Buyin' a new car - from the inside out

After 46,000 miles on the 2002 WRX, my desire to mod has finally surfaced. I like turns, so the first mods that I'm focusing on are sway bars and springs. I need new brakes, so I'm looking at pads and fluid at the same time.

More as I have the energy.

Dacula Dean

 

welcome to our world.

 

im amazed it took sooo long...

welcome to the dark side

 

now it'll never end....

Yay for the mod bug!!!

 

Progress

I mail-ordered a bunch of stuff from Flatirons Tuning, in Boulder, CO. Front and rear Whiteline adjustable sway bars, Prodrive springs, Hawk brake pads, and a Cobb Accessport. :eek3: Must've been some pent-up demand.

I bought from Flatirons because they have some decent prices on the sway bars, and the other stuff was in-line with a couple of other places that I priced.

I've messed a bit with the Accessport. I'm using the maps provided by Cobb for the time being. After I've gotten over the shock of this wave of purchases, then I'll do up and down pipes on the engine. After that, I'll consider getting a custom map.

The suspension parts and brake pads are going on the car this Wednesday. This weekend, I'll wash the beast and take my "before" pic's.

Later.
Dean

 

nice choices!!! congrads

 

May the force of the mod bug be with you.:bigthumb:

 

what sizes are the bars and what springs did you get? btw, good choice on the starting mods. You might also look into an ALK. They're pretty pimp additions, even though they're a lot of work.

 

The sway bars are both 22mm adjustable. The springs are Prodrive.

I've read a little about the ALK, but desire has not yet reached purchase.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

Cant believe you lasted to 46,000 miles... I lasted 2 weeks for my wheels, and about 3 months for AP and exhaust pieces... And only lack of funds is stopping me from getting a bigger turbo.

 

I guess it's like I say in the title of my thread. I must've gotten the urge to buy a new car. Some people change cars every couple of years. I take longer. When I got tired of my last car, the WRX happened to have just hit the market. I like it enough to buy it again. This time, I'm doing it in pieces.

 

COngrats man. The night I bought my car was also the night my exhaust was on it's way home....lol

 

Progress and problems

Sway bars, springs, brake pads and fluid went on July 5. There were issues, though.

The front sway bar end links package was missing four spacers and I had the wrong bushings for the rear sway bar (Owners of 2002 WRXs need to beware - the bushing changed after that model year). Flatirons Tuning will be sending me spacers and bushings when they get them in. For the time being, I have stock bushings on the rear and stock end links on the front.

Front and rear sway bars are at the 22mm setting. I like the results, but I think I'll try putting the rear to 24mm. I'm waiting to do that until I get the proper bushings.

I do have an intermittent "clunk" in the front. It doesn't seem to be related to the way the wheels are turned. I first noticed it when turning into my driveway, but now it can happen when pointed straight. It happens occasionally when I pull out of a parking space. More often, but not reliably, when turning while moving slowly. I've checked the front end links, and they seem to be tight. It's close enough in there, though, that I can't get my torque wrench in. I don't see any evidence of rubbing, so I'm guessing that a bushing might be a little sticky. It looks like they used plenty of bushing grease when installing the bars, though, so I'm not drawing any conclusions yet.

I'll have to study up on how to install the rear sway bar - I realize that I'll have to take it off to replace the bushings. At least it isn't the front bar. That stinker looks like a pain to remove.

 

i had the whitelines on my bugeye (rear: 22-24-26, front: 24-26). i had them on 26. i got kartboy rear end links and used the stockers up front with no problem. WRXFan420 is using a bigger front bar (27 i think?) with the stock end links with no problems that i know of.

the rear bushings didn't fit without having to cut off the edges a little. i dont think u need to take the entire swaybar off to replace the bushings. u will need to take it off the mounts though and u should be able to rotate it a little to give u enough room to replace the bushings.

regardless, the rear bar is easier to remove than the front. make sure u have a hex wrench for the front:
RSB install

 

Congrats Dean, It sounds like things are going well for you....


