NOOB to STi modding.

[pet_monk]

I am fairly new to owning an STi, I have only owned my 08 for about 2 yrs now. Since the warranty is finally out I have been trying to plan out what I want/ need to do to modify on her. Not entirely sure what order I want to do any of my mods in, however, I would like to start small and work up from there. I am extremely open to suggestion.

Some of the mods I am considering
* Soft gauges (I want to keep the stock look and would prefer not to have a bunch of gauges mounted all over the dash)
* Keyless entry/ remote start
* FMIC
* Short throw shifter
* Accessport ECU (Want to be able to switch from a track tune to a sporty everyday driver)
* Electronically adjustable suspension (see note above)

Then it gets a little foggy. I think I am considering
* Larger turbos
* Bigger injectors
* Water/ Methanol injection

I am new to the forum so I am gonna have to look around and see what I can read up on and what information I can come up with. Any members that have any suggestion, hints, tips, or anything to contribute to this project it will be greatly appreciated. I have about a yr to plan and purchase until I get to start playing on making an awesome car more awesome.

 

[IGOTASTi]

:welcome: to the team first off! Second start with an accessport. Then go exhaust, fuel pump, injectors, and just keep on going from there, lol. What type of power do you want to make?

 

[Z1107]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Grinder34]

Not entirely sure what order I want to do any of my mods in, however, I would like to start small and work up from there. I am extremely open to suggestion.

Starting small:

Step 1: Cobb AccessPort
Step 2: Exhaust (at least a Downpipe), or a TBE for a few extra ponies and a new sound.

With the Cobb AP, you can also do an intake and stay "stage 2" but from there its going to require a professional tune.

At that point I would consider uprading the fuel pump and injectors, to the appropriate size. "Appropriate" will be determined by your power goals and fuel choice. E85 is popular with some, but requires running larger fuel injectors than pump gas for an equivalent setup. More on that later.

Other things at this point would be headers and a new turbo. You'll want to be careful picking your turbo. Not only are there different size turbos, but the turbos can have different inlet and exhaust sizes that affect the spool and power characteristics. Some people want huge power for road racing, others want quick spool for a DD, and everything in between. Not only that, but you can go "rotated" or stay in the stock location. "Rotated" means the turbo's been repositioned slightly for better airflow characteristics. If you go rotated, you wont be able to use standard up- and down-pipes. Then, if your turbo gets too big you'll want a larger TMIC, and if you run out of space there, a FMIC. FMIC will affect your spool and give a little extra turbo lag. Also weight and weight distribution if you care about that.

There are a lot of other less-significant mods that you can do to free up power here and there. Things like TGV deletes, porting and polishing of components. I've just been reading when you turn up the boost, as people are prone to do, things like aftermarket boost controllers (EBCS) might help make power more smoothly. An external wastegate can roughly be put in the same category. If you turn up boost even more you might need to upgrade your BPV, if you havent already switched to a FMIC.

You can also go to alternate fuel sources, like the meth you mentioned. Meth can be great, and with the proper installation and safeguards, i've been told that it's totally safe. I'm pretty sure BAD_STI is pretty familiar with meth injection. E85 is a popular fuel as it's (often) available at a pump in your area. You can fill your tank with it, load an E85 map with your AP, and off you go. You'll suffer a reduced fuel economy, but more power and I believe it's even got some safer (for your engine) characteristics.

Once you start getting into the higher HP turbos, you may want to consider getting your engine built. Heck, you might want to even without a massive turbo. The OEM pistons are prone to cracking ringlands, even at stock power levels. That's not to say you cant get away with huge horsepower on stock internals--you'll just probably be safer if you do upgrade. Here there are LOTS of options. Pistons, rods, cams, stroked, de-stroked. Those kinds of discussions would be good to have with your engine builder and/or tuner when you get to that stage.

I've also heard some pretty awful things about the factory oil pickup. Personally, I've got one waiting to be installed and I'm only stage 1. Its one of those little things that, if it goes, can take your whole engine with it in the blink of an eye.

An Air-Oil-Separator or Oil Catch Cans might be a good investement too. Blow-by can get oil into your intake tract, potentially coating your intercooler (reducing it's efficiency) and getting into the pistons (effectively lowers octane).

Don't neglect things like suspension, weight loss, and proper engine monitoring (you did mention gauges).

Edit: I wrote a big enough post, I'll save the other things for later. But sorry for focusing on power. I didnt re-read your post and was under the impression you were only asking about power.

 

[Td_d]

Welcome! I was going to weigh in with advise, but grinder pretty much covered it

Sequence it properly, read plenty and take your time deciding - otherwise you land up redoing things. FMIC only necessary after you start upgrading to a much bigger turbo - if that's not your aim, stay with a top mount.

 

[ZachTTLM]

Welcome! These guys are pointing you all in the right direction. AccessPORT and exhaust would be my suggested start. Far as clean gauge set up ATi offers the 3 gauge pod that cleanly replaces the dash clock. Also suggest AEM Wideband. Next would be a decision on how you want to go as mentioned above. Standard Pump Gas or E85. Once you decide that you can decide your fuel set-up and tune. If you need anything or if we can help you at all, feel free to contact me.

