[06wrxnoob]

Hello everyone, I'd like to first mention that I am 19, by no means a car expert and am not knowledgeable to confidently talk about the ins and outs of my car (yet) and this car for now is simply my daily going 4-5 miles for work as I wanted something with a little more power, and something that I can continuously upgrade throughout the months whilst maintaining, coming from driving a 4 cylinder Honda Accord.

Anyways, about a month ago, I found a very clean 2006 Hawkeye WRX (141,000 miles) with mint interior and the car was repainted in obsidian black with very little clear coat peels and dings, which was not visible at a certain distance. They also came with Motegi Racing wheels that were black and I thought the black on black was nice. When taking a look around the car I clearly noticed that it had an HKS hi-power exhaust on it which I loved the sound of and in the engine bay I noticed a bigger intercooler with everything looking stock. Many of the internal parts of the engine were recently replaced professionally at an only Subaru shop with receipts for proof. To sum it up, I fell in love and bought it before anybody else could being that they are pretty hard to come across by (this had also been my first car purchase).

A day after purchasing I notice a small leak under the car which I believed to be power steering fluid. I took it to my brother in laws mechanic for a full inspection and I find out that the car is running a catless downpipe with a protune which was causing fuel to run a little more on the rich side which wasn't a big problem for me. There were also wires disconnected and tucked away probably to void CEL. The mechanic tells me the power steering fluid leak is from the front power steering rack from wear and tear over time but doesn't need to be urgently fixed since it's coming out very slow so I'll put that aside till I feel I need to replace it. Since then, I've been driving it normally, installed an HIC rear visor being that it looked clean with the wingless WRX. That's about it.

Now with this info, I wanted to ask some questions to the experienced WRX owners.

1. What advice would you give me regarding power gains without breaking my car? (Given that I have a bigger intercooler, downpipe, catback exhaust, and protune)
2. I never was informed of how much power the car makes, so with these mods, what general range of power would it be making, HP/TQ? (As the car is 227-230 HP stock, I was maybe thinking 260-270)
3. I've done a couple second gear pulls to 6k rpm and going onto third just to get a feel of this car. I do them a twice or three times when driving but I make sure the car is warmed up and that I let the boost build first. Realistically, will these second gear pulls destroy my transmission or engine? (I know these transmissions can break easily, but wonder if it'll explode on me if I do pulls once in awhile).
4.When I do these pulls from second to third, I feel like the torque isn't all there, like the car still has more power hidden to it then what was given to me. Maybe it's a placebo but it feels like the power falls off in third gear from 4.5k rpm and above, like there is no oomf if that makes sense. I did some research and found it could maybe be something with clogged fuel injectors or that it needed to be upgraded but I am a noob so what do I know. Is it normal to feel slower acceleration or slight power fall off in third gear high RPM's?
5. Feel free to give me advice on anything, I am a complete noob and am open to any helpful advice.

I'm sure I have more questions but those are the main things I wanted to get out of the way.

 

[06wrxnoob]

Hello everyone, I'd like to first mention that I am 19, by no means a car expert and am not knowledgeable to confidently talk about the ins and outs of my car (yet) and this car for now is simply my daily going 4-5 miles for work as I wanted something with a little more power, and something that I can continuously upgrade throughout the months whilst maintaining, coming from driving a 4 cylinder Honda Accord.

Anyways, about a month ago, I found a very clean 2006 Hawkeye WRX with mint interior and the car was repainted in obsidian black with very little clear coat peels and dings, which was not visible at a certain distance. They also came with Motegi Racing wheels that were black and I thought the black on black was nice. When taking a look around the car I clearly noticed that it had an HKS hi-power exhaust on it which I loved the sound of and in the engine bay I noticed a bigger intercooler with everything looking stock. Many of the internal parts of the engine were recently replaced professionally at an only Subaru shop with receipts for proof. To sum it up, I fell in love and bought it before anybody else could being that they are pretty hard to come across by (this had also been my first car purchase).

A day after purchasing I notice a small leak under the car which I believed to be power steering fluid. I took it to my brother in laws mechanic for a full inspection and I find out that the car is running a catless downpipe with a protune which was causing fuel to run a little more on the rich side which wasn't a big problem for me. There were also wires disconnected and tucked away probably to void CEL. The mechanic tells me the power steering fluid leak is from the front power steering rack from wear and tear over time but doesn't need to be urgently fixed since it's coming out very slow so I'll put that aside till I feel I need to replace it. Since then, I've been driving it normally, installed an HIC rear visor being that it looked clean with the wingless WRX. That's about it.

Now with this info, I wanted to ask some questions to the experienced WRX owners.

