The Offical Washington Thread?

[tylerbryant]

i have a o2 wrx i bought about 2 weeks ago and i want to start modding it for speed cause some punk ass kid at my school has a 03 automatic wrx and i need to put him in his place, i mean i owned him already but he was talking all this trash for excuses so i want some tips onwhat to ugrade for speed and not spend alot.


please help me.
im from kent!!!!!!!!!!!! 253!!

[2002SubieWRX]

How did the meet go? Any rain? A few years back I made the trip all the way down there in my 1968 Cougar getting 12 mpg on premium gas only to have a 5 min downpour cancel the entire evening of test and tune! The weather down there can be so fickle. It was partly sunny the entire drive down but when we got to the track a cloud was hangin overhead! It's always a fun drive from up north but using about $40 in gas for nothing kinda sucked.

[2002SubieWRX]

Are you in high school?

[tylerbryant]

Are you in high school?

yea im a senior

[2002SubieWRX]

yea im a senior

Dude, your car is already faster than the other guys simply because his is an automatic. What more do you need to prove?

Is this your first car? Have you worked on cars before? Did you pay for it or did your parents? You should be thankful and satified you have such a nice car while still in high school. The first car I drove when I got my license was a 1994 Altima 5-spd I shared with my older sister. My first car was a 1968 Mercury Cougar 302ci 4-spd.

Take it from someone who dumped thousands of hard-earned dollars into their first car - Save your money on upgrades and do the necessary maintenance to keep the car in tip-top running shape first. The worst thing you can do is exacerbate small problems by adding power without good supporting mods. For example: Bolting on a cat-back exhaust (CBE) or turbo-back exhaust (TBE) and cold air intake (CAI) without proper engine management or a protune causes problems.

Edit: I just saw your photos and see you already have an aftermarket muffler. Do you know what else has been modified on the car?

That being said I know you won't listen and will still want to spend money on go-fast-goodies so the next thing I'll say is be smart about how you mod. I've owned my '02 WRX wagon for over a year now, driving on average 70 miles a day, and haven't done any power adding mods other than a drop in K&N air filter because I'm reading up on the best mods and saving for the right parts. Don't go out and buy cheap eBay parts or go the cheap route. You have fairly technogolically advanced car and you don't want to screw things up with cheap parts.

Check out these two good threads on modifying and maintenance:
First Modifications - what to do and not to do
$5 and 5 minutes to a better running car :)

Just my thoughts...

[tylerbryant]

yea ive worked on cars im going to UTI this next year for school. when i got the car it had a full turbo back exhaust with a magnaflow high flow cat and turboxs chip installed in it. everything else is stock.
i payed for the car myself

[d_Ziggy_2000]

How did the meet go? Any rain? A few years back I made the trip all the way down there in my 1968 Cougar getting 12 mpg on premium gas only to have a 5 min downpour cancel the entire evening of test and tune! The weather down there can be so fickle. It was partly sunny the entire drive down but when we got to the track a cloud was hangin overhead! It's always a fun drive from up north but using about $40 in gas for nothing kinda sucked.

Well it was pretty rainy.. And the track was shut down.. But it was still alot of fun!

[2002SubieWRX]

Well it was pretty rainy.. And the track was shut down.. But it was still alot of fun!

That's too bad! We'll have to make a showing at another one when its sunny. Any cool cars down there?

[2002SubieWRX]

You don't need more hp right now, you're at stage 2 already and probably putting down in the 210-225whp range. (Stage 2 guys please correct me if I'm wrong) It should be noticably faster than the other guy at your school and faster than most other WRXs on the street.

First thing to do to make your car faster is, as they say, "tighten the nut behind the wheel." Seriously though, a good driver can make a slow car fast(er). Ever been to an open track day or race event on a road course? Its always fun watching "slower" cars stomp the guys in the "fast" cars. I was at a BMW event at Portland International Raceways where all these E30 325 BMWs with stock motors were absolutely embarassing this guy in a C5 Z06 Corvette. The Corvette was putting out twice the hp the E30s were but it couldn't handle as good and the guy was an inexperienced driver.

Handling upgrades won't do much for straight line performance but will make your car much faster around turns. Taking turns at speed is as fun or more fun than WOT pulls and doesn't kill gas mileage. Do some research on how to make your car handle better. Engine upgrades can lead to weird CELs and a poor running motor if not done properly whereas handling upgrades don't affect engine performace at all.

What UTI are you going to? I was signed up to go to Sacramento in '06 but decided against it a couple months before. A buddy of mine ended up doing it and went through BMW STEP. He's is now a BMW tech and drives a 2001 M5. It's a good school with great job placement opportunities.