Mark

 

OK. About the "clunk." I didn't mention that I'd had some play in the steering, too. I'd be driving down a road, and then, suddenly ... hey! gotta shift the wheel a couple of degrees to keep the car going straight!

Problem was a bad alignment. The garage was good and appologetic, and now I'm back to the very tight WRX that I know and love. I've also received the parts that I need to finish the sway bar job. As soon as I find a free couple of hours, I'll get those parts in place.

Every day, and in every way, I'm getting better and better.

ttfn

 

Hmm. I just tried to make a list of the newbie mods that I've made, and I already have more than I can remember. The memory is the first thing to go.

For my benefit:

• Hawk HPS brake pads
• ProDrive springs
• Whiteline 22mm adjustable front sway bar, set at 22mm
• Whiteline 22mm adjustable rear sway bar, set at 22mm (soon to be 24mm)
• Whiteline rear endlinks
• Cobb AccessPort, stage 1

Again, for my benefit, Yokohama ES 100 tires on stock 16" wheels (P205 55/ZR16).

 

Fixed the bushings on my rear sway bars this weekend. I may have mentioned that, due to confusion beyond my control, I had to use the stock (20mm) bushings on my new bars. Yesterday, proper poly bushings went on. A piece of cake. I have to wonder what I did wrong, it was so easy.

 

Well, yesterday I tried to install the Whiteline front end links that I'd bought when I got the sway bars. I've been using the stock links.

In a nutshell, I can't figure how they're supposed to fit in there. Check out my thread in the DIY forum, under the title "Problems installing Whiteline front end links." (http://www.wrxatlanta.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9278)

 

I've been playing with my sway bars. I've been running with the front at 22mm and the rear at 24mm. With this setting, I feel understeer when braking and slight oversteer accelerating. If I ever want more response, I add gas.

A couple of weeks ago, I tried the stiffest setting on the rear bars, leaving me with front at 22mm and rear at 26mm. Horrible. Understeer always. I was amazed. I can only imagine that the rear stiffness with front weakness leaves one front wheel ineffective. I backed it out after a week.

I'm now working the series with the front at 24mm. Currently, I'm at 24mm both front and rear. I did this this afternoon, so I have no distance on it. In a parking lot, I'm getting some neutral cornering with an irritating sort of over-response on the tail end of a turn. A friend suggests it might be that the suspension is rebounding to deliver extra turning effect. I'll run it for a bit and see what it's like. Even with the 22/24 setup, I was wondering what I could do with a variable-rebound shock. Boy, am I on the road to hell. I'm old enough to know that more variables only lead to confusion, but, as a geek, it is very hard to leave a path untrodden.

Following up on past pain, I have left the Whiteline front end links off. I really hate the ball-joint end links, which require a hex wrench held in the end of the link to keep it from turning while tightening the nut, but I more hate something that looks like it's gonna cause trouble. I haven't sold the stinkers, though, so the jury is still out.

Future mod's will be aimed at horsepower with a subtle voice. I would like to change the exhaust path to move into the AccessPort stage 2 maps, but I don't want to sound like I'm looking for a fight. Talk softly, but carry a big stick, eh? My ultimate goal is a ride that surprises everyone but me.

BTW, I'm really upset that the AccessPort Maps disappeared along with the version 1 product. At this point, it's very hard to find the maps that used to be convenient on their old site. They really gotta realize that pissing off old customers is a great way to make new ones nervous. I hope they stop burning bridges. In fact, I hope the rebuild the ones now burnt.

DD

 

http://www.cobbforums.com/AccessPORT/AP_1.0_Calibrations/WRX/index.html
Here's the maps.

 

I've now worked through all of the front and rear settings on my sway bars. I've decided that front 24, rear 26 is a good setting, but only when taking corners hard. For day to day on surface streets, I'm thinking that I'll return to front 22, rear 24.

I'm now looking for a gutted up-pipe, and I'm trying to decide how I'll proceed with the pipes from the turbo back. I expect I'll keep a cat in the down pipe. Other than that, I'm still doing a little research whenever I get the time.

