Topic: A.J.'s STI

[A.J.]

Well, I think it's time I start up a build thread for my NEW CAR (in a game show announcer's voice)

First some history,

I have always loved turbocharged vehicles. When I learned to drive it was on a 1988 Chrysler LeBaron GTS.

It wasn't much, but it was turboed. After I killed it, over 500,000km on the clock, I bought a 1991 Dodge Shadow ES 2-door coupe. Again standard transmission and turboed.

Its life was cut too short by a kamikaze deer only a year after I had bought it. I was very upset because it was such a fun car to drive and it was still essentially brand new. I had also started to dive into the world of modifying with this car. After a short while I learned that the insurance company wanted to give me twice what I paid for the car to write it off.

I soon had a cheque and a mission to find another car. My requirement list was quite short, but hard to find; standard transmission, turbocharged, 2 door, and fun to drive. I instantly went looking for my high school dream car, a second generation Mitsubishi Eclipse. All of the ones I found were way out of my price range, which led me to look at the older version of the same car. They were cheaper, but much more abused. I tried a few Talon and Laser non-turbo's (because they were cheaper) and decided right away that those weren't the right car. I finally settled for a 1992 Eagle Talon TSi AWD. It wasn't in the greatest shape, but it was good enough for me. It was with this car that I really learned how to maintain, fix, modify and do anything I had to do to it mechanically (If you know anything about these cars you know that this was a must, or you'd need deep pockets to keep it on the road). It was a great car, lots of fun, plenty of power, but that all wheel drive is where it earned it's keep. Unfortunately it was older and the engine was becoming "tired" and it quickly became a pain to drive around because I never knew what or when the next thing would break on it.

I finally replaced it with a truck and tucked it away as a "project" car. I used the truck as my daily driver and still had big dreams for the talon. I was going to pull the engine and do a full rebuild (I had previously bought a spare engine to rebuild on the side and swap in later). But life just made me keep putting it off. My parents were sick of me storing the car at their acreage (I lived in a condo at the time), so I got a house with my own garage. A year and a half later the car hadn't moved and I hadn't done anything to it or the spare engine, so I decided to try and sell it. Luckily I found someone looking for a project talon to build up and he bought it off of me (for much less than I was hoping, but at least it was gone). Ever since then there has been a huge hole in my life. My truck wasn't cutting it for the "fun" factor, neither was the g/f's Mazda 3 (although it is extremely fun, it's no turbo AWD).

This has led me to where I am now, an empty garage and a need for a fun all year car to drive. I met Jeff (canehdian_J) through a mutual friend and he started talking STi to me. I knew a bit about them, and it would have been on the short list back in 09 when we bought the g/f's Mazda, but they have always been way too expensive. I've always liked the STi's, especially the 04-05 style (not gonna lie, not a huge fan of the hawkeye look. The B9 Tribeca totally ruined it for me), but we weren't impressed with the one we sat in at the auto show a few years ago. Jeff went on to tell me that they've made a ton of improvements to the 2011's and I should have a look at them.

I went to Rally Subaru and had a good look, a test drive, and did plenty of research on them. I ended up putting down a deposit a week later and got the ball rolling on owning my very own. Since then I have done nothing but research parts, upgrades, and figure out stuff to do to make it mine. Oh yeah, and try to sell my truck... (unsuccessfully so far). As part of the deal (since it was a factory order anyways) I arranged to take delivery in March so that I'd have lots of time to try and sell my truck and stockpile a sizeable down payment. Well March is just around the corner now and I've started to order parts. I plan to update this thread every time I do something to the car and make it a comprehensive log book.

[A.J.]

Welcome to my Project Log

Car: 2011 WRX STI Hatchback
Colour: Satin White Pearl

History:

March 2, 2011:
Pick up car from dealership
-9 km
Winter Tires and Wheels

March 3, 2011:
Protection Package and Stone Guard from Ming Shine

March 7, 2011:
Rally Armor Mudflaps
R205 Fender Badges
Bluebat Taillight Overlays

March 13, 2011:
1st Oil Change - 750km
TWM Short Shifter
TWM M1 Abrahms Satin Shift Knob
Redline Goods Shift and E-Brake boots
JDM Dual Console Box

