Narcosis

Hi All,

Well I'm happy to say that after years of lusting after a scooby I have just become the proud owner of a lovely low mileage MY03 WRX PPP Wagon and I'm loving it, happy days! But I do have a few questions that i would appreciate your collective thoughts on...

Firstly is a bit silly but.....infront of the cockpit reading lights there is a small err...flap..between the sun visors...whats it for?? Lol feel foolish asking but there you go.

I took her for a blat yesterday and was grinning from ear to ear but she did seem to understear a bit, what would you guys and gals recommend to sort this out?

I live in Hampshire, are there any good specialists in this area? Once I have become used to the (supposed) 260ish bhp I would love to mod her up to around 300bhp. Is this possible, and what are the recommended mods I should look at? I would like to keep the exhaust emmisions legal and only as much noise as the current PPP set up. An idea of cost would also help.

All advice and sarcastic comments (about my flap) will be gratefully recieved. Im just stoked to finally have such a sweet car, no more stress with idiots tailgating and a that lovely burble from the enigine!

Cheers

Mark

finchyboy

I have 05 wrx wagon putting out 320 brake and over 400nm of torque. Your best bet would be second hand STI Turbo vf30 vf34 or even Vf35 if your not looking for much more then 300 brake. I have the vf35 is the fastest spooling of the 3 because of it's p15 exhaust housing and whilst it doesn't have the top end capacity of the vf30 and vf34 it makes for a real nice point to point car. If your looking for around 300 it's perfect and willl give you loads low down in the rev range. I'm running a vf35 at 1.25 bar (didn't want to over do the boost on wrx internals) sti fuel pump and pink injectors all bought secondhand had the car mapped at powerstation reckon all in it cost me about 1500 quid.

Allan

iTrader: (1)

Mark, I think the flap is literally a mini sun visor, it fills the gap between the large ones, as it were

Allan

Narcosis

Thanks Guys, appreciate the advice.

My grins just got even wider at the thought of 300+bhp hehe, just better not tell my ladyfriend !! Where would you recommend I look for these turbos, im not so interested in top speed, as well...I like having a driving licence!! But am i correct in assuming they will still give me the same top speed all be it slower to get there?

I will have to sort out the understear issue first though, any advice? Another thing that i noticed is that the car "squirms" under braking hard from high speeds, is this normal or should I also have this checked?

Mark

*smiles*

Another Wagoner

Come and say hello at Hampshire Subaru and plenty of people to give you best advice where to go.

depends on what part of hampshire you live, for south Triton Motorsport is popular for the the pompy/ southampton load, whereas up here on north hampshire subaru4you are a good choice (newbury)

Drewster

Hi Mark, welcome to the PPP wagon club

I have the same car and have the same two issues, understeer and hard braking leaves you a bit sometimes....

The advise I have been given is to get the geometry checked. I don't know who is nearest to you, but I'am sure someone will tell you. I have not been able to get mine done yet, hopefully I will get to Powerstation sometime soon. They charge around £70 + vat.

Tyres can also change the feel. Make sure your pressures are spot on.

And yes the flappy bit is a third sunvisor....

I have had my WRX for 5 months now - still from ear to ear.

corradoboy

To sort the understeer, look at getting a Whiteline 22mm adjustable rear ARB and some solid droplinks. All in should be about 170 quid, then add on a good geometry set-up. If you want to go the whole hog, speak to Powerstation about their AST coilovers. Available as a package with the Whiteline goodies it will be the best upgrade you'll ever do on the whole car, I guarantee it. As for tyres, when the current ones run out, fit some Vredestein UltraC. The brakes can be improved considerably for little expense. Look into getting Goodridge stainless braided hoses and changing the fluid for DOT5.1. Bin the crap OE Subaru pads and get some Ferodo DSPF (DS2000) or Pagid Blue.

For reference....



...anyone who knows what they're doing will understand

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

As corradoboy says, rear ARB/DL and good geom. setup will transform the handling for ~£150- well worth it..!

As far as more power, remember it will be a the expense of low down response, even a VF35 with it's P15 ex housing will be noticeably slower to respond than a mapped/ppp TD04.

Get used to what you have and then if you want to start down the slippery slope of wanting more power then I'd recommend possibly a TD04 hybrid/decat and Ecutek (should give a good 300 with the response of the oem turbo ie very effective real world fast road car) but it'll cost you ~£1500. Then you will definitely need to address the brakes (~£200 for pads/hoses/fluid- DIY).

ABBA mode: "money money money, sometimes funny, in the scooby world, diddle diddle da da..." Ha haaa..!..

Narcosis

Thanks guys, really appreciate all your help and advice. I have just registered with Hampshire Subaru, just awaiting an email confirming my details

Please forgive my ignorance but do i have a TD04 on my MY03? What is a TD04 hybrid? I assume that a decat will no longer keep my emmisions legal, but if I replaced it with a high flow sports cat would this still be worth it?

I still have plenty of life left in my tyres but how much would a set of Vredestein UltraC cost me? If I took myself along to powerstation and had either their stage 1 or stage 2 suspension fitted should that cure things?

Thanks again for the advice, its good to know that not only do i own a top car but people that I have never met will take the time to help me out and give me advice, happy days!

corradoboy

Up in Leeds I can get UltraC's for about 70 quid a corner, budget around 120 a corner fitted elsewhere.

Narcosis

Wow...thats quite a price difference! Just as well my Old Man lives in York so a quick visit could be in order

Where abouts do you get them done corradoboy?

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

I'd be interested in a set for £70 a corner too. Spill the beans Corradoboy.....

corradoboy

PM's sent

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

Cheers, David

Narcosis

Thanks for the info .

Is the TD04 on the MY03 or not and would it be worth changing to a STi version?

