Advice on upgrades

[Typer666]

Hey guys,

I am looking for some advice on modifying my STI. This is my third Impreza and my first STI.

It's a 2002 Bugeye STI with PPP and about 45k on the clock. I have had the car a year now and would like to make it go faster as I am used to the power.

I would really appreciate any advice on upgrading the car for better handling and more power ( but need reliability as it is and will be my daily for the next few years).

I have done some research and looked at Andyforrests website which gives some ideas for power. I don't want to spend thousands but don't mind some decent good value mods.

So for power what would you guys recommend?

- Currently that car has 305bhp with the ppp and also has a ninja catback.

From my research I was thinking:

- Walboro 255 fuel pump £?

- upgraded intake £?

- Uprated spark plugs £?

- Decat + mid pipe £?

A remap to round that off £?

Can you guys recommend some brands/prices for my ideas? Am i right in believing that would get me to about 360bhp? or do I need an uprated turbo (also would that be reliable or strain the engine too much?)

Handling:

- lowering springs?

- I just put on 4 brand new Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2's

Brakes:

- Goodridge brake lines £?

- Better fluid (or is the OEM one very good?) £?

- Recently put some mintex 114's on but might try Ferodo DS 2500's

Any help and advice is much appreciated, thanks!

[mystery machine]

Regarding handling – if the car doesn't already have one, I'd highly recommend an uprated rear ARB. I've made a few handling mods to my Hawk STI, and this without doubt offered the best bang-for-buck improvement. Car is more composed, corners flatter and steers more sharply for it. Hypertech in Bonnybridge will supply and fit a Whiteline 22mm adjustable rear bar for around £150.

If budget will stretch, it'd be well-worth having solid ARB drop links fitted at the same time (good idea with an uprated bar anyway, standard links can fail), if not at both ends then at least on the rear bar. The links will set you back about £100 per bar (inc fitting).

If you still have cash to spare then I'd suggest that lowered springs (or even coilovers) should be the next step.

Good to have the uprated rear bar on from the start because it goes a long way to giving the standard car the balance that it lacks. In hindsight it'd have been the first thing that I'd have done with mine.

Edited March 23, 2011 by Mystery Machine

[scooby222]

howdy mate! id say sort the handling first, anti roll bars and drop links, set of eibach or whiteline springs or bc coilovers and then proper geometry setup will make a massive difference

i had mintex 1144's on my car and far prefer them to the ds2500's i have now, braided lines and 5.1 fluid are well worth it though and id stick with standard discs unless you shell out big time for performance friction or similar

powerwise id also check out trackhound tuning for mapping, got some very happy customers and cheaper than Andy F - coupled with a decat, panel filter and upgraded plugs i got 350hp on my sti. if youve PPP you should already have a 255 fuel pump

good luck with burning out your flexible friend

[mystery machine]

then proper geometry setup will make a massive difference

Totally!

If you go for the springs, you'll have to have this done afterwards because your geo will likely be all-to-cock. If you decide not to fit the springs at the moment then you might want to think about having a 'fast road' geo setup done anyway all helps contribute to a sharper-handling Scoob.

(Usually about £65, BTW)

Edited March 24, 2011 by Mystery Machine

[phil r]

Depends how much you want to spend mate at present I am saving to have my blob sti modded to the next level at present running 325 bhp and 330 torque I have been researching a lot and I want mine to spool fast and not take it to a inch of its life I am going to spend 3 grand on mine and not worried about pub talk (figures}its how fast the car is on the road mate and want it really responsive this is where I am going to go

1) rcm induction kit

2)rcm header, heat wrapped

3} billet sc38 turbo

4) 650 injectors and keeping my top mounted intercooler so cutting down on lag

as for handling rear aniroll bar a must lowering springs or good coilovers , antlift kit and a good geometry set up

cheers phil

[Typer666]

Hey thanks for the advice guys!

Regarding handling – if the car doesn't already have one, I'd highly recommend an uprated rear ARB. I've made a few handling mods to my Hawk STI, and this without doubt offered the best bang-for-buck improvement. Car is more composed, corners flatter and steers more sharply for it. Hypertech in Bonnybridge will supply and fit a Whiteline 22mm adjustable rear bar for around £150.

If budget will stretch, it'd be well-worth having solid ARB drop links fitted at the same time (good idea with an uprated bar anyway, standard links can fail), if not at both ends then at least on the rear bar. The links will set you back about £100 per bar (inc fitting).

