[jessej]

Well I've never been much of a gearhead but always a rally fan and especially a big Subaru fan. I've been recently wanting to get more involved with working on cars and understanding the real physics of racing them... I had my eye on the 2008 STI for a while, and my dreams of it busting into the WRC scene this year hooked me on buying one. Local dealer got a WRB with gold BBS wheels and I was sold after seeing it.

I want to keep track of modifications and additions in this thread. I'm going to try to keep it indexed from the beginning for easy viewing.



Six miles when I got in it the first time. I'm the only person to drive this car, besides the tech at the dealership who filled it up.


Jump to post:
Spec C Roof Vent



_

[jessej]

First addition was a custom hardwiring of my Escort Passport. I accomplished this by taking apart the cigarette adapter and rewiring the mute button / warning lights to my custom stuff.



The power line is tapped into the fuse labeled 10A IG2, and 12V is delivered when the key is turned to "ON." For the ground wire, I just stuck a wire in between the roundish metal piece to the left of the steering wheel and the plate it bolts onto.


The mute button I built into the rounded-square button that is just a plug by design, underneath the driving light tilt adjustment and to the right of the Left/Right side mirror selector switch. This is the part I'm most proud of


Finally I wired a super bright white LED as the warning light and left it hanging underneath the console, right next to the little red LED that lights up the pedal area. I haven't tested this at night at yet but I chose white for extra visibility if I need to run black/silent mode.




edit::: this info is now not applicable as I moved the mounting, but I'll leave it for reference

[TheLimitedProject]

My recommendation would be to mount your radar detector right below your rearview mirror, then run the wiring up into the headliner. It'll perform better there than behind the hump of your hood scoop and without the seat backs in the way if the radar is behind you.

You can tap into the dome lights for power and ground. To hide the wires, you can get a black plastic fitting that adheres to the windshield and actually makes for quite a clean install.

If it were me, that wire running across the dash just wouldn't cut it .

Nice car, welcome to IWSTI and good luck with the modding.

[jessej]

Thanks! Yeah I was going back and forth on it.. I read some guides and saw the pictures of the inside of the dome. At the moment I don't have a good mounting solution for the windshield though. Are the suction cups really adequate even during aggressive driving? This is the GPS passport and it's quite heavy really.

Thanks for the welcome! Glad to be here and totally giddy about this car

[TheLimitedProject]

^I don't blame you being giddy... the STI is a fun little package, that's for sure. Just wait until you get engine management and a couple pieces of exhaust - then you'll be really be happy.

I don't know how much heavier your radar detector is than my V1, but I can't see them being all that different. I use the suction cups that it came with, and I've tried my hardest to get it to fly off . No luck yet. So, unless you're tracking your car with it mounted, the suction cups will hold well.

[jessej]

Well I took your advice and did a little more research about radar detector placement. I moved it up to the roof and am so far pretty pleased. I haven't done too much testing but it seems to be detecting well, and surprisingly the GPS still works without ANY visible sky above it. I used a bolt and nut into the hole that was already there but had a little plastic plug in it. Dunno what that's there for but anyway it's super firm. The hole goes through the liner and up into the metal too.



I also followed the guide here and painted the mysteriously missing STi logo on the intercooler. It's a little misaligned but overall I'm pleased with the result

[stiman1]

Here is another option for radar mounting, i picked one up and it is a quality piece (even though it looks like cheap plastic on the website, it's metal) It hangs from the rearview stalk and swings freely around corners.

The only reason i suggest this is it looks like the black on top of your windshield could block the detector

Custom Made Connecting Mount for Radar Detector on 350Z and other Cars

good luck

[rs_wrx_sti]

makes me wonder why they didn't paint the Sti logo on the IC

[jessej]

I decided to try an intake silencer delete. I got the box out and went to Ace looking for a plug or cap that would fit it but couldn't get the right size. The inner measurement for the box side of the hole was about 2.80 inches. Anyway I did find this rubber cap with a host clamp already on it, so I picked it up. This way I can "delete" the silencer even though its still there.

If any of you guys think this might cause an air flow problem let me know.. my intuition was that it shouldn't matter (also from reading about other intake silencer deletes)




While I had the box out, I unplugged the DRL's as well.

[jessej]

Originally Posted by stiman1

Here is another option for radar mounting, i picked one up and it is a quality piece (even though it looks like cheap plastic on the website, it's metal) It hangs from the rearview stalk and swings freely around corners.

The only reason i suggest this is it looks like the black on top of your windshield could block the detector

Custom Made Connecting Mount for Radar Detector on 350Z and other Cars

good luck

Thanks for the tip! Yeah I've seen those too but I'm gonna stick with this set up for a while to see how it works. I thought the black stuff might be a problem as well but since it's not metal it doesn't effect the radar's view. Basically the articles I read said "higher = better, no matter what" for Radar and of course "lower = better" for laser... I don't think anyone around here uses laser so I think I should be fine up top.

[tomtom]

sweet mods man!!!!!


btw i think you got the hard wire idea from me

[jessej]

Originally Posted by tomtom

sweet mods man!!!!!


btw i think you got the hard wire idea from me

Yep you definitely inspired me. But man we were stupid for not buying a multimeter back when we did that other electronics stuff :P

Although I should say I got a little too multimeter happy and popped one 7.5A fuse

[mgsm666]

Originally Posted by stiman1

Here is another option for radar mounting, i picked one up and it is a quality piece (even though it looks like cheap plastic on the website, it's metal) It hangs from the rearview stalk and swings freely around corners.

The only reason i suggest this is it looks like the black on top of your windshield could block the detector

Custom Made Connecting Mount for Radar Detector on 350Z and other Cars

good luck

Has anyone ordered from that website?? They look sick, but the page to pay has flowers Don't really wanna just give out my credit card # to anyone who can post some pictures...

[jessej]

Tonight I got my AP from Perrin.. loaded it up as soon as it was out of the box. Install was a breeze - went with the Cobb Stage 1 91 map for now until Perrin emails me their 91 map.

HIGHLY recommend an AP. It made the car drive ENTIRELY differently. Response, pull, overall "throw you into your seat" was improved immediately.

[paikman]

man I need to paint the STi logo on my tmic =(