New to clubWRX forums - Built 07' STI UGM :)

[Andor]

Sup fellow subi owner's,

Name is Andor and i've been a member of Nasioc and iWSTI forums for a good time now... Thought i sign up on here and join yall.

My car has recently just got a new motor put in (built Vigilant street series short block) as my piston rings finally went and warranty was kind enough to write me a nice check

Please bare with me as English is not my forte and being a Mechanical Engineer, i suck at this writing stuff! :devil:

Picked up the car with 20,000 miles back in July 2010 and it was a virgin! Stock, barely ran hard and super clean! got a deal i couldn't pass on and fell in love! Subi's have always been one of the car's ive always wanted to own and i will never sell it!

Image of car right when i purchased her:


The car stock, dyno'd in at 265whp / 235wtq on a Mustang Dyno which for me, hp #'s seem'd a little high, but who wouldn't be happy with a factory freak

I got the car protuned right after, did a conservative tune and made 273whp / 265wtq.
Took it too the track and posted a best time of 13.01 @ 102.27 with just the tune.

Loving the power, the mods came quickly!

Modifications:

Engine:

• Vigilant Street Series short block installed
• Forged EJ257 crankshaft installed
• Forged EJ257 connecting rods installed
• CP Forged Pistons w/ Moly Coated Skirts installed
• High Performance Piston Rings installed
• FP RED Turbo Ordered and on its way
• TGV DELETE Looking to purchase a set
• Grimspeed 3-port EBCS installed
• AEM cold air intake installed
• Walbro 255 fuel pump installed
• Pro-tune

Drivetrain:

• OEM short shifter installed
• Clutch Master - New FX350 w/ a heavey duty pressure plate installed
• Clutch Master Steel flywheel (should be about 13lb's) installed

Exhaust:

• Invidia divorced catless downpipe installed
• Invidia N1 race catback installed

Suspension/Brakes::

• BC racing BR coilovers installed
• BC Rear chamber plates installed
• Hawk HPS Front/rear pads installed

Exterior:

• STI v-limited front lip installed
• 8000k hid bulbs installed
• Debaged trunk
• 15% tint all around installed

Dyno:
Stock:
Numbers:
Dyno: Mustang
Tuner: Jack from HP-Logics
Wheel HP: 265
Wheel TQ: 235
Ambient Temp: ?
Elevation: sea level (Florida)

Stage 1: (Only a tune)
Numbers:
Dyno: Mustang
Tuner: Jack from HP-Logics
Wheel HP: 273
Wheel TQ: 265
Ambient Temp: ?
Elevation: sea level (Florida)

Comparison at 4600rpm from stock to stage 1 tune:
Stock @ 4600rpm's -- 200whp / 220wtq....... AFR 14.3
Tuned @ 4600rpm's -- 230whp / 262wtq... AFR 11.2


I was hoping to get some number over 300 both for tq and hw and to break the 13 second barrier at the strip and hopefully do some hpde. While i was getting the car tuned on the dyno for stage 2, a loud pop and smoke came out of the exhaust during one pull. My tuner said that he believes it could have been the piston ring but he says its weird because he didn't even get to turn up the boost yet. I coughed up all my $ for the parts and tune that i had nothing left to fix the problem. Long story short, i babied the car for about a year and half, i know horrible!!! :grumpy::grumpy: Untill about January 7th 2013, she finally let go. Car would not idle and and smoke was pooring out of the exhaust (it never did before). I brought the car back to stock and brought it to a local shop and had warranty to look at it. Filed the claim and they approved it for a new short block.

This is where i placed the order for a Vigilant Street Series short block which comes with;

• 2.5 Liter STi semi-closed deck short block
• Forged EJ257 crankshaft
• Forged EJ257 connecting rods
• Vigilant Motorsports/ CP forged pistons
• High Performance Piston Rings

I also placed an order for a Clutch Master FX350 clutch with a steal flywheel.

I had to pay out of pocket for the difference on the clutch/flywheel and for the block but warranty did cover for about 80% of the total cost.

Also, to continue with bad news, i took a look at the turbo while it was out and noticed that there was a crack going through the exhaust housing side of the turbo all the way inside! Warranty is coming in and hopefully covering this as well. I will probably be going stock turbo and getting a fmic and a bigger turbo will definitely cost much more then what i can afford right now!

I know people have many things negative to say about my choice about my clutch set-up, how they don't state how much tq it can handle etc etc etc, heard it all, just going with my shop is insisting and what they have tested and put on there 700awhp+ race car's they own.

The car is currently being worked on right now and i will update as i get her back and as break in period goes.

I will post pics of the engine when it was taken out when i upload some pics!

Thank you for reading and again, i do apologize for horrible grammer! :censored:

Enjoy :disco:

[Andor]

This was the car on stock ride height before she was dropped on coils





Comparison from stock to BC coil



The guy who had the coils before me had his car slammed so i put the coils on to see how they would sit

SLAMMED! Ran the car like this for 2 days and it was impossible!










Was cutting grass!

[Andor]

Raised her up 2" to still be sitting kinda low, but not scrapping my front lip everywhere i go!




White smoke coming from the exhaust, knew something serious was happening! Was starting to cloud up the whole street with smoke! No bueno




The next couple of pictures are of the car at the shop and of the engine and how it looked inside! :devil:


Motor Out



You can see the piston ring cracked, or shyt, a 1/4 of it missing. Probably so much blow-by!



The heads got sent out to get machined out and check if any valves were bent.




Disgusting amount of oil build up :censored:

[Andor]

This is whats left of the clutch that was in the car (shame)

[Andor]

Sean from Vigilant Motorsports sent me a pic



Have to say, Sean has emailed me and sent me many many emails just updating me with the build and answering all my newb questions right away! GREAT customer service!

So went to the shop and took some pics of the block:

[Andor]

As of today, I have about 740 miles on the motor, still breaking the clutch and flywheel in.

I am still waiting on the FP RED turbo to arrive then it will be put on and tuning begins!

[wrxtreme06]

welcome to the club fellow floridian hawkeye owner! my boyfriends parents actually live in boca.

[michaelwfox]

Nice intro! Looking forward to more updates. Welcome!

[Andor]

Thank you!

This is more like an Intro and a Build thread!

Didn't have any posts really so wasn't trying to post yet on the build thread, i'll probably ask to get it moved or just let it be.

[Ghostlystang]

Sweet car.... cant wait for updates!

[Subaru-Mopar-Luv]

Awesome build thus far! And I gotta ask, how do you like your N1 Race? Is it too loud or just noisy on WOT?

[Calvinball]

Welcome and thanks for the nice detailed write-up!

[Mikie13]

Nice first posts! I miss my 07 UGM STI (Limited)

Looks like you have a nice build coming up. You should LOVE the power that FP Red is going to put out. You should be well over 400whp with a good tune! Surprised you still have stock STI rods though with the power you're going to have.

[EJ257]

Welcome

[Andor]

Awesome build thus far! And I gotta ask, how do you like your N1 Race? Is it too loud or just noisy on WOT?

I love the N1 Race! I am Catless so you can really hear this exhaust system scream!

It might be too loud for normal people, but for me, i can't get enough of it! I searched and searched for one of the loudest exhaust they had out there for subies that wans't basically straight pipes and fell in love with this. I don't let many people drive my car so i dont really have an outside perspective of how it sounds but i know when i see many other sti's driving around, and i ask my friends, does my car sound that loud (and what i heard was decently loud) and they tell me that my car is much louder! I know at WOT, its definitely up there!

If your worried about it being toooo tooo loud, i would go with the N1 street and call it a day! No way you can go wrong with that!