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
welcome to soob world!
here's a pic of me and my ride in 'action';
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.
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