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WRX-maniac's Wonderful and Spectacular 2012 STi Build!!!

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BUILD LOG:
WRX-maniac's 2012 STi Limited Sedan




















The Story:
I traded in my 2011 WRX for this STi in June of 2016. It has been my dream to own an STI since I could drive. With finally owning one, my goals are to eventually end up making this car my weekend warrior/track car. Although I will have to DD it for a few years. My main focus will be making good horsepower, while building up the suspension and drivetrain components at the same time. Overall I just want this car to be everything I have always envisioned it to me in my mind, and have fun while doing it. Hope you enjoy!


The Car:
2012 Subaru STi Limited sedan
World Rally Blue
Chassis Mileage : 70,102
Built motor mileage : 12,013

FULLY BUILT, ROTATED TURBO GOODNESS/ 3rd Place car at 2022 Import Nationals in Carlisle PA


710whp @40psi on E85
582whp and 518wtrq @ 28psi on pump 93



Current Modifications:

Short block:
-V4 closed deck from Outfront Motorsports
-Manley platinum series forged pistons (oversized 99.75)
-Manley turbo tuff I-beam rods
-ACL main and rod bearings
-ARP 1/2 inch head studs
-new STi nitrate treated crankshaft
-Secondary air pump delete w/Andrewtech block off plates


Oiling Components:
-Killer B ultimate pick up
-Killer B oil pan and baffle
-New STi 11mm oil pump

Heads:
-Kelford 272 camshafts
-Supertech Dual Valve Springs set
-Supertech Spring Seat Locatorset
-Supertech Titanium Retainer set
-Multi-Angle valve job
-Adjusting valve clearance
-Disassemble and Assemble Cylinder heads (includes valve stem seal replacement)
-Deck cylinder heads


Engine/Exhaust/Performance Mods:
-KillerB Holy Header
-Turboxs rotated turbo kit
-Garrett GTX3582r gen 2 turbo
-ETS 4 inch core FMIC w/ powder coated wrinkle black piping
-Tial 38mm external wastegate
-Tial Q 50mm bov
-Speed density sensor
-MAF sensor (to read air intake temps only)
-ETS catback (with mufflers, no resonator)
-Cobb Accessport V3
--Aeromotive A1000 manual fuel pressure regulator
-Cobb fuel pressure sensor
-Grimmspeed 3 port ebcs
-ID1700cc injectors
-Radium dual pump hanger with dual walbro 450's

-IAG AOS (comp. series) in Red
-IAG TGV deletes in Black
-IAG v3 fuel rails in Red w/ IAG fuel lines
-Cobb 4-BAR map sensor
-Cobb flex fuel sensor
-Fuildampr dampening crank pulley
-Koyo Radiator with GS radiator hoses
-DEI turbo blanket

Ignition Upgrades:

-NGK one step colder plugs
-OTL Performance street series coil packs


Brakes-Current setup:
-GoodRidge Gstop Stainless steel brake lines
-Motul 5.1 brake fluid

-DBA 4000 series drilled and slotted rotors
-Hawk HPS pads

Exterior/Aesthetic:
-Perrin 2 inch shorty antenna w/ navigation
-IAG front license plate delete plate
-Debadged trunk
-Grimmspeed license plate relocater
-Vinyl overlays for tail lights. Red blinker overlay and smoked reverse light
-Subaru JDM R205 Black Side Ornaments
-20% window tint, plus windshield strip
-Gloss black window chrome deletes
-JNA Performance C-Style polyurethane front lip
-APR Carbon Fiber front wind splitter
-Flex Fuel badge
-Downforce solutions v2 rear diffuser
-Downforce solutions side skirt extensions
-OLM RS style gurney flap in gloss black
-Gloss black subaru emblems with white stars
-Verus Engineering hood scoop block off plate
-Verus Engineering hood louvers

