370bhp from a 2003 UK STi - what's involved?

[S2000KM]

Some of the older members may remember me as "Saxo Boy" from Scoobynet, which I still post on

every now and again.  For those that don't know me a few years ago I owned an

MY99 impreza with around 275bhp.  I now own a 2003 Honda S2000, which I love.

My principal reason for selling the scooby at the time was the running costs I

was suffering doing 30,000 miles a year.  Fuel and servicing really were

becoming a joke and I just wasn't getting the value from the car running up and

down the bypass every day.  The S2000 can be enjoyed in traffic with the roof

down, is more economical, cheaper to service and better on fuel.

My circumstances are changing though and I'm soon to find myself with a weekly

beater such that the S2000 is reduced to a weekend and evenings play thing.

With only 240bhp it really doesn't stack up as a toy IMHO.  If I go for a drive

at the weekend I want to be scared!!   I am therefore thinking of a return to

Scooby ownership (or maybe an Evo) but would only entertain a car that was

seriously quick.

I have calculated (with the help of www.letstorquebhp.com) that a 2003 UK STI

with 370bhp or more would hit 100mph from standstill in around 10 seconds.  A

non STI WRX with around 350-60 would probably achieve the same.  There is always

the option of a classic but I think I'd like to give a new age car a fair crack

at the whip especially given the supposed handling improvements.

I'm quite out of touch with scooby tuning now so my first question is what mods

would be required and how much would it cost to get a 2003 UK STI to 370-80bhp.

I must stress I need it to be reliable so please hang on the side of safety when

advising me as I'd rather spend £300 on an uprated thingymajig than £5k on a new

engine!

My next question is if anyone in the central belt has a new age Impreza with

that sort of power who'd be willing to perhaps meet up one day and take me for a

short pax blast (you are welcome to a pax run in the S2000 if you want) .  I'm

not looking to be flung from pillar to post through the twisties but would like

to gauge the extra straight-line grunt over the S2000 to help me decide if its

worth it.

Cheers,

Kenny

[dougster]

Aw naw, Saxo Boy!!

Hello Kenny. []

 

[coulty]

Ello Kenny!!!

[S2000KM]

Hey guys   Don't worry I've still be lurking but I've not really had much to add to the community given that I've forgotton most of what I learnt about scoobs

[coulty]

You would basically need a full decat (or at least replacing the system with a high flow cat one) which has to include a manifold and uppipe, fuel pump, bigger turbo (namely 20g or similar), bigger injectors, new induction/uprating current induction and a remap (tek3 andyf style) and a new inlet samco pipe to turbo.

[S2000KM]

Why does it need a new manifold?  Is the stock item not efficient enough?  I'd have thought a full decat would free up enough 'flow' to work with?  What turbo is fitted to the 2003 UK STi?  Would the standard intercooler cope if an efficient big turbo was running the show?  Do you recon you could achieve the 40% power increase for £2.5-3 grand?

[coulty]

The manifold allows more power to be made at a lower boost. VF35 i believe which is good for about 330bhp. The standard sti tmic has been proven to over 400 bhp and is good enough to sustain a car with 370bhp easily.

You could do it all for £3k if you could sell your turbo and buy a used (low mileage) 20g. This would be for parts only. Most of the fitting is relatively easy and can be done on a newish car without much fuss. The person to ask for a run is Peter (fai17 on here). He has an sti of that age and is currently chasing what you are after.

[fai17]

But i've only got 326bhp the now but i'm chasing 400bhp[]

Are you near Glasgow?

I'm running GruppeS headers , Magnex uppipe,Full Meercat snakeheader,3inch system,RCM CAI,Bosche Fuel pump,Forge BOV and lastly GEMS ECU.

How did you like the run up the strip Coulty?

My next mods are Owen Development Garrett Turbo,740 injectors,Samco inlet,Hi Flow fuel rails and Sard FPR.

How much??? God knows

[higgy]

Good luck !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Higgy

[S2000KM]

Why do I have the sinking feeling that an EVO would be cheaper and easier to extract the same performance from   I could maybe try and pick up a Spec-C as shaun (sn webmaster) has shown that with a decat and remap you can get 355-60bhp.  In the lighter Spec-C this would give acceptable performance but Spec-C's seem to be as rare as rocking horse.....  I'm a great believer in reversable mods (i.e. you pay your money, fit them, enjoy, remove and then recoup with some at sale on here/sn)  On the basis I'm not and don't have a greasemonkey - fitting loads of parts will only result in my lashing a lot of money on the car that I'll never see back.  With my MY99 I managed to get all my upgrades 2nd hand and sold them on for only a small loss.  I accept with a new age this might not be quite as easy to do but I certainly don't want to get £3000 deep with no means of recouping any of that.

