Russ71

If you had say a standard WRX with no upgrades apart from PPP and headlight conversion and you had a spare £1000, which upgrades would you do first and why? reason I'm asking this question is I may be getting my mitts on a spare £1000 and I was wondering what to do first, not a large sum of money but a little starter, any ideas ?

DannyBoy007

iTrader: (7)

A remap should push you up to 280ish BHP but you should get more torque. As you have ppp, then you won't need a new exhaust just a decent panal filter (K&N).That takes care of £600.

You can pick up some cheap 2nd hand Sti Struts and springs 9seen these go on ebay for around £50-£75, but I think Ian (Bluedragoon) had trouble with the rears not fitting and had to buy new top mounts for them. That should take care of £150ish.

I'd splash the rest on a set of gauges or a secs unit

Russ71

Cool, where would you go to get a remap, and please could you explain in laymans terms what a remap is the wifey thinks its a bit pricey for a map nav thingy I was looking at a PSI3 ECU data monitor, is it worth the money, of course I would have to go and buy a new cd player with built in mp3, oh why could'nt it be £2000, here we go I think I'm on that r0llerc*@ster (sorry for swearing)

WRX RCY GEM

Agree with above. Remap, filter,suspension , maybe brake upgrade and splash the rest on some shinny bits. Wouldn't bother with the PS13 monitor unless you intend going down the road for high bhp and is more for those who take a high interest in the cars data for high performance reliablity.

Russ71

So who does remaps and where

turboDean

iTrader: (4)

Personally if i had a car with a PPP on it my first £1000 would probably go on a set of 18" wheels, some lowering springs and maybe uprated drop links and ARB, depending on the price of the wheels.

Next £1000 would go on a bigger turbo and remap.

Then upgraded brakes soon after.

Remaps - Pippyrips is organizing a group by with Bob Rawle at the moment for Jan, there will probably be another one arranged with Andy F at some point next year, i'm gonna need mine doing again at some point

Silver Scooby Sport

iTrader: (15)

Suspension would be first on my list... as said springs, anti roll bar drop links etc. Sounds confusing but you need to see it on one of our cars and have a talk to understand a little more. No point in having more power if the handling is not up to it as you will not get the best out of it at all.... wheels yes bling bling !

Have a read through this for some suspension and re-map info

PowerStation

Then for re-map info
( tuning the ecu/engine )

http://www.brdevelopments.com/

AndyForrestPerformance

Zen Performance - Performance upgrade solutions for Japanese cars

Most important thing I can say is ask before you do anything as we have all got something different on our cars... from suspension set ups to engine mods to re-maps etc so ask before you leap.

valley commando

iTrader: (1)

[quote=Silver Scooby Sport]Suspension would be first on my list... as said springs, anti roll bar drop links etc. Sounds confusing but you need to see it on one of our cars and have a talk to understand a little more. No point in having more power if the handling is not up to it as you will not get the best out of it at all.... wheels yes bling bling !

Have a read through this for some suspension and re-map info

PowerStation

Then for re-map info
( tuning the ecu/engine )

http://www.brdevelopments.com/

AndyForrestPerformance

Zen Performance - Performance upgrade solutions for Japanese cars

Most important thing I can say is ask before you do anything as we have all got something different on our cars... from suspension set ups to engine mods to re-maps etc so ask before you leap.[/quote
wise words there si ,don't rush into things russ they are not cheap to run as you know and there is nothing worst than learning the hard way
me personally i would make your brakes right 1st i'm sure you mentioned somthing about them before
you can have the fastest car and the handling sublime but if you can't stop then you'l be filed under F fella
most time is made and lost under braking russ

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

Off to Powerstation on Thursday. Re-map and Stage 1 Suspension upgrade (Rear and Front Adjustable Roll Bar, Anti Lift Kit, 4 Wheel Alignment, etc PowerStation . I have already got struts front and rear (£130 the set Scoobyparts - Subaru Impreza parts and accessories).

So far I have fitted JDM STi Struts and Eibach springs (£250). The MY01/02 top mounts need changing for later one's (£134 from Subaru). HKS hybrid panel filter (£34 from Osaka), STi Fuel pump (Free), De-resonated centre pipe (£60). WR Sport backbox came with the car.

The remap on my last car took it to 265 bhp and 334Nm of Torque (dog licks windows a lot). For PPP £1400 for a WRX, but EcuTEK Remap £500 + Vat, Stage 1 Suspension £460 + Vat.

As stated some good Discs and pads normally help out alot too!

STi performance for half the cash, so go spend it on upgrades.

When I get back Russ, if you want you can have a scoot about and tell me how it goes.

DannyBoy007

iTrader: (7)

Regarding brakes, Theres some good offers on ebay regarding black diamond products. I used their pads for years when I had the 4 pots on my car.

