[XJman]

It looks really good though. I'd not be mad about it's looks.

Also yeah electric vehicles don't have souls, that's because they need room for the souls they claim with that explosive acceleration.

 

[zax]

The problem with the "no soul" argument is that it is unending.

Ask a muscle car fan and they'll tell you that your WRX has no soul. The revolutionary Hemi engine was soulless compared to the Ford Flathead, etc. etc.

I recall a quote once... "well engineered cars are built to sell. Quirky cars create enthusiasts" or something of that vein.

 

[silver_scooby]

The problem with the "no soul" argument is that it is unending.

Ask a muscle car fan and they'll tell you that your WRX has no soul. The revolutionary Hemi engine was soulless compared to the Ford Flathead, etc. etc.

I recall a quote once... "well engineered cars are built to sell. Quirky cars create enthusiasts" or something of that vein.

Could be. Soul might simply be rose-tinted memory of what we found exciting about cars as kids rather than the actual cars we are driving now.

Doesn't apply to Tesla though, they are proper crap. I've driven a few & shopping carts feel more alive. Poor build quality. & then there's the ghastly interior, a suzuki samurai looks luxurious in comparison.

 

[silver_scooby]

Added this last night, MAN the shift boot was a pain to remove from the plastic trim! Not the piano black that I was hoping for, but the gloss black looks better than the gray in my opinion View attachment 334468

Lol yeah I remember the shift boot, think I broke one of the 10million tabs, 2 of my nails and 1 pick before I was through. Now that I see this, I should have gone with piano black. the carbon fiber along with leather stitching looks a bit busy. The CF pattern matches the dash but hydrodip is more glossy.

 

[XJman]

Could be. Soul might simply be rose-tinted memory of what we found exciting about cars as kids rather than the actual cars we are driving now.

Doesn't apply to Tesla though, they are proper crap. I've driven a few & shopping carts feel more alive. Poor build quality. & then there's the ghastly interior, a suzuki samurai looks luxurious in comparison.

Tesla is a 10ft car for sure. The interior feels and obvious panel gap issues remind me of a 90s Kia.

 

[clt-wrx]

Lol yeah I remember the shift boot, think I broke one of the 10million tabs, 2 of my nails and 1 pick before I was through. Now that I see this, I should have gone with piano black. the carbon fiber along with leather stitching looks a bit busy. The CF pattern matches the dash but hydrodip is more glossy.

View attachment 334470

that dip actually looks really good, did you add the leather stitched trim? Sure beats that plastic

The problem with the "no soul" argument is that it is unending.

Ask a muscle car fan and they'll tell you that your WRX has no soul. The revolutionary Hemi engine was soulless compared to the Ford Flathead, etc. etc.

I recall a quote once... "well engineered cars are built to sell. Quirky cars create enthusiasts" or something of that vein.

You’re right about that! I remember growing up people bitching about these cramped Japanese engines, there’s no room to work on them and fuel injectors blah blah blah.
Electric cars are not something I can modify and do maintenance on my own. That’s what I’ve always enjoyed about these cars, there are so many things that I can do to make it mine. I can shape it and mold it to make it a little faster, then if I want to make it handle a little better or stop quicker.
Then again I still buy a real tree for Christmas every year so I’m now considered old school.

 

[clt-wrx]

the Texas sun has beaten this badge down. Does anyone know where I can start looking to get this refinished? I’m guessing it’s cheaper than finding a replacement, if I can find it. They are not on subispeed anymore

 

[clt-wrx]

They were actually really easy to find and prices are all over the place from dirt cheap to almost what I paid originally

 

[silver_scooby]

that dip actually looks really good, did you add the leather stitched trim? Sure beats that plastic


You’re right about that! I remember growing up people bitching about these cramped Japanese engines, there’s no room to work on them and fuel injectors blah blah blah.
Electric cars are not something I can modify and do maintenance on my own. That’s what I’ve always enjoyed about these cars, there are so many things that I can do to make it mine. I can shape it and mold it to make it a little faster, then if I want to make it handle a little better or stop quicker.
Then again I still buy a real tree for Christmas every year so I’m now considered old school.

Bought the leather trim from Overland Designs. It's a guy working out of his garage somewhere in NC. Pricey but quality is proportionately good. & he wraps new OEM trim parts so fitment is perfect, or atleast as perfect as subaru fitment gets.

Overland Designs

Automotive interior designers for Honda and Subaru. Specializing in authentic automotive Alcantara and genuine OEM leather. Official USA Alcantara dealer and supplier

overlanddesigns.com

Mods & maintenance take time. It was decades before untrained avg joes had the information, tools & confidence to work on combustion engines at home. Eventually EVs will get there. Improving battery cooling systems, uprating power electronics and cables, adding coil cooling to increase motor slip angle for torque are all effectively "tuning". Then there's the actual tuning needed for DC drives.

 

[clt-wrx]

Adding more carbon fiber bits to prep for wing install (paint shop taking there sweet *** time)
I figured installing a few carbon fiber pieces on the sides and front will help the wing blend in a little better with the rest of the car. I thought the side mirrors being a different color would make the car stand out a litttle and adding signals with daytime running lights to match my C lights would be a nice touch with the new JDM style covers.

