2005 WRX - An All-Rounder
#1
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Central Scotland
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
2005 WRX - An All-Rounder
So I just got my car mapped by the brilliant Andy Forrest today and I thought now would be a good time to show how the car has come along in my 3 years of ownership.
I bought the car in 2014, I had just sold my Ibiza Cupra 1.4 TSI after getting a bit twitchy about the well known reliability issues they have. I wanted something that ticked the same boxes in terms of being a good fast road car but wanted something with more of a track record of reliability. A life long fan of scoobies, it was an obvious choice. Here is what it was like the day I bought it, a 2005 Impreza WRX PPP:
in terms of mods it was fairly standard apart from:
-BC coilovers
-K&N filter
-Decat downpipe
-Roadrunner Scorpion back box
-The usual PPP goodies
First job was pretty simple, I like a car to look clean and uncluttered, so I debadged the rear end:
and de-stickered the front:
Next up was getting a decent detailing regimen in place. I played around with a few products and found Dodo Juice hard candy topped up with Wowo's quick detailer after each wash is a really nice combination on the world rally blue paint:
Next up I was never really happy with the wheels, they had been badly kerbed by one of the previous owners and a cover up had been attempted with badly mismatched paint. A friend of a friend sold me his 18inch prodrives. They were in a sorry state but they were sorted out with a bout of shot blasting and a respray, brake calipers also got a fresh coat of red paint:
After this I went a few road trips and just enjoyed the car, here's the car at Dunrobin Castle, just at the start of the North Coast 500. An epic drive, the car was brilliant:
And here's Loch Katrine, half way up the Duke's Pass:
Time for a performance upgrade, I went for:
Hybrid TD04 from Central Turbos
Harvey's Trick Up-pipe
Standard exhaust headers ported and polished
STI TMIC with scoop and tray
Walbro 255lph fuel pump
STI pink injectors
NGK 7s
First job was fitting the intercooler, scoop and tray. Easy enough job and it made a nice subtle change to the front end:
Fitting the rest of the hardware was beyond my abilities, so it went into the garage. After a week or two of the car being off the road it was over to see Andy Forrest for a remap. Result: 304bhp, 304LbFt and a much better power band!
The car now pulls harder than with the standard turbo all the way through the rev range, and it keeps pulling harder long after the standard turbo runs out of ideas.
Future jobs:
Sort out a few minor body work issues ie stone chips and door dings
Fit less dusty pads
Strut braces
A decent detailing session on the engine bay
I bought the car in 2014, I had just sold my Ibiza Cupra 1.4 TSI after getting a bit twitchy about the well known reliability issues they have. I wanted something that ticked the same boxes in terms of being a good fast road car but wanted something with more of a track record of reliability. A life long fan of scoobies, it was an obvious choice. Here is what it was like the day I bought it, a 2005 Impreza WRX PPP:
in terms of mods it was fairly standard apart from:
-BC coilovers
-K&N filter
-Decat downpipe
-Roadrunner Scorpion back box
-The usual PPP goodies
First job was pretty simple, I like a car to look clean and uncluttered, so I debadged the rear end:
and de-stickered the front:
Next up was getting a decent detailing regimen in place. I played around with a few products and found Dodo Juice hard candy topped up with Wowo's quick detailer after each wash is a really nice combination on the world rally blue paint:
Next up I was never really happy with the wheels, they had been badly kerbed by one of the previous owners and a cover up had been attempted with badly mismatched paint. A friend of a friend sold me his 18inch prodrives. They were in a sorry state but they were sorted out with a bout of shot blasting and a respray, brake calipers also got a fresh coat of red paint:
After this I went a few road trips and just enjoyed the car, here's the car at Dunrobin Castle, just at the start of the North Coast 500. An epic drive, the car was brilliant:
And here's Loch Katrine, half way up the Duke's Pass:
Time for a performance upgrade, I went for:
Hybrid TD04 from Central Turbos
Harvey's Trick Up-pipe
Standard exhaust headers ported and polished
STI TMIC with scoop and tray
Walbro 255lph fuel pump
STI pink injectors
NGK 7s
First job was fitting the intercooler, scoop and tray. Easy enough job and it made a nice subtle change to the front end:
Fitting the rest of the hardware was beyond my abilities, so it went into the garage. After a week or two of the car being off the road it was over to see Andy Forrest for a remap. Result: 304bhp, 304LbFt and a much better power band!
The car now pulls harder than with the standard turbo all the way through the rev range, and it keeps pulling harder long after the standard turbo runs out of ideas.