March 15, 2011:
Additional Stone Guard from Ming

March 16, 2011:
Window Tint - 38% Front, 20% Rear from Teknique

March 18, 2011:
Autodim Homelink Mirror

April 6, 2011:
2nd Oil Change - 3000km

April 26, 2011:
Installed Hood Scoop Grille

April 27, 2011:
3rd Oil Change - 6000km
Switched to synthetic oil - Shell Rotella T6
Summer tires on

May 13, 2011:
AVIC-Z130BT Installed
JDM AV Panel Installed

May 26, 2011:
10,000km
JL HD900/5 Installed
JL 10W6v2 Installed
Rewired front doors

June 8, 2011:
~11,390km
Flex Innovations Grounding Kit Installed
STI logo painted on intercooler

June 17, 2011:
Oil Change - 12,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40

July 14, 2011:
~14,000km
Swapped wheels for gunmetal stockers
Audio Integrations Sub Box Installed

August 2, 2011:
15,300km
JDM Gauges Installed
SMY Clustermaker Gauge Hood Installed

August 4, 2011:
15,400km
DDM Tuning HID High beams (4500K 55W) and Fog (3000K 35W) bulbs Installed

August 30, 2011:
Oil Change - 18,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40

October 2, 2011:
21550km
Whiteline Steering rack Bushing Install

October 19, 2011:
Oil Change - 24,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40
Changed over to Winter tires

October 27, 2011:
24,400km
Injen Cold Air Intake Installed

December 7, 2011:
Absolute PFL-155IRB installed

December 19, 2011:
Oil Change - 30,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40

February 18, 2012:
Oil Change - 36,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40
Hella Supertones installed with Subimods bracket

March 14, 2012:
~38,100km
Whiteline KDT901, KDT903, KDT905 installed
Group N Transmission mount installed
TWM shifter bushings installed
TiC Shifter linkage bushings installed

March 24, 2012
~39,100km
Whiteline KDT910 installed

April 8, 2012
Oil Change - 42,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40
Changed over to Summer tires

June 19, 2012
Oil Change - 48,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40

August 5, 2012
~51,000km
Installed Group-N engine mounts

August 22, 2012
Oil Change - 54,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40

September 27, 2012
~57,000km
Installed Compustar 2-Way remote starter/alarm
Installed SettingSaver

October 24, 2012
Oil Change - 60,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40
Changed over to winter tires

November 3, 2012
TRS TSX-R clear projector lenses installed

November 19, 2012
62,755km
Blitz Nur Spec-R Installed

January 5, 2013
Oil Change - 66,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40

March 13, 2013
Oil Change - 72,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40
Tire Rotation

April 14, 2013
76,200km
Perrin front strut brace installed

May 10, 2013
Oil Change - 78,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40

May 29, 2013
79,500km
Summer Tire Install
Evo X BBS rims

July 15, 2013
Oil Change - 84,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40

September 9, 2013
Oil Change - 90,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40
Tire Rotation

October 12, 2013
92,375km
Winter Tire install

December 27, 2013 - January 10, 2014
Oil Change - 96,000km
Used Shell Rotella T6 5W40
Transmission Oil Change - Subaru Extra-S 75W90
Rear Differential Oil Change - Subaru Extra-S 75W90
Spark Plugs Changed - NGK SILFR6A
Stoptech Braided Stainless Brake Lines installed
Stoptech PowerSlot Cryo Treated Rotors installed
Hawk HPS Brake Pads installed
ATE TYP200 DOT4 Brake Fluid installed
Whiteline KCA409 Com-C Camber/Caster Upper Strut Mounts installed
Tire Rotation

April 1, 2014
101,944km
DAMD Steering wheel installed

[A.J.]

Mod List: (Red=Have it, Blue=Ordered it)

Protection
Vinyl Stone Guard
Window Tint
Compustar Max-It 2-way Remote Starter/Alarm

Appearance
Exterior
BlueBatmobile Taillight overlays
Sti logo on intercooler
R205 Fender Badges
Rally Armor Mud Flaps
STI Logo paint on intercooler
HID's for fogs and High beam
Hella Supertones with Subimods bracket
TSX-R Clear Projector Lenses
Yakima Whispbar Roof Rack
05-07 Sti Grille/Trunk emblems
Debadge/Paint badges
LED Exterior bulbs
Short antenna
HT Autos Front Lip Spoiler
Blacktop Aero Hatch Spoiler
Winter Wheels - OEM GD BBS's with Gislaved NORD*FROST 5 studless tires
Summer Wheels - Evo X BBS

