[Sinister Agent STI]

Originally Posted by fourseasonsandles

Stage II is a upon us!

I have the exact same car as you (But a Lease) Same color, CMG/Silver. IM FRIGGIN BORED OUTTA MY MIND with stock. I had a 04' STI that was stock as hell that I traded in for my 06'. Being a lease, can I take my heat shield off? Instead of cutting it? Also was your IC taken off for the picure aspect of the install or do you actually have to take it off to install the DP. Let me know! Is stage 2 really that good... I knew when I got my K/N Typhoon I was more than thrilled, just mostly with the sound. Didnt really feel any HP gains but... I guess the sound counted. I really just need a DP, I was gonna choose the Nvidia but the COBB is really the way to go. SO in all reality is it really worth the money? Totally new car>?? Or 18psi.. I wish I could just ride in STG 2 car.. None around my area. Thanks!!

[fourseasonsandles]

Originally Posted by Sinister Agent STI

I have the exact same car as you (But a Lease) Same color, CMG/Silver. IM FRIGGIN BORED OUTTA MY MIND with stock. I had a 04' STI that was stock as hell that I traded in for my 06'. Being a lease, can I take my heat shield off? Instead of cutting it? Also was your IC taken off for the picure aspect of the install or do you actually have to take it off to install the DP. Let me know! Is stage 2 really that good... I knew when I got my K/N Typhoon I was more than thrilled, just mostly with the sound. Didnt really feel any HP gains but... I guess the sound counted. I really just need a DP, I was gonna choose the Nvidia but the COBB is really the way to go. SO in all reality is it really worth the money? Totally new car>?? Or 18psi.. I wish I could just ride in STG 2 car.. None around my area. Thanks!!

Hey buddy! Hot ride

I think you could pull off Stage 2 fairly easy. The heatshield isnt something you have to have, but it helps to avoid heatsoak in the summer. You have to cut the stocker if you are going with an aftermarket DP though. Cobb does offer a heatshield if you wanted to get something without cutting the stocker and that costs about $45. Any DP would work I suppose. I went with the Cobb because it bolted right up to the stock catback without any modifications and plan to get the Cobb Catback down the road. There are cheaper options like Helix that I believe will also mate up to the stock catback if you wanted to go that route. You may want to do some more research on it just to make sure, but from what I recall it should bolt right up.

The AP itself is a no brainer. You plug it in and load the maps, when you have to return your car to the dealer, you just revert the car back to stock and you are good to go.

As far as power. I went from Stock -> Stage 1 -> Stage 2, so the effect of Stage 2 was less for me. There are some that went from stock straight to Stage 2 and said the difference is huge, which I can understand. Stage 1 wasnt a big leap for me, but I am happier with the Stage 2 setup. I still want more , but this will suffice for now. The car really does pull harder through all the gears and 5th isnt like a wall anymore.

I think if you want something new, Stage 2 would be one of the easier ways to go. If you pick up a used APv1 for about $450 and say a Helix DP for about $350 you can be there for about $800. Just save all your stock pieces so you can put it back to stock when you lease is up! Good luck!

Edit: forgot to answer your question about the IC. Yes I took it off to make the instal to a little smoother. Cobb recommended it and personally I dont see how you could get in there to get all the bolts off of the heatshield and DP unless you are made of rubber. Some people were able to do it without taking off the IC, but I really dont see how.

[grambo]

^nice, informative posts guys! Inspirational...

[Sinister Agent STI]

Originally Posted by fourseasonsandles

Hey buddy! Hot ride

Cool, Thanks for the heads up on the removal of the IC for the DP install! Sucks but I guess it needs to be done. Nice looking ride as well!!

[xilles]

question whered you get the stage two setup at with cat?

[ryansti]

I like your STI alot, oh and great write up on your custom intake

[fourseasonsandles]

A bit of an update here. Nothing huge. Mostly cosmetic updates, with some some other misc mods and updates.

The Recent Updated List
Cobb light weight pulley
Update the AP firmware with 0-60 and 1/4 mile
Replace 1 rim and tire from a pothole incident
Swapped out the bad drivers side rear strut for another STI take off

It's True...
So I broke down a bought a lightweight pulley. I was originally going to get the Perrin, but when I ordered from CVR Motorsports, they said that Perrin had done a recall and didnt know when they were going to get a batch. So I just went ahead and ordered the Cobb pulley.



Now my reasoning for the pulley. As some of you know from another thread I hit one of these..

Which caused a couple ouchies on my rim and tire


I worked it out with the owner of the Store/Lot and got myself a new rim and tire. In the mean time I was back on my stockers and realized how quick the car felt again. I described the issue a while back in this thread http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1115749
The cliffs are 235/40 18 tires are about 1/2 in taller than the stockers and I could feel the difference when accelerating. I sort of forgot about the difference over the winter, but when switching from the 18s to the stockers and back to the 18s, I was rudely reminded how slow the car felt after putting the 18s back on.

I decided to take the plunge and believe what I have read about the pulley making your car accelerate a bit quicker. Bought one and installed.... WOW. What a difference. I dont think I could tell the difference between the stock wheels with the stock pulley vs the 18s with the Cobb pulley.