1. What advice would you give me regarding power gains without breaking my car? (Given that I have a bigger intercooler, downpipe, catback exhaust, and protune)
2. I never was informed of how much power the car makes, so with these mods, what general range of power would it be making, HP/TQ? (As the car is 227-230 HP stock, I was maybe thinking 260-270)
3. I've done a couple second gear pulls to 6k rpm and going onto third just to get a feel of this car. I do them a twice or three times when driving but I make sure the car is warmed up and that I let the boost build first. Realistically, will these second gear pulls destroy my transmission or engine? (I know these transmissions can break easily, but wonder if it'll explode on me if I do pulls once in awhile).
4.When I do these pulls from second to third, I feel like the torque isn't all there, like the car still has more power hidden to it then what was given to me. Maybe it's a placebo but it feels like the power falls off in third gear from 4.5k rpm and above, like there is no oomf if that makes sense. I did some research and found it could maybe be something with clogged fuel injectors or that it needed to be upgraded but I am a noob so what do I know. Is it normal to feel slower acceleration or slight power fall off in third gear high RPM's?
5. Feel free to give me advice on anything, I am a complete noob and am open to any helpful advice.

I'm sure I have more questions but those are the main things I wanted to get out of the way.

 

[XJman]

I'd advise a 19 year old not to own a WRX.

 

[Maximus1991]

This is the kind of thing you need a “tuner” to really get serious about it. He’s the key man to really know whats the possibility of your tune/setup. He also got the dyno to answer your question of how many whp you got, there is no real other way to know, unless you only “speculate/estimate”…

Its really more finicky than it looks like, always hard to swallow the pill.

As for your pulls, make sure your not WOT under 2.7k in order to not lug engine.
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[06wrxnoob]

I'd advise a 19 year old not to own a WRX.

I understand that it's not ideal for me to have a car like this as I'm still inexperienced and young, but I really did fall in love with this car and I am open to any challenges that will come my way and am willing to take them head on. I just needed the first step of advice that will maybe point me the right way.

 

[a5m]

Hello everyone, I'd like to first mention that I am 19, by no means a car expert and am not knowledgeable to confidently talk about the ins and outs of my car (yet) and this car for now is simply my daily going 4-5 miles for work as I wanted something with a little more power, and something that I can continuously upgrade throughout the months whilst maintaining, coming from driving a 4 cylinder Honda Accord.

Anyways, about a month ago, I found a very clean 2006 Hawkeye WRX with mint interior and the car was repainted in obsidian black with very little clear coat peels and dings, which was not visible at a certain distance. They also came with Motegi Racing wheels that were black and I thought the black on black was nice. When taking a look around the car I clearly noticed that it had an HKS hi-power exhaust on it which I loved the sound of and in the engine bay I noticed a bigger intercooler with everything looking stock. Many of the internal parts of the engine were recently replaced professionally at an only Subaru shop with receipts for proof. To sum it up, I fell in love and bought it before anybody else could being that they are pretty hard to come across by (this had also been my first car purchase).

A day after purchasing I notice a small leak under the car which I believed to be power steering fluid. I took it to my brother in laws mechanic for a full inspection and I find out that the car is running a catless downpipe with a protune which was causing fuel to run a little more on the rich side which wasn't a big problem for me. There were also wires disconnected and tucked away probably to void CEL. The mechanic tells me the power steering fluid leak is from the front power steering rack from wear and tear over time but doesn't need to be urgently fixed since it's coming out very slow so I'll put that aside till I feel I need to replace it. Since then, I've been driving it normally, installed an HIC rear visor being that it looked clean with the wingless WRX. That's about it.

Now with this info, I wanted to ask some questions to the experienced WRX owners.

1. What advice would you give me regarding power gains without breaking my car? (Given that I have a bigger intercooler, downpipe, catback exhaust, and protune)
2. I never was informed of how much power the car makes, so with these mods, what general range of power would it be making, HP/TQ? (As the car is 227-230 HP stock, I was maybe thinking 260-270)
3. I've done a couple second gear pulls to 6k rpm and going onto third just to get a feel of this car. I do them a twice or three times when driving but I make sure the car is warmed up and that I let the boost build first. Realistically, will these second gear pulls destroy my transmission or engine? (I know these transmissions can break easily, but wonder if it'll explode on me if I do pulls once in awhile).
4.When I do these pulls from second to third, I feel like the torque isn't all there, like the car still has more power hidden to it then what was given to me. Maybe it's a placebo but it feels like the power falls off in third gear from 4.5k rpm and above, like there is no oomf if that makes sense. I did some research and found it could maybe be something with clogged fuel injectors or that it needed to be upgraded but I am a noob so what do I know. Is it normal to feel slower acceleration or slight power fall off in third gear high RPM's?
5. Feel free to give me advice on anything, I am a complete noob and am open to any helpful advice.