I'd like a turbo boost guage, too. I may get one of those while I'm thinking about the pipes.

In the spirit of keeping a journal, I'll note that I had a cracked boot on the front differential. It's been replaced. 54,000 miles.

 

I have a gutted up! PM'd

 

I started a long post about deciding what to do with my exhaust path, and a bunch of fat-fingered foul-ups dropped it all into the ether. You folks are really lucky.

I should be getting StreetTUNER tomorrow or Wednesday. Now, I have to buy pipes that will support wide-band O2.

One thing leads to another.

 

Do I plan on tuning myself? That sounds ambitious somehow. I'll learn what the ECU does and what I can do myself. And I'll take hints from crashtke and moose. It was only a matter of time before curiosity got the better of me.

 

Keep in mind that you can always get a muffler shop to weld in a bung (huh huh huh) on just about any downpipe for you.. though I love my Helix and can't understand why anybody would buy anything else.

 

I have the ERZ pipe. Look at my results and figure it out for yourself. The way I see it.....a bellmouth 3" mandrel bent pipe is just that.....a 3" mandrel bent pipe. Who cares what logo is stamped on it.

 

Yow! That hurts!

Today, I had SOG do some stuff:

• Install gutted uppipe and Helix cat'd downpipe
• 60K service (I'm at 58K right now)
• Replace timing belt (also, their standard behavior replaces a couple of seals at the same time, so I went along, and they really only advise doing this at 90K, but there is no way I want a timing belt to break)

Some people buy used cars for less money.

I can only remind myself that I'm buying a new car from the inside out.

I really am anti-bling, but it is hard to buy a new car that looks like an old one. And I forgot to ask for some touch-up paint (Lisa, I hope you've gotten some).

Anyway, I think that I can feel the pipes' effect. I want to feel the difference, though, and people are easy to deceive. Time to hook up the StreetTuner and do some logging.

In the mean time, I've gotten a screw in a tire, and I'm doing the May 25th Little Talladega track day. After today, I really do not want to buy another tire. I also do not want to be worrying about my rubber on the track.

This hobby may be more expensive than golf.

 

It's way faster than golf too

Golf might be cool, but does it really compare to sliding a full-size, AWD, manually shifted, reasonably powerful car through a corner at 100 mph, and then going WOT, and then slamming on good brakes and sliding through another one

SS

 

^^ you live your life a quarter mile at a time

 

Scott, you are right. I gave up golf when I realized I'd rather be playing racquetball - another sport involving acceleration, braking, and hard turns.

 

... it's who you know

I have a neighbor who works for Lotus USA. Some Lotus dealers are putting together an event at Virginia International Raceway, and he's offered me a chance to go. My wife told me, "GO!" She sure loves me.

Buyin' some brake pads (I listened to Scott!) and gonna figure out how to put 'em in. Then, I'm gonna have some fun. Maybe I'll get a ride or two in some of them Lotus karts, too.

yum.

 

I'm sure that you will love the event. VIR is an amazing track. Don't be surprised when you pass the vast majority of Lotus's (Loti????) on track. They are cool cars, but are very underpowered and need to be driven by excellent drivers to get much out of them.

SS

 

Much like the NSX. I love ours but dang that thing is slow as balls....well it is now

 

Yow! Time must fly when you're having fun.

I'm back from my trip to VIR. It is quite a track, but I did not pass many lotuses. The problem is that I'm a cheapskate who's still running narrow street tires.

Looking at a map of the track, I realized that I was going to need good brakes. I took Scott's advice and bought Carbotech pads (XP10 front, XP8 rear). I put them on myself and discovered that replacing brake pads is really easy. If you want to do it, just read a couple of posts, have all of the stuff at hand, and take your time. The second time I do this, I'll make it happen in about a third of the time.

The pads were great. No telling how much I wore my rotors, but those pads have bite! They were far more capable than my tires. Now, Carbotech warns you that these pads are not considered street pads. Dust everywhere, and grinding or squeaking sounds under some circumstances. But I was never afraid that I was going to coast through a corner, and they never made noise when they were hot.