[d_Ziggy_2000]

You don't need more hp right now, you're at stage 2 already and probably putting down in the 210-225whp range. (Stage 2 guys please correct me if I'm wrong) It should be noticably faster than the other guy at your school and faster than most other WRXs on the street.

First thing to do to make your car faster is, as they say, "tighten the nut behind the wheel." Seriously though, a good driver can make a slow car fast(er). Ever been to an open track day or race event on a road course? Its always fun watching "slower" cars stomp the guys in the "fast" cars. I was at a BMW event at Portland International Raceways where all these E30 325 BMWs with stock motors were absolutely embarassing this guy in a C5 Z06 Corvette. The Corvette was putting out twice the hp the E30s were but it couldn't handle as good and the guy was an inexperienced driver.

Handling upgrades won't do much for straight line performance but will make your car much faster around turns. Taking turns at speed is as fun or more fun than WOT pulls and doesn't kill gas mileage. Do some research on how to make your car handle better. Engine upgrades can lead to weird CELs and a poor running motor if not done properly whereas handling upgrades don't affect engine performace at all.

What UTI are you going to? I was signed up to go to Sacramento in '06 but decided against it a couple months before. A buddy of mine ended up doing it and went through BMW STEP. He's is now a BMW tech and drives a 2001 M5. It's a good school with great job placement opportunities.

for sure.. its faster than most people in your high school.. when i graduated.. i rocked the nissan 200sx.. and mand could i drift better than anyone else there =)
like said.. its all about the driver!

That's too bad! We'll have to make a showing at another one when its sunny. Any cool cars down there?

For sure! i want to go down to portland and hit the road course down there!!!

[2002SubieWRX]

for sure.. its faster than most people in your high school.. when i graduated.. i rocked the nissan 200sx.. and mand could i drift better than anyone else there =)
like said.. its all about the driver!

Not sure how I did it but I was at Pacific Raceways a few years ago with a buddy. I was driving my 1968 Cougar with the old 302 and 3 speed (with 4th gear overdrive) and he was in his 1974 Chevy 3/4 ton p/u with a 327ci and 3 speed auto.

After a half dozen runs in my car I decided to see if he'd let me try my luck behind the wheel of his truck. His times were consitently in the low 16 second range (heavy truck with no posi)...until he let me drive it. I shaved about .2 seconds off and broke into the 15s the first time I drove it...He wouldn't let me race it again

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE DRIVER.

I had some fun times drifting the Cougar until I grew up and realized I could really hurt somebody or go to jail...

[d_Ziggy_2000]

I had some fun times drifting the Cougar until I grew up and realized I could really hurt somebody or go to jail...

I had alot of fun in my nissan drifting untill i blew up the engine.. and realized.. my car was broken =)

I really want to get another rwd car and build it to go drift competitions and what nots.. but unfortunately i'm trying to save up the money at the moment to buy myself a house!

[HOTSUBI]

Hello from Rochester! Just bought a 04 wrx wagon yesterday! She a mint one owner and rock stock.. dont want to do to much maybe exhaust for the rumble I see where a uppipe is a must do. What kind of engine managment should I look for with the few mods that I want? Thanks guys!

[2002SubieWRX]

Hello from Rochester! Just bought a 04 wrx wagon yesterday! She a mint one owner and rock stock.. dont want to do to much maybe exhaust for the rumble I see where a uppipe is a must do. What kind of engine managment should I look for with the few mods that I want? Thanks guys!

Good find! When I bought my 2002 last year it was also pretty mint and had zero mods.
- Yes on the uppipe. See my thread here: What is the best catless uppipe for a 2002 WRX?. You won't need a tune for this.
- Also check out this thread: $5 and 5 minutes to a better running car :) for simple maintenance bit that may make your car run smoother and cleaner.
- I'm currently running no aftermarket engine management but plan to purchase a Cobb AccessPort 2. I plan to keep my car a daily driver and don't need crazy go-fast mods. Just want a little more power and better low-end throttle response.

Welcome to the club and I hope this helps!

[2002SubieWRX]

Hello from Rochester! Just bought a 04 wrx wagon yesterday! She a mint one owner and rock stock.. dont want to do to much maybe exhaust for the rumble I see where a uppipe is a must do. What kind of engine managment should I look for with the few mods that I want? Thanks guys!

Good find! When I bought my 2002 last year it was also pretty mint and had zero mods.
- Yes on the uppipe. See my thread here: What is the best catless uppipe for a 2002 WRX?. You won't need a tune for this.
- Also check out this thread: $5 and 5 minutes to a better running car :) for simple maintenance bit that may make your car run smoother and cleaner.
- I'm currently running no aftermarket engine management but plan to purchase a Cobb AccessPort 2. I plan to keep my car a daily driver and don't need crazy go-fast mods. Just want a little more power and better low-end throttle response.

Hope this helps!