If you still have cash to spare then I'd suggest that lowered springs (or even coilovers) should be the next step.

Good to have the uprated rear bar on from the start because it goes a long way to giving the standard car the balance that it lacks. In hindsight it'd have been the first thing that I'd have done with mine.

Thanks for your advice,

I will look into getting:

- Rear ARB (whiteline)

- Drop links

- Lowering springs

- Full geo set up

What difference does changing the front ARB do? I heard that it doesn't have much of a difference?

howdy mate! id say sort the handling first, anti roll bars and drop links, set of eibach or whiteline springs or bc coilovers and then proper geometry setup will make a massive difference

i had mintex 1144's on my car and far prefer them to the ds2500's i have now, braided lines and 5.1 fluid are well worth it though and id stick with standard discs unless you shell out big time for performance friction or similar

powerwise id also check out trackhound tuning for mapping, got some very happy customers and cheaper than Andy F - coupled with a decat, panel filter and upgraded plugs i got 350hp on my sti. if youve PPP you should already have a 255 fuel pump

good luck with burning out your flexible friend

Thanks -

Checked Andy F's website £600 for a map in vat! ( wonder what he does differently?)

I gave Alastair a call and he is seems like a top guy, talked me through the options and I was glad he mentioned that he doesn't map cars to within an inch of their lives

What year is your STI as 350 is an impressive figure (what bar of boost do you run?)

He advised that generally he doesn't take it above 1.5 bar as that could damage the standard engine - so it would be a mild but welcome increase.

I need a Decat pipe and NKG sparks - where did you get your decat?

Totally!

If you go for the springs, you'll have to have this done afterwards because your geo will likely be all-to-cock. If you decide not to fit the springs at the moment then you might want to think about having a 'fast road' geo setup done anyway – all helps contribute to a sharper-handling Scoob.

(Usually about £65, BTW)

Thanks - nice to know this to avoid duplication! where do you go for yours?

Depends how much you want to spend mate at present I am saving to have my blob sti modded to the next level at present running 325 bhp and 330 torque I have been researching a lot and I want mine to spool fast and not take it to a inch of its life I am going to spend 3 grand on mine and not worried about pub talk (figures}its how fast the car is on the road mate and want it really responsive this is where I am going to go

1) rcm induction kit

2)rcm header, heat wrapped

3} billet sc38 turbo

4) 650 injectors and keeping my top mounted intercooler so cutting down on lag

as for handling rear aniroll bar a must lowering springs or good coilovers , antlift kit and a good geometry set u

I agree that I am after driveability and real world performance rather than pub talk figures, I'd be interested on how you get on with your build, faster spooling would be ideal but not willing to spend 3K.

Also can anyone recommend somewhere local for a rolling road? i'm interested to do a before and after.

Cheers again and I'll let you know how I get on with some pics

[mystery machine]

Thanks for your advice,

I will look into getting:

- Rear ARB (whiteline)

- Drop links

- Lowering springs

- Full geo set up

What difference does changing the front ARB do? I heard that it doesn't have much of a difference?

You're welcome, your car's handling will be much-improved after the mods you've listed!

Regarding uprating the front bar – it's all about striking a balance. Like most cars, the standard Impreza rolls a little more at the back than at the front. Manufacturers set cars up like this because it contributes to giving the car an understeering attitude, which is considered safer for less able drivers because it reduces the chances of putting the car into a spin when the limits of grip are exceeded.

However, this understeering setup is generally considered to be overkill and a lot of Impreza drivers seem to find that a rear bar that is around 10-15% thicker than the front bar goes a long way to making the handling more neutral, as well as improving the steering response when cornering hardish-to-hard, and making the car generally more pleasant to drive. This 'thicker bar at the rear' setup will reduce the 'anti-spin' safety margin a little, but you have to put this into perspective – if you have any sort of feel for car dynamics at all and you aren't prone to making crazy moves such as sharply lifting off throttle or braking hard while taking a bend/roundabout near the limits of grip (unless you're actually trying to make the back-end step out), then your car will still be plenty safe!

Popular options are:

1) Keep the stock front bar (usually around 19mm-20mm on STIs, but you should find out what diameter yours is) and upgrade the rear bar only to around 22mm.

2) Upgrade both bars – 22mm front, 24mm rear.

