2012 WRX STI sedan first mods

TurboDave · Aug 11, 2012

Hey I'm just gonna throw this out there since this is my first subie?? Don't get me wrong I'm not new to building cars.. I built plenty of death machines. I got $1000 to $1500 to spend just curious to know what mods most people would do first... I'm kinda torn between some things like the Cobb AP, turbo back exhaust, or Cobb sf intake w/airbox ect ect. If anyone has any other suggestions please feel free to let me know.

But on the other hand I was on AMR's website and they have some kick-ass stuff but this looks very attractive also. I could make this do-able but thats stretching things a bit

http://store.automasteramr.com/Exhaust-System_c_271.html

Hell if I only had 8k to 10K to spend I wouldn't be asking dumb shit like this :lol: but unfortunately I have bills to pay.

Vermont · Aug 11, 2012

Welcome aboard man!

Best money you will ever spend will be going stage 2 (downpipe and tune) Any mechanical mod you do to an STI requires a new tune for the car. So intake, downpipe, headers, and pretty much anything else will require a new tune. For 1k, I would go and pick up a used Cobb Access port ($400-$500), AEM Cold Air Intake ($250ish), and a Megan Racing Down Pipe ($200ish). The reason I say get used AP is that there is no difference between a used and a new one. Just make sure it has been un-married from the car, so a picture of the unmarried screen with hand written time, date and user name stamp in the picture. The AEM CAI will give you some nice gains and will sound great (not too loud but loud enough so that you know you have a turbo), also the AP has a pre-loaded map for the AEM CAI (only other one it has is the Cobb SRI and stock intake of course). For a downpipe any brand will work, so long as it is a three inch bellmouth (or divorced waste gate, both will work about the same) downpipe then you are set. Megan racing is super cheap and hold up pretty well. I have had my megan racing dp for 3 years now and not a single problem (and I'm rocking a Dom 1.5).

A catback exhaust will not give you any gains until you either go larger turbo or E85 on the stock turbo. When looking around for a cat-back exhaust make sure get one that is a full three inch all the way back, a large number of them have a 2.5 inch neck down too mate up to the stock down pipe. The problem with this is that when you do decided to go bigger turbo or E85, you have to buy a new catback or get the one on the car fixed.

The best suggestion I have for you is to read and soak up as much info as you can. There are a lot of mods for these cars that people buy and do nothing to improve performance.

As a final note. If you decide you don't have the money right now to spend on a down pipe, then even just the Access Port by its self can reflash the car with a new map, which helps dramatically with pretty much everything. The stock tune on these cars are straight garbage and are harmful to the engine in the long run. It will smooth out power delivery, increase power output and just over all make the car better. I my self went stage one at 750 miles on the clock due to how crappy the stock tune is.

bkaeser · Aug 12, 2012

I have been curious for a while about this. When you remap the engine with the AccessPort, how does that work with the SI Drive? Do you still have 3 "tunes" ,if you call them that, available? Basically, can I keep the sport tune and fuel economy tune?

Td_d · Aug 12, 2012

bkaeser said:
I have been curious for a while about this. When you remap the engine with the AccessPort, how does that work with the SI Drive? Do you still have 3 "tunes" ,if you call them that, available? Basically, can I keep the sport tune and fuel economy tune?

The 3 SI modes are really about different throttle maps (drive by wire), but also affect boost and waste gate related maps. So yes, you will still have 3 modes (not truly tunes, as key maps such as fueling and timing are not changed by SI).

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Grinder34 · Aug 12, 2012

Accessport swaybars and endlinks. Maybe some springs too if money allows. Personally, I like to get suspension sorted before power...especially with a factory warranty still in its infancy.

TurboDave · Aug 13, 2012

Well for the most part I'm happy with the suspension as is, Florida is all flat with straight roads where I'm at.. Unless I choose to do autocross or something. But I think for now I'll do the accessport and the SRI w/perrin turbo inlet, That should be a good start for stage 1 settings. Hopefully next month I can do the TBE, That should yield some decent results

TurboDave · Aug 14, 2012

Well thanks for the welcome

I was checking out the AEM cold air but the thing is we get tons of rain down here & I know I can get a pre-filter for it to help keep the water out but I had trouble with them before trying to suck water thus making my car run like a turd. On that note I will have to see how well all the fender guards are in place for that particular upgrade, So thats why I was thinking cobb SRI w/airbox. But I will for sure get a AP this month but I'm having trouble finding a used model. Anyways the cat-back system I'm going to do is a Turbo XS 3" w/Invidia divorced DP next month, My freaking car is as quiet as a mouse and it's making me crazy.

I also agree the stock tune is total shit, It just seems really dialed back as far as it's potential could be.

How is your DOM 1.5 treating you...Just wondering. I do have plans in the future of going to a bigger turbo but I'm going to see what I can get out of the stock snail first.

