As a first time Scooby owner - MY99 bog standard- what are the best performance add ons to begin with, I am not looking for huge performance gains.
I have ordered a Turbo Timer (recommended by a colleague) is this worthwhile?

Thanxs

 

I would suggest that your first mod from standard should be a new backbox to both increase power and torque a little.This without having any effect on your emmisions which will mean you dont encounter any grief at mot time, although being a newish car that may not need to be a factor. Another popular mod is a new air filter or new induction system which in conjunction with the exhaust could give you an extra 10bhp or so, maybe a little more, but will certainly improve the engine note.

I would of thought that the boost gauge would be more useful on a modded car where higher levels of boost are achieved and need to be monitored a little closer, but no doubt you will get a more technical post from another member who is more technically minded, this is just taken from my own experience and not from my technical knowledge which is fairly crappy.

cheers scott

 

Advanced driver training of some sort........

 

A turbo timer is good, it lets you be lasy after a blast and just hop out of the car without having to wait for it to cool down
Performance mods, hmmmm.
I like big brakes, cos they let you use performance you've got more effectively.
Full decat exhaust would be good too, I believe backbox on it's own is good only for the sound - and this is backed up IMO by looking at results on a dyno.
Training is good, trackdays are good!
Chuck

 

What mods?
First should be to join

 

I uprated the brakes first, but then mine were 2 pots...

About the turbo timer, if your car security is cat 1 your insurance company may not see it that way with the timer installed. Thats what I was told.

Are they worthwhile? they are if you are forgetful/lazy/in a rush etc, anything that protects your pride and joy is worth it.

I find that sitting in my car for a few minutes is a bit of a 'post blast ritual' - it has to be done!

Enjoy tinkering

Justin

 

I started with breathing mods on my MY99.

ScoobySport backbox
ScoobySport downpipe
Mangnex mid-section
RamPod air inductor

Although, that said my previous car was a MY97. If you haven't had a car that fast before, get use to it first. The mods are apprciated more then!!!

 

Scoobysport full exhaust or BPM exhuast - probably Scoobysport as I've had experience of BPM and did not like it

Dont bother with half measures on the exhaust - I would have thought most gains would be on the Downpipe and getting rid of the CAT

Air filter - HKS renowmned to be good - on a budget then Pipercross - much cheaper, and I doubt theres much power difference

Dont bother with brakes unless you uprate power and like to go on a race track - otherwise I think standard brakes are fine

First thing for me that transformed handling was an antilift kit
Dont bother with rear roll bar uprate - it makes the car dodgy in the wet
dont bother with brake support bracket - total crap

If u have more money then opt for a Link or Unichip - you will find discussions on the merits of these elsewhere

A vf22 (preferably modified) would also be nice, as would a Forge dump valve, 3 port boost solenoid, water injection and water spray and then an AP ceramettalic clutch, and and ..... but enough about my car

 

Don't have any experience with Scooby mods, but agree with Frisby - my driving is by far the limiting factor. I'm not going to bother with backbox or filter as I'm not convinced they do much more than 5bhp at the very most from what people on here say (i.e. less than difference between UL/SUL or cold wet day etc - all in the head). DP would be a different matter I will prolly get 5.1 brake fluid + pads mintex or EBC green and PD settings or Bumpsteer done though. All of these I think would be insurance friendly. Re Turbo Timer - why not slow down and run off boost for the last minute or two of your journey - pretty easy really and usually most people have to slow down near their destination anyway?

 

Taking some limit handling instruction, such as the Don Palmer wetter the better course would be a very good idea... 4wd is unlike all other configurations in behaviour, this would become apparent on such a day.

First change to the car should be the brakes... the cars standard setup isn't really up to the rest of it's performance. Uprating the brakes will make for a greater increase in the cars overall pace than bolting on 50+bhp of extra power.

Increasing the cars power before uprating it's braking would be, IMHO, a mistake.

Moray

 

1)Full exhaust system
2)Downpipe
3)Electronic valve controller
4)Blue pagid group N discs and pads
5)S-02 TYRES
6)Prodrive geometry
7)Strut brace
It will be an unbeatable road car

 

I've thought about which is the best performance upgrade for a while since I would like slightly more power. However I want to retain the car's inherent reliability so I would like to change things cautiously.

If you look at the dyno pages, it seems that back boxes alone make no difference to performance. It looks like the cat needs to go to release any significant power. This combined with just about any cone filter will produce an extra 15-20 bhp and lb ft of torque. The problem with these mods are that the insurance company needs to know, the manufacturers warranty will be invalid and the car will be noisy (you might like the noise).

I would suggest that after this, an ECU change or add-on would be next for more power gains (such as Link or Unichip).

Despite the general feeling that brakes are poor on this car, I've never found them a problem (MY 98 with 2 pots). If I was using the car for track days, I'm sure this would be different. I've done 34 000 miles and I'm still on the original pads. And I don't drive like a pensioner.

D.

 

yeah, got to say that all this advice about using a "de-cat" exhaust system has me slightly confused, as seen as the car will longer be passable for an MOT, surely the insurance would be void??( and if the insurance company was to accept your mods, then it itself would be condoning the breaking of the law??? )

P.T. (Confused)

 

hi,
ive just fitted a scoobysport centre decat pipe and itg filter to go with the ss back box, made a big difference
mark

 

Guys

Thanks for all the advise, I think the best for me is probably the advanced driver training to fully appreciate what I have before modding it.

And my membership apprication for SIDC is on its way to me now.

Thanks again
Murray535

 

Forgot to mention, that the first mod/check should be....

Checking the wheels point the right way!!!

My friends MY99 Impreza killed a set of tyres in 8,000 miles, due to incorrect alinment. The dealers don't check them when you pick up your car, but you don't realise it until it's too late.

My MY99 when I bought it was 6 months old, and had exactly the same problem!!!

Whether you go for Prodrive settings, or standard settings, it won't kill the tyres so quickly!!

 

Best 1st mods are:

1 Better brakes

2 Learn to drive it

Then make it go faster.

Scotty.

 

First and most important mod is get the geometry sorted.

My MY00 handled crap due to lots of understeer, geometry done, car steers so much better. can now do 55mph into one of my fav. corners whereas before it was just under 50 before running on the grass verge on a number of occasions.

Alan