I am getting a 2002 2.5RS at the end of month(Can't afford WRX...). What's the first mod that I should do?? Is it the same as the last gen. 2.5RS?? Install the anti-sway bar??

Just wondering, if I want to change my suspension, which one should I go for??

Thanx guys!

Buy some good shoes.
RE92's suck.

Is that the tire that you're talking about??

I would go with a cold air intake(cobb or larrys[ www.imprezars.com (http://www.imprezars.com) ])first off,
with a K&N high flow or filter charger. Then a short throw shifter with some STI or Cussco bushings. Then a front and rear tower strut bar and finish it off with a WRC wing V5. Should be about $750-$800.00

Have fun man
Ryan D.

First upgrade to make is always the nut behind the wheel. http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif Second thing you should do is new tires. After that, spend some time learning the car and practicing your driving. The shotgun approach rarely works. Do one thing at a time, find the limits, then address them.

Josh Beach

IBO- yes, I mean tires. http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/biggrin.gif

Good points... I only drove my friend's 01 2.5RS with auto tranny a few times. I am getting a manual tranny on my 2002 2.5RS.

Thanx guys, keep feeding!

Well, that depends how much money you are willing to spend and what you want out of your car. For the little things which make a nice difference in my opinion are the shortshifters from either kartboy or cobb, maybe a whiteline swaybar. I personally went for the rims and tires first (yokohama A520's are excellent) and then exhaust, a strommung dual tip with the midpipe and the borla headers. Next I ordered the cobb shortshifter, whiteline adjustable swaybar, then the cobb cold air intake, and finally the cobb cams are in this friday, suspension (DMS golds)are next. Work your way up, like I did. But its really a matter of preference on how you want to do it. Hope I helped some, Later.
Dan Coty

I don't know much about the new body style, but for old skool body MY< 02 a rear anti-sway bar was a good first mod.

My mods in order were:

K&N Airfilter
18mm rear sway-bar
Pirelli P7000 Supersports (won't buy these again)
STi engine/tranny mounts
Ganzflow intake
STi replica short shifter from imprezars.com
N1 exhaust from imprezars.com
I'll be replacing the suspension soon with KYB/AGX struts and Eibach springs.

For the money, the sway-bar, shifter, and intake/airfilter were the best. Tires are really important too, but you might want to wear yours out some first so it doesnt feel like a waste. The new engine and tranny mounts also make a big difference in how solid the shifting feels. The stock suspension is pretty good, so i waited 30k miles before thinking about replacing it. My only cosmetic mod was clear side markers. I really just wanted to improve performace so it all depends on what you want.

Hope that helps some.

Thanx guys that helped a lot... I guess I have a long way to go before thinking of a turbo. Well, I am really going for performance wise, don't wanna end up like some rice cars.

Well you said you weren't getting the WRX cuz it was too expensive.

If you bought a brand new MY02 RS plus turbo with all the trimmings, that would put you above the cost of a new WRX.

So if WRX is too pricy right now, RS + turbo is too http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/tongue.gif

good starter mods could include, UD pulley, intake, sway bars, short shifter, exhaust, lots of vinyl stickers (j/k http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/wink.gif)

Like a previous poster said, it's all in how much you have/willing to spend.

~Aaron~

Well, this is how it is. My parents are buying the car for me, and they limit my budget to $3000CAD, so I only can afford 2.5RS. And for the mods, I am paying it with my money.

Ya I agree with beachbum. The AWD takes some getting used to, especially if you're used to driving FWD. In snow and ice they act like RWd until traction is gained again and then it recovers VERY quickly. With wide tires that come with them you "hydroplane" on top of snow easily. Yet I've never been stuck in my driveway on glare ice going up hill (steep!).
Then go rear sway bar and Coooooooool rims

Sweeeeet... Well, I used to drive my sis's 94 Millenia, I guess I do need sometime to get used to it.

tires ... and then a trunk monkey and a keg

Definetly get yourself a Trunk monkey ($12). Money well spent at http://www.tikinet.com/impreza/monkey.html


http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/lol.gif

first get some chrome 20" assassyns, or some other flashy, heavy wheel that looks like it was designed by a drunk person armed with a spirograph.

then a big "type-r" or "tuned by razo" windshield banner, and then some blue headlight bulbs, and you're all set for a while.

once you've got some more ca$h money, get an intake that's yellow anodized (since a yellow one will give you 50 more hp than any other color intake), and some yellow sparkplug wires (since they'll give you 50 more hp than any other color sparkplug wire), and the biggest muffler you can buy (don't bother with a properly tuned cat-back system, it doesn't make as much noise, so it couldn't possibly make as much power).

after this, it's time for the stage IV package, which includes some seatbelt shoulder pads, indiglo gauges, a single windshield wiper, preferably made of yellow plastic (it's more aerodynamic than other colors), and all the vinyl graphics you care to tack on, it all depends on how fast you want to go. remember, yellow all the way! yellow (or carbon-look) vinyl weighs less than any other color.

at this point, you should be at around 4-500hp, and running 11's easily. http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/lol.gif

seriously though, have you bought the car yet? i would look around for a pre-'02 2.5RS since...

A) it's quite a bit lighter than the newer car, which will give you a slight edge right off the bat (sorry, i'm one of those fanatical "light is right" people).

B) it'll be a little cheaper than the newer model (more $$$ left over for tires, swaybars, and whatnot).

C) umm...it looks better (?) http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/biggrin.gif it's all subjective of course, but the new body style without the crazy hood scoops and such just doesn't look right to me.

anyway, this post is WAY too long now, so i'll stop. http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif

(((adam)))

heh heh, that's too funny. I love the sarcasm.

