Unixfool's '11 DGM STI Sedan

I purchased interior, trunk, and plate LEDs. Man, the lighting is quite crisp. Videos and pics don't do them justice (I tried and was not satisfied, so I'll skip posting or get a better camera). This is what I ordered:

Subaru WRX STI LED Interior Package (2008-2012)

Interior Base Package Color
Cool White (8000K)
Add License Plate LEDs (Qty: 2)
Crystal White (6000K)
Add Trunk LED (Qty: 1)
Crystal White (6000K)
Accessories
Professional Interior Trim Tool Set (FREE)
Confirm Vehicle Year (i.e 2011)
2011

My horn harness arrived over the weekend...just have to find the time to install the horn and harness now.

I also had a chance to run the Go Pro. All I can say is, WOW! Captures sound decently (helps that the Nameless is loud), but I'd like a bit more. I'd also like to see a tether so owners don't lose their cameras if they happen to come unmounted...maybe I can dremel a hole and add my own tether.

I installed the Hellas this evening.

I took awhile. I got the bumper off, then found that I need nuts and bolts to secure the Supertones to the bracket. So I went to Lowes and got three (3) 5/32nd x 3/4in nuts, bolts and washers. I got three just in case I found I needed an extra set. I brought the bracket with me to ensure a good fit.

Some people leave their stock horn in place. I removed it entirely.

The Subimods.com harness saved some time and I'm not good with wiring, but I did have two problems with the harness:

• One female connecter (to the horns) came off...I looked at it and it was super-loose...badly crimped. Luckily, I had some spare connectors and a crimper, but for the cost of the harness, I shouldn't have had to do this.
  
• The lead to the relay was PITA short. I read up at NASIOC before the install today and quite a bit of people were complaining about how short the lead was. So, I was stuck mounting the relay in front of the car. It is currently mounted between and below the two horns in the first picture below. I'm going to have to ensure the relay is somehow protected from water or snow (or just make my own harness during the winter). I'm thinking of a hard plastic black shroud of some sort to redirect any water.

I mounted the horns along the bracket like this: O- ----- -O I didn't see how other people were mounting theirs, but I didn't want the Supertones close to the nose of the car...I wanted them out as far to the sides of the car as possible.

One thing I forgot to do was to use Locktite on the threads so that they wouldn't vibrate loose, so I'll fix that this weekend. I also need to give the nuts a few coats of black, so they aren't so apparent.

The horns are LOUD (I did a quick "beep" since I couldn't beat the sun and it was dark before I connected to power.

A few pics & a video:

I just added speed bleeders to my mod list. I have them on my motorcycle and they help with fluid changes...pretty much makes it a one-man job (at least for the bike...not sure on the car yet). It was super easy to do on the bike, since I could do everything without removing the tires and since the bike is much smaller than a car. With the car, it will take some time, as I will have to put the car on stands and remove all the wheels. Sounds like I need to do this either in the winter or the spring, when I'm swapping the winter/summer wheels. Hell, I might decide I want to take it to the garage at one of the local military bases and lift the car, which might speed things up.

So the STi has 2 bleeders (inside and outside) per caliper. That makes for 8 speed bleeders (part# SB1010) I've to get. At $7 apiece, the price will come to $56 + tax.

I also added SS lines to the list. I will replace the stock lines with the SS lines when it's time for my next fluid change, where I'll also install the new bleeders. I'm wondering if I should invest in either a MightyVac or Motive Power Bleeder. Based on the brake bleeding sticky, the Motive seems to be less of a hassle to use and speeds up the process a bit (even if I'm going to be removing the bleeders and lines), so I'm probably going to go with the Motive product.

I'll also be picking up some used Dunlop SP600s from a local guy tomorrow -- that's the plan, at least. Let's hope the plan doesn't fall through like it did last time with another local guy (he sold them before I could get to them, without letting me know). The tires have less than 5K miles and were removed in 2008. I'll check them out before the sale is finalized. These will be my backup tires. I'll continue to use the ones I have for autocross until I waste them, then switch to the backups.

Lastly, I'm thinking on getting the stock rims professionally painted. I want gold or bronze rims. Hell, I've even been thinking of red! I'm usually conservative, taste-wise. Red would look good against DGM, I think. Since I swap out the wheels at the onset of winter, that'll be the perfect time to do them. So I'll be investigating this.

It's almost bonus time. I've been thinking about how to treat myself.

I haven't done much to the car lately. The last thing I bought was the extra set of tires.