Interior
Dual Gauge hood - SMY Clustermaker
Weathertech Floor Liners
JDM Dual console box
Auto Dim rearview with homelink
Redline Performance Shift/Ebrake boot
CG Lock
JDM Gauges
DAMD Steering Wheel - D Shape
New Seats

Performance
TWM Short Shifter
TWM Shift knob - M1 Abrahms RL in Satin and engraved shift pattern
Flex Innovations Grounding Kit
STI silicone intercooler hose (red)
Injen Cold Air Intake - Wrinkle Red
Whiteline Steering Rack bushings
SettingSaver
TWM and TiC Shifter bushings
Whiteline Diff Bushings
Whiteline Rear Subframe Bushings
Whiteline Positive Shift Kit
Group N engine/transmission mounts
Blitz Nur Spec-R Cat-Back Exhaust
Perrin Strut Tower Brace
Hawk HPS Brake Pads
StopTech SportStop Stainless Lines
StopTech PowerSlot Cryo-Treated Slotted Rotors
ATE TYP200 DOT4 Brake Fluid
Whiteline Com-C Upper Strut Mounts
RCE Black Springs
Swaybars
Kartboy Solid Endlinks
Catted DP (Invidia?)
Airboy Tune

I.C.E.
Pioneer AVIC-Z130BT Double DIN Nav
JL Audio W6 Subwoofer
JL Audio HD900/5 Amplifier
JDM Double DIN Bezel
Subaru OEM-style eBay Back-up camera
Audio Integrations Sub box
Absolute PFL-155IRB
Sound dampening

[A.J.]

I love getting things in the mail

SMY Clustermaker Gauge Hood:
I don't have any gauges yet, but I KNOW I will eventually and I wanted to get in on the initial run of this product, since the price was supposed to go up after they were all gone. It's an amazingly well built piece and anyone looking for a place to put gauges in a GR should look no further than this piece.


TWM Performance Short Shifter and Knob:
After doing extensive research on short shifters I ended up choosing the TWM one for a couple reasons. They're Canadian, They have awesome looking products, and they're the only one to use a sleeve to keep the reverse lock from vibrating.



After getting it in the mail I was extremely happy with the quality, and I can't wait to try it out.
I will have a detailed encounter of my install once I get the car.

JDM Goodies:


Now I just need the car! 

[A.J.]

I have a set of Rally Armor mud flaps waiting for me at VEX, I just need them to make it to Edmonton now. The only other thing I "NEED" to get before I get my car is a set of winter tires. It doesn't look like we'll get an early spring this year, so if I want to drive the car before May I had better get some tires ready for when the car shows up.

I want to downsize to 17" wheels for the winter and run a much narrower tire (225 or 215). Finding rims that I like is proving to be difficult at the moment, but I will prevail!

So far my favourite is:
Motegi MR116 17x7, ET+40(or +48)

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelCloseUpServlet?target=wheelCloseUp&wheelMake=MOTEGI+RACING&wheelModel=MR116&wheelFinish=Black+w%2FRed+Stripe

A member over on IWSTI has them on their 2011 and they will fit, I just want to look at some other options before I place an order.

[boiboi9]

Now thats a list!!

Im guessing you frequent 3gwrx.com.....

What are you doing of a CBE? I see a Cobb DP and AP.

[A.J.]

Now thats a list!!

Im guessing you frequent 3gwrx.com.....

What are you doing of a CBE? I see a Cobb DP and AP.

From all of the video clips on youtube and other various sources (I've spent days listening to exhaust clips) I like the sound and design of the Cobb system best. It's a little on the pricy side, but I don't mind since I know it will be good quality.

Suprisingly enough I don't frequent 3gwrx.com at all. My most frequented site (other than wsc) is IWSTI. I like the way it's organised and it seems like there are more helpful people on there.

[Swiftey]

Where did you get the trim for the stereo from? Mine is scratched and I have to order a new one

[A.J.]

Where did you get the trim for the stereo from? Mine is scratched and I have to order a new one

I ordered it from AVO JDM. It was 4967Yen (about $60). It's the standardized Double DIN opening, so if you have the stock stereo it won't work. It's to eliminate the need for an install kit to fill in the gap. If you have the stock stereo you can probably just go to any dealership here.