I'm sure I have more questions but those are the main things I wanted to get out of the way.

I think you should sort the car out first and do any maintenance items before looking to increase power. Get an ACCESSPort and see what the car is doing. I personally wouldn't be doing WOT pulls, especially 2-3 every time you drive it. These aren't exactly bulletproof so learning their limits first and making sure your car is happy where it's at would be my suggestion.

 

[XJman]

I understand that it's not ideal for me to have a car like this as I'm still inexperienced and young, but I really did fall in love with this car and I am open to any challenges that will come my way and am willing to take them head on. I just needed the first step of advice that will maybe point me the right way.

It's unlikely you have the comfortable means to deal with the possible outcomes of higher power. Both in your driving ability and your pocketbook. Engine replacements and performance builds are prohibitively expensive.

The fact you are already worried about pulls tells me youve got no business anywhere around a car that builds that much more confidence than it's capability to keep you alive.

Yes, driving like that will blow up your transmission. They are cheap compared to the engine that driving like that will destroy. It's an econobox commuter not a race car contrary to popular belief.

Go buy something that doesn't inspire you to do pulls and have to worry what the power is up by redline. We all were you, some of is had those cars and have the retrospect to know better, others their families get to live with the decision when they visit the grave site because their child was worried about going flat out.

 

[Maximus1991]

Is it a double post ? Because Im sure to have replied to this same post and @XJman ; also did as the #2 post saying a 19yo should not buy a wrx


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[XJman]

Is it a double post ? Because Im sure to have replied to this same post and @XJman ; also did as the #2 post saying a 19yo should not buy a wrx


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Good catch, I merged the threads.

 

[06wrxnoob]

This is the kind of thing you need a “tuner” to really get serious about it. He’s the key man to really know whats the possibility of your tune/setup. He also got the dyno to answer your question of how many whp you got, there is no real other way to know, unless you only “speculate/estimate”…

Its really more finicky than it looks like, always hard to swallow the pill.

As for your pulls, make sure your not WOT under 2.7k in order to not lug engine.
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Okay thanks for the advice, there is a shop near me that specializes in Subaru's and also offers dyno tunes and sessions. I'll go ahead and talk to them about what my goals are with the car and all the info I have on it. I'll also keep in mind to only do WOT when around 3k rpm.
Once again thank you for your word of advice!

 

[06wrxnoob]

It's unlikely you have the comfortable means to deal with the possible outcomes of higher power. Both in your driving ability and your pocketbook. Engine replacements and performance builds are prohibitively expensive.

The fact you are already worried about pulls tells me youve got no business anywhere around a car that builds that much more confidence than it's capability to keep you alive.

Yes, driving like that will blow up your transmission. They are cheap compared to the engine that driving like that will destroy. It's an econobox commuter not a race car contrary to popular belief.

Go buy something that doesn't inspire you to do pulls and have to worry what the power is up by redline. We all were you, some of is had those cars and have the retrospect to know better, others their families get to live with the decision when they visit the grave site because their child was worried about going flat out.

I really do understand where your coming from and you definitely have more experience than me in both cars and life in general so I can't really say anything. I know I'm super young, I drive responsibly, and am ready to face the consequences if something does happen. If my transmission or engine blows up, so be it, I'll have learned my lesson, but as for now I am pretty financially stable for a 19 year old and could slide in many different parts that would benefit to my car in both reliability and power. I know for a fact I won't go back to a 170 hp car that takes 5 minutes to reach 6k rpm.
This is my first car purchase on my own and I wouldn't be selling it anytime soon.

I guess what I'm missing is just the complete understanding of my car, what my realistic goals are, and what it'll take to get there, which I'll learn be learning throughout owning this car.

I'm sure I will come back to this post a year from now to see what my growth has been in regarding all these questions, and the lack on knowledge I have in cars. It's hard to explain how I feel about all this but let's just say I am looking forward to this journey. I'm throwing myself into the deep end with all this stuff and am fully aware of what I am getting myself into, so please don't hurt my feelings .

Also to mention launches and first gear pulls are out of the question for me. I'd never abuse my car like that.

 

[lexabarry]

Bump

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[Maximus1991]

Bump

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I don’t understand a bump made by another person than the OP!? Whats the reason?
I think hes got plenty of info here, his first step is to visit a tuner and go on a dyno. That will answer all his power questions including the “missing” power/torque that he feels at high rpm.

He could add a couple other supporting mods but still if he discuss with the tuner he’ll point out what he wants vs power target.

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