[Snozzberries]

I just purchased a 2017 WRX STI i've never owned a Subaru before, im going to be Daily Driving this car. My question is what Mods or Stage is best for a Daily I know modding the car will void the Warranty in some aspects but what is the safest route to go?

 

[zax]

what is the safest route to go

Stock is safest in every way.

 

[Snozzberries]

What can I do to it to not jeopardize the car? A buddy of mine said to do a Stage 2 and nothing more.

 

[zax]

What can I do to it to not jeopardize the car? A buddy of mine said to do a Stage 2 and nothing more.

If you are worried about failure, stay stock. It's a brand new car, so why not enjoy the warranty?!

 

[MainFrame]

Tires.. they are the only part of the car that touches the road, and there is virtually no risk involved with buying good new tires (I suppose some risk, since if you get a puncture that cannot be fixed you will need to replace all four tires. That happened to me once and it set me back $1150).

 

[Snozzberries]

Very true is there anything that doesnt void the warranty? I've been told you can get away with Tuning it and an Exhaust and just flashing it back to stock if you have to take it in?

 

[zax]

I've been told you can get away with Tuning it and an Exhaust and just flashing it back to stock if you have to take it in?

What you've been told is unethical and the reason that Subaru has to scrutinize every warranty claim to a ridiculous degree.

A catback exhaust will likely not cause issue with Engine warranty claims. Altering the ECU parameters, OTOH, can most certainly be attributed to failure.

 

[MainFrame]

is there anything that doesnt void the warranty? I've been told you can get away with Tuning it and an Exhaust and just flashing it back to stock if you have to take it in?

Nothing can "void" a warranty (short of tampering with the VIN or odometer). You can do all the modifications you want and the car will retain it's original factory warranty. The problem arises when you attempt to file a warranty claim which could have potentially been caused by your modifications, ie. you tune the car then the engine or some other part of the drivetrain fails. A bad tune can kill an engine in no time, and running increased power could certainly the cause of a clutch or transmission failure. In those cases the warranty claim SHOULD be denied, since we're not talking about some kind of manufacturing defect. They don't really have to "prove" that what you did caused the failure either.. all they have to do is deny the claim and that's that. This doesn't mean that if your stereo burns out they're going to dent the claim because you tampered with the ECU.. the two are clearly unrelated and I highly doubt any dealership would try to screw you around in that situation.



As far as tuning and flashing back to stock, they can tell. Now days all big warranty claims have to be approved by Subaru of America before giving the dealership the go ahead to do the work under warranty. There are hash codes stored in the ECU which change every time it is written to, plus the new ECUs store information about how the engine has been treated (red lining it), ignition counts, etc. If you bring the car in with 20k miles and the ECU says it's only been started a dozen times they're going to know that you messed with it pretty quick.

On the subject of exhaust and other hardware changes, it's rather easy for a mechanic to tell if bolts have been removed and replaced. If the exhaust bolts don't look untouched like the rest of the bolts on the car it's a pretty clear sign that they have been removed at some point.

 

[bwilson7990]

What MainFrame said above is on point. Perfectly stated. Like women, it's a game you flirt with for a thrill and it can bite you in the ass.

My $.02 is as follows:

Stick to mods that do not require a tune. Leave the intake, engine mechanicals, exhaust (downpipe, j-pipe, midpipe), suspension, ECU, and any major electronics alone.

Visuals are your best friend for a DD if you don't want to risk the "mod the car > break something important/expensive > denied claim > brand new car costing you a fortune" situation

These cars, especially the STI are incredible the way they come from the factory. Yes, there are far superior incredibles that one can add aftermarket, but the cars are sensitive and you're sticking your neck (and wallet) out for what, a few extra ponies?

Tinting/wrapping, paint protection film, lips/under spoilers, wheels, lighting, rain guards, mud flaps, interior goodies, i.e. stuff that makes it yours and more comfortable/pleasing to DD.

I have a 2018 WRX Limited on order right now and I've been thinking about all of this for a very long time. This is the conclusion I have come to. When the warranty is up, damn right I'm gonna flash it and swap it, and slam it, and what not. But the cost of a voided warranty is not worth the risk in the short term IMO.

Whatever you do, share it with us.

