Thursday, August 27, 2009

My Whip

Okay, I decided to start this blog up on a whim. Reason being, I have been obsessed with my ride ever since Dad bought it for me on December 1st 2006; as an early graduation present. The car is a 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX. So let's get the history down to present with what's going on with my ride:

Dec 1st 2006 - April 2009
I have just been using this car as a daily driver. I used it to go to school, work, and my internship at Paramount Pictures (terrible commute I might add). I've racked up so many miles in this short of time that my warranty ended at 65,000 miles (April 2009). Since this happened, my modding addiction began! I started with Centric Posi Quiet Ceramic brake pads and Centric Stoptech 1 piece slotted rotors. This mod was more of a requirement because my rotors and pads were running thin. I had my cousin Christian help me put those on.

May 2009
The first mod I put on my car were lowering springs (Tanabe GF210). The ride wasn't great because my struts couldn't handle the lower spring rates. It was too hard to give a proper review of these springs because I did not have the appropriate struts to match them, so I went into the market for struts.

June 2009
I decided to buy Tokico D-Spec struts. These struts were made for the bugeye generation (2002-2003 impreza's) and thus required me to get fitment washers and STI tophats. It took 4 hours with my friend Arco to install the springs and struts onto my car. The ride comfortability immediately changed. The ride in my car at city speeds were near OEM quality. I still need an alignment from a minor fix I had to do, but after tuning with 4.5 turns from full stiff in the front and 3.5 turns from full stiff in the rear, I found the stiffness combination that gave more oversteer to the car. More precise tuning still needs to take place though.

July 2009
During this month, I wanted to get a full turbo back done. My setup started with a PDE downpipe that i got for a trade + labor on my end, and ended with a Borla XR-1 catback exhaust system. I had fitment issues with this setup, basically because the Borla system tapered at the downpipe flange. Also this month, I started seeing many turbos on sale in the public forum I am a member of, and started questioning whether or not I can get more power. Arco, my friend that helped me with my struts/springs, influenced me to look into a cutout mod (essentially eliminating the catback portion of my car at the flip of a switch). Ultimately though, I decided to do a whole turbo upgrade. By the end of the month, I was able to sell my Borla system (great catback, I'll definitely get one in the future) in favor for a bigger turbo, the Greddy T518z (TD05-18g 8cm^2). I also was able to get an STI catback system which mated perfectly to the PDE downpipe and retained some of the boxer rumble at low RPMs.

August 1st - Present
I decided that I'd shoot for my goal of 350+ WHP/WTQ (wheel horse power/wheel torque) and felt that the 18g turbo I got would help me get there. After speaking with a tuning shop, they told me that an aftermarket top mount intercooler and larger injectors will help me get there. I immediately went into the market for 750cc injectors (recommended by my tuner). I found a deal from a vendor on the forum which included a Walbro 255lph (liters per hour) fuel pump and Deastchwerks 750cc Top Feed injectors. The only other thing I needed was the right top mount. At this time I was deciding on either a Cartech Topmount (designed for bugeyes) or an e-bay brand (SSAutochrome). The the Cartech design is definitely unique, I would have to do some custom fitment adjustments to it which I was not willing to do. In the end, I went with the SSAutochrome simply because of my budget. On Saturday, August 22nd, Arco, Jack, Paul and I installed everything on my car (turbo, injectors, and fuel pump), a BIG BIG BIG thank you to them for helping me out. When I installed the top mount however, the y-pipe I ordered from another e-bay source, didn't fit ride and caused som crimping on the elbow that connects to the turbo. I'll be fixing that before my tune.

So there you have it folks, the history with my car mods and what's going on with it! I'll definitely update with the results of my tune which will be on Tuesday, September 1st. Pictures to come as well!

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