Drivetrain/Transmission/Suspension:
-ACT Xtreme Duty Performance Street clutch kit and new FHI oem flywheel
-Kartboy short throw shifter + bushing kit
-Turn in Concepts transmission crossmember bushings
-Turn in Concepts Shifter Pivot bushings
-Group N Transmission mount
-Perrin Pitch Stop Mount
-Cygnus Performance X-1 coilovers. Motorsport edition (9k/9k)
-IAG competition series engine mounts (90A durometer bushings)
-2015+ STi steering rack and pinion
-Whiteline Steering Rack bushings
=Cusco rear strut tower brace


Engine bay dress-up:
-Perrin Rad Shroud in Red
-Perrin pulley cover in Red
-Perrin ebcs cover in Red
-Perrin fender shrouds in Red
-
Perrin battery tie down in Black
-Billetworkz Zero Series Black engine bay caps

Interior:
-JBL club 6520 front door speakers
-SMY Dual gauge cluster
-AEM UEGO wideband AFR gauge
-AEM oil pressure gauge

-SMY 52mm accessport mount
-SOLiDMods 52mm vent pod
-Autostyled Black Leather shift boot w/ red stitching for short shifter
-Autostyled Black Leather E-brake boot w/ red stitching
-Billetworkz weighted shift knob
-FactionFab carbon fiber and leather "D" shaped steering wheel
-Braum Elite-S Racing seats
-Idoing head unit


Wheels and Tires:
-Enkei PF09 in vanquish white (18x9.5 +40)
-BFGoodrich G-Force Sport Comp 2 tires (235/40/18)

The Future:

Engine/Exhaust/Performance mods:
-Process West reverse/track intake manifold

Drivetrain/Transmission/Suspension:
-Whiteline rear diff positive power kit inserts
-Whiteline rear subframe inserts
-Whiteline roll center kit
-Cusco sway bars and endlinks
-Cusco front strut tower bar
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So I have been busy busting out maintenance on the STi over the last couple of weeks to get it ready for spring. Changed the oil, new rotors and pads all around, and cleaned and ceramic coated my wheels. Finally off jackstands and ready to roll.





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Oh man I missed the last update. What did you use to seal the cut hood?

Did you use a primer and paint only?
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Oh man I missed the last update. What did you use to seal the cut hood?

Did you use a primer and paint only?
I just used touch up paint with a spray of clear coat. Turned out great.
This is so sick
Thank you!
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Well, I dont think I have mentioned this on here. But my STi has thrown a CEL for cylinder 1 misfire two times now within a one month period. Just sitting there idling. Now I am pretty sure I know the cause. Let me back up here a minute....

When I was buying all of my fuel mod crap to make power, I thought to myself man, I have upgraded just about everything else with the exception of my coil packs. So I bought the OTL performance street coil packs. Cool. Had the shop throw them on while doing the pre-dyno inspection. Fast forward a few hours to the dyno and cylinder 2 kept misfiring. Swapped the coil pack on cylinder 2 back to oem, and well if you follow me you know the car went on to make over 700whp. My tuner told me that I need to put the stock coil packs in because the OTL ones are JUNK. I had no idea the stock coils were so good. Good enough where most high power subaru people ONLY run oem coil packs. Lesson learned.

So last weekend I decided that with my car showing a cylinder 1 misfire, that I was pretty sure what the culprit is. I cleaned up and reinstalled the oem coil packs on the other 3 cylinders. So far, with about 20 minutes worth of idling and driving in my neighborhood. No CEL or misfire. Keep in mind the last 2 times it threw a CEL for misfire it was within 5 minutes of idling. So I am 99.99% sure that is fixed and finally the OTL junk out of my car.