Mark

corradoboy

Do the suspension mods first, then get used to it and possibly look into driver tuition. My 03 WRX PPP with 265PS had no trouble staying with STi's, mod'd or otherwise. 3 years on I began to dream of more power, but sold it to pursue other goals instead. I had to question how much more power I needed when I was entering corners in excess of ***mph and accelerating past *** through the apex at times on typical a/b-roads. Power is nothing without control remember. Police pursuit and roadcraft driver training was probably the biggest speed improvement I have gained, but the AST's and bars were easilly the 2nd best mod anyone could do to a Scoob IMHO.

Narcosis

I agree, my car now easily exceeds my limited high speed skills and i was thinking after a understear moment (with a Celica GT4 ragging me on a tiny country road I have never been on ) about advanced driver tuition, anyone you would recommend?

Will probably only look at brake and suspension upgrades for now.....can see me throwing my credit car around !!

Mark

corradoboy

I spent some time with a Police officer who was in our local Scooby club (WYIOC) who was fully qualified class1 pursuit. He opened my eyes on balance and hazard awareness and setting a car up well in advance of any situation. Already quite well trained, his techniques saw me add speed that probably could never be achieved by performance upgrades, and a significant improvement in hazard awareness that also makes the increased pace much safer. The style of my driving now sees the brakes only used in reaction to the unexpected, which is usually caused by other road users. On a clear b-road in Devon recently I averaged **mph over some 19 miles of b-road, touching the brakes once in reaction to an emerging vehicle. I have also had tuition on track from various professional racing and rally drivers, but these techniques aren't often useful on the public highway. If you know any coppers, have a word with them and see if any of their top traffic guys offer their time for a few quid

finchyboy

130 Mph through the apex of a bend on a typical B road !!! Sweet Jesus mate no wonder scooby drivers get a bad rep i reckon thats going a bit OTT Don't get me wrong i'm no road captain and drive hard . But surely if you have had the training you say your aware of any multitude of hazards that you can meet on your typical B road ranging from burst water mains ,diesel spills, hunking great clods of horse ****e, people on horseback etc etc. Just my opinion but if the rear end hooks up on diesel at that speed i don'y care if you're Stig Blomquist your bolloxed no matter what training you've had.

corradoboy

*** was probably the fastest I ever went on a b-road (Strines and Ribblesdale, possibly a few others) but Roadcraft teaches you to assess what is ahead and make sure that you can stop in the distance you can see to be hazard free. As for getting Scoobs a bad rep, I am a mature individual whom chooses the times I drive at this level with adequate consideration for others. A Yorkshire Dales b-road at 4am midweek tends to be pretty unpopulated, and as soon as I get near any town or village I revert to sensible driving well within any posted limit. I have a completely clean license and am accident free since my teens, and am also an ADI. I fully realise the possible dangers of this type of driving, but it is where I get my pleasure, legal or not.

finchyboy

I take your point as i said i also like to drive hard and your right there is a time and a place for that type of driving.As long as you haven't got the mrs and kids in the motor and it's only your **** on the line then fair play.Sorry just took your first post to litterally.

IN THE STICKS

Welcome ,from another 03 wagon owner

Dave

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

I have fitted a rear strut brace to my 01 MY Wagon and with some quick release bolts. This seems to help a bit and stiffen the back end. I have just fitted (yesterday) JDM STi Shocks and Eibachs and they feel pretty good so far. Need the tracking done first before a serious blat though.

Narcosis

Thanks Guys ,

I remembered one of my friends at work, told me that his son is a professional racing car driver . So I had a little chat with him today and told him about my "brown trouser" understear moment and he said he would have a chat with his lad to take me out for some tuition.

What do you recon, or would I be better going with a professional instructor? Reason I ask is I'm a Pro Technical Diving Instructor and I have met many highly skilled divers who can't teach for toffee, bl00dy hopeless some of them . I would guess its same sort of thing with a fast car training, you only get one chance to get it correct or, like with Tech Diving, your breathing the wet stuff/driving through the scenery!

It's a bit of a double bonus as when he's not racing also sets cars up for racing teams and rich clients. He's just been working on one of these...

PistonHeads Headlines

He also recons that his son would be happy to help me set up my car for fast road, you think AST and Whiteline are the way to go?

corradoboy

As long as his tuition is focused towards road driving, as track driving is completely different to fast road. The AST's have a well proven track record with Scoobs, but there may be other similar set-ups which offer similar rewards. With the AST's and Whiteline bits you will have the adjustability to set the car to suit you, or, as I did continuously, to suit the conditions and type of driving you will be doing. Many people fit this gear and just leave it where it was set by the installers, whereas I used to vary it all the time. Around town I had the AST's at 1 or 2, spirited driving in the wet was usually about 4, dry took me up to 6 or 7 and track saw me up at 9 or so. The rear ARB however stayed on the stiffest setting, so maybe a 24mm fixed bar would have suited me.

andythejock01wrx

Dave/Corradoboy - how noticeable is the difference between middle and stiffest settings on the 22mm Whiteline ARB ? Is is the stiffest setting suitable for a typically wet Scottish winter ? Was thinking about changing the setting on mine in the spring. Whad'ya reckon ?

Andy Mc

corradoboy

Andy, I noticed a considerable difference between the middle and stiffest. After having it fitted and being on the middle I was initially a little disappointed, as the improvements was not what everyone on here often waxes lyrical about. I gave it a couple of weeks like that before going under with the spanners and swapping it to the stiffest (10 minute job). As it's so easy and quick to do, I'd say just do it. If you don't like the result, swap it back. There is also the option of putting just one side to the stiffest and leaving the other on the middle. I used mine on the stiffest through a Yorkshire winter with many miles in the Dales and Cumbrian Lakes and found it perfect.