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Old 04-11-2021, 02:24 PM   #1
Akl406
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Default 2018 WRX Mod Path Worth It?

As many others before me I have been doing a lot of research in adding some power to my WRX. Right now my car is 100% stock. From everything I have gathered I would want to go with the grimmspeed stage 3 powerpackage, egr/tgv deletes, access port, and a awe touring car back. It’s a semi daily driver, I don’t plan on going to the track or racing it just canyon runs and commuting. If I mod it I want to do it once and call it good! I live in Montana and e85 is not available or else I would go that route. 93 is only available in two places very far away! Given the fact that I will only be running 91 in this car, are the modifications I want to do to this even worth it? I read Phattbotti’s info and e85 seems to be the best and safest fuel choice for these cars but unfortunately I can’t run that. Should I just get the access port run a stage 1 tune and call it good? What do you guys think?
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Old 04-11-2021, 02:33 PM   #2
carsebuco
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Flex fuel is the easy and cheap way for power, but not everyone has access to it. TGV/EGR deletes, a J-pipe and a new tmic/fmic is the way to go, otherwise. Dump the intake altogether or put the money towards the intercooler and you'll get a bigger benefit from the money spent.
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Old 04-11-2021, 04:29 PM   #3
numskull50
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talk to your tuner about EGR/TGV deletes. with the recent EPA crackdown lots won't tune for them or anything EWG or catless. bang for buck is E85 next is going to be a catted Jpipe and STG 2 Tune. anything after that starts getting expensive fast.
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Old 04-11-2021, 05:44 PM   #4
Akl406
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I read that fuel pump gas is more easily prone to knock in the FA20 engines and adding power based on 91 fuel seems like it would increase that?
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Old 04-11-2021, 06:22 PM   #5
lefty o
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a bunch of bushings, and better sway bars are a better start to a more enjoyable car. an accessport should absolutely be on the list though to get rid of subaru's crap tuning.
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Old 04-12-2021, 03:10 PM   #6
timpala11
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I'm flex tuned, but my other supporting mods got me pretty good power on 93. 330/330 to the wheels. Cobb intake (I just like the whoosh tbh), Grimmspeed catted J and EBCS, TGV/EGR deletes, Process West Verticooler, R400 catback. I can only get flex out of my way but 93 drives just fine. I imagine that tuned properly with 91 will get you some good results with similar mods. It's not always about the hrsprs but how much fun more fun the car is to drive. Easy for me to say because my numbers came out higher than expected of course.
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Old 04-12-2021, 10:03 PM   #7
Akl406
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All those parts I want to purchase seem like they are going to make the car run more efficiently whether or not I try to get more horsepower. Is that unreasonable to think this? I would be happy with a conservative tune even if I only get to 280whp I am just worried about engine knock on 91. E85 seems to limit all knock in these motors and I wish I could get it!!
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Old 04-13-2021, 02:59 AM   #8
Diavolo_
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Logically, if youre daily driving the car and occasional spirited drive in some backroads just get an accessport and flash stage 1, and be done with tuning. you can get a cat back if you want some added sound. nothing magical will suddenly happen if you spend more money and go stage 3. i know we all have a need for speed but stage 3 is not 3 times the amount of fun of stage 1. Potential to break other components could happen 3 times as fast though. keep that in mind.

I believe Cobb is working on getting approval for their stage 1 to pass emissions testing everywhere, so thats some peace of mind. with the recent EPA stuff its possible we will loose a lot of aftermarket support in the next couple years. so my advice is to not do anything to your vehicle that you can't return to stock yourself. im talking hardware and software. not sure what your emissions testing is like now, but if you want me to give you some nightmare examples of what the potential future holds for the rest of the country i could. I live in California.

Stage 3 would be cool if youre drag racing all the time, it might be a few tenths faster in the 1/4 mile, but no real benefit in a tight canyon. Tires, and brakes are going to be a better option to increase fun there. possible you might want to do some suspension work, but then again you mentioned its also your commuter. so dont make that thing too low or stiff. which low and stiff doesnt mean it handles well on street surfaces anyways but people overlook that too.
more of something isnt always better:
seek balance.

this is just my experience being a car nut for the last couple decades modifying and driving the hell out of anything and everything. not sure what your experience is or what cars youve had, but its more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

