Hi guys,

Planning some mods for my WRX 03. 23000 miles on the clock currently.

Currently I have:
* Prodrive sports cat downpipe (from new age STI PPP)
* TSL Firestorm backbox
* Godspeed 335mm brake kit

I'm planning on changing the following bits:
* Injectors: 565cc Injectors Walbro Fuel Pump Subaru Impreza 00-04 Flat4online.co.uk Subaru Impreza Mitsubishi Evolution EVO Walbro Fuel Pumps Injectors Intercoolers
* Turbo: Either TD05 or new age STI turbo (VF35?)
* Intercooler: New age STI or this one Top Mount Intercooler Subaru Impreza 02-06 Flat4online.co.uk Subaru Impreza Mitsubishi Evolution EVO Walbro Fuel Pumps Injectors Intercoolers
* Centre decat: Afterburner cat replacement pipe
* Ecutek 3 remap
* Backbox change to newage Prodrive backbox.
* Some form of decat up-pipe.

I want to achieve more than 300/300, so would the above list achieve that?
Also, should I get normal STI8 injectors and an STI intercooler instead of the flat4online stuff?

Would I pass MOT emissions with just the prodrive sports cat, or would it make sense to leave the centre cat in place also?

I'm also looking to minimise noise. Does the standard backbox flow significantly worse than a prodrive backbox, or is the prodrive backbox part of the PPP due to "noise"?

 

Also, I'm on a bit of a budget as always, so I'd want to use as much second hand stuff as possible

(I know of the "buy cheap, buy twice" saying, but if I stick to respectable stuff it should be OK, right? )

 

ok, you are thinking along the right lines. I know you have asked about my up pipe for sale and that would be a solid choice for that.

In terms of your list, things like the sti injectors you can get for ~200 lightly used, they come up for sale on here quite often.

The turbo choice, either would see a strong increase in power to what you have now, the TD05 is the stronger unit, and can take more boost, but it can also take more boost than your engine can handle anyway. The VF35 is a good match for the engine. Both would see around 310-320 without much issue at sensible boost.

Intercoolerwise i would stick with the sti top mount for this one, the larger top mounts as advertised can have an adverse effect as, because they are larger, they can sit closer to the turbo so can suffer for increased heatsoak, which isnt too clever.

Fuel pump isa must and can be got from a fair few places for ~100 quid or less.

If you want to minimise noise then make sure you keep your standard resonator in place, in terms of emmisions you "should" be ok as long as the car is warm when tested with just the PPP downpipe.

Hope that helps

Incidentally i have an 03, so the up pipe fitment is not an issue

 

Henrik:

I think you have made a solid choice in mods there and about as far as you go without serious debit/credit card melting. As you are having all this done, have you considered getting the headers sorted as well? Ported OE items are a good choice.

Prodrive downpipe will be fine for MOT, I have a very similar setup to the one you propose and it passed it's 1st MOT flying.

If you haven't already, get yourself some suspension mods ie rear ARB, droplinks, springs etc you will then have a car that you are absolutely thrilled with!

 

good advice there, its one thing to have power, its another to keep it in check

 

all I need now is a driver mod

 

fpmsl...........me too

 

This is very important !!

 

Turbowise - either the VF35 as above or a Hybrid TD04.

You'll get 20bhp more from the VF35, but it will spool up 300 revs later and be just a bit more laggy (both are good re lag avoidance though).

Otherwise, spot on !

Re exhaust parts - H&S do the up-pipe and centre pipe decats. Advantage is that they are a good fit with flanges on any existing Subaru bits.

 

Cool, thanks for the advice guys

Do injectors wear out at all? With the flat4online deal I can get a new set + new fuel pump for 325. If I get a used set of injectors and a new fuel pump, I could probably get away with 235-250 quid, but would this be shooting myself in the foot a bit considering longevity etc? Bottom line is I want to get it as cheap as possible but not so cheap as to cut (too many) corners

Suspension mods are coming: prodrive springs, rear adjustable arb and droplinks.

Having read about ported headers for a while, I think I may want to do them as well... Tried searching, but I cant find out how much harvey (et al) charge for porting and wrapping headers. Anyone know any rough figures for my spread sheet?
I don't really want to go for a td04h, as it seems more expensive than just getting a standard vf35. Hopefully ported headers would make it spool up a little bit earlier anyway

Also, my friend's got a good TD05 (20000 miles from new), but it's a side entry. Does it cost a lot to convert this to front entry, or would I just be better off getting a VF35? I'm not going to mod the engine any further I think, as I can't be arsed changing internals etc

 

Email Harvey at harveysmith1@btopenworld.com and he'll give you a price

They are worthwhile as my VF34 spools up about 500rpm sooner

 

Henrik, read your post with interest with a lot of knowlegeable replies.

Did you have any issues when fitting the Prodrive sports cat. I have been led to believe that it is difficult to fit with the mounting bracket not lining up etc.

I have an 05 WRX and am looking to fit a prodrive sports cat from an 05 STI PPP, 3rd cat removal pipe from the PPP and the intercooler hose from the WRX PPP, already have the Prodrive Back box, Also add a panel filter remove the resonator box from the inner wing and reconnect to the cold air feed.

Would be interested to know what sort of power/difference this would make and if it would have any adverse effects without a remap. And do these changes seem logical, not looking for radical increases as I use it as a daily driver.

