How to spend $10 Grand?

[Stilo]

After several months of work i have performed for a customer i am receiving a $10,000 pay check. For my self b-day present i have decided to spend this money on my car, a 2007 STI LIMITED EDITION. I dont have enough for a Cosworth Block Swap. So im a bit confused on how to best spend this money on a stock block. Should i get the Cosworth cams or heads without the built block? I really like the fact that my STI is really reliable so i am afraid to overpower the block. Anyways my goal is for $10,000 or less be able to keep a reliable block and hopefully squeeze some good hp out of it for fun on the drag strip and a daily driver.

If you can recomend a good system it would be much appreciated. If you cant but know of an ace mechanic that could recomend a good system, that would be helpfull also.

I am in Southern California. My Car is Stock. I need to have two cats (high flow) and be as quiet as possible. Thanks guys i realy appreciate your help. Almost forgot, i will be doing the work myself except for the tune and what needs to be sent out.

Where to put 10 Grand (really 9 Grand, saving 1,000 for tuning) :

Turbo?
Cams?
Porting?
Heads?
ECU?
Ignition System?
Fuel System?
Intake Manifold?
Exhaust System?

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[MJU1983]

If I had $10k looking to put into an STi, I'd call or email my good friend Ron@Axis. He is very good at what he does.

[flycaster]

Originally Posted by Stilo

...I really like the fact that my STI is really reliable so i am afraid to overpower the block...

Looking at this, hmmm. OK, you want some really solid advice? Spend $3K+ to take it to Stage 2 with water/meth injection, and a Protune. Invest the rest. Done.

I'm not trying to jerk your chain here either - if you go above this, you will dip into the remainder heavily no matter what and the reliability you want will suffer. The first $3K yields the biggest results (i.e., "bang for the buck"). Every horsepower after that costs much more.

[jigga]

^^^

truer words have never been written

[Freon]

Cams, porting, and headwork is probably not viable in that price range. It's not something you need to do on our motors unless you're going off the deep end. Same goes for intake manifold. There's no need. They're very expensive.

In general, uou can get injectors, fuel pump, one step colder plugs (depending), intercooler, turbo (18G up to a SZ55 or so is reasonable), catted downpipe, catback, and a tune.

There are only a few catted downpipes available, check vendor for sale forum. Cobb and Randomtech come to mind, but get whatever floats your boat. There are dozens of catbacks. Which catback you get is probably not going to make a huge difference.

There are various engine management systems. It depends on who is tuning what will be preferred. The cheapest is free (Openecu reflash) besides hourly tuning costs. The rest are $600-1000 (Cobb, Ecutek, UTEC) for equipment/licensing fees on top of the tuner's hourly rates. What you do specifically for injectors and intake, should also be discussed with the person who is actually going to tune the car because these tend to make a big difference.

This doesn't belong in Built Motor discussion because you're not going to be able to afford a new block while also buying all the crazy high power accessories that would put you in the category that would require a built block. The stock block is plenty strong anyway.

That should get you started.

[Stilo]

Thanks so much for your great responses! I am now wondering if maybe i should consider going with the Cosworth EJ25 High Performance Short Block Assembly w/ Crank
[SB8007] $8,499.00

and just bolt on all of my stock parts/ heads/stock turbo until i can afford the really big bolt-ons.
Would this be the best way to start from the ground up? And would it even be possible to use my stock parts on this block?

I would hate to buy the wrong size turbo/ parts and then decide later on that i want a stroker block and have to scrap it all and start over.
I have 10k now but i can always save up more in the future.

Any ideah how much Harmanmotive might charge to install this puppy?

Thanks again guys for your excelent help!!!

[onefasazn]

Hookers.

No....really.



Work on the basics, mostly mentioned above.

I'd go for the most balanced package possible:

-Slightly bigger turbo (or not, considering the VF43 looks promising...)

-Supporting fuel system/mods (i.e.-fuel injectors, exhaust, maybe an equal-length header. Synic's is pretty good for the price, and it makes a nice midrange improvement)

-TUNING!!!!!

-Mild suspension upgrades( RCE springs, camber plates, good alignment) maybe even new tires...

-Rear sway bar/endlinks.

-Better brake pads/ Stainless braided lines.

With a good balanced package, the car will be a lot more fun to drive all around.

[flycaster]

Originally Posted by Stilo

...I am now wondering if maybe i should consider going with the Cosworth EJ25 High Performance Short Block Assembly w/ Crank [SB8007] $8,499.00...

Oh man...look, without going into all of the ugly line item details, this would just be the start of a balanced project. Is this where you really want to go? Remember, the $$$ you put into a project like this, you will NOT get back. It'll be fun, but it'll be gone.

Find some local guys who have modded their cars, go for some rides, and then get them to level with you what it really cost to get them there. I think it will be a real wake-up for you. Going "Big" costs a LOT of money since, as already alluded to, it doesn't just stop with the motor - you'd better match the turning and stopping to the horsepower otherwise you're in deep doo-doo. That $10K will go "poof", and so will the second $10K...

That's my $0.02 and I'll leave the rest of you to it.

[twigg107]

flycaster said it best.... hell pm brewpubever and ask him how much he dumped when he had his sti. What are your power goals?

