if you run your fingers across my car, i'll run my car across your fingers.

hello, I just bought a '04 WRX (my baby) and its pretty much stock.
i was wondering what i should start with in performance terms.
and i would also like to know what i should do for it's looks.
I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to mechanics but any
help will be greatly appreciated.
thank you.

 

Well first you need go buy an STI wing and replace the wimpy little
spoiler. Then you have to rip off all the WRX badges so noone knows
for sure. Then you have to get bling-bling wheels and super-duper
low-profile tires that look cool. Sure you'll jar the teeth from your
head, but you'll have poser cred at the local Starbucks.

Oh, and stickers. You need to get tuner stickers all over your car.
Mugen, NOS, whatever. It doesn't even matter if they make stuff for
Subies. Nobody cares.

And you need a ground effects kit of some type. Those all are
guaranteed to add at least 10HP.

 

years back a buddy wanted a 69 Mach I -- we went and looked a bunch.
We found one that was being worked on by a bunch of neighborhood kids in some
dudes garage.

When we asked why all the chrome & metal was painted black (looked like shit)
the response blew us away -- we had ZERO clue about this....

Black is faster than any other colour.... While it doesn't boost HP -- speed is
speed -- so in addition to getting the extra 10hp (those are REAR wheel ponies I
believe, not front -- dunno how that works but it's true - I read it somewhere,
honest) -- but paint the car black -- it'll go faster!


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I don't think your criticism of wheel/tire upgrade has any validity.
04 comes with 16" rims I think. Arguable he'd get a better steering
feel with 17" that new WRXes are coming with. Also I should mention
that higher performing tires (even the winter ones for some reason)
come in lower profiles. Installing 17" rims opens up opportunities
for much better tires (Yokohama Advan Neova for example).
So if you want a cushy ride that's fine. I just don't understand why
would
you ridicule someone who want a better road feel (nevermind the
increased grip and
wet weather safety) of low profile max performance summer tires.

I just don't see why did you need to mock the poster. Was the question
invalid?
I don't think so. He did not ask about fart can brands. Why did you
want to rob him or an opportunity to soup up his ride in a meaningful
way? Are all mods stupid? I don't think so.

Back to the original question. I think the rim/tire package should be
on
top of the list for the upgrade.

 

Yeah, my reply was a little harsh. I wasn't trying to mock the poster
so much as this mentality that stock is garbage and that somehow you
are less worthy if you don't do a bunch of shit to your ride.

And road feel isn't about low profile tires. I guarantee you that at
F1 car has more road feel than a WRX on solid tires would, but it has
more sidewall than your average "tuner" car. I think money would be
better spent on suspension tuning, especially if your use is 100%
street. I'm sure the Subie engineers made some suspension compromises
to allow the Rex to be used in amateur rally racing.

 

Horsepower is about putting out a lot of torque at high RPM. Do you
really find yourself driving over 5K RPM a lot of the time? If not,
you could put a lot of bucks into something you will never use. Since
you already have a turbo, upping the boost increases the torque. Ther
are various intake systems to get the engine to breath better. All
that emissions crap cuts performance, so you'll want to "chip it" or
get some form of engine management that gets it to breath correctly
across the RPM range. Race cams will also up the torque at high RPMs
with some loss of drivibility around town. Once you have high torque
at high RPM you'll need better cranks, rods and valve trains to keep
the engine from blowing up.

In the end, it would be a lot easier just to buy an STi.

There is one high performance part that is pure software. That is the
driver, YOU!

Do the phrases "threshold braking up to the corner turn in point",
"trail braking up to the apex", "putting it into power on oversteer out
to the corner exit" and "drag racing the straight up to the next
braking point" mean any thing to you?