 

Ebay can be your friend here, i got BRAND new pink injectors for £180 and BRAND new walbro pump for £72

Quite a saving

 

What does removing the resonator box achieve if you are simply swapping for a panel filter ?

 

The resonator in the wing is quite restrictive to the air flow, also frees up a nice bit of turbo noise.

 

Bob Rawle told me not to bother removing the resonator as it doesn't make a big difference on newage cars, on classics yes but newage no

 

Agree, the resonator isnt restrictive at all, just removing it gives you a miniscule bit of extra induction noise. Not worth it TBH.

 

That's ok then - I thought I'd missed out on a cheap mod that everyone else had done lol. I shall remain resonated.

 

 

Cool Panel filter only it is then. Still looking for someone with a big brain to help out with my Sports cat question - anyone. Cmon show us the size of ur brain.

 

Usually my threads die a quick death with one reply (me bttp'ing them ), so well chuffed with all the info in this

I haven't actually tried fitting the cat yet, as I thought I might as well try to get all the bits and bobs together and then map it immediately after fitting them all. I think that my cat is off a 53 STI, and it's supposed to have a piece of metal that has to be ground off (it fouls the pipe from the wastegate, or something), but apart from that I'm not aware of any issues with fitting them. Anyone know better?

I'm getting a cat replacement pipe for the third cat, but I'm also going to get some form of decat up-pipe (between the headers and the turbo), as the up-pipe cat can apparently disintegrate with high heat, causing turbo damage etc.

I'll also add a panel filter, but I forgot that from the list above... yet more expenses

I don't know what kind of power I'll get, but I'd be disappointed if I didn't hit at least 300bhp and close to 300lbft torque. Although the WRX is just a weekend toy, I don't think that the mods will make it unliveable as a daily driver, should me or my wife need to use it for something

 

careful with the grinding as the metal divider keeps the airflow from the wastegate and turbine seperate.

I fitted a Prodirve sports cat downpipe to a TD04 with no ill effect

 

The metal divider is indeed supposed to keep the wastegate and turbine airflow seperate, but most open mouthed downpipes dont have it so I've no idea how necessary it is. Mine will either be ground down to fit TD04 or removed when it goes on.

I was advised that a slip-jointed Magnex up-pipe is well suited to early spin up on the smaller TD04 turbo due to its smaller internal diameter, larger turbos benefit from H&S, again slip jointed, with the larger diameter.

Concensus seems to be its worth wrapping the up-pipe before fitting.

Dont forget the simple handling mod of whiteline rear ARB and droplinks which is supposed to be extremely cost effective for its relatively low price.

Mine's being done friday and I'm looking forward to the results.

 

Get a TD04 Hybrid turbo from Andy F, then get your's or buy some ported headers.
I have a VF34 on different headers, and i am beginning to wish i had stuck to my first plan. (That being the above one!)
You will still keep your nice early boost, but you will easily get over the 300 mark, maybe even 320, and you will have a faster road car i bet than my VF34 on my headers, etc.
The extra wait for the turbo to kick in aint worth it imho if you go VF34 or whatever. Happens too late up the revs.
Before it was "foot to floor, instant response, but early runs out of puff on the TD04", now i get "foot to floor, count to 3, then it pulls, then by 4k revs it pulls like ****", but i bet by then your TD04 Hybrid would have pissed all over me.
Trust me, i have it, (VF34) and i dont think i like it.

 

Can I just ask what the TD04 'hybrid' is and how it's modified from a standard TD04. Any links to reading info would be fine.

Edit : s'ok found the info AndyForrestPerformance

Cheers

 

I have a VF34 with Harveys ported & wrapped headers and i get full boost at just over 3000rpm

 

Thats the big b*ll*ck I dropped you see. Not only did i buy new headers, but then i then had them and the uppipe ceramic coated. Suffice to say, it was bloody expensive! LOL.
And i would guess at boost around 3400 rpm, although not sure how much, and certainly full boost around 3800 to 3900 rpm.
Far far too late up the revs that is.
As i said above, we have the same turbo, but your car would leave me for dead i have no doubts on that. By the time mine has kicked in and boosted, you would be up the road

 

Who mapped your car Mad?

not coming on boost on a VF34 until the high 3000s is horrendous, so its no wonder you think its poo!

Normally as granby says, this turbo will be at or very close to full boost on a 2.0 in the low 3000s, which is why so many people rate it as a good solid turbo. I certainly wish id had one instead of my APS SR30 a while back as they seem more capable. (having said that i do know of people who had great success with the APS unit too so maybe it was the car )

A good set of ported headers, and the VF34 would be my choice for a fast road car

 

MAd

do you have a boost gauge?

it sounds like you may have a problem ( although one mans idea of "on" boost is different to anothers )

i had a vf35 with a p18 ( same size as a vf34 may be a little more lag ) and i was flying from 3k ish with headers!!

but then again if i was to plod along the motor way 65\70 in 5th and put my foot down it would feel a little laggy but thats turbos

... any way real men drive around lag

 

Neilo, WRX_Rich, I have different headers and I think this is the key here. As per many ppl's experience will tell you, the ported OEM headers keep the spool nice and low in the rev range. My tubular headers I think have done me. I had these for more torque you see, and I knew the spool point would change, BUT I had no idea in the "real world" how much difference this would make to driving it.
I had a master plan before Xmas, and I am gonna stick to it and get Mister Rawle to map my car and then see what I end up with.
I do have boost gauge but i find it very hard to watch that and my revs, but more importantly the road all at the same time! LOL.
Thanks for the help guys