[02RSNJ]

Okay, the paychecks are finally adding up, and I have about $650 ready to blow on the RS. What should my first mods be? Muffler/ Intake, or tires/suspension (thinking of lowering about 1.5")? Let me know what you guys think please. THanks

 

[nolimitski]

i went with the two performance ones first

 

[Dirt Man]

I dont know if it applies to the new RS as it did with the old but upgrading the rear sway bar makes a major difference in the cars handling. It helps make the car more neutral (less understeer).

Then upgrade the tires/rims, then suspension, then performance goodies.

Just my 2 cents

 

[RS25.com]

If you autocross, tires and struts. Depending on your class, you might go sway bar and strut tower bars, too.

 

[obsidian]

Hi 02RSNJ,

I'm new to the mods scene too. I am doing my first mods this weekend on my new RS. After talking to a lot of people, a good idea seems to be to go with suspension first. And I definately agree that the handling is the weak point of the car. While not a rocket, the engine can definately go faster than the handling allows.

This weekend, I'm going with the front/rear sway bar, anti-lift kit, and springs. Gotta check on struts. Heard that there's not too many struts available for the New Age guys yet but I I'll do some more checking that out.

 

[DanzBorin]

If you ever plan to autocross, don't put on a anti-lift kit. You will end up in a prepared class in with the Sharks!

Go with tires, sway bar, intake for your first set of mods.

 

[DragonRM]

I'd go with intake and exhaust... can get a Dragon intake from weapon-r and a stromung dual tip for about that much... intake though can be the single most cost effective performance you can do... You'd notice it right away

 

[sunnys25]

if you're not too worried about your warranty,
you can try the proecm chip.
don't know if I have the guts to try that one.
but some say it's worthwhile.

edit: ooh forgot it's kind of easy on the wallet, too. $250

 

[02RSNJ]

Thanks for all your suggestions! I think for now I'm gonna go with an intake, probably either from AEM or injen. Then I'm probably going to get a decent exhaust. I don't have the guts to go with a proecm chip. Thanks again for your ideas!

 

[Neek]

Don't forget the shifter

I think the best first mod on any impreza is a short shifter/poly bushings swap. I went with the Kartboy and immediately noticed a difference in the ol' subjective "feels good" scale. Makes the car just plain more fun to drive if not faster...

 

[DanzBorin]

Get the Cobb intake, then Short Shifter and bushings, tires, sway bar, then pulleys or chip, then exhaust. That should tide you over for a while. Let us know when you are ready for more!

 

[02RSNJ]

Yea I think Im going to order a Cobb intake soon. Im probably going to order all parts at once and just have an installfest with me and my friends one day. Thanks for all the ideas.

 

[HondaH8er]

Here's the order I went it (kinda performance-handling-performance):

GanzFlow CAI with K&N filter
Rear sway bar
Front stut tower bar
Stromung dual-tip exhaust
Larry's short-shifter (same as what Cobb sells)

 

[DragonRM]

Anyone catch the revamp Cobbtuning did to their site? Very nice and much easier to navigate... they also repriced a few of their packages and made some new ones.

 

[ylexot]

Definitely make the rear anti-sway bar one of your first mods! You can easily get a 20mm one for <$100 from a WRX owner that upgraded to an adjustable.

You GC8 guys thought you had it bad? We get a 13mm bar on a heavier car! :curse:

 

[DanzBorin]

Here's the order I went it (kinda performance-handling-performance):

GanzFlow CAI with K&N filter
Rear sway bar
Front stut tower bar
Stromung dual-tip exhaust
Larry's short-shifter (same as what Cobb sells)

I went with what I got a deal on and could afford...
Front strut tower bar
Cobb Short shifter
Cobb intake (modified for a 99)
Carbon fiber dash trim (it was cheap and it's perdy!)
Single Point Grounding (cheap...)
ProECM chip

Next up
Whiteline Adj. rear sway 18-22mm
Whiteline endlinks
Autometer A/F ratio gauge (wanna know if I could benefit from an S'AFC)

Enjoy!