Notice how the 'both bars' upgrade specifies a thicker rear bar than the 'rear bar only' upgrade, to keep that balance. The advantage of option 2) is that the car will exhibit even less total roll, but you might notice ride quality suffering as you're reducing the independence between the two sides of your suspension – one wheel goes over a bump and, the thicker the bar, the more of that force is transferred to the wheel on the opposite side. Having said that, a few guys on here have uprated both bars and seem happy enough with the ride quality.

Best to speak to someone who knows more about Bugeyes than me for tips on rear bar diameter if you decide to do the rear only

Thanks - nice to know this to avoid duplication! where do you go for yours?

I've used ProGrip and Hypertech in the past – both in Bonnybridge, coincidentally. Hypertech are handy because they can fit your mods and do the geo straight afterwards. John at ProGrip concentrates mostly on geo and is very good if that's all you need done.

All the best

Edited March 25, 2011 by Mystery Machine

[andrew_forrest]

Checked Andy F's website £600 for a map in vat! ( wonder what he does differently?)

Ok, you asked!

I base my custom maps on 32 years experience as a qualified Engineer (not a scientist)

10 years commercially mapping Subaru's at all levels of tune (not just 1 year)

Experience gained from running Europes fastest accelerating Subaru for the past 8 years including running reliably at 210mph! (not a WRX with a blown block and bent crank)

Tuned cars include hillclimb championship winners, time attack winners, rally championship winners, scoobysprint winners, not to mention 95% of the fastest 50 cars at Crail.

Over 5000 cars custom mapped in the past 10 years (not a handfull)

Mapping of 99/00 UK and Sti5/6 cars (not available open source)

Operating a Limited company from fully insured premises (not the garden shed)

Using fully licenced Ecutek professional software, as used by Prodrive on models such as the PPP versions, the WR1, RB320 and 330S hatchback. Fully guaranteed to be fault free (not non-warrantied software)

Twin map programming for ALL models from 2001 onwards allowing programming of an economy map and a full power map, switchable from inside the car whilst driving.

Racerom mapping for 2006 onwards cars allowing two maps, MAF sensor delete, flat shifting, downshift blipping, advanced launch control etc.

All this is now available for £450 although unlicenced "freeby software" mapping is also available at £250 if thats what you really think your Subaru deserves!

cheers

Andy

Edited March 25, 2011 by Andy.F

[scooby222]

as i said Alastairs getting very happy customers although Andy mapped mine

mine is a 2005 2.0l sti, not sure what boost its running - gauges are on my shopping list!

hypertech has a rolling road but i know Andys laptop when he maps it gives you an idea of bhp figures through some fancy calculations!

my decat was picked up 2nd hand as part of a 3" system, ngk's i got from pentland performance in edinburgh though ive now got hks iridium plugs which are apparently the mutts nuts and have a lifetime warranty

for geometry progrip in bonnybridge are tremendous,John knows his onions!

[badbaz]

There's no substitute for experience

I take it our cars are too old for that Racerom thing Dave

[andrew_forrest]

Racerom is for the Drive by wire cars ie Hawkeye and Hatch only.

cheers

Andy

[badbaz]

Well, I'm pretty much stuck with my blob, so that rules that out!!!

[scooby222]

afraid so Barry but youve got to look at it as racerom and hatch or ecutek and blob - we made the right choice

[Typer666]

Hey Andy,

Sorry for the delay and thanks for your reply. In light of your experience I will definitely be interested in speaking to you when it comes to mapping my car.

Thanks to everyone else for your comments, I hope to see you at a meet soon!

Cheers

[arch]

Andy has mapped my road Blob and my race RA and I wouldnt take either anywhere else. I cant work out why you would want to either but hey maybe I am biased but given the outcomes I have had on both cars and the advice I have had over the last 4 years I know I wouldnt have got that anywhere else.

[arch]

While I am on a roll John at Progrip is the man to do your geometry.

[scoob fae ork]

Andy F is a mapping god, he did my blob STI and the difference was incredible. Once i've convinced the wife to let me spend more on the car it will deffo be going back to Andy

[cruz104]

Andy F did my car too and the difference is incredible, the thing i noticed about Andy is his after sales care is first class, if you have any questions or issues he is happy to answer them and give you the benefit of all his experience, that might not sound a big deal but when you are new to modding it is a really big deal.

Re the suspension set up I used Hypertech to fit my coilovers and progrip to fine tune and both were excellent.

cheers

John

Edited April 26, 2011 by cruz104