WRX wagon (04)... mods for around a grand?

[horsmai]

Hi,

Last year I bought an 04 plate impreza WRX wagon and I love it, but in a couple of months the warrantee runs out and I'm thinking about some modifications. It's a totally standard UK car. I know I can get better value than going for a PPP. what sort of mods should I be looking at? budget can go up to around £1600 (as I was oringinally planning a PPP) and what gains will each mod give approximately? also ny recomendations as to tuners in and around London? (I won't be doing any of it myself

[TAS1981]

You might try these guys, I have read good things about them but not used them myself so look on some forums first to see what they say! They should give you some good advice about what to go for with your budget.

www.slowboy-racing.co.uk South East London Subaru Tuning Specialists

I guess the main question is what power will you be happy with and do you also want to uprate the brakes and handling?

Ah ...the slippery slope.....

[ScoobieWRX]

Put £700 to one side for an EcuTek remap, includes VAT, or £450 for an Open Source Tuning remap, includes VAT.

That leaves you about £900-£1100

High flow flat panel air filter £45inc VAT, Snorkus delete mod for free DIY or £58 inc VAT, full decat exhaust system £500 inc VAT (includes uppipe), 2nd Hand Pink injectors £150 inc VAT and a Sytec fuel pump for £60 inc VAT. If you go for the Open Source Tuning remap there will be enough money to buy a low mileage 2nd hand VF35 Turbo in good condition.

The above will get you a genuine 330bhp-340bhp. I wouldn't take your WRX any further than that at all and much lower if it's done big mileage.

HTH

[horsmai]

That's amazing value, I was expecting around 280hp ! Am I likely to give my gearbox/driveshaft/clutch problems if I go that high?

THanks

Iain

[TAS1981]

Depending on milage etc etc you should be ok upto 330 ish, some people run around 350 with no probs, others do have problems. I would say 300-ish is a pretty safe and respectable number, attainable and not too much stress on the drive train....but again how far do you want to go?

[ScoobieWRX]

horsmai said:

That's amazing value, I was expecting around 280hp ! Am I likely to give my gearbox/driveshaft/clutch problems if I go that high?

THanks

Iain

The standard 5spd box is good for 330ft/lb torque, i'm currently putting a lot more through my 5spd and it's properly creaking under the strain but still going. Driveshafts will easily cope with that as will the rest of the drivetrain. As for your clutch the OEM version should be good for nearly as much as the gearbox will take, i suppose it's really all down to how you use your clutch and how often you launch your car. If in doubt, juddering badly or perhaps it's on it's way out and starting to slip change it for an uprated organic clutch from Exedy, AP or Greddy that will cost about the same as the OEM clutch kit from a dealer, and don't forget to get your flywheel skimmed. Most scooby specialists will do you a swap for a ready skimmed or new one, and obviously charge you for the pleasure. If your car can stay up in the air for a bit there are plenty of engineering companies around that will skim it for about £60. Clutches on scoobs aren't difficult to do if you can get the car up in the air, otherwise if you're on your back it's as much a pain as any other car.

HTH

[horsmai]

TAS1981 said:

Depending on milage etc etc you should be ok upto 330 ish, some people run around 350 with no probs, others do have problems. I would say 300-ish is a pretty safe and respectable number, attainable and not too much stress on the drive train....but again how far do you want to go?

Was VERY pleasantly suprised that I could over 300 with that budget, so I'd like to keep it around the 300 mark. Any mods after that I think I'd go with uprating brakes etc, I'd just like a little more feel to them, but that can wait until I've got the oomph first. It's a daily driver (currently on 40k)and I do about 60 miles per day, so I don't want to strain it too much and mods that will keep my MPG in the 20s would be nice

[ScoobieWRX]

There is no reason why your car won't run 320-330 all day long with no probs of any sort. You car has only done 40K miles therefore it's still low mileage in which case get those upgrades done early on and the car will last longer than putting those upgrades on a car that's done twice or more mileage. If the engine goes through a large part of it's life with those mods from early on it will last and last.

Too many people want big horsepower from high mileage scoobs and don't seem to realise that sometimes you're better off with just a very mild increase so the car drives better all round and lives on to do higher mileages relatively unstressed. High mileage scoobs with hard mods late on in life are just about guaranteed to go bang when pushed just that bit too much.

[deviant]

If your looking for some handling tweaks go shopping at Whiteline Suspension.

24MM adjustable rear anti-roll bar
22MM adjustable front anti-roll bar
Alloy links and heavy duty mounts for the above
Rear camber bolts
Anti lift kit.

Get that lot fitted with a good alignment and every journey will be spent seeing just how quickly you can go around that roundabout...

[Vixpy1]

We have a 51 plate wrx running 400bhp, has been for ages.. but thats the absolute limit of what the engine and more importantly the gearbox will take.