But, my car is a sedan, my center of gravity is a couple of feet higher than an Elise or Exige, and my tires - have I mentioned this? - are not on par with the gummy erasers that they put on Lotuses. It was common for me to wave a Lotus by, stick to it down the straight, and then give up the ghost in the corners.

There was plenty of drama in the two days. A guy in an absolutely gorgeous Esprit cranked his turbo boost until he popped his engine. He's looking at $15K to $30K to fix that mess. Another lifted off the gas at just the wrong time and spun his Exige, from what I hear less than three months old, into something that broke both front and rear fiberglass clamshells. I understand each is minimum $5K. It must be nice to have money.

VIR is a long way away, but it was a cool trip.

 

It's been a while. Not much has happened since VIR, except I replaced my WRX exhaust with an STI exhaust. That's yet another good improvement. With the WRX exhaust, I struggled to break 15.25 PSI boost. I'm now pushing 16. The boost curve is steeper, too. Price per smirk, this is the best improvement that I've done. The second best are the Carbotech pads because they're squeaking now as I approach a stop.

God help me, I'm thinking I'm going to replace my corners with coil-overs. Handling is King. Patience.

 

Long time - no post

Well, look at how long I've gone since my last journal post.

Life happens.

Since my last post, I've de-badged my trunk. I backed into a fence post and the body shop had to re-paint the whole rear-end to match the right-rear quarter. When I said "Hey - don't worry about putting the labels back on the trunk," the body shop guy might have hugged me.

I now have 80K miles, and about 15K ago the road feel changed almost over night. Suddenly, every quirk in the road grabbed the steering wheel. I'm finally doing the homework to replace my struts (other evidence leads me to believe that they need changing). I'm looking at Tokico D-Spec struts. I have some stainless brake lines that I've had on the shelf for more than a year. It's time to put them on, too.

I took off my Carbotech brake pads (and the rotors that they consumed). I love those pads, and they are going back on. My wife kept surprising herself when she drove the car, and I've been teaching my son to drive a manual. Between the two of them, my old Hawk pads are more than sticky enough.

In another year, I teach my daughter to drive.

And, my transmission is grumpy whenever I try to find reverse or first. Damned syncros. Can an STI 6-speed fit the old 2L 2002 engine? Everyone else wants the 2.5L engine, but I like the romance of the old spec. Let's see how long I can keep it alive. It isn't using a drop of oil yet. It'll probably out-live me.

ciao.

 

Wow welcome back LOL.

 

Lol

Yeah, LOL. I can't believe how long it's been.

Gotta hit up Scott for a trip to little tally, after I get those struts.

 

Holy crap... I think I remember you when I first started getting into this addictive waste of time and money... Welcome back! This place has started to suck lately... please make some new threads and stir some stuff up.

A 6 speed will fit, but it'll be really really expensive... like $4K... I'd hold out until it totally dies (if it ever does). The reverse thing is common. What helps me is to put the stick in neutral and side-step the clutch out. It should go in after that. It becomes routine after a while. Another thing you should REALLY look into is a tranny oil change! Alex bought about a grand worth of tranny fluid to help us out. I used to stock it my my garage, so I'm glad he's footing the bill now. It's the best fluid $ can buy at a good deal, and if you bring your car and the fluid to my house, I'll help you change it. That did wonders for my '02.... AND, my favorite mod for an '02-early '03 is the front shifter bushing. At $30 it's the best $ I ever spent on mt old bugeye...

How old are you tires? The road feel could VERY easily be from low tread. I go through 2-3 sets of tires a year and every set is totally different. The tread handles the road differently when it's tall/short, wide knobs or narrow, wide tire or skinny... Maybe that's it?! If not, get KONI inserts!!!!!!!!!! Again, I'll hlep you put them in and you will not believe how much better they are over anyone else. Unless you spend 2K, you can't beat KONI Yellows... Ask anyone that knows anything...

Welcome back!!!