Shipping is what kills ordering from them. Mine was 6100 Yen. I justified it because I ordered a few things from them. It's still outrageous though.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

I can't wait to see the car itself.

[A.J.]

So I set off this morning with the goal of pricing out various options for winter wheels and tires for the soon to be here STI. After nearly vomiting at every shop I set foot in (I can't believe how expensive wheels and tires are locally) I finally make my way down to Fountain Tire on the south side (97st south of 34 ave). As I pull into the parking lot my attention is completely stripped from me by a brand new STI in their parking lot still in it's travel apparel.


I stop to ogle it for a couple minutes before heading inside. Did I mention it was a sport tech hatchback in the colour I ordered? I told the guy at the counter what I was looking for and I asked him if he knew anything about the STI sitting in the parking lot, since I am expecting one soon. He said it was from Rally Subaru and they do all of the pre-possession alignments for them. Putting 2 and 2 together I quickly shouted out 4!!!! and said, that's probably MY car!!, Can I sit in it? He seemed like a cool guy and said sure!

So we grabbed the keys and went outside to go check it out. 


I fired it up and it sounded beautiful

I had to restrain since I didn't want to rev up an ice cold engine with 6KM on it.

I couldn't just leave it at that MIGHT be my car, I had to find out for sure. So I went across the street and talked to the sales manager, sure enough my car had been delivered to them and was out getting it's alignment. I got the VIN number from him just so I could be 1000% sure. I went back to the car and compared numbers like it was a lottery ticket. Sure enough I hit the jackpot!!!

I went back to the dealership a little later when my salesguy was in and we chatted about timelines and it looks like we will be doing the deal next Wednesday.

This is going to be a LOOOOONG 7 days.

[A.J.]

The long hard winter tire search has finally ended!!!

I ended up going with Gislaved Nord*frost 5's in a 225/50/17 from tiretrends.com.

Total was $555.28 shipping and taxes in. They are having a huge winter tire clearout right now, so if you're looking for tires you might want to check them out.

As for rims, I'd like to send a HUGE thank you shoutout to Mokori for the 07 BBS Sti rims that he sold me. Once I get them I may be painting them depending on their condition. Will probably go with a dark gunmetal if that's the case.

As well I have an appointment for Thursday morning to have the vinyl stone guard installed and the full works protection package done at Ming Shine.

Where's the best place to have tires installed and balanced that don't mind when you bring your own tires? I would assume most places may get "offended" that you didn't buy tires from them. I've heard Wheels Plus from a few members, I called them and they charge $25/ea. Any better options out there?

[Claw]

Where's the best place to have tires installed and balanced that don't mind when you bring your own tires? I would assume most places may get "offended" that you didn't buy tires from them. I've heard Wheels Plus from a few members, I called them and they charge $25/ea. Any better options out there?

Ha.  They don't.  I've brought in two sets of rims with tires mounted and two sets of tires from Tire Rack on two separate occasions and they didn't mind.

However, if you want "cheaper" then try here or here.

[darrenbt]

I used the second kijiji link you posted and was very impressed. The guy worked very fast and had what looked nice a nicely equipped shop with a hoist in his garage...

[A.J.]

Wheels, Wheels, Wheels.....

Well this has been a productive evening. I started with a set of silver 07 BBS wheels and i now have some graphite silver 07 BBS wheels.





Just waiting to decide whether or not to do a third coat of colour or move onto the clear.

[Mokori]

Awsome choice on the colour AJ!

[A.J.]

D-Day has come and gone!!!

Those of you at the meet late enough last night got to see my new wheels in person I was so excited that I only took one picture when I got it.


As for the wheels, I decided to use up the last of the paint in the can I had which led to 3 and a bit coats total before 2 clear coats. My "paint booth" has some severe ventilation problems (see: none) so when I paint in there my projects always have a rough grainy surface when I'm done because of settling airborne particles. I didn't want this on the wheels, so I stood them vertical for the clear coats and wiped all of the loose paint off beforehand. Also as soon as I was finished spraying the final heavy clear coat on, I removed it from the paint boot to dry where there were no settling airborne particles. I think it worked as the wheels look amazing. UPS dropped off the tires 4 hours before the scheduled delivery time so I ran out and got them mounted right away so I'd have them ready to go when I got the car. I went to wheels plus to have them mounted and one of their machines took a little bit of paint off right around the center (probably the balancer) I wasn't too happy, but then again, they are winter wheels and they were just spraybombed... not too hard to fix on my own. They also used stick on weights on the inside of the rim, which I was worried about at first because of brake caliper clearance. Turns out there is JUST enough room for the brakes. Another bit of AWESOME news is that the center caps that come on the Enkei wheels are an exact fit for the 07 BBS wheels. Now I don't need to find another set of center caps for the winter wheels, I can just swap them over with the changeover.