-craig

Get a REAR sway bar...Makes the car much MUCH more fun to drive and shouldn't set you back any more than $100. Hands down the BEST first investment! http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif

For the $5000+ difference in price I saved by buying a RS I can easily build a RS that will eat a stock WRX.

-Brian

I think racecarriot forgot the 4foot tall 250+/- hp aluminum wing. seriously, first thing i changed was the restrictive airbox, intake is the way to go.

it depends on what kinda of driving you do most, street, auto-X....drag&lt;?&gt; either way most people are right, those RE92' suck. i did a nice 4wheel drift...only because my re92's broke loose.

but i would go with intake, exhaust,shifter, suspension. dont forget to reset your ecu after each mod.

Andres www.ae.utexas.edu/~castana/subaru.html (http://www.ae.utexas.edu/~castana/subaru.html)

I think the first mod to be done is for some performance driver training... like autocross school or rally school... and then you can know your car better, and you can drive it responsibly/better, and thus, you'd know yourself what you need to modify...

my 2 cents.

I agree with Dan_E.
Best Bang for the buck, and you will like driving your car a lot more. It will handle so much better.
Go for an adjustable bar so you can do a little experimenting.
Not that I have to worry about it, but driving on snow covered roads warrant an adjustable bar.

In order of priority:

1. Driving practice (auto-X, rally-X, etc)
2. Remove excess intake snorkus
3. Driving practice (auto-X, rally-X, etc)
4. New tires (BFG g-Forces rock! (KD, KDW, KDWS depending on where you live)
5. Driving practice (auto-X, rally-X, etc)
6. Rear sway (anti-roll) bar (Warning! throws you out of stock class in Solo-II)
7. Driving practice (auto-X, rally-X, etc)

From there, it's all up to you.

http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/lildevil.gif

I'm not sure if I agree with everyone about the anti-sway bar. Remember, this is an MY02 that is supposed to be something like 140% more rigid than the MY01. I just got the MY02 RS and the first thing I'm looking at getting (or making) is a new intake. I might even try a ram-air intake.

Ylexot

Woops, let me rescind that last message (brain doesn't work sometimes). I was thinking rear strut tower brace (don't know why). Anyway, anti-sway bar good.

Ylexot

Hey, yea, if you're going for the 2.5RS, why are you going for the 02, not the 01's (if you can still find one)? If you're going for the RS, might as well go for the better looking and lighter model. Well, i got my 01RS a little over a month ago, and my mods so far are:
1) ganzflow
2) 20mm rear sway bar

got them both from larry --&gt; www.imprezars.com (http://www.imprezars.com)

the rear sway bar made the driving experience a lot better!

coming up for my list(during summer) will be
the exhaust(headers, cat, catback), and suspensions(new struts/springs), and if the budget allows, pulley and short throw shifter http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif

x

[This message has been edited by CRAZY KEN (edited May 23, 2001).]

Well IBO,

When you pick your baby up...I would drive it for a couple of weeks and test your baby's limits...get a feel for your car...right down the pro's and con's on the suspension, steering, cornering, braking, acceleration, passing, ect. ...from there determine where "YOU" think you want to improve on first...post another topic giving us an idea of what you orserved, and give us a budget...THAT WILL BE THE BEST WAY FOR US TO RECOMMEND YOUR FIRST MOD!!! Will it deal with suspension, brakes or engine???...we wont know until you tell us!!!

Later...keep all four on the ground...or at least try to!!!


CRAZY KEN

Now, having been driving my 2.5RS for 3 weeks now, I really feel that I should get an anti-sway bar first, but the car understeers a lot.

Then here comes a problem, I want to find some sway bar that'll fit the 2002 model. The only one that I can really find right now are the Cusco ones, but man, they are expensive. I don't wanna get the stock WRX ones, because I want to get some adjustable ones that goes beyond 20mm. Any one have any suggestion?

Yeah, take it one step at a time for the mods. It's more fun trust me.

1. Get to know the car's limits and yours. Very important.
2. Get the tower and rear sway bars.
3. Practice again. You'll feel the difference the minute you hit the curves http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif
4. After that wears off, stick an intake in it. Little more power that you should notice. Very nice loud sound too.
5. Get a short shifter next. Take it out for a spin and get use to the shorter shifting http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif
6. Get new tires. I went and got the Kuhmo 712. Not too shabby but better than the stock. Take those around corners as well. Should be fun until you feel like you need more grip.
7. The stock clutch is weak and mine gave way for the ACT clutch. Spendy but well worth it if you drive hard.

Well, that's about wraps it up for my mods and the way I've enjoyed them. Have fun.

Fong,

I installed a 20mm rear swaybar on my 2002rs
Got it from subaruparts.com for $90 total.

pics (http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/Forum32/HTML/000014.html)

It was a pain in the a$$ to put in took 2 1/2 hours to install. The original bar comes out real easy but the 20mm bar is so muchbigger. I ended up taking the muffler of its bushings and taking the left rear tire off. After doing that it slid right in. It does make a clunking sound but its almost gone now after driving it for one day.

I also installed a cold air intake on my rs. Took less than 10min to install + ecu reset time. Now it makes a mean sound, has better throttle response and there is some more power.

I think the next mod will be a stromung exhaust for my rs. I finally found one for a 2002 rs at COBBtuning costs $405 though. Should get that in the next couple of months.

The next mod after that will be some 17" gold p1's or p7's with some good tires on them.

I guess I know where all my money has been going

-Brian

That's gonna be a badass RS...

Where did you get the cold air intake for RS? Which brand is it?