The housing is from carbon reproductions and the turn signals are OLM.
they are full replacement mirror covers so unlike the other stick on carbon fiber covers the fitment is close to factory (still a tiny gap). They are a little thicker but don’t really stick out much at all. Unlike the aftermarket signals which seem to stick out a lot. I like the look of it though.
Before:

After:

Didn’t have time to wire them in today but will update when time permits. Doesn’t look too difficult though.

 

[clt-wrx]

Wiring kit from subispeed is the wrong harness and according to them they don’t have the correct one. My fault for not reading the description as careful as I should have, but their fault for putting a link to that harness in their install video for the side mirror light. Fortunately Rallysport direct does have the correct harness, so blinker with DRL has been postponed a few days. Also there is a “ice storm” here in the Dallas area so hardly anything is open now.
I did put on my stock, wheels and all season tires for the first time since having my car lowered, and it looks real ugly with the stock offset lol.

 

[clt-wrx]

Odd I did an update to this thread a couple days ago and the message is now gone.
Daytime running lights and sequential turn signals are wired up and look great. It was a fairly easy install with the correct harnesses. I’ll try to take pictures tomorrow.

I finally got my spoiler bases back from the paint shop and they did a pretty poor job, so I’m taking them back to be repainted. Pretty frustrated it took this long and they look about as good as I could’ve done with a can of spray paint.

 

[clt-wrx]

ebay. You might also find them on forums or at car meets. Look for individuals selling takeoffs. Avoid the "professionally refurbished" ones, those are usually painted knockoffs. Rebuild them with oem rebuild kit from dealer, crossover o-rings from machV and new hardware, bleed valves, banjo bolts, mounting bolts, etc.

The black, red & gold sti brembos are all identical for front except color. The black & red rears are direct bolt ons. Gold rears need an adapter bracket. The yellows are direct bolt on front & rear but the calipers & rotors are very expensive.


18" from which year? STi wheels should all clear without any spacers.

18" wrx wheels from 2020 & 21 will also fit without any spacers. 18" wrx wheels from 2018 & 19 will need 5mm spacers. 10mm is overkill for any wheel.

Still not totally sure what I should be looking out for or what a good price for a used set would be. What do you think of these?

2018 SUBARU STI 6 POT FRONT & REAR BREMBO BRAKE CALIPERS KIT LOW MILES | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2018 SUBARU STI 6 POT FRONT & REAR BREMBO BRAKE CALIPERS KIT LOW MILES at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[silver_scooby]

Still not totally sure what I should be looking out for or what a good price for a used set would be. What do you think of these?

2018 SUBARU STI 6 POT FRONT & REAR BREMBO BRAKE CALIPERS KIT LOW MILES | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2018 SUBARU STI 6 POT FRONT & REAR BREMBO BRAKE CALIPERS KIT LOW MILES at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

That's not too bad. If you are ok with the scuffed front left caliper, then the price is ok. For reference, a new front 6 pot is ~1200$ per corner and rears are ~700-800 per corner at the dealer. All in, all of these parts new would cost over 4k. Beware that 6 pot pads and rotors will be expensive. If you go for this:

• Remove pads and inspect the dust shields. If they have Brembo part #s on them, it has the original seals and dust shields which should still be good. Leave as is if undamaged or rebuild with oem parts.
• Don't use the included brake lines, they can easily get damaged in storage. Either buy STi rear brake lines or replace all 4 with new stainless lines.
• Rotors are fine to reuse if not scored or heat checked. Use your judgement for pads and pad hardware. OEM pad hardware prices are a joke, centric is more reasonable. Dealer can sell banjo bolt crush washers and mounting bolts.
• Front dust shield is included. Rear is a problem. 2 new dust shields from the 2018+ STi are needed and you have to disassemble the entire handbrake mechanism and reinstall it on new dust shields.

Alternatively, buy this kit, install just the fronts, no need to change brake lines. And sell the rears to recover some of your money. You will get most of the benefit with 1/4th of the total labor.

 

[clt-wrx]

Definitely more then I’m able to spend right now. Still holding on to money for my Pro tune and spoiler paint job when that’s finished but an appreciate the insight and what to continue to look for.
I think I’m going to get some stoptech stainless steel brake lines and add some EBC yellow stuff pads to hold me over for now. I may also upgrade brake fluid at the same time if it’s actually that big of a deal, I’m not totally convinced it makes that big of a difference.

 

[silver_scooby]

Definitely more then I’m able to spend right now. Still holding on to money for my Pro tune and spoiler paint job when that’s finished but an appreciate the insight and what to continue to look for.
I think I’m going to get some stoptech stainless steel brake lines and add some EBC yellow stuff pads to hold me over for now. I may also upgrade brake fluid at the same time if it’s actually that big of a deal, I’m not totally convinced it makes that big of a difference.

Fluid makes some difference to fade, but not much on road. More frequent brake fluid flushes with oem fluid will help. If you want go change fluid, you need a way to flush the abs pump.

 

[clt-wrx]

Sequel turn signal

DRL

looks pretty good IMO

 

[WRX-maniac]

Look great!

 

[clt-wrx]

Finally got my spoil bases back! The auto body shop took them to an actual paint shop since they couldn’t get them right. It took over a month to get them back but since it was so long they didn’t charge me anything.

The point of no return! It was little scary to drill into the trunk, I spend so much time trying to protect the paint that this felt so wrong.

 

[clt-wrx]