Future jobs:
Sort out a few minor body work issues ie stone chips and door dings
Fit less dusty pads
Strut braces
A decent detailing session on the engine bay
Last edited by LiamB; 09 August 2017 at 10:15 PM.
#2
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: 35,000 ft
Posts: 692
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
looking good.
Which tyres are you running?
What work was carried out on the TD04? I'm after a hybrid TD04 myself for my UK 2000.
Which tyres are you running?
What work was carried out on the TD04? I'm after a hybrid TD04 myself for my UK 2000.
Last edited by sunny1989; 09 August 2017 at 07:20 PM.
#4
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Central Scotland
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The turbo was fitted with a billet 19t compressor wheel and larger, ported compressor housing. I think there's some kind of heat resistant coating on the hot side too.
Trending Topics
#10
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Central Scotland
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yeah man it's sweet to drive. It spools slightly faster than the standard turbo (as confirmed by overlaying a graph of a mapped WRX) and just widens the gap right the way through the range. Driving wise it feels slightly stronger than the standard turbo at low revs but just keeps pulling harder as the revs climb. There's no let up after 5000rpm either which is refreshing. The car feels a lot happier past 5000rpm whereas with the standard turbo it felt like you were wringing its neck.
#14
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Central Scotland
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
#15
#17
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Central Scotland
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
#18
Scooby Regular
Brakes ok
Well Liam , its nice to here that.
If you are just looking for some good pads with good bite with low dust,
I can recommend for Carbon Lorrain RC5 's these are sintered and at least under my standard callipers are not noisy.
UK sole distributor is "Paul Chance" <sales@clbraking.co.uk>
0044 7974 153967
Id like to think that they will be a good improvement and keep you out of trouble
If you are just looking for some good pads with good bite with low dust,
I can recommend for Carbon Lorrain RC5 's these are sintered and at least under my standard callipers are not noisy.
UK sole distributor is "Paul Chance" <sales@clbraking.co.uk>
0044 7974 153967
Id like to think that they will be a good improvement and keep you out of trouble
#19
Scooby Regular
I've also got to launch at silly revs at the drag strip or I bog down, but modding is usually a compromise
#20
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Central Scotland
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well Liam , its nice to here that.
If you are just looking for some good pads with good bite with low dust,
I can recommend for Carbon Lorrain RC5 's these are sintered and at least under my standard callipers are not noisy.
UK sole distributor is "Paul Chance" <sales@clbraking.co.uk>
0044 7974 153967
Id like to think that they will be a good improvement and keep you out of trouble
If you are just looking for some good pads with good bite with low dust,
I can recommend for Carbon Lorrain RC5 's these are sintered and at least under my standard callipers are not noisy.
UK sole distributor is "Paul Chance" <sales@clbraking.co.uk>
0044 7974 153967
Id like to think that they will be a good improvement and keep you out of trouble
#21
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Central Scotland
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Same with my TD05 swap, Stock TD04 was fun but wasn't great for those long gear ratios! I push my 03 WRX to 7,600 all the time now. The only downside is spool start has gone from 2k to 4k My wife's Touran leaves me for dead if I'm not in the right gear
I've also got to launch at silly revs at the drag strip or I bog down, but modding is usually a compromise
I've also got to launch at silly revs at the drag strip or I bog down, but modding is usually a compromise
When yours comes on song it must pull like a train though, what figures did you get?
Last edited by LiamB; 15 August 2017 at 06:58 PM.
#22
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Central Scotland
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Failing that a road dyno from the likes of rom raider or torque pro might be worth a try.
#23
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Central Scotland
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Another step along the way I forgot to mention: I reckon time will show the newages to be every bit as bad as the classics in the rust department. So i had the underside thoroughly cleaned, rust treated and sealed with dinitrol products. Cavities also filled with wax. Really clean job. A few tiny fits of overspray on the paintwork but these came off with tar remover, claybar and a bit of gentle work.
Slightly discoloured back box has since been hit with APC, claybar and polish so is looking much brighter.
Slightly discoloured back box has since been hit with APC, claybar and polish so is looking much brighter.
#26
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Central Scotland
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
That's prompted me though, in/around the radiator looks good but I'll have to pull those arch liners and have a look.
#28
Scooby Regular
Rust around Radiator
I found quiet a bit of rust , but luckily it was easy to treat it when I took my engine out last year. Once you have the radiator out you can get to it fairly well , and rust inhibitor and blue hammerite makes it neat and tidy.