But I do appreciate your input on the thread

Vermont said:
Welcome aboard man!

Best money you will ever spend will be going stage 2 (downpipe and tune) Any mechanical mod you do to an STI requires a new tune for the car. So intake, downpipe, headers, and pretty much anything else will require a new tune. For 1k, I would go and pick up a used Cobb Access port ($400-$500), AEM Cold Air Intake ($250ish), and a Megan Racing Down Pipe ($200ish). The reason I say get used AP is that there is no difference between a used and a new one. Just make sure it has been un-married from the car, so a picture of the unmarried screen with hand written time, date and user name stamp in the picture. The AEM CAI will give you some nice gains and will sound great (not too loud but loud enough so that you know you have a turbo), also the AP has a pre-loaded map for the AEM CAI (only other one it has is the Cobb SRI and stock intake of course). For a downpipe any brand will work, so long as it is a three inch bellmouth (or divorced waste gate, both will work about the same) downpipe then you are set. Megan racing is super cheap and hold up pretty well. I have had my megan racing dp for 3 years now and not a single problem (and I'm rocking a Dom 1.5).

A catback exhaust will not give you any gains until you either go larger turbo or E85 on the stock turbo. When looking around for a cat-back exhaust make sure get one that is a full three inch all the way back, a large number of them have a 2.5 inch neck down too mate up to the stock down pipe. The problem with this is that when you do decided to go bigger turbo or E85, you have to buy a new catback or get the one on the car fixed.

The best suggestion I have for you is to read and soak up as much info as you can. There are a lot of mods for these cars that people buy and do nothing to improve performance.

As a final note. If you decide you don't have the money right now to spend on a down pipe, then even just the Access Port by its self can reflash the car with a new map, which helps dramatically with pretty much everything. The stock tune on these cars are straight garbage and are harmful to the engine in the long run. It will smooth out power delivery, increase power output and just over all make the car better. I my self went stage one at 750 miles on the clock due to how crappy the stock tune is.

creasybearxxx · Aug 14, 2012

Let me know how it turns out, good luck with your first mods.

Vermont · Aug 15, 2012

TurboDave said:
Well thanks for the welcome

I was checking out the AEM cold air but the thing is we get tons of rain down here & I know I can get a pre-filter for it to help keep the water out but I had trouble with them before trying to suck water thus making my car run like a turd. On that note I will have to see how well all the fender guards are in place for that particular upgrade, So thats why I was thinking cobb SRI w/airbox. But I will for sure get a AP this month but I'm having trouble finding a used model. Anyways the cat-back system I'm going to do is a Turbo XS 3" w/Invidia divorced DP next month, My freaking car is as quiet as a mouse and it's making me crazy.

I also agree the stock tune is total shit, It just seems really dialed back as far as it's potential could be.

How is your DOM 1.5 treating you...Just wondering. I do have plans in the future of going to a bigger turbo but I'm going to see what I can get out of the stock snail first.

But I do appreciate your input on the thread

If you get a whole crap load of rain and don't want to run the risk of hydro lock then go with the Cobb SRI WITH the cold air box. With out the box the intake is useless and will just be sucking up hot air from the engine bay. The problem with buying a new AP is that there is zero difference between used and new and a new one WILL run you $600 as Cobb does not allow people too give deals on the AP. If you already have your Catback and down pipe selected then great. Might I make a suggestion, that you double check the diameter of the catback and make sure it does not have any neck down in it. I purchased my Borla catback thinking it was a 3inch all the way back, then found out during install that it had a 2.5inch neck down to go to the stock down pipe. Yes it makes a huge difference once you ditch the stock turbo. Just having a small in tip silencer on my Invidia drops my boost by a full psi.

As for my Dom 1.5? Well frankly I love it. Great spool for the size and flow. Not quite as quick as the stock turbo, but then again nothing will be. I hit peek boost (15psi right now) at just after 3k rpm. This is on a waste gate duty cycle only map. So I am basically running my Tial external waste gate spring pressure for now. Holds all the way to red line and completely changes how the car accelerates. The car pulls like a V8 now, not like a turbo 4. There is no sudden punch in the face like you get on the stock turbo. Instead you get this relentless push against your chest that never lets up.

TurboDave · Aug 18, 2012

Well I did order the Cobb Ap, Cobb SRI w/airbox, Perrin turbo Inlet hose & last but not least Ultimate racing CBE and it is 3" the whole ways through, So the gains should be pretty noticeable installing all that stuff. The Invidia DP will come next month with maybe a couple other things.

TurboDave · Aug 18, 2012

Yeah for sure I will, And thanks

creasybearxxx said:
Let me know how it turns out, good luck with your first mods.

2012 WRX STI sedan first mods

TurboDave

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Vermont

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bkaeser

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Td_d

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Grinder34

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TurboDave

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creasybearxxx

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