I'm based in Edinburgh but can easily travel through to Glasgow

[coulty]

The thing is kenny that the jap imports are easier to extract power from as they are the twin-scroll turbos and are better straight from the factory. The UK cars as usual are lower specced and need more done to achieve the same.

[STi_Bandit]

Hey there, where bouts in edinburgh you from? as i stay in edinburgh had a s2000 race me once along the bypass couple months back round 5.30 - 6.00 ish.

Martin

[weeb]

scobby seller 555 could be one to ask aswell! i have a clasic running 350  ish bhp if u want a wee blast in that, im from falkirk. many of us have been in gumballs car when it running 400bhp, and it is very fast and handles mint! he has just sold it but may still have in his posession!

[bryan_taylor]

My last 03 STi which I traded in bout 5 weeks ago had 362 BHP, 340 lb/ft torque (at the flywheel) and simply had a Hayward and scott decat system, larger turbo (an Andy Forrest number) samco inlet and a remap. The lag was increased and the turbo didn't spin up till 3800 rpm but when it got there it was rapid. The exhaust was £800, the samco hose £200 (approx) 2nd hand but nearly new turbo £600 and the remap £700. Total almost £2.5K for an extra 60 BHP, the car also had the PPP as std so also it had the uprated fuel pump. Hope this gives you an idea of cost vs BHP.

[S2000KM]

Hey there, where bouts in edinburgh you from? as i stay in edinburgh had a s2000 race me once along the bypass couple months back round 5.30 - 6.00 ish.

If the S2000 was Imola Orange and you were in a blue UK STI with an aftermarket exhaust and the s2000 was slowly coming past from 60mph upwards of Sherrifhall roundabout.....then...it was me   I'm pretty sure i posted about that encounter on here or Scoobynet (or both) as it was one of my more enjoyable, friendly and safe ones (i.e the scooby driver was sensible, not a pr*ck)

[STi_Bandit]

Yeah that was me :-) cars were very evenly matched i have to say

Martin

[S2000KM]

Agree, I really enjoyed that run bandit   I'm 95% sure I posted in 'Other Marques' on Scoobynet.  If you search 'sti' and posts by 'Saxo Boy' I'd be confident you'd see what I wrote about it when I got in that night.  I'd link for you but Scoobynet is a 'security risk' at work :roll:

You took a car length off me in 2nd gear - I remember slipping back thinking, 'f*ck I miss a turbo' but once at the top end I was crawling back.

[STi_Bandit]

Yeah must of been when the VTEC was fully singing all the way up to 9000rpm. Well least you know how the s2000 fairs in a straight drag agaisnt a standard sti :-).

Good show putting the hazards on once you were past at xxxxxxmph......

Martin

[S2000KM]

I've found the S2000 can live with most scoobys with 276bhp or less (when rolling obviously!).  Anything approaching 300bhp or above starts to leave me behind.

I'm thinking that the solution might be to sell the S2000, bank the money and see what the market throws up.  If I can pick up a UK STI with full decat, defi's and a remap then I'm halfway there if the car is offered for a reasonable price.  A big turbo and a remap (cheaper because ecu license already paid to ecutek) would then take me reasonably close to my goal.  I've spent most of lunchtime today thinking about R33 Skylines though...hmmmm.

[Gumball]

mine used to be between 375-405 with the following-

20g Turbo

Andy F ECUTEK remap

full decat (wrapped)

GT spec headers (wrapped)

up pipe and down pipe

walbro fuel pump

fuel regulator

APS induction kit with cold air feed through the fog cover

I think that was everything. The problem you are faced with is the standard intercooler not liking the workload above (i think-) 350/360bhp. People like Gav (scoobyseller) have bought FMICs that im sure will cope better with the chargetemps and power support

That lot new would cost about- £2500. there are parts that are second hand about and will cost around £1800 or so.

Plus the money you will get for your standard parts perhaps to a wrx owner that is also chasing mroe power.

The 370-400 car is going to have minimum lag as well. Your not really (imho) going to get a lot higher bhp without adding some turbo lag into the mix. if you can deal with 500-800rpm later then your going to be over 400 with another £1200 FMIC, £350 injectors, £300 samco inlet hose

hope this helps.

 

[S2000KM]

Very useful thanks

I'm starting to get a pictures of the options that would be available to me.  It seems that 350-60bhp can be relatively easily achieved and reliably so but to close in on 400bhp requires more and more money.