Hey guys,

I've currently got a stock MY05 WRX and I am trying to budget for some modifications to give it a bit more poke and styling.

I want to keep the car reliable and somewhat quiet at low revs, as it is my daily driver and I'm not looking for massive power (yet... )

I'm basically after lowering the car, maybe a boost controller and putting a nice exhaust on it (one that is "quiet" at low revs and makes some noise when I am mashing the 'go' pedal). However, I've been told with my car fitting an exhaust alone will ruin the fuel ecconomy, as the standard ECU thinks there is a problem (please correct me if that is wrong). As such I would need a new/piggyback ECU and if I'm doing that I would probably look at changing the induction as well.

Any ideas of what to do, if I need to do all these mods and an idea of cost will be much appreciated.

Cheers,

John.

Putting a budget on car modification....................... yeah thats a good one. It's the biggest money pit you'll ever have but I tell ya, it's fun for all.

One of the first things you should do would be getting an exhaust (let the bitch breath a little). There are no one in particular that you should go for as everyone has different tastes. It's best to go to a meet up or to with this mongral mob and have a listen to the different exhausts and see what you like. Then shop around and find the one you like. Cost = anywhere from less than 1k to a few k. Do you want full stainless steel (s/s) or mild steel, turbo back or cat back??? decisions decisions.

As for fuel economy from sticking an exhaust on, it hardly makes a difference at all and if it does, I didn't notice it. Maybe a cold air intake (CAI) perhaps you could fit. Cost = 200ish. If the exhaust is to loud, stick in a silencer perhaps.

As for lowering it, you can go mild or wild. It all depends on what you want to do and what you want the car to do. You could go get just a set of springs and lower it a little which looks nice or go nuts and get a full coilover system, it all depends. Best bet is to read up as much as you can and pick everyone elses brain bout stuff, thats what I did/do.

You can pick up heaps of bargains secopnd hand, you don't need NEW all the time, sometimes it's best (turbo/exhaust) but other stuff like ecu/springs/intercoolers depemding on how old work just fine second hand.

Enjoy
Dan.

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nice car! congrats

lowering.. we've got King springs on our 04, they ride well and the car has an awesome stance. another nice option is the Whiteline range of springs..
budget ~$400 supplied and fitted either way.

exhaust.. you'll probably want full turbo-back system, 3" mandrel bent all the way.
we have the system from Maximum Motorsport fitted to our 04. sounds fantastic, but probably isn't the quietest system around.
paid somewhere around $1700 for that from memory.
initially, the exhaust was the only mod to the car; ie. no ecu, and to be honest, there wasn't a huge power increase (unlike the old models) - so about a week later came the ecu...

ecu.. you could go for an Ecutek reflash of your stock ecu. it'll make a great performance improvement, taking full advantage of the turbo-back exhaust, which should keep you happy for a bit (mod bug, mod bug, mod bug!), and you can always retune it with future mods. our's has been retuned a few times as mods have progressed, and it still maintains the same reliability it had from the factory - faultless...
budget somewhere around $1200 for this option.

i've no experience with simple boost controllers on this model, but i can't imagine the more modern ecu's would be too happy about it. someone else can probably clarify.

this is my personal experience with modifying this model, but i'm sure others will have their own opinions and recommendations!

Julian

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I think at the next meet I will have to harrass ppl at the next meet and hear the different styles of exhausts etc.

As for the mods, I only want to start off simple (famous last words ) yet hopefully buildup to something a bit more exciting over the years... So I guess I would like the items to be suitable for a more hardcore setup in the future (i.e. turbo back stainless exhaust - maybe some new headers etc?)

J.

I fully agree with Dan.
All depends on your taste.

Perhaps you should meet up the group and hear their exhaust, Im sure all of them sounded different. From there, you take your time to select.

Yes, it is all about $.

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Andrew

2008 Ferrari F430 Scuderia
2013 Audi A6 Hybrid
2013 Toyota Vellfire