Possibly buying a WRX....need some hardcore tech info.

[nycivicsi]

how are you all doing, my name is pete, i'm a "newbie" and i'm tired of this peice of shiet, torqueless crapbox i'm driving right now and my lease is up in feb. so i'm thinking of moving up to a WRX. the 350z is just beyond my price range, and with the f-body gone (all firebirds have been sold....i already tried) the WRX is the next fastest car in the $24k price range. so i'm seriously considering buying one.....well, leasing one.

so since i'm only gonna be leasing it, obviously these big expensive $2500 "power packages" are out of the question. but being a full out retarded car-guy i KNOW i wont be able to keep the wrx COMPLETELY stock. i will change the wheels (already have a set of konig verdicts we never put on the g/f's RSX) and tint the windows of course, and that greddy lip is looking mighty tempting......but that's bout all i'll do......i NEED to restrain myself. so here's what i want to know. what are the stock timing and fuel management systems on the WRX, and how much added boost can they take. in other words, if i bump the boost up to 16-18psi (if the stock turbo is efficient at these boost levels....i'm not sure, please fill me in) will the stock fuel delivery system compensate for the added air, or is a booster pump, and/or new injectors and an FMU needed. also, is there a factory boost timing retard? if not, is it distributor, or coil-packs, if it's coil packs, how can i go about adjusting the timing without buying a $1000 piggy back unit.

thank you for your information. although low 14's in stock trim is enticing, i'd like to have a mid-13 sec. daily driver, but i'd like to do it cheaply (MBC, BOV....done) and with parts i can easily remove and sell when the lease is up. i'd like to buy the car and mod the crap out of it, but i'm in the middle of building a 1967 firebird resto-mod street car that will run 10's on spray and 11's on muscle, so funds need to be distributed properly i just need the low down on all the technical workings of a WRX, the kinda stuff that a dealer just wouldnt know. so i figured i'd come to the pros sorry if these are FAQ's, but i just dont have time to search the entire site for an answer to all my questions (i already tried).

-Pete

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[jmott]

hey there.

some points

1. Those wheels probably wont fit on the WRX, wrong offset most likely

2. While the WRX does have a lot of torque, it also has turbo lag, which at low rpms will give you that same torquless feeling you don't like. A turboback exauhst can fix a lot of that tho.

3. The WRX can make around 320 crank horsepower, and run 12.8 in the 1/4 mile on the stock injectors and fuel pump

4. You *can* just turn up the boost, but getting some sort of tuning, like with a unichip, or utec, to be sure your air fuel ratios and timing curves match up with your boost curves is a good idea. I personally reccomend getting dyno tuned, as opposed to mail order. Though some have had success with either.

5. the WRX does come with a knock sensor, and will retard timing for a while if it senses knock. I wouldn't reccomend relying on this to do the tuning for you though!

6. If you *must* use a boost controller to crank up the boost, 15-16psi is as high as youd want to go on the stock turbo (stock is around 14psi)

7. You can hit 13s with a turboback exauhst, intercooler hoses, and upipe, and no increase in boost at all. This is probably a safer route if you don't want to do any dyno tuning.

Originally posted by nycivicsi
how are you all doing, my name is pete, i'm a "newbie" and i'm tired of this peice of shiet, torqueless crapbox i'm driving right now and my lease is up in feb. so i'm thinking of moving up to a WRX. the 350z is just beyond my price range, and with the f-body gone (all firebirds have been sold....i already tried) the WRX is the next fastest car in the $24k price range. so i'm seriously considering buying one.....well, leasing one.

so since i'm only gonna be leasing it, obviously these big expensive $2500 "power packages" are out of the question. but being a full out retarded car-guy i KNOW i wont be able to keep the wrx COMPLETELY stock. i will change the wheels (already have a set of konig verdicts we never put on the g/f's RSX) and tint the windows of course, and that greddy lip is looking mighty tempting......but that's bout all i'll do......i NEED to restrain myself. so here's what i want to know. what are the stock timing and fuel management systems on the WRX, and how much added boost can they take. in other words, if i bump the boost up to 16-18psi (if the stock turbo is efficient at these boost levels....i'm not sure, please fill me in) will the stock fuel delivery system compensate for the added air, or is a booster pump, and/or new injectors and an FMU needed. also, is there a factory boost timing retard? if not, is it distributor, or coil-packs, if it's coil packs, how can i go about adjusting the timing without buying a $1000 piggy back unit.

thank you for your information. although low 14's in stock trim is enticing, i'd like to have a mid-13 sec. daily driver, but i'd like to do it cheaply (MBC, BOV....done) and with parts i can easily remove and sell when the lease is up. i'd like to buy the car and mod the crap out of it, but i'm in the middle of building a 1967 firebird resto-mod street car that will run 10's on spray and 11's on muscle, so funds need to be distributed properly i just need the low down on all the technical workings of a WRX, the kinda stuff that a dealer just wouldnt know. so i figured i'd come to the pros sorry if these are FAQ's, but i just dont have time to search the entire site for an answer to all my questions (i already tried).

