the competition, and are not good quality. A much more effective (and probably cheaper) route would be a set of reputable struts and springs. If you can't afford good coilovers (and you admitted you don't even need them), then a spring/strut combo is the way to go.

That said, for around $400, you can get a set of swaybars and endlinks. This is a very noticeable upgrade for otherwise stock suspensions. You'll notice MUCH tighter turn in and less body roll at the slight expense of ride quality (over the stock ride, anyway).

Lastly, the number one upgrade for handling is tires. They are what actually contact the road, and are the single most critical suspension component. If you still have the stock tires, take a look at a good summer tire, and possibly winter wheels if your climate requires.

Check out all of the modification stickies available in each forum section. They'll explain everything in much greater detail, and represent decades of combined club member experience. Happy research!

Again all good advice here. No need for any of us to retype lots of info already available in the stickies.

A couple of additional comments though on the sways:
Tighter turn-in is more a product of the alignment setup rather than the sways. In general, cars come setup from the factory with zero toe in/out on the front. Increasing the toe-out on the front will make the turn-in sharper.
The sways are going to more so change the oversteer/understeer characteristics, and possibly influence the overall handling behavior in ways you might not want. Going with a stiffer rear sway and softer front will reduce understeer and go more towards oversteer. Understeer is safer and what your car has from the factory. Oversteer is more difficult to control to I wouldn't recommend going in this direction unless you have a lot of driving skill and/or want a set for the track or a very aggressive street setup. I could easily write an entire page on the different alignment/sway settings.