2006 STi Build Thread

[roadtrip1098]

Bought this car in December of 2012 with about 40k on the clock. I figured since I'm doing a build thread on the 2000 Impreza, that I ought to start one for the STi.  Here's a list of mods as I installed them. I'll be inserting pictures as I sort through my SD cards, but here's what it came with:

Stage II

-Generic (looks like grimmspeed) downpipe. 

-3 Port BCS

-Horrible choppy tune

Here's what I did the first month:

Tactrix tuning cable was ordered

-Installed a boost guage in the ash tray area, kinda stealthy

-Flashed a generic 'OTS' stage II map, adjusted the watsegate tables to take advantage of the 3 port. 

-Bigger TMIC installed. (Put my stocker on the wifes WRX)

-Eibach Front and Rear adjustable swaybars

-Kartboy Endlinks

-Tein Springs

-Killer B Oil Pickup (if you don't know why, you should look it up. It could save your motor.)

Then I had to go away for some military training... when I came home I continued with :

-Perrin EL Headers

-New headunit

-Small Sub Box and amp

-K&N Panel filter

-Built a turbo heat shield out of diamond plate

-Traded the larger TMIC for a stock 2011 STi TMIC because they have less pressure drop and are more efficient than most aftermarket ones.

-Modified the hood scoop to get air over the whole top mount.

-Retuned to add a bit of timing and revise the target boost tables. 

The car was really starting to come into its own at this point. It was very fast even comparing it to my 08  WRX with an AVO 380 and protune. The only time it would have issues was on hot days, so it was time to start combating heat soak.

-Bought an AEM water meth injection kit

-Picked up an AEM wideband

-Installed the wideband first and did a ton of datalogging

-Set up the water meth and did a couple runs. It comes on at 5 psi and maxes flow at 19 psi. 

-Did some logging, advanced the timing a bit.

-Did more logging, turned up the boost a bit

Time for a test run at the strip. I took it up to Winterport with a  friend of mine, he's got an 04 STi with a GT30R, 850cc injectors, and unknown internals on the motor. All I know it that it revs fast and hard and is like a damn space shuttle at WOT. Neither of us wanted to launch the cars because it was a 70 mile tow truck ride back home if we broke something. At the end of the day I was able to trap 82 MPH to his 83 MPH, but I beat him on time by a tenth. I pulled somewhere in the 8.2 range.  Needless to say, going against a built STi with a GT30R and being within 1 MPH at the end of the 1/8th made me happy. I have no doubt that in a 1/4 mile he'd be walking away though.

Now the car was really hauling ass, it was having trouble keeping all the power on the road. Back to traction.

-New Sumimoto HTRZII 235/45/17 tires (This size also fixes the speedometer error)

-New ceramic brake pads all around

The new tires did the trick for the time being, but it was now Winter and it was being rarely used. Next stop Christmas.

-Perrin Wing Stiffies

-Short Throw Shifter

-New exhaust

-GrimmSpeed Crank Pulley

Still not using the car much because I don't want to ruin it. So it was run sparsely up until the tax return

-PST  Carbon Fiber Drive Shaft

-PTP Lava turbo blanket

-Mishimoto Gold Heat tape

-Wrapped the intercooler in the heat reflective tape, also did the back side of the heat shield

-Re tuned to maximize the new lower, more consistent intake temps.

-Pulled all of the interior out and dynomatted everything

But now I have a strut that's going so time for some Spring Projects. Looking for better handling and more boost because even at 19 psi with water meth I'm not hitting 100% Injector Duty Cycle.

-Just ordered a set of Fortune Auto 500 Coilovers

-Also on the way, Blouch 20G XT-R with the newer 48lb/min wheel in it.

 

[Matt]

Pictures!!!!!

I havnt started playing with my map yet but it's good to know someone who has. I'm hitting about 80% duty on my injectors on 18psi.

 

[Marino]

Awesome!

really nice job with this. I didn't realize so much was done to it, it looks fairly stock on the outside.

 

[roadtrip1098]

That's the idea. I wanted to keep the stock look. It really catches people off guard with how quick it is, even after looking under the hood. The only thing that looks not stock is the heat shield and the gold tape. Everything else is pretty well hidden. The new turbo should boost 20 psi no problem without creating any extra heat and without having to pull any timing out.  

 

[roadtrip1098]

So here's some pics of when I first got it.

 

[roadtrip1098]

Here's some pics of what I've done with it so far.

This is the gold tape I spoke of.

The Grimmspeed pulley.

Modifications to the hood scoop. Added fins inside to help direct airflow to the far side of the intercooler and added a water sprayer tot he existing heat system.