I think I want wheels, but can't decide what wheels to get. I don't want anything expensive (the car itself, it's upkeep, and the insurance is quite enough as it is). I was thinking something along the lines of Rota or XXR, but so many people hate on those brands that it isn't funny. Motegi doesn't have anything that's jumping out at me, either. I've set a budget for myself: $1000. I have the option of increasing the budget, but I also plan on getting a handgun this year, so in order to get both, I have to compromise a bit.

The plan is to get 18x8 wheels (or maybe 18x8.5), so I can mount the spare set of Dunlop SP600s onto them...8.5 might be a bit too much for the Dunlops, though. They'll have to be able to bolt onto a GV with stock suspension setup. I don't want to roll fenders or anything like that...that'll come later, if I want to be more extreme. So, the wheels have to be:

18x8-8.5
5x114.3
offset +40mm or higher
I want different color options - gold, hyper-black, bronze
$1000 max for the set (not including shipping costs)

I spent a good part of today browsing the web but ended up frustrated. Either I found cheap brands that people always complain about, or very expensive brands...I saw nothing that fell in the middle that was within my budget. WTF.

Here's what I've found so far that looks decent (but again, these brands are frowned upon by many in this forum):

Rota DPT
Rota Grid
Motegi MR215
Rota Torque
Rota Boost

I also looked at XXR, but only found one that I really liked, the 530s, but the offsets are too aggressive (+20 and +35, I think).

I'm tempted to keep looking at the XXR and Rota brands. If they're cheap and bend/break, I can definitely afford to replace them.

EDIT -

Found this: Prodrive GT1 18x8.5 5x114.3 +53mm for $285/ea (in gold or anthracite...leaning toward gold) @ subimods.com -- gonna see if I can find a cheaper price and if I can't it's not a deal-breaker.

I changed up. I went with TSW Nurburgring 18x8.5 5x114.3 +45mm offset. I got bronze. Bought them from Element Wheels.

It was very difficult to find these wheels at anything under $1000 a set, and if you do, you have to pay $100+ in shipping. I checked everywhere, from E-bay to Amazon to Discount Tires to Merchant tires. They should be here in 5-7 days.

I'm still looking for a nice set of lugs (red, to match the STI badging and Hella horns). I'll be mounting my spare set of Dunlop SP600s onto them, I think.

I still need to get my windows tinted before it starts getting hot, then I want to get the sway bars.

What else is up?

I got a chance to play in the snow, but I think I waited too long...the snow was melting and was super-wet...when I drove over the snow, it would squish out from under the tire, down to the asphalt. The traction killed my fun and I immediately stopped when I noticed how the snow was behaving. Got it on video but the video shows more of my frustration than anything. Maybe next year.

Two wheels have arrived...awaiting the the other two to show. For them to arrive so early meant that they shipped on Monday (UPS Ground)...then again, I've no idea where they shipped from. The invoice is on Discount Tire Direct letterhead, though.

They sent the correct hubcentric rings (76mm).

They look nice!

Took the tires and wheels to Curry's in Gainesville. They did a good job in mounting the tires and balancing the wheels. Not a scratch was on the wheels. The mechanics were drooling over them. They thought the color would match the car well.

It was hard to wait until after work to put the wheels on the car. I got some new lugs as well, but there's a fly in the ointment. In trying to fit a lug on a stud, I stripped a stud (rear driver side). I was kinda pissed because I was just trying a test fit and the damn thing wouldn't come off. So now I've another car chore to do and it's going to get in the way of my autocross time. I've heard the studs don't like to come off...I'm not ready for the type of fight (to get it off) that I think is going to happen. I suppose I can rely on using my motorcycle if this turns out to be a multi-day fix.

So, anyways, I got the wheels on the car. Yes, the car and tires are dirty and it's 35F out, so they're going to stay dirty until it warms up some.

Last snapshot are the stock wheels.

I tried to get some wheel studs from Browns Subaru in Manassas today and they were out of stock. Checked a few other dealers and they were out as well. WTF.

But I did ask the guy at Browns to order 3 for me. He said he'd do it Monday and they should be here the next day. He also told me that if I ordered from their website, they'd come straight to my house and that the cost of the parts would be cheaper. I ordered 5 but immediately cancelled when I saw that shipping (UPS Ground) for 5 of these little ass parts would cost me $9.40..that's almost the cost of the damned parts.

I've been searching online all evening for aftermarket wheel studs. The only ARP studs I could find were extended...I want stock length, because I don't want to have to screw around with removing any extra parts and I've read that extended studs are a witch to install. Local auto stores don't carry the size that our cars require (12 x 1.24...and that's not even factoring in the spline diameter).

Generally frustrated.