Anyways I know what you all want, Here's the pics:

[khris08]

Congrats!!

[A.J.]

Got some more stuff today

First, picked up an autodim homelink mirror off of Kijiji. Doesn't have the wiring, but I found the harness for $10.



Came with an 07 STI grille logo (on my list of things to get) and a stock shift knob (don't want it, but it was included).
The logo is beaten up from being on the front of a car, but it allowed me to check one important detail.



The picture isn't the greatest, but for those who are interested, the 05-07 STI emblems are a perfect colour match for the R205 fender emblems
Now if I could find some Cherry Blossom Red high temp paint.....

Also took a trip to Red Deer today with a buddy to drop off his son. Lucky me, I got an email from Ryan at VEX as we were hitting the highway to come home saying that my Rally Armor's had just shown up at the shop. So we swung by and picked them up.




A HUGE thanks to Ryan for putting up with my constant emails for the last 3 weeks as we waited for Rally Armor to send the right ones for the third time. (First were the wrong model, second was the wrong colour, and finally third was correct.)

Install day set up for Monday Rally Armors, fender badges, taillight overlays, JDM bezel, and TWM short shifter if we have time.

Car is gonna look AWESOME!

[A.J.]

More mail today

Got the leather shift boots today from Redline Goods. Going to be a HUGE improvement over the factory vinyl pieces of crap. Going to install these at the same time as the TWM short shifter.

Here's pics.

[A.J.]

I need a bigger garage LOL. A little cramped to do work in, but it still works

Installed Rally Armor mud flaps, R205 fender badges, and tail light overlays from BlueBatmobile.

The overlays were a bit of a pain, but I think I got them pretty good. I'll see what they look like in the light today. I might have to adjust the mud flaps, as it was hard to tell when they were correctly aligned (due to my crappy heaving garage floor and not enough space to stand back and look at them without opening the door).

Here's a couple pics for you guys.

[jhtopilko]

Awesome overlays!

[A.J.]

Awesome overlays!

Thanks!

Busy day today

I decided to change my oil for the first time today, just hit 750 km. I had a real fun time getting it up in the air, and long story short I damaged my front bumper  I guess that's a good excuse to get a front lip

Also decided to install my TWM short shifter, shift boots, and dual console box.

After my jacking up fiasco I finally was able to get underway with the install. Just a few notes:

When the instructions say to put a towel down or something to keep small pieces from falling down and getting lost, do it. I now have a small punch under my carpet somewhere. Unluckily for me it was also before I got the pin out of the reverse lockout, so I had to improvise. After breaking a drill bit inside of the spring pin because it was too small, I eventually got it out. Having a helper would have also made everything easier.

I got the boots from redline. They are very nice quality, but were a little challenging to install. I used 3M super 77 spray adhesive to do the parking brake boot and a heat gun to help things along and it looks pretty good. the opening for the handle looks a like it's a little bigger than it's supposed to be, but it works fine. The shift boot doesn't have holes punched in it for installation onto the retainer ring, so there's some room for error. I had to redo it on mine and luckily you can't tell. The leather grain matches the seats quite well and the stitching is very close also. It definitely should have come from Subaru this way.

I am just about to head out to test the new shifter out and I'll post up my opinions of it when I get back (or tomorrow, I'm kinda tired).

Here's some after pics for everyone to look at:






Man, I need to get a good camera and take some nice looking shots one day.

[canehdianJ]

Thanks!

Busy day today

I decided to change my oil for the first time today, just hit 750 km. I had a real fun time getting it up in the air, and long story short I damaged my front bumper  I guess that's a good excuse to get a front lip



Man, I need to get a good camera and take some nice looking shots one day.

1.  I have a good camera... and will eventually return

2.  you tried to drive it on ramps didnt you.

[Jesse.Korpan]

looking super good and lots of progress for such a short time! Wish my project would move along that fast BIG CONGRATS  sorry bout the front end.