 

[Grinder34]

Gauges:
If you want to keep gauge clutter to a minimum you can get various 3-in-1 gauges. Or go with a fancier PLX gauges that can display your choice of options...but its OBD2, which I think means a loss of fidelity and some might say accuracy. Not too sure on that, but there are options that minimize the number of gauges required.

Gauges you might want to get:
Wideband
Boost
Oil Temp/Pressure (this one can REALLY start a debate about which is better)
EGT


Suspension
You mentioned the electronically adjustable. As far as I know, the only one that does that is TEIN, and you dont find that many favorable reviews of TEIN products for the STI platform.

I would highly recommend getting some new endlinks and sway bars. That'll transform the car. From there decide it you really need the adjustability option, or if maybe some springs (lowering springs even) and an appropriate strut might work for you. If you do upgrade the springs/struts you MAY want to upgrade to camber plates, especially if you decide you want to track the car.

Another huge area of improvement is the bushings. The stock ones are very squishy. What that means is that the bushings will "squish" before the swaybars, springs, dampers, etc... get to do what they're supposed to. That's true of almost all the bushings on our cars. Steering bushings, shifter, engine mounts, suspension pickup points, etc... Bushings are easy to do a few at a time, so theres no worry about starting slowly there. However, some of the suspension ones will require alignments after being swapped, so if you want to save money you could do them all at once.

There are also things like Anti-Lift Kits and Roll-Center Adjusters. I dont quite understand them, so I wont speak to their merits.

If you get more into tracking the car, you may end up deciding you want even more adjustable components like adjustable lateral links, and some re-designed suspension components for your lowered (raised if you're into the rally thing?) suspension.


Now if you're tweaking your suspension this heavily, that means you're probably doing some very spirited driving and may want to address braking. The stock brakes are actually very capable. However you can still surpass the stock brake cooling capacity and want to investigate some new (2 piece?) rotors, brake ducting, and clearly new pads and upgraded fluid for the track.

 

[Paul.c]

My opinion would be suspension first, but I am fairly certain I am the only person that thinks that way.

What are your plans? Any auto-x or track days? Drag racing?

 

[Grinder34]

My opinion would be suspension first, but I am fairly certain I am the only person that thinks that way.

What are your plans? Any auto-x or track days? Drag racing?

Suspension first! You're not alone...that's what I did!

But yeah, some more info about:
1) approximate budget
2) desired power level
3) car use
3a) Daily Driver
3b) Autocross
3c) Track
3d) Rally

 

[Vermont]

Suspension first! You're not alone...that's what I did!

But yeah, some more info about:
1) approximate budget
2) desired power level
3) car use
3a) Daily Driver
3b) Autocross
3c) Track
3d) Rally

Pah every one knows to go power first... Screw handling and stopping....

Honestly after do a few track days at Stage 2+ (intake, TBE exhaust, external waste gate and electronic boost control solenoid) I would have to say that I had way to much power for the stock tires and suspension. Every time I went anywhere near the throttle pedal when I was coming out of a turn the whole car would slide and under steer... I did have a set of springs on but they did not help very much. Honestly if you are planning on doing track days just go Stage 1 (re-flash to the cars ECU, which the access port can do right out of the box). From there start to mess with things like suspension and power as you learn the car on the track... Another good investment would be new tires... I found the stock Dunlops to be crap... They just would not grip..... Brakes as well would be a good idea. You will find the brakes will start to get mushy after a few laps (the STI is a heavy car. 3300 pounds). The stock pads after just one day were heated up so bad they cracked and splintered.... Also stay away from a FMIC unless you have a large turbo... all of the added piping means your turbo has to work even harder to pressurize all that air. The result you will be seeing 3-4psi less at peak than before... And most important of all... Have fun bro! Do what makes you happen and have a blast... Also welcome aboard...

 

[Paul.c]

I would suggest waiting until you decide what you want to do in the long run. A FMIC would be a waste on a car with a stock turbo. I like the sound and usefulness of electronically adjustable suspension but price and selection would turn me off. Sway bars have been argued as one of the best bang for your buck mods.

 

[Robert Viehweger]

Welcome! I know how it is, bud. I have the basics at the moment, and can't wait for my warranty up to get into the internals. Glad to have you!

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

My opinion would be suspension first, but I am fairly certain I am the only person that thinks that way.

What are your plans? Any auto-x or track days? Drag racing?

No your not :tup:

 

[35r]

i would honestly stay clear of the meth. i just took mine off, it is somewhat unpredictable and there are WAY better ways of getting that power. i have a stage 3 sti and spraying meth at 23psi i was making 490hp, without meth i was 390... its just a cheap way to get power that you could already be making with larger injectors and running e85.

 

[mojo'sSTI]

Pretty old thread, very informative none the less. I just got my 07 STI 4 months ago but like most I am planning on waiting until the warranty is up before modding anything and just enjoying the stock life.

 

[35r]

First mod, invest in a COBB AP.

 

[WesternSTi]

Even though it's an old post, I'm glad someone resurrected it. All I have to say about Grinder's posts is.... Wow. Thanks for that. It was simple enough for most everyone to understand it, and I learned quite a bit in just those couple-3 posts.