I seem to remember seeing a few deals for pads and disc's starting at about £150, This should improve your braking over standard. again bluedragoon used these on his old car

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

Sure did and very good they where. £250 for Predator Combi discs and pads

Silver Scooby Sport

iTrader: (15)

One important factor to throw in are the different brake designs... if you decide for example to get a set of front Brembo's (by the time you then re-sell your 4 pots it's a viable upgrade) you need to consider what alloys to buy as the standard one's will not fit over them. At the same time if you want to drop some 18" alloys on and leave the 4 pots on it is still worth considering if big calipers will fit under them for future upgades that may follow

You can see now why it's worth doing your homework before splashing out

DannyBoy007

iTrader: (7)

Good point's Si, As you know it only cost me £40 to switch to brand new brembo calipers, disc's and pads

Silver Scooby Sport

iTrader: (15)

Danny shall I tease....

turboDean

iTrader: (4)

Bit more of a tease:

DannyBoy007

iTrader: (7)

Litchfield's got 5 set of brembo's on ebay at the moment, starting at £400 for the gold ones and £500 for the black ones of an A-line

Russ71

Ok enough teasing , I'm drooling already, so what price would I be looking at for new discs, cals and pads and alloys, surly this will top my piddly £1000 , or does someone know somebody who can keep that shopping list under a grand ( lol not holding my breath on that one), even though I have done the pads, they were in a terrible state kept glassing over, I changed them for ferrodos but I would consider changing the whole wheel-break thing.

KJD Mk1

iTrader: (3)

Hmmmmmm a £1000... you need to ask yourself if you want to improve the styling or the performance.
With you already having PPP i'm not sure if a remap would be my first choice, for me it would be wheels and some DS2500 pad's.

Russ71

Maybe the break thing sounds good and I could really do with some decent rubber on the wheels. Performance wise I am happy with her, before the scoob I was driving 1.9tdi's so she still feels very fast to me, I have detangoed her, popped in a green performance air filter added an XCS positive charge system and just for the kiddies (Honest, hand on my heart and all that) a vee port BOV, the kids like the pssshh thing I know alot of money to keep the kiddies happy, but as Richie says no good having the speed if you cant stop, so I'm thinking breaks and rubber and maybe alloys.

turboDean

iTrader: (4)

I paid £425 for my front Brembo's and £595 for my 18's with tyres (toyo T1-S) so very slightly over ur £1000 budget.

Like KEV and I said in an earlier post wouldn't bother with a remap on a PPP car. PPP should be around 265bhp a remap will probably only see 275-285bhp.
Wait until your ready to do some signifcant mods like a bigger turbo before getting a re-map.

IMO though i would do Wheels and some Suspension mods first and probably just Up-rated front pads (DS2500).

S.P.Developments

Dont make the mistake of putting your money into the car, as Kev says a set of DS2500 pads, Girling Braided brake hoses, and Dot 5.1 brake fluid, will improve things no end, this will leave you with money to feed the fuel tank and enjoy the car as is..

John

Russ71

so just upgrading the pads would do the job, the ferrodo's I have now are so dusty, black wheels after driving around the block and I do need rubber, would it be worth getting 18" alloys if I'm not getting brembos ? or would that be a waste of money, ooo so many questions aah the upgrading roller******r dont ya love it.

DannyBoy007

iTrader: (7)

Heres something to think about:

Me and Dean both got our wheels from midland wheels, We paid £595 for the 18" Pff7's replica's with Toyo T1S, The Toyo are an okay tyre (Not as good as Goodyear GSD3 F1's)

If your wheels are in good knick with okay rubber (3mm +), you shoud be able to get £250-300 for them second hand.

Your brakes are worth £275-300 second hand

New brembo's and wheels £1000-1100 but you should be able to make £600 back on selling your old bits

So new Wheels, tyres, and brakes is only going to cost you about £500!!!!!

Like I said before, my brembo's only cost £40

KJD Mk1

iTrader: (3)

Russ you need to decide where you want to go with the car IMO. A go0d set of tyres and a full service is going to cost a £1000.
Dont skint yourself out buying bits there is always a bill just around the corner, nothing worse than a nice car, broken, with no finds to fix it.
Its up to you buddy

Russ71

Im sure I'll figure something out, for one I do need some new tyres that is a must, window tints, now nobody has mentioned them, I had them on my last car, ok they came as standard but they were nice, I wonder how much that would cost Your spot on though Kev, she will need a service soon the last full service one was done January with new cam belts, bodywork, shes got lots of stone chips that have been covered up badly what can I do to ge shot of them, I think Im going on the looks other than performance and keeping her in tip top condition mechanically

KJD Mk1

iTrader: (3)

I am having some tints done in the new year

stone chips dont you just hate them

You will work it out Russ

Russ71

Yeah work them out by washing and waxing her every week , I'll be wearing those badly covered stone chips away so they will blend in perfect with elbow grease, I think the bloke that owned her before me liked to do a fair bit of off roading in her, due to the amount of caked on mud under the wheel arches that I had to chisel off You would'nt know who or where that does window tinting I think I'll get that sorted kiddies loved the anti glare during the summer months.

KJD Mk1

iTrader: (3)

I'll mail you some details of a firm that a few of us have used .

Russ71

Cheers Kev

Silver Scooby Sport

iTrader: (15)

Got mine done by the guys that Kev has the number for... great job can't fault it and the rear screen was done in one sheet