need the advice

[bandit33]

Well I ahve an 04 STI with 130K on it. i put closes to 1000km on it each weeek all year long, on pavement, gravel, rain ,snow etc. My car seems slower than when I first had it. I have maintained the car to the best of my ability. I have had minor problems such as: 1/2 axle replacement, brake pads, numerous oil changes, leaking BOV, get error codes below 2800 rpm when driving any distance over 30 km.,turbo inlet tube woes. Nothing major just normal wear and trear I figure.
I want my car to be quicker, what can I do with very limited resources, not only financially but I do not live in hot bed of tuning and do not know of any tuners within 2 hours of where I live. Do turbos get weaker and need rebuilds? at what milage should this be done? Should I be looking at an engine rebuild? Many questions I have so feel free to fire off more advice than I asked for as it all is appreciated if not used now I'll remember it for later. thanks in advance to all who will reply.

The bandit

[mycologist]

I would just start by bringing all of the maintenance up to current and get the code sorted out. Clean the MAF and check your boost - if you have a gauge and it is hitting target then the turbo should be fine. Otherwise check for boost leaks and test the compression. You could look into an open-source tune from an internet source as well. After that, there is a ton of stuff you can do but a DP and stage II tune would be a nice bump.

[brfatal]

I would suggest fixing your car's current problems before you look into tuning and modification.

[YBNormal07]

I would just start by bringing all of the maintenance up to current and get the code sorted out. Clean the MAF and check your boost - if you have a gauge and it is hitting target then the turbo should be fine. Otherwise check for boost leaks and test the compression. You could look into an open-source tune from an internet source as well. After that, there is a ton of stuff you can do but a DP and stage II tune would be a nice bump.

Good advice. Since it sounds like the OP may be limited in tuning cabability though, I would recommend a used Cobb AP for that year and model, plus a DP and call it done (after the maintenance issues are addressed).

[bandit33]

thanks for the replies I will be adressing the maintenance issues first as that will take most of my money for mods anyway. i am looking down the road 6-9 months for any mods. car has been doing fine in the -30 degree winter so far. Only my front 1/2 axles are sounding when i turn to the right, I had this side replaced last year at this time.
Anybody got advice on front suspension components and when these need replacing rear as well. thanks and happy new year to all.


The bandit

[blueSTInger]

thanks for the replies I will be adressing the maintenance issues first as that will take most of my money for mods anyway. i am looking down the road 6-9 months for any mods. car has been doing fine in the -30 degree winter so far. Only my front 1/2 axles are sounding when i turn to the right, I had this side replaced last year at this time.
Anybody got advice on front suspension components and when these need replacing rear as well. thanks and happy new year to all.


The bandit

start by fixing alreaduy know problems but if you have a dyno or et slips from when it was "faster" do another dyno or 1/4 mile run nowe and i bet they are still very close if not the same as before. reason being you get used to your cars handling/power/ sound etc. ask your performance shop how many people feel the same as you do in that they think their car is slower. trust me, your car is still making the same power but now you are used to it. like when you put a new exaust on, it sloud as sin at first but then a couple months go ny and now its a little quieter. not really, it just doesnt seem as loud because you hear it every day and become used to it. later gater