However, in doing so I broke something LOL. Cylinder 4 connector to the coil was brittle, I literally touched it with my pick to release it from the coil pack and it broke. So I haven't felt comfortable driving any kind of distance with the car in fear of that connector sliding off the coil pack. Luckily this is common. And places like IAG carry repair kits. Which mine just came in the mail yesterday. So, this week I will pull the yellow tab out of the connector, undo the wiring, and put a new plastic connector on. So I'm hoping by this weekend coming the STi will finally be ready for the spring!
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All stock oem coil packs in and plastic connector to coil on cylinder #4 replaced. She’s purring like a kitten now!
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So I finally bought a creature comfort mod for the STi. Been wanting to do this for a while now, but my purchases are usually performance based. But I have finally had enough of my stock head unit. Lately (the last couple of years), my phone will take forever to connect to the head unit via bluetooth and sometimes not connect at all. I listen to all music and everything using my phone's bluetooth function. So, I finally ordered the idoing head unit I have wanted. Will be refreshing to bring the head unit out of the dinosaur age and have things like wireless apple car play among other things. As always I will post pictures up once I get it and get it installed!
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So I finally bought a creature comfort mod for the STi. Been wanting to do this for a while now, but my purchases are usually performance based. But I have finally had enough of my stock head unit. Lately (the last couple of years), my phone will take forever to connect to the head unit via bluetooth and sometimes not connect at all. I listen to all music and everything using my phone's bluetooth function. So, I finally ordered the idoing head unit I have wanted. Will be refreshing to bring the head unit out of the dinosaur age and have things like wireless apple car play among other things. As always I will post pictures up once I get it and get it installed!
I'm about at that point with my Jeep head.

Older Bluetooth standards are fine but newer ones take forever to connect and are buggy. My s23 is a pain, note 20 ultra was flawless.
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I'm about at that point with my Jeep head.

Older Bluetooth standards are fine but newer ones take forever to connect and are buggy. My s23 is a pain, note 20 ultra was flawless.
Yeah I am probably way more excited for this than I should be. But I cannot wait. Its pretty sweet. Essentially a 9 inch android tablet made into a head unit.
Yeah I am probably way more excited for this than I should be. But I cannot wait. Its pretty sweet. Essentially a 9 inch android tablet made into a head unit.
That kind of thing never had large appeal for me. I hate touch screen radios, and more than that I hate the big infotainment consoles. They are usually a hassle.

How's it work with the steering wheel controls?
That kind of thing never had large appeal for me. I hate touch screen radios, and more than that I hate the big infotainment consoles. They are usually a hassle.

How's it work with the steering wheel controls?
It is made to very easily map your steering wheel controls. There is a settings thing you click on. so for example you would hold the volume up button on your steering wheel and press that corresponding button on the head unit and then let go of the steering wheel button and it is programmed. So all oem steering wheel controls work flawlessly.
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It is made to very easily map your steering wheel controls. There is a settings thing you click on. so for example you would hold the volume up button on your steering wheel and press that corresponding button on the head unit and then let go of the steering wheel button and it is programmed. So all oem steering wheel controls work flawlessly.
Kudos ! Always an interesting read !
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New head unit arrived today. I will be posting pictures of install and everything later this week.
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LOL I just went the opposite direction. I just sold my Seicane and spent WAY too much on a stereo upgrade for my car.
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So last night I installed the Idoing head unit. I must admit, I love this thing so far. It is very quick and responsive. Bluetooth and apple carplay load quick and seamlessly. There is one issue I have though. So my stock head unit, as seen in the pictures, is from my limited trim STi. So it had the stock touchscreen, navigation, and HD radio. So the radio plug in to the rear of the head unit isnt your typical male plug that just gets pressed in the circular female part on the back of the head unit. Has to be an actual plastic connector. So I have no radio function. Just static. Which isnt a big deal because I pretty much never use the radio. But I also like having all functions. So it is irritating me a bit. Not sure if I need some sort of aftermarket adaptor or what. But other than that, this thing is awesome! Was super easy to map all of the steering wheel controls and everything functions like oem.









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It looks really good! I will admit that mine looked better with the big screen as well :)

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It looks really good! I will admit that mine looked better with the big screen as well :)

Definitely brought my old interior into this century as far as technology goes. Never thought I would have wireless apple carplay in this car haha.
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Definitely brought my old interior into this century as far as technology goes. Never thought I would have wireless apple carplay in this car haha.
Your car looks Awesome !
Definitely brought my old interior into this century as far as technology goes. Never thought I would have wireless apple carplay in this car haha.

I'm guessing (based on the original unit) that your car has the upgraded stereo from the factory?
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