-Pete

[wayoutwest]

well if you wanna do it RIGHT and SAFE ... so you dont blow up your leased car and get in big trouble,

1. No BOV or intake ... unnecessary.
2. If you are even THINKING about adding a manual boost controller (or upping the boost at all for that matter), you'd better put in a catless uppipe. Or learn how to drive VERY carefully so you dont burn up the cat and throw bits into the turbo. I have a stage0 and leave the MBC off for daily driving. If i ever went to the track I would put it back on. At least get a solenoid so you can switch it on and off at will.
3. Vishnu stage 0 is $1200 (including PNP harness) and can EASILY be taken out (except the uppipe, but who cares) ... and will get you mid/low 13s.

I used to have an Si before my WRX as well... it was a fun car no doubt ... I had Mugen and Comptech bits on it and it was fairly quick .... nothing like the WRX though.

But the bottom line is that cheap power isn't safe power with these cars.... they are not idiot proof and its very easy to get into trouble. But $1200 for ~40whp is bordering on cheap though.

OH, and get a wagon.
Cheers!
Dave

[nycivicsi]

well....you have both DEFINATLY answered my questions....thank you very much

some turbo cars (dsms for instance) work with just increased boost......i wasnt sure if the wrx is the same.

i'm probably not going to mod the car though. maybe an AEM CAI and BOV (just for the fun turbo sound). i'm not gonna mess with the boost or exhaust. it sounds like too much hassle. i really just want a quick daily driver. i figured if boost upgrades were fairly simple i'd do them, but now it seems like a good 'ole nitrous express 20923 (single nozzle import wet kit) is the way to go for when i want to see 13 sec. timeslips at the track.......well, at least until my REAL track car is finished

well, thanx again for the info guys. it seems like there are some experienced gear heads on this site (not just idiotic 16 year olds like on most honda boards). if i get some time i'll cruise the boards a bit, maybe polish up some of my turbo knowledge (i know the basics, but the majority of my knowlege lies in honda motors and pushrods).....unfortunatly being a teacher affords me a minimum of free time, but if this deal for the WRX goes through, i'll be on this board as much as i can, if there's one thing i LOVE it's BS'ing about cars

once again thanx for the info

[nycivicsi]

Originally posted by tknodav
But $1200 for ~40whp is bordering on cheap though.

......yeah, but $400 (i work at a speed shop www.skspeed.com ***shameless plug***on the weekends and summers so i get a discount) for 50++ hp with spray is a MUCH cheaper alternative

[wayoutwest]

you must have missed my 1st point. Don't get an intake without proper tuning. All aftermarket intakes give false readings to the MAF sensor, so the A/F ratio read is incorrect. It leans out your mixture and could cause detonation. There are tuners that have made upwards of 300whp EASY using the stock intake. All it does is make noise, waste money, and potentially cause problems. Simply put, its not a bottleneck in the power scheme of things.

You don't need a blow-off valve. It comes with one already from the factory. If you put on an atmospheric blow-off you will further mess w/ the A/F ratios becuase the stock valve vents back to the intake tract. So if you blow off to atmosphere, the ECU is dumping fuel for air that isn't there. Welcome to the finnicky world of tuning a WRX ... you have to get over the N/A tuning mindset.

And putting wet nitrous on a leased car!? Hmm .... Glad I'm not your dealer, and I feel sorry for the guy who buys it after the lease is up. If you are going to do these types of things, at least buy it

[WAFlowers]

I'd suggest you go to edmunds.com and use their buy vs. lease calculator to seriously look at whether the lease is the best idea for you.

If you finance a WRX purchase over anything more than 36 months (e.g. 48 or 60 month financing) your monthly payments are lower buying than leasing, assuming equal amounts down.

Obviously I don't know your personal situation, and it is none of my business anyway, but a purchase might work out better than you expect, plus give you the flexibility to mod the car as much as you want. Or, at least, as much as you can afford to do.
--
Bill