 

[irickchad]

Catback is about it. You picked about the worst option you can imagine for something that is solely going to be a "Daily Driver", but too little, too late.

Paint protection, mudflaps, JDM center console, JDM fuse box coin holder, are all great comfort/convenience mods.

 

[zax]

Catback is about it. You picked about the worst option you can imagine for something that is solely going to be a "Daily Driver"

Not sure I agree with that...

 

[XJman]

Very true is there anything that doesnt void the warranty? I've been told you can get away with Tuning it and an Exhaust and just flashing it back to stock if you have to take it in?

You've been told wrong, turbo back and tune are two of the easiest mods to tell have been done and are some of the first things they check for. If you can't afford the possibility of failure just leave it be. Trying to skirt the warranty restrictions shafts honest people with honest problems.

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[Goose42]

1. Rubber
2. Driver mod

 

[XJman]

1. Rubber
2. Driver mod

Brake pads can help depending on your driving situation.

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[irickchad]

Not sure I agree with that...

A super stiff riding purpose built track car with little to no creature comforts and 17-22MPG average. It's definitely not a good DD option, haha. The WRX on the other hand..

 

[Blk17WRX]

If you don't mind lower than average MPG there is nothing wrong with DD an STI. I DD an Evo X for a long time that was around 325 whp which had worse MPG than a stock STI.

To give my $0.02 to the OP I would not touch the ECU (IE tuning) because you'll run into warranty claim issues down the road if something goes wrong. Dealers aren't dumb, and can very easily tell if you've tampered with the ECU. At most I would go with something like a CBE or ABE, and just do cosmetic stuff. If you tune it, and blow your motor you'll regret it big time at the expense of only a few HP.

 

[zax]

A super stiff riding purpose built track car with little to no creature comforts and 17-22MPG average. It's definitely not a good DD option, haha. The WRX on the other hand..

So what you are saying is that a loaded Prius is the proper choice for a DD. :bs:

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[MainFrame]

A safe, reliable car, with four doors, good handling, that you can drive hard without worry of breaking, and AWD for the snowy months. When you get down to it the STI is just an AWD family sedan that can handle a beating every now and then, and isn't boring to drive. Sounds like a good DD to me. :dontknow:

Calling it a purpose built track car seems like a pretty big stretch to me.. family sedan is a more accurate description.

 

[zax]

Right. The GT3 RS and Camaro Z28 are purpose-built track cars.

The STI is a sporty sedan that doubles as a fun weekend motorsport car. There are a lot of cars in this category but that doesn't make the STI a terrible DD.

FWIW, the ride difference between the STI and WRX is minimal. It's mostly the result of the psychological effect of believing the STi is the sporty alternative to the WRX.

RCE showed that the STi struts have a bit more low-speed rebound damping (and the lighter reciprocating mass of the mono-tube damper) that makes it an all-star in transitions and slaloms. This does make the STI feel a slight bit more active at low speeds over rough roads, but the difference is pretty small.

The EJ257 has a lot more vacuum torque than the FA20 which feels a bit more stressed at low-loads i.e. puttering around town. I've seen the torque curves and know that the FA20 has superior low-end torque AT FULL THROTTLE, but when throttle demand is less than 100%, the EJ257 feels like it has a lot more torque. That's a function of the larger displacement and shorter gearing. In my experience, it's easier to drive the STI in traffic than the WRX. I have no counterpoint on fuel economy: the STI is embarrassing. My 21 yo Chevy Astro Van gets better city fuel economy.

 

[ProZach626]

Very true is there anything that doesnt void the warranty? I've been told you can get away with Tuning it and an Exhaust and just flashing it back to stock if you have to take it in?

That's called fraud.

Why do you want to mod it, anyway? Are you not enjoying what the car has to offer? You clearly know nothing about the car and you just purchased it, but you're already wanting to change it for some reason. Do you street race it (dumb)? Do you track it? Those would be the only two reasons to mod it outside of you not liking something on the car and wanting to change it.

I hated how quiet the car was, so I purchased a cat-back exhaust, which won't void the warranty. Outside of shifter bushings, exhaust, tires, brake pads, or cosmetic mods (waste), I wouldn't touch anything.