So here it is folks: Proof to at least myself (Im not here to convince anyone else that it works) that the pulley does make a small difference. The engine revved quicker, the car had "the pull" again that the stock rims had and my shifts are a bit smoother. The one downside, if you can consider it a downside is that you have to give the car a bit more gas to get it moving. I wasnt sure it was going to really make a difference, but I am glad I broke down and got it. It made me happy with my car again.

The Last update: This one is bad news. I have a bad strut or 2 at 24,000 miles. I am not sure yet, but it is definitely on the back of the car. I checked the front end by pushing on it and everything was normal and smooth. The back end when I pushed on it came up with sort of a jolt and bounced a bit. I dont have the cash right now to get a set of after market struts so I found a pair from LennyK here on the site. They are being shipped as I type this.

Some things I have looked into as I do not want to run into this again and have to keep replacing struts. I think Ohlins are always going to be out of my range so I have looked into some other options. So I will now be putting my teh moneys away for this set up instead of finishing my exhaust this summer. I do still have plans for Whiteline sways and some Kartboy endlinks to finish it off for a nice daily driver suspension set up. The power mods have been put on hold until at least winter or next spring.

[fourseasonsandles]

Finally Some Pics



The Recent Updated List
50% tint all around
debadged the fog light covers
Re-installed the CAI foglight bezel
Painted and re-installed the lip
Cobb Tuning License plate frame

50% Tint
Before


After


Before


After


Before


After


Lip Painted and reinstalled


Lousy night shot, but you can see the semi-gloss of the lip a bit better


Before-unpainted lip and STI logo


After-with painted lip and De badged Fog light cover








Cobb plate frame




Front plate frame

[ELD4AU6]

nice ride, @ the front plate frame

[fourseasonsandles]

Originally Posted by ELD4AU6

nice ride, @ the front plate frame

Thanks! I have had that on every car since I was in 9th grade! I just cant part with it!

[xilles]

i had the same lip gone in tennesse somewhere

[fourseasonsandles]

Still got a bit of the mod bug this weekend.. so a debadge was on the list, free and effective. It was 65+ degrees out so I decided to get off my arse and do the trunk. Used dental floss, citrus based goo gone and a hair dryer. Took about 30 min to get it all finished. The badges actually came off faster than I thought they would. I think this will do it for the free mods.. for now..

Before


After

[fourseasonsandles]

I have been having an issue with vibration in my steering wheel for a bit now traveling at highway speeds. I think I may be paranoid as I had an issue with replacing a wheel/tire from a pothole and then one of my rear struts went bad. It seems as though I am just looking for problems now. Perhaps I am paranoid and I never noticed this vibration before, but since I am keeping tabs on the car to make sure there aren’t anymore issues, I am noticing the vibration now.

We have been discussing some possible causes in this thread:
Vibrations at Freeway speed

But it seems as though that is caused by the car sitting for sometime in a parking lot and temperatures have something to do with it as well. What I have noticed is a slight vibration in my steering wheel and sometimes in the pedals. It just small vibration and I can stop it in the steering wheel if I grip it with both hands. I figured it must be one of the front wheels that is out of balance since it is felt so easily through the wheel so I went in search of a solution.

I had the spare tire/wheel that was damaged by the pothole and I first swapped it out on the passenger side. No change, so I swapped it back.. Last night I tried swapping the drivers side (New wheel and tire) for the old damaged one. Still no change, so I swapped it back. Now I don’t think anything short of putting all 4 stockers back on to eliminate all the wheels/tires as being the problem. I want to do this before I go get my tires rebalanced to save some cash if it is the tires that need re-balancing.

It appears that I am not the only one with this problem. If you run a search for "highway vibration" on here and Nasioc, you will come across quite a few threads about this issue. Many contribute a wheel or all of them being out of balance, which could very well be the case and perhaps swapping out all the rims and tires back to the stockers will reveal this. If not.. where should I go from here? Is it possible that a broken engine mount would cause this?

Any other thoughts of possible solutions? I will try and swap back to my stockers tonight and see what happens.. If that doesn’t work I am going to start looking for broken motor mounts. Suggestions welcome..

[fourseasonsandles]

Step 1 in the anti-vibration plan is complete. I swapped the stockers back on and no vibration. So we have narrowed it down to def being the rims/tires. I plan to go for a good balance tomorrow or this weekend so I hope this fixes the problem. Makes me feel better that there isnt something wrong with the engine mounts or the suspension.

Also in our travels we ran into a guy that has one of these. Only 276 were made. Rare 1996 Dodge Viper RT/10-White with Blue Stripes. Pretty impressive to look at. I got to chase him a bit on his way home. Turns out the guy I had in the car with him is friends with the owner. We chatted for a while. Very cool experience. These arent his car, but it looked exactly like this.

[fourseasonsandles]

After my adventures in camping this past weekend as posted in OT, I got around to getting the tires balanced yesterday. Drove the car and not 100% perfect, but much better.

When I say it is not 100% it is because I still feel an ever so slight vibration, but that may or may not have been there before. Like I stated before I may just be paranoid since I have been having little issues now and then. For right now I am happy. 95% of the vibration is gone.

I shopped around a bit to get a good price and ended up going to Sears of all places for the balance. They charged $13.95 per tire, but it is a lifetime balance. If they go out of balance again, I just bring it in and have it rebalanced for free. Sounds good to me.

Next I have to make an appointment for an alignment since I greased up my rear struts 2 weekends ago. Car is running well and I am happy. Now if I could just get some more power and suspension mods! Soon...soon..