Heres a little test. Can you take a more or less constant radius turn
by turning the steering wheel exactly once at the entrance to the turn
and once at the exit? This is positional control. A necessary skill
before you try braking hard from 120 mph down to 70, going through the
turn, and back upto 120. You need to know exactly where on the road
things happen. 1/4 second late on your turn in and you are over the
embankment. Newbies tend to drift the car to the inside of the turn
before the corner. They also coast down, rather than brake down to the
correct speed. And bobble the speed up and down through the corner as
they go a bit too fast and a bit too slow.

If not, get thee to a driving school. Racing and emergency avoidance
are exactly the same language. It's "racing school" to your buddies
and "safety school" to your insurance agent. Personally I find driving
well a lot more fun that having the right stickers on my windows. It's
just so satisfying.

Driving hard on the street will just end you up in jail or a hospital.
Just Say No. You can drive precisely at .9, .8, .7 or .6 of maximum.
If you do want to go really fast, there are plenty of race tracks that
will take your money. You haven't lived until you've turned a 30K car
into 1K of scrap and learned that "it's a bit slippery in turn 3
today".

Have fun with your WRX.

 

It depends so much on what KIND of performance you're after, or if you
just want s some milder ways to 'personalize' your car. Mine is a 'daily
driver' work car and I doubt I will do a lot in the way of mods. If you
plan to rally in mud/dirt - stay with your 16s (or at least keep them to
swap on with gravel spec tires for the race). Otherwise, I think
upgrading(plus 1, lighter and maybe wider) rims/tires is a 5 way win.
a. less unsprung mass
b. less rotating mass
c. less acceleration robbing mass in general (8-11lbs. = 1hp)
d. stiffer sidewalls (probably)
e. better looks!

Once you start, it might be hard to stop. I have only done; clear bra,
window tint, dashmat, Stromung muffler and SSR GT2 wheels/Kumho ECSTA
ASX tires(3.5 pounds lighter than stock per corner). Next year I hope to
get SPT wagon spec springs (approx. 1 inch lower, 20% stiffer) and
stainless brake lines.

For LOTS of info, check out www.nasioc.com (they REALLY prefer newbies
read all the FAQs and 'stickies' before posting). also, check out
www.subarureview.com for some comments on 'stuff'.

welcome to soob world!

here's a pic of me and my ride in 'action';
http://www.ultimatesubaru.net/photos/data/500/3142plateless.JPG

lol!

Carl

 

More to the point, low profile tyres aren't about road feel,
but about making room for bigger brake rotors. I always have
a little chuckle seeing folk in cars that have gone for 35
profile tyres with big wheels that have almost no spokes so
you can see they've still got the tiny wimpy little rotors
and calipers dwarfed inside .

Clifford Heath.

 

Well, I'd rather let civilization discontents to dress their ride
however they want.
I'm not a fashion nazi Spoiler, schmoiler. It's important to spot
them in traffic I think.

Ok, I have to back off on the road feel.
But in terms of grip better rubber is much better bang for the buck
than
messing with suspension. I might still do it on mine, but only because
I hate squat and dive
(roll is taken care of with a fat RSB). It'll probbably affect grip
very little though.

Neovas don't come in 205 55 16 size (04 rex has 16" rims) so I
suggested 17" rims might
work better.

 

I will second that... and spend money on the brakes first! Good brakes
will allow you to go faster - think about it...

....Ric

 

Part of the answer to your question is if you up the performance of your
ride, where will you use it? If you are going to take the car on the track,
the sky is the limit. If you plan on using the car on the street, color
will make a difference. No, black will not make it go faster, but bright
red will make it easier to spot by the cops.

You can add some power by replacing the intake with a some kind of mesh
filter system, and an aftermarket exhaust might help. Larger wheels and
brakes sure can't hurt, but you will stiffen up the ride.

I'm not sure at what speed a bigger tail will help. I've been told a whale
tail on a Porsche helps at around 60mph and up, but that would also include
an air damn up front to keep the car from lifting.

If you just like to step on the gas and have your neck snap back, the
cheapest fix for that is nitrous oxide.