A WRX is an awesome car because its kind of great at everything. However if its your only car, maybe for the cost of that stage 3 package you should buy a fun beater car to drive the hell out of, if thats what youre into. The fun factor from that would be higher than the fun factor of stage 1 vs stage 3.
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Old 04-13-2021, 09:33 AM   #9
Jedi03
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+1 get some good suspension and brakes, a good tune on the stock stuff, catback if you want it louder, get all reliability mods done, killerb oil package, better radiator...then leave it an have fun!
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Old 04-14-2021, 03:04 PM   #10
Akl406
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I have a 97 Tacoma pickup that I mostly use as my daily driver especially in the winter. My wrx is mostly used when I go to town and in the summer. I know they are incredible in the snow but I don't want to put that abuse on it yet, its my baby. One day I will. In Montana everything is 2 hours away and with the WRX it makes getting around the state easier and way more fun. I did purchase it to have a vehicle that would last me a long time, my Tacoma is getting up there in mileage. Plus its been the car I have wanted since high school.
This is my first experience owning a performance vehicle so all this is new to me. I enjoy modifying vehicles and putting a personal touch on them. I would like to enhance the performance of my WRX but keep it reliable. Sounds like running a stage 1 set up would be a good choice for me.
I would like to get the GS Stage one package, add an AOS and a Perrin Charge pipe.
Suspension, Killer B oil, and a new radiator sounds like I should do as well.
Sound like a good plan?
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Old 04-14-2021, 03:55 PM   #11
Diavolo_
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if I were you i'd get a Cobb Accessport and flash Stage 1.
drive that for a few thousand miles before jumping in and changing too many things at the same time. how long have you had the car?
(also for the record im a little jelly. wish i could find and afford a newer all stock WRX, dont mess yours up! haha)

in my opinion an air oil separator is really pointless, a motor can burn a little bit of oily vapor asymptomatically for its life. i thought about getting something similar too, and i did a lot of research on it and decided it was overkill. especially when I watched all the youtube videos of older guys approaching it logically instead of videos with hipsters and cool music and camera angles haha.
i just replaced all the breather hoses and PCV stuff on my engine. it was a cheap maintenance thing and i dont have to change anything aftermarket back to stock to pass a visual emission inspection. this is on a 09 WRX that i recently bought. i got it in rough shape but its all i could afford, its been thoroughly used and abused and even then it wasnt too gunked up with 126k miles on it.
your car is newer and i bet even more efficient. if i were you i'd just check and replace any aging breather system stuff when you get up there in mileage like 100k.

I dont know much about the charge pipe, because I'm not too familiar with the newer WRX, but if theres no ill side effects and it doesnt require a tune, then i think thats a great idea. plus it looks cool. honestly it probably wont make too much of a difference on an otherwise stock car, and in the future you might have to swap it back to the stock pipe for an emissions inspection. so keep that in mind and keep your factory parts.

The radiator isnt a bad idea either, and maybe you could do an oil cooler then too. Again not familiar with the '18 so see if an oil cooler could be a benefit. Theres no hurry on that stuff. you can wait until your radiator is a couple years older.

I'm not familiar at all with the Killer B stuff, so no comment there.

Suspension is tricky because if you like the look of a slammed car, you can do that, but it will completely ruin how it handles and rides. You should also research if what you want to do will cause any alignment problems. I've lowered many of my cars, only ever by changing the springs and shocks/struts. I've never done coil overs, and I don't go for a huge drop. That way it cleans up some of the wheel gap, handles a little better but doesnt ride too stiff. I like to drive my cars hard and i need suspension travel more than cool looks, but thats my preference.

not sure what options exist for a lightened flywheel, or even clutch upgrade but that could be something else worth researching.

have you decided on a cat back exhaust?

Are you into any other sort of customization like gauges, window tint, lip kit, stereo system, lighting (interior and exterior)?
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Old 04-19-2021, 08:37 PM   #12
Akl406
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I bought the car new, in August of 2018, so about 2 1/2 years now. I have put about 23,000 miles on it so far. Since purchasing it I did have it tinted, and have done some exterior mods (badges, mud flaps, license plate relocation, wheels, Thule racks). The stock sound system is fine for me, I don’t really care about interior stuff.
I don’t want to lower it, I would still like to keep some clearance as for it is used in the mountains where it does snow and need some room in the wheel wells. So I would upgrade the suspension to reflect those driving conditions. I want to get the AWE touring cat back exhaust. Other than that I think I have figured out my plan for the car performance wise by going with a Cobb AP, Grimmspeed Stage 1 kit plus a Grimmspeed TMIC with charge pipe.
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Old 08-20-2021, 11:58 AM   #13
Akl406
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Quote:
Originally Posted by timpala11 View Post
I'm flex tuned, but my other supporting mods got me pretty good power on 93. 330/330 to the wheels. Cobb intake (I just like the whoosh tbh), Grimmspeed catted J and EBCS, TGV/EGR deletes, Process West Verticooler, R400 catback. I can only get flex out of my way but 93 drives just fine. I imagine that tuned properly with 91 will get you some good results with similar mods. It's not always about the hrsprs but how much fun more fun the car is to drive. Easy for me to say because my numbers came out higher than expected of course.
How loud was the Grimmspeed j pipe and the r400?
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Old 08-20-2021, 01:29 PM   #14
Jack
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100% serious: Sell your car now. Values are higher than they've ever been. Buy a new STi base. Despite the name "base", it comes with all the good things an enthusiast would want. You don't have to put in $Texas in mods to be on par with an STi and then add up your receipts and realize you could have bought a new STi Limited. This happens a LOT here. Plenty of members here who will puff out their chest and proclaim "My WRX makes more power than a stock STi". Ok, great. But you put so much money into it that you could have bought a 5 year old GTR that would absolutely own your car in a drag race. And when it's time to sell that modded monster....you find that you get 10% less than a 100% stock car because the market for modded cars is much lower than that for stock cars.
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