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Old 09-13-2012, 01:50 PM   #26
ihaveanose1234
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 115396
Join Date: May 2006
Chapter/Region: MAIC
Location: RVA
Vehicle:
2008 STi
WRB

Default

My first Subaru was a 2004 WRX that I owned for 5 years. I loved it but deep down I had always wanted a STi. When the time came where I could finally afford one, I waited and searched for just the right one. In May of 2011 I found a 2008 WRB STi with 3x,xxx miles on it all stock.

Upon purchase I immediately ordered and installed the Invidia turboback quad tip exhaust, Accessport, and BC coilovers. After that I wasted no time getting the car up to IAG for an alignment and to have the taillight vinyl applied. I was more than pleased with the car but knew I wanted to go with a larger turbo sometime down the line.

Due to a blown motor a buddy of mine was parting with his Dom 3 setup for cheap and by September I was making 346whp/357 trq with his old setup. The car ran a little rich and the drove a little rough but I loved every minute I spent behind the wheel.

Not two weeks after I got the car tuned things took a turn for the worse.

First I was rear ended by someone on a busy road during rush hour. It was a low speed hit resulting in a small dent on my rear bumper from her license plate screw. Since I didn't want to hold up rush hour traffic over such minimal damage and since I had her insurance information and pictures of the whole thing I told her I wouldn't call the cops and that I would be in touch. Turns out the phone number her insurance company had was now disconnected and the only thing they could do was send her a letter asking for her side of the story. I was told if they didn't hear from her in 30 days the claim would be handled by a supervisor and they would determine if they are going to pay me or not. Sure enough 30 days pass and they didn't hear from her. I offer up my side of the story and my pictures (which they didn't accept) only to be told they were not going to handle my claim. They told me to go file with my insurance company and if I told my insurer what happened they would sue the other insurance company for my deductible back. I called my insurance company to make sure the other company wasn't trying to screw me and my insurance assured me they would get my deductible back. My car was fixed and to this date I still haven't received my $500 deductible back.

Pissed, but just glad to have my car back things were looking up from there until November 11, 2011. I was waiting to take a left turn at a green light (no arrow) at a busy intersection and I was sitting in the intersection patiently waiting to take my turn once traffic cleared or once the light turned red. I see the light go yellow and prepare to clear the intersection. The light turns red and now I need to clear the intersection, there is a car stopped at the red light opposite of me so I couldn't see the car in the other lane about to blow the red light. I was t-boned by a guy who swore the light was yellow. I had two of my friends and my brother in the car; my brother was sitting at the door that got plowed in to. Luckily no one was injured but with no witnesses and since the other driver's story didn't match up with mine it was listed as a no fault accident and I was stuck going through my insurance again to fix the car. Luckily they didn't total the car and after two miserable months I got the car back.


Photo from the accident.

I toyed with the idea of selling the car and moving on to something different but once I got it back I remembered why I bought it in the first place. Not two months after I got it back from the body shop the old turbo inlet coupler tore on me and I was **** out of luck getting a new one. I replaced the inlet twice before I got one that worked right. Somewhere during all of this some lines got disconnected and a solenoid got broken. The car wasn't hitting the proper boost levels and was very sluggish. I decided once again to take my car to IAG and have them realign the car, mount my new tires, fix any mechanical issues, and retune it. They fixed some vacuum/boost leaks, threw a few new parts on, and the car dynoed at 356whp/361 trq.

Finally my car felt complete. It drove like a dream on this new tune and I was grinning ear to ear anytime I drove it. I got to drive it maybe four times before I noticed white smoke coming from the exhaust under boost. Irritated I had a compression and leak down test performed at a local performance shop. I was hoping the turbo finally bit the bullet since it had around 50,000 miles on it, but of course it can never be that simple. Low compression cylinder four.

It was time to do this right once and for all. After talking with Rick at IAG about my options I towed the car up there once more and dropped it off to have the motor built. Of course things can't go smoothly for this car even when the professionals have it. Apparently Cosworth had a batch of cams where the oil passages were drilled opposite of how the oil flowed. Guess who got cams from that batch? Rick, JJ, and all the guys at IAG went above and beyond to make this right at no cost to me. I just got the car back a month ago and am still breaking it in. My retune is scheduled for the weekend of September 22nd and it can't come soon enough.

Thanks to all my friends who have helped me work on this car and have listened to me bitch about it on and off for the past year. Huge shout out for IAG as well, none of this would have been possible without their expertise and attention to detail.

Mods
***8226; ATP stock location GT35R
***8226; IAG big MAF intake
***8226; Agency Power inlet
***8226; Spearco TMIC
***8226; Tial 44mm EWG
***8226; IAG uppipe
***8226; TurboXS headers
***8226; Invidia Q300 catless turboback exhaust
***8226; Warlboro 255lph fuel pump
***8226; DeatschWerks 1000cc injectors
***8226; Manley 99.75mm pistons
***8226; Manley rods
***8226; Cosworth cams
***8226; ACL rod bearings
***8226; ACL main bearings
***8226; ARP head studs
***8226; IAG air pump deletes
***8226; Killer B oil pickup
***8226; 11mm oil pump
***8226; Gates timing belt kit
***8226; Prosport turbo blanket
***8226; IAG TGV deletes
***8226; Grimmspeed 3mm phenolic spacers
***8226; Grimmspeed AOS
***8226; NGK one step colder plugs
***8226; ACT performance street clutch
***8226; BC coilovers
***8226; 20mm spacers
***8226; Red taillight vinyl
***8226; JNA front lip
***8226; Prosport boost/oil pressure gauges
***8226; SMY gauge cluster
***8226; Short shifter

Dyno video


Old dyno plot, will update once retuned.





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