Here you can see the PTP blanket, the diamond plate aluminum heat shield and some of the gold tape work. This setup did wonders combating heat soak. I can actually use my car in stop and go traffic without the intercooler getting hot.

The EL headers with heat wrap and silicon paint.

Another shot of the EL's

Note the gauge mounted in the ash tray. I only use it when I'm tuning, so I wanted it to be able to be covered. The AFR gauge is up by the clock. To me, knowing the AFR is way more important than boost. I see a lot of cars out there with 200 friggin gauges and think if I were paying attention to all of that, who's watching the road?

I put this switch in while I was getting the maps dialed in. It puts the car in test mode for flashing the ECU. 

Water Meth all installed.

Trunk all cleaned up with the meth tank and the sub. 

I'm not about ricing up the car, but I figure to give credit where credit is due. 

More credit, I have used Perrin in the past and they make great stuff.

Here's the controller for the water meth kit. you can also see how the boost gauge gets covered up neatly when the ash tray is closed.

That's about it for now, I'll get more pics when my next batch of parts come in.

 

[brycetron]

All nice and tidy. Looks great.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[roadtrip1098]

Thanks, I do what I can... I can't wait for the bigger projects to start. 

 

[Matt]

Super clean set up. I like the switch for test mode. Sucks ass crawling under the dash looking for the plugs

 

[roadtrip1098]

Yeah, a lot of my tuning was done in the Winter, that plug is a huge PITA when your hands are cold. After about the 10th time, I decided to grab a spare fog light switch and slap it in. It took less time to put the switch in than just once trying to unplug it in the freezing cold.  

 

[roadtrip1098]

Update, got an email from Fortune Auto, they are assembling my coilovers. 8k springs in the front, 6k in the rear. 50mm tubes, 30 levels of dampening, yada yada yada. I like them already because they have a 1 year warranty on all wearable parts, and 5 year on the shock body and top hat - and get this, they answer emails. They seem to be at the top of their game, here's their web site http://www.fortune-auto.com/

They use digressive valve technology, which I had never heard of until last week. Naturally, I consider myself an expert on it now. Basically the harder you hit the shock (potholes and such), the softer it responds. So when you have softer inputs, such as body roll, dive or squat it will respond very stiff. The idea is that the ride will be more compliant without sacrificing handling. If it works like they say it does, I'm going to be a very happy guy.

 

[roadtrip1098]

There's a three week lead time on the Fortune Auto 500's right now and I'll be away all next week for training. Looking like doing some install work the weekend of the 17th providing my wife doesn't Bogart my parts (She's got an 07 WRX).

 

[roadtrip1098]

Change of plans number 786326754. The super VF39 I wanted is on back order and they aren't sure when more will be in. I canceled the order, got my refund, and was looking at an 18G XT-R. I didn't get it because if something is going to cost me over $1000 I want to be sure I'm getting exactly what I want. Needless to say, the 20g XT-R is on its way. 

 

[Matt]

How much bigger is that than a vf39 as far as cfm? Why not go with a fp turbo or even a Garrett for that kind of money.

 

[roadtrip1098]

The 20GXTR I bought is a 48LB/min billet compressor wheel, ball bearing garret cartridge, 8cm td06 housing. The VF39's flow anywhere from 33-36 LB/min. I wanted something that would spool fast and not have to work so hard to hit target boost. Right now I'm doing it with stock injectors and fuel pump. I'm using the water meth injection to keep the AFR's where I'd like to be and keep the injectors from tapping out on duty cycle. I'm not looking at it as a performance jump right this second. In fact, it may lose a little of the area under the curve until I get my fueling situated. Basically I wanted the smallest turbo capable of doing what I want. My goal is 350-370whp by the end of Summer. I don't see it being an issue if I can find some 850cc side feeds to toss in.

 

[Matt]

Makes sense... This turbo bug is addicting.

 

[roadtrip1098]

Yeah it is. My VF39 is going on the wife's WRX, her old turbo may find its way onto my RS.

 

[roadtrip1098]

The Blouch 20G XTR is in. Some things I found out about my STi... 

1. It already had a 16G

2. It already had a Walboro 255

3. There's no way it could have been tuned when I bought it. There was so much room for improvement, even being conservative. 

This does explain a lot though, I was very surprised how quick the car was for being "only stage II". 

On the plus side, it looks like my wife will soon be rocking a 16g in her WRX. I'm going to clean it up, flush it out, and probably do some ceramic paint on it before it goes in.

 

[injulen]

I got a chance to hear your car roaring down Bangor street the other night and man it sounds good. The next day I happened to see you parked at planet fitness so I snapped a couple photos!