[spoolinred]

well i can tell you that i started out with the goal of keeping it around 10k on my build. after adding up everything when i got done it is somewhere near the 20k mark. once you start you can't stop... and this is on a wrx 2.0 not an sti...

[Nate8409]

Buy the big turbo. Bolt it on until the car blows up. It will last a long time as is. Stock block can take a serious beating without detonation. Big turbo, injectors, fuel pump, exhaust and a tune.

You don't need a block with a billet crank and all of that. Or even better spend the 10 grand on a 2.5rs old school and trade over all of your parts. Losing 600 pounds is a HUGE difference!!!!!!!!! Weight reduction is the best modification money can buy!

[dropmech]

Buy your mother some flowers.

[Homemade WRX]

if you honestly plan on going big, I would put the money in the motor and heads first. This will be like insurance to keeping the car reliable when you put on the bigger turbo, fuel system, fmic, alky, whatever you do...stock blocks do let go and leave a large price tag to replace when you least expect it (normally).

the built motor and heads will also yield you gains over what you have now.

[jigga]

Originally Posted by flycaster

Oh man...look, without going into all of the ugly line item details, this would just be the start of a balanced project. Is this where you really want to go? Remember, the $$$ you put into a project like this, you will NOT get back. It'll be fun, but it'll be gone.

Find some local guys who have modded their cars, go for some rides, and then get them to level with you what it really cost to get them there. I think it will be a real wake-up for you. Going "Big" costs a LOT of money since, as already alluded to, it doesn't just stop with the motor - you'd better match the turning and stopping to the horsepower otherwise you're in deep doo-doo. That $10K will go "poof", and so will the second $10K...

That's my $0.02 and I'll leave the rest of you to it.

Amen.... THis is what I'm currently going through actually.... The deep end is really deep... a lot deeper than I thought it would be! Talk about a seemingly never ending project that isn't as much fun as it was when I started...

[blowbyu24]

leave your motor stock and run a gt35r until it blows


coming from experience don't build the motor until it blows!!

[xtmx]

Originally Posted by blowbyu24

leave your motor stock and run a gt35r until it blows


coming from experience don't build the motor until it blows!!

I am no expert but this sounds really smart. Building your engine now would be like replacing a set of tires with 75% tread left...Why not get as many miles as you possiby can?

[mannslayer]

ultimate racing gt35r + meth + supporting mods and a block from ron @ axis. then a clutch shortly after.

[beezwax]

PARTY LIKE A ROCKSTAR

don't waste money on your car

[Homemade WRX]

Originally Posted by xtmx

I am no expert but this sounds really smart. Building your engine now would be like replacing a set of tires with 75% tread left...Why not get as many miles as you possiby can?

because you can sell blocks and heads that aren't a pieces of scrap aluminum

[mugenXP]

i wouldn't drop 10k into modding a car...

just spend a few, and save the rest for something more important.

[IllNastyImpreza]

your throwing money @ a car and expecting something good to come out of it ??

do some reasearch first... money doesn't buy EVERYTHING.
You are doing most of the work yourself? If so, It would help greatly to do a few months reasearch. IE, Fuel system setupts, engine managment, and other setups that people with similar goals to yours are running. Check out some guys from nasioc and other clubs to see how thier cars are running, what it took them to get to where they are at, and what they would do differently.

Anyone can call up Cobb, or Axis and ask " what can I get for 10 grand" ?? ... Chances are you'll figure out down the road that you could have gotten a better setup for your goals.... because you didn't know what else was on the table @ the time you bought it.

[AruisDante]

Some really usefull stuff in here... and a lot of not so useful stuff.

Look, the stock STi block is good to about 500HP daily driven with really no reliability concerns as long as you have a good tuner. And I can't stress that good tuner bit enough. There's really no reason to change the block unless A) you want to go for the 600+WHP range B)You're building a show car and want that bling factor C)You just have to rev to 8000RPM's or more, even though the stock heads/intake manifold doesn't breath well past 6500 or so.

My advice? Ultimate racing GT30R twinscroll kit. It'll set you back about 4.5K, comes with turbo, headers, uppipe, downpipe, wastegate and other goodies you need. It'll get you to the 400WHP range, which is more then enough for a street car, and will have VERY good response. Then get the supporting modds needed for that much power: front mount, injectors, fuel rails, fuel pump, turbo back exhaust, high flow cat. You're going to have to give upon your dream of two cats if you want to make any power. One yes, most certainly, but catted downpipes are a VERY rare thing in the aftermarket. Trust me, if the car is tuned well, it'll pass emissions with just a high flow primary cat. Then put the rest of your money into ECU and tuning, and make sure you have a tuner before you buy an ECU, because that will most certainly affect what you get.

[AruisDante]

Originally Posted by IllNastyImpreza

Chances are you'll figure out down the road that you could have gotten a better setup for your goals.... because you didn't know what else was on the table @ the time you bought it.

Very true statement. I know that if I had done more research, I'd have an Ultimate Racing GT30R twinscroll on my car rather then an SR55, but at the time very little was known about the kit because it was brand new. Research is key.

[TAPOUT]

See this exact same thread... http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1327541

Then up your budget to $13K

[flycaster]

Originally Posted by TAPOUT

...Then up your budget to $13K

That's only the first bump.

(sorry - couldn't help myself)