This is my journal that I finally decided to start to not only show and tell people about my STi but also to help get feedback and pointers from all the experience that is here as well as help keep myself organized! Thanks for reading. Let's begin!
Brief Background
My name is Mark and I'm a mechanical engineer from the best place in the world - The Lone Star State - Texas. My job, though not my ideal one or my true passion, and life have taken me all over the world the last couple of years but it's finally starting to slow down a bit and become a bit more normal (for me anyway). Well not to go into it too much, I like most of everyone on here, have always loved the STi and knew it was what I wanted. So when life presented me with the opportunity to finally be able to afford one of my two dream cars (yes the other is a GTR) I hopped at the chance. I placed my order and took delivery of my brand new 2013 Dark Grey Metalic Subaru WRX STi 5-Door back in March of 2013.
Project Goals and Car Usage - PHASE I
The car is my daily driver and the build will be geared for an amazing DD that is an Ultimate Street Car Setup with turbo lag kept to a minimum and torque and power across the entire power band. After getting the news that one of the rod bearings went :crying: - I said to hell with it and was going to do it right. The suspension will be upgraded as time goes on and I get a better feel for the direction I want to take it.
The vast majority of the project including the motor build and tune has been done by Turn In Concepts. I would like to give a big shout out to Tony and the guys over at TiC for helping to guide and taking on this project. I cannot say enough good things about them. Their attention to detail, knowledge & expertise, guidance, and willingness to work with me and keep me updated throughout the build while I was out of the country have been superb. This project would not be anywhere near what it is without them.
Project Goals and Car Usage - PHASE II
Well as I had stated before - the car lost almost all compression and with the results back from the leak down test - 90% leakage was going through the valves. Without taking it apart yet we have narrowed it down to the cylinder heads and most likely either a burnt or bent valve/s. While all of this being very shitty news - I have taken it as an opportunity to turn the car into my project build. The goal of this phase of the car will be "The Sleeper - Power Build". I still am shooting for the car to look rather stock-ish and honestly the exterior of the car wont change with the exception of perhaps a new exhaust and now the stealth FMIC core will be visible. Outside of that - I want it to still get the same comments that I have always gotten - "Oh whats this a stage 2 build?" :devil: Now it will be even worse than before...
My goals for the car are to push the envelope of what is the line between a "Street" and a "Race" car. The car is no longer my daily driver and will be primarily driven when ever I want to - with most likely more so on the weekends. With the power band that I am wanting - we are trying to save a bit on the bottom end while leaving the top end to go to the moon. Much harder to do but now I am willing to sacrifice the low end to get where I want to go. With the set up I am building - I have seen one other car manage it (Who happens to be a friend of mine on his 05' STi) and his, with the multiple boost settings - was very bearable on the street - but then had the kill mode of death! The projected goal right now is in the low 700 whp range. Stay tuned for more as this build slowly comes to fruitation over the next year.
Brief Background
My name is Mark and I'm a mechanical engineer from the best place in the world - The Lone Star State - Texas. My job, though not my ideal one or my true passion, and life have taken me all over the world the last couple of years but it's finally starting to slow down a bit and become a bit more normal (for me anyway). Well not to go into it too much, I like most of everyone on here, have always loved the STi and knew it was what I wanted. So when life presented me with the opportunity to finally be able to afford one of my two dream cars (yes the other is a GTR) I hopped at the chance. I placed my order and took delivery of my brand new 2013 Dark Grey Metalic Subaru WRX STi 5-Door back in March of 2013.
Project Goals and Car Usage - PHASE I
The car is my daily driver and the build will be geared for an amazing DD that is an Ultimate Street Car Setup with turbo lag kept to a minimum and torque and power across the entire power band. After getting the news that one of the rod bearings went :crying: - I said to hell with it and was going to do it right. The suspension will be upgraded as time goes on and I get a better feel for the direction I want to take it.
The vast majority of the project including the motor build and tune has been done by Turn In Concepts. I would like to give a big shout out to Tony and the guys over at TiC for helping to guide and taking on this project. I cannot say enough good things about them. Their attention to detail, knowledge & expertise, guidance, and willingness to work with me and keep me updated throughout the build while I was out of the country have been superb. This project would not be anywhere near what it is without them.
Project Goals and Car Usage - PHASE II
Well as I had stated before - the car lost almost all compression and with the results back from the leak down test - 90% leakage was going through the valves. Without taking it apart yet we have narrowed it down to the cylinder heads and most likely either a burnt or bent valve/s. While all of this being very shitty news - I have taken it as an opportunity to turn the car into my project build. The goal of this phase of the car will be "The Sleeper - Power Build". I still am shooting for the car to look rather stock-ish and honestly the exterior of the car wont change with the exception of perhaps a new exhaust and now the stealth FMIC core will be visible. Outside of that - I want it to still get the same comments that I have always gotten - "Oh whats this a stage 2 build?" :devil: Now it will be even worse than before...
My goals for the car are to push the envelope of what is the line between a "Street" and a "Race" car. The car is no longer my daily driver and will be primarily driven when ever I want to - with most likely more so on the weekends. With the power band that I am wanting - we are trying to save a bit on the bottom end while leaving the top end to go to the moon. Much harder to do but now I am willing to sacrifice the low end to get where I want to go. With the set up I am building - I have seen one other car manage it (Who happens to be a friend of mine on his 05' STi) and his, with the multiple boost settings - was very bearable on the street - but then had the kill mode of death! The projected goal right now is in the low 700 whp range. Stay tuned for more as this build slowly comes to fruitation over the next year.