cant wait to get started.

[arialdrone]

so i just baught a used wrx from a private seller....so far this car has seen hard times...was stolen and broken into on two seperate occasions...but bye some maricle the engine is still in tact and in excelent running order. so i purchased the car cheap and am using the extra money to pay for goodies for the car. "i allready set money aside to fix the essentails". everything is great except for the front and rear bumpers which are nothing short of sad. and the right fender has a large gash that is rusting...omg it made me cry. but. all that aside. i thought i would throw out a list of my first engine mods. i know there was a post about some good ones to start out with, but i just want to make sure im not going to run into any problems with things conlficting "heard it can happen". so besides having the facelift to my car under control heres what im looking for under the hood.

1.aem short ram intake "is cold air actualy better than short ram?" and i also heard that if you get a front mount intercooler then you can have cold air because they somewhat collide space wise."

2.turbo timer "do these really help keep your car running better...i know what they do..but advertisements have a tendancy to embelish :P.

3.dual stage boost controler. for that low and hi end boost. "heard people having problems setting the boost too hi." REALLY dont want that to happen.

4. catback exhaust...i heard turbo is better. but my budget did kinda get a little tight so i dulled it down " this a big mistake or is it just me?"
so thats about it for now...i didnt want to overdoo it/ kinda ran out of money...heh. any sudgestions or even rants about how im heading in the total wrong direction would be most appreciated. the last thing i want is to get off to a bad start with what has been my dream car ever since i could fathem having a car.
p.s this thing is awsome>>>>>

[bluerex47]

Don't get upset, but there is a FAQ in the performance thread that should answer your questions and also a search would help too. BUt...I'll help ya out

I'll answer them by your numbers ....

1. From how I read that, you are still on the stock turbo. The stock airbox is fine with that turbo, and can work well up to ~400hp. Buying any short ram or CAI is a waste of money; you don't gain power and sometimes lose power. And a CAI can possibly screw with MAF readings, bad for engine. Search for "silencer removal". Thats what I did. YOu can hear the turbo spool well (no real power gain).

2. Again, with the stock turbo, you don't need it. Subaru set up the WRX to have a water cooled turbo. When you turn off the car, coolant is still running through the turbo to cool it off. So here's more money saved.

3. A dual stage boost controller will be ok, but engine management would be MUCH MUCH better. And for all safety sake, get rid of the uppipe cat before upping the boost.

4. Catback is a nice addition. It'll add a lot of sound (depend on what you get) and some power (about 7-10 whp).

Here's what I'd do without knowing how much money you have to play with. Buy the catback from your list, then buy an uppipe and downpipe. THen you can add a boost controller if you wish. I would recommend engine management for engine safety reasons. THe cobb accessport is very nice for $600.

If you want cheap parts, but ERZ. I think you can do everything (uppipe, downpipe, catback) for $550. BUt I think you get what you pay for. Helix is a better company, and you can buy the same things for around $900. Or for real cheap, gut the stock uppipe (free) buy a cheap downpipe (bosal ~$230) and have a muffler shop do a catback for ~$350.

If you give me an idea of the money you got to play around with, I can help out more.

wow, long post, but I think that will really help you out. Good luck and welcome aboard

[arialdrone]

heh i knew there was someplace that would awnser that for me. thanks allot for taking the time. and thank you VERY much for the info. i would have wasted allot of money...lol...wait thats not funny :|. *dodged bullets* im looking at...only around...$600 so not much. well for me that is. but in any case. thats about it. keeping in mind. most if not all labor is free. because of connections. friends in the buis and whatnot.

[bluerex47]

with $600, I'd go one of two ways (my opinion, I'm sure there are others)

1. Buy Cobb Accessport. $600, about 15 minutes to install. It really smoothes out everything with the engine. I think its a very nice starting point for power. Expect around 200whp with this setup.

2. Buy uppipe/downpipe. You can either buy used or the cheap ERZ stuff. I pointed them out in my other post, but I'll do it here too. Helix might be a good deal. You get both for $450. Just make sure to get gaskets with that. And if you have enough money, maybe buy an axleback for some sound.

Either way, I think you'll be very happy. Good luck

[arialdrone]

wow thanks. i think ile take your word for it, do a little research. and start from there.

[WRC_Obsessed]

Ditto what bluerex has said. Also take a look at the "Good first mods" sticky at the top of this forum.