K&N Typhoon Kit?

So, I first saw one of these in a parts for sale thread here a few weeks ago, and while I swore that I wasn't going to put money into the car changing bits, I kind of got my interested piqued by this.

However, I really haven't got the first clue about modding a car (except for hanging furry dice from the rear view mirror...those rock ).

So, what is this part exactly? Is it something worth doing? What else would you need to do to your car if you added one of these ( I know somethings require a retune, or a different map on your chip, or even some other parts changed, etc etc)?
Is it any good? Should I consider something else as a first mod instead, like a cat back exhaust or something.

Cheers

Richard

 

Heh, so I just found this:

http://www.wrxatlanta.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8415&highlight=typhoon

Which makes me think it's not such a good idea.

So would a Cold Air Intake be better, and if so, which ones?

Dammit, I can feel the money falling out of my wallet already, and I haven't bought anything yet.

 

That would not be a good mod for your car. Any intake would not really be a good mod for your car. You can get an intake that keeps the same diameter piping as the stock airbox, IE Injen Cold Air or APS, but adding that won't really give you any gains. You will hear your turbo spool a little better, and will here you Bypass Valve, but won't gain more than maybe 2 to 5 hp if even that.

When you take about modding your car, you need to let us know what you are trying to do. Do you want it strictly for a daily driver, do you plan to Auto X or track drive, or drag racing. Once we know that we can better steer you in the right direction with mods.

 

We ran the K&N typhoon for a while on our car, and still have it sitting on the shelf in the garage.

Advantages: BOV like sound, less restrictive air filter, bling factor
Disadvantages: BOV like sound (started to get annoying after a few months), possible hotter intake temps as compared to the stock setup.

I think the best/cheapest setup is the stock intake system with an aftermarket drop-in filter (we used a k&n one). If you want to get colder intake temps, you could then go the path of adding a vent in the fog light cover to provide colder air for the intake.

--
Brian

 

It's for daily driver use. I doubt I will ever take it on the track, or very rarely anyway.

I really just want to start playing with the car, in terms of learning how it all hangs together, what effect replacing certain parts does, and making the car a bit more fun to drive (even though it is buckets of fun already).
I'm not too concerned about getting extremes of HP out of it, but getting some more would be nice. At the same time, I don't really want to add something that sounds 'better' just for the sound.
Confused yet? Me too

BOV sounds already annoy me from other cars. I'd rather mine didn't sound like a nuclear reactor melting down everytime I change gear.

 

Go with some swaybars. They will make your car handle a lot better on the street. Most decent power upgrades for the STi will cost you close to 300-500+. Referring to the downpipe, catback, and Cobb. Most of the underhood stuff on the STi doesn't need upgrading unless you are going to big power.

 

+1 on the sway bars....

If you're looking for more noise out of your car you could always get rid of the intake snorkus.

 

For an STi, I think you are fine with just getting a big front swaybar, and keeping the stock rear bar. The big whiteline bar is a good option.

At the last autoX event, I drove Alex's STi in the morning with whiteline bars front and back, and in the afternoon, I drove Randy's STi in the afternoon with the whiteline front and stock rear. I felt that the bigger bar in the rear made the car too twitchy. Also, at a TGP track day a while back, Stephen completely disconnected his rear swaybar, with the big whiteline bar on full stiff in the front, and was able to get the car to turn faster laps.

On my wife's car, we have the 32mm strano front bar and stock rear, and I love the way it handles.

--
Brian

 

When you say the big one...do you mean the 24mm? (I'm looking on fastwrx.com, as that is what google returned ).
And apparently there are sway bar end links as well...would I need those?

 

It is the one that used to be called the X3006, but has a new part number now.

IIRC, I think SOG had it on sale for $175 a few weeks ago on their website, but can't find it now.

EDIT: The new part number is: XSF36XXZ This was on the SOG specials page, but the special has now changed. You might want to call Lisa or SS and see what the current price is. Maybe they will still honor the special, since it was fairly recent.

--
Brian

 

Thanks for the info guys. What exactly is involved in installing one of these?
I'm guessing I need a set of ramps, and the right tools (and some decent instructions).

 

yeah, you need ramps, 10,12,14,17 and 19mm sockets (assuming you remove the front subframe, which I always do). For the endlinks, you need an open ended 12mm wrench and ~5mm allen wrench to remove them from the old bar and attach them to the new bar.

--
Brian