page 1: My Impreza WRX STi
page 2: Behind the scenes at CarDomain
Phase I (completed)
- TEIN coilovers (Type FLEX kit) with EDFC controller
- AEM air intake (short ram)
- DC Sports STT4301 Titanium strut bar (front upper)
- A'PEXi Ex Ti catback exhaust (Titanium muffler)
- Cobb APR carbon fibelightweight crank pulley
- Cobb AccessPORT portable ECU programmer (Stage I is supposed to give me +25hp -- we'll see what the dyno says!)
- Cobb battery tie down and billet oil cap
Phase II (completed)
- Volk LE28N (glossy black w/ polished lip); didn't even need to get the fenders rolled despite Mackin Industries telling me that I did
- Yokohama ADVAN Neova tires (225) -- high performance radials that are also good in Seattle rain
- ARC titanium pulley cover (looks nice)
- ARC titanium radiator shroud
- ARC titanium oil catch can
- TEIN hood struts
- Perrin short ram intake
- Perrin front mount intercooler (Signature Series)
- Perrin radiator hoses (red)
- Seibon carbon fiber hood (CW2 style), partially painted in body color
- Seibon carbon fiber trunk
- Ings+1 3-piece GDB Hybrid Aero Kit (front/rear/sides)
Phase III (completed)
- headunit: Pioneer AVIC-Z1 (w/ accessories for XM NavTraffic tuner, Bluetooth cell phone interface, and iPod interface)
- amp: Rockford Fosgate Power 1000 5-channel amp
- amp wiring: Rockford Fosgate 0-gauge kit
- subwoofer: Kicker Solo-Baric L7 (10" dual 4 ohms)
- front speakers: Polk Audio SR6500 component system (6.5")
- rear speakers: Polk Audio db Series db525 (5.25" coax speakers)
- radar: BEL Pro Remote RX75
- Dension iPod cradle
- battery: Optima Yellow Top
Phase IV
- B&M short shift kit
- Cobb front/rear sway bars
- StopTech Big Brake kit (monster-sized 355mm rotors w/ silver calipers) for front; Stoptech slotted replacement rotors, stainless brakelines, and Hawk pads for rear
- last but certainly not least, a BIGGER TURBO!
Here are the "before" pics... Although she's just stock here, it's still not too shabby when it's the STi. :)
AEM air intake (short ram). Oh the music coming from this + my exhaust. I'm gonna record the sound of it all and post it here soon.
Just got my A'PEXi N1 ExTi catback exhaust. It's similar to the basic stainless steel N1, except that this is a newer model with a light weight Titanium muffler. The folks over at Smart Service in Seattle helped me out with installing it. Check out the burnt blue Titanium tip (which is a monstrous 115mm wide). I forgot to weigh the exhaust before I put it on. Anyone know how much lighter this one is compared to the factory?
Out with the old! The factory suspension was good but...
...these TEIN coilovers are so much better! This is the Type FLEX kit, which allows me to adjust the ride height and the stiffness separately. Also, the Flex coilovers are compatible with the EDFC (see below).
Too bad I can't see more of these shocks when the wheels are back on, b/c they're so pretty to look at. And you can't tell by just looking at them, but they are SO much lighter than stock!
And here's the EDFC controller (which I've mounted in my glove box) along with the electric motors that adjust the stiffness of the coilovers. I was thinking about mounting it under the center armrest instead, but figured that I might wanna use that space for something else. You can set up to 16 different levels of stiffness on the coilovers -- oh yeah, every one of those 16 levels is really needed -- sure. Looking forward to endless hours of fiddling with this adjustment!
And here's my lightweight crank pulley made by Cobb. It's over 4lbs lighter than the stock pulley, which enables the engine to rev up a LOT faster. 4lbs may not sound like a whole lot, but when you get rid of 4lbs of rotational mass from a critical part like this, it adds up to much better throttle response. Plus, it looks so much better than stock! The common concern about aftermarket pulleys is that they may cause more engine vibration (especially in idle), but I haven't noticed that at all.