 

Hey man the reverse thing is common. Go into 2nd first and then go into reverse. That always did it on my old 5 speed (rocking the 6 speed now!).

You will LOVE the Tokico D specs. I have them with RCE Blacks and it's hands down the best combo I've ever had. Comfortable AND they perform

 

I am right about the same mileage with the same car. I would get your clutch checked. I had the same Tranny issues you are experiencing above and beyond the synchrolameness and my clutch was done. I replaced it with the ACT stage 1 organic and it is a phenomenal, close to stock + a little extra grip, clutch. As far as major drivetrain swaps like the 6 speed I am from the if it ain't broken don't fix it school of thought to a point. Instead of modding a bugI to death,I would start putting money away for an Sti or Evo(depending on your goals). By the time you spend all the money trying to turn a WRX into an STi you could just purchase a Sti. If you are looking for a straight out "balls to the wall" performance machine I would go with an Evo. Many people will argue this and it depends on what you want in a car; that is more track oriented EVO, or daily driver oriented STi. My buddy has a WRX with a built 2.5, rotated kit, meth etc. He just picked up an Evo 9 not too long ago with some minor mods and it is friggin' fast as hell. By far better bang for the buck in HP per $. Just my "if I were to do it all again", two cents worth.
Very cool that your kids are learning how to drive stick on a WRX!

 

OK. Last Thursday, I had SOG install Tokico D-Spec struts, Group N top mounts, Whiteline steering rack bushings, and a set of stainless steel brake lines that I bought here on a group buy quite a long time ago. My bugeye now has 82700 miles. Modifications now include:

• ProDrive springs
• Whiteline 22/24mm adjustable front sway bar
• Whiteline 22/24/26mm adjustable rear sway bar
• Whiteline rear endlinks
• Gutted up-pipe
• Helix cat'ed downpipe
• Cobb AccessPort stage 2, slightly fiddled using StreetTuner software
• Tokico D-Spec adjustable struts
• Group N strut top mounts
• Whiteline steering rack bushings
• Stainless steel brake lines

The list is roughly the order in which things happened.

Now it's time to start tuning the struts. Yesterday I concluded that, with the "starter" setting recommended in the manual, I have more understeer than I did before they were installed. No problem. They're adjustable.

 

I really should drop in more often. I've been fiddling the hell out of the struts and I am ever so glad that I have adjustable sway bars. I had them set 22mm front and 24mm back. I had tried 22mm front and 26 back with the stock struts and absolutely hated it. With the D-Spec's, I found myself setting the front spongy and the rear stiff to get the cornering right. Then, I said, "this is what the sway bars are for." I'm now running 22mm front and 26mm back, with the rear struts set one turn stiffer than the front. I'm a happy guy.

I went back and looked a couple of posts back. I put those Carbotech pads back on. Grippy.

mmtasty suggested my tires might be getting on. Now, it is true. I've been thinking about getting 17" wheels, so now might be the time.

 

Back again from the dead. Car's at SOG tonight. Screaming bearing sort of sound in the AM when it's cold, quiets a bit as it gets hot. At first, the sound seemed to come from the power steering pump; now, the alternator. 89K miles. When am I gonna sell this car?

Looking for 17" wheels and new brake pads.

 

Out of curiosity what was causing the screaming? My alternator is making a chirping noise when it's really cold.

 

The bearings on the PS pump commonly fails.

 

Air conditioner belt tension pulley. It's (almost) directly below the alternator. Very odd, given that the first hints were to the left of the engine, then moved to the alternator (center), and turned out to be bottom center. JP, I hope this is your issue (instead of the alternator!). CoolRex, I'll change out the PS pump the next time I have to spend a bunch of bucks up there.

Say, CoolRex, when'd you buy that M3? I think I met you once when you were AX'ing a Suby.

09Wed_Wex - yes, blue. Thanks for the rec; I feel pretty "anonymous" most of the time. Also, tell me about the Stop-Tech's. I'm looking for pads. I like my Carbotech pads, but they're a bit more aggressive than practical. I've eaten the rotors up, and they like to squeal.