In thing on Subaru?

ok so im curious to all the subaru guys what is the "bitchin thing" to do to you wrx/sti? Like what does every subaru guy say is a ballin part? Say for honda's a lot of people are going oem look, itr, ctr, sir, which are all upper models of the civics and integras. And say a lot of people are big into Spoon, BYS, and Mugen shit im sure there is more thats just off the top of my head, but you get the drift..... just curious since i kinda know whats' "bitchn" tthing to do with hondas im curious with subarus.

I don't know. I'm not a scooby guy. But I always hear them talk about stages of tune. Like "I have a stage 4 tune man". I can't even really get a straight answer on what stage is what.... and according to who. So I assume that the kewl thing to do is put different stages on tunage on the scooby.
Maybe I should learn how to use a tuning fork.... or I wonder if a guitar tuner would work? Then maybe I could tune too

I'm a Subaru guy and I have always thought the stages was kinda dumb. How bout just tell us what you have done to your car and call it good? lol

Anyways, I don't think there is a "bitchin" thing to do to your Subaru. Since there is such a large assortment of shit you can put on your car, there isn't just one thing that is gonna make it cool. However, most Subaru guys are looking to bring out the "boxer rumble" and that can be done with even a downpipe with the stock catback. That is the fastest way to get more power out of your Subaru too. If you're just looking for sound, just get a catback.

As far as exterior goes, I would have no idea. I just like what looks good and everyone's opinion of that is different. For me, simple and clean setups look the best. I'm not into flashy crap.

Dr.Auto wrote:

I don't know. I'm not a scooby guy. But I always hear them talk about stages of tune. Like "I have a stage 4 tune man". I can't even really get a straight answer on what stage is what.... and according to who. So I assume that the kewl thing to do is put different stages on tunage on the scooby.
Maybe I should learn how to use a tuning fork.... or I wonder if a guitar tuner would work? Then maybe I could tune too

With that statement you just gained every ounce of respect possible from me.

Nothing bothers me more than when I ask what's done to a car and hear "It's stage 3"

What the F%$^ does that mean? I want to know what parts are on the damn thing. Not what "stage" you think its at. Does every part constitute a "stage". Audi guys are notorious for this too. Drives me nuts! You running a big turbo on it? Injectors? Internals? What all is ACTUALLY done to it. If each part was a "stage" then I guess many peoples' cars I know and hang out with would be "Stage 7676357479829376".

If someone asks a straight question, give them a straight answer. Not some mumble jumble that is meaningless in the car world.

A lot of the aftermarket for Subaru's will have Kits that they call stages. I think that's where they mainly came from. Tuners will call their maps certain stages as well so you would have to modify your car to their specs.

Typically here's what you'll see

Stage 1
- No real mechanical change to the car, maybe a panel air filter for the stock intake. And a reflash of the computer that extracts a little more pep out of the car.

Stage 2
- Bare minimum in almost all situations is a downpipe, and a different reflash for the extra flow. This gives the car a nice boost in usable power, and raises the boost considerably. You can add to this and tweak it with boost control solenoids, intakes, a complete exhaust, etc etc. Further tuning would need to be done.
*NOTE* 05 and below WRX need an upipe from the manifold as well, as the stock piece has a catalytic converter in it, and is a danger to the turbo.

Stage 3
- In my understanding of the term it is simply an aftermarket turbo, any turbo bigger or more free flowing than stock. And also the fuel upgrades to support, otherwise a mostly stock engine, but also with the exhaust upgrades from your stage 2.

Hope that helps a little. There's no real set in stone way of the "Stages". It's just a generalization.

I too am a subie dude so in my opinion the most "bitchin" thing you can do to a subie is put a big ass turbo such

as a GT35R, GT42R or one of the new BorgWarner EFR series turbos on (with all supporting mods such as fuel

pump, injectors, exhaust, intake, and front mount intercooler) and tear it up with some AWD action.

So what about look wise? Say civics people change front ends, headlights, ctr (civic type r), and spoon wings.

Looks wise, it seems a lot of us have done the wingless thing. I have had mine on and off about 3 times this year. The one thing that I really like and the first real modification I did to my car was coilovers which gave it that squatty look. I don't like the big ass gap above the front wheels.

BruisedTurd wrote:

Looks wise, it seems a lot of us have done the wingless thing. I have had mine on and off about 3 times this year. The one thing that I really like and the first real modification I did to my car was coilovers which gave it that squatty look. I don't like the big ass gap above the front wheels.

Ya, those gaps above the front wheels look like crap. Get rid of them..... but be sure to put your roll center where it needs to be.



By the way.... in case anyone was wondering..... The Fiat is on tune stage 14. Wait..... I need to recheck my stages... I think I merged stage 8 and 9 together since they were slightly related. That and I don't want people being scared of the Fiat because of the incredible hi stage of tune it's at. It still is after all just a little guy. I think I'm only at stage 13..... because I said so. But wait! I don't have a turbo! how does that work again? dang it! No I just checked I'm on stage -2 right now...... It's not boosted.

I changed my mind after looking at my stage sheet I just made up with a crayon.

The Fiat is officially on stage 5. That's my final answer. Until the stages change again.






But there is a guy I know that has a blue scooby. And I know its on stage 6.... according to his stage rule book.

Haha alright dude we understand that you think it's stupid. So do a lot of people that own wrx's and sti's.

not being a subie guy here is my general observations of what is cool on a subie... or at least what I see on 1,000's of subies.

rota wheels, STI oem parts, huge FMIC's.

Here is my quick take on the trend. Rota wheels, not original but we all aren't ballers with race team budgets so I can't hate on them too much, they work. I do get turned off by them a little on subies just because of how many subie's I see with them, maybe be a little different. STI oem stuff, it looks good, but an STI is more than decals and aero peices so don't be a poser. Again mixing and matching stuff to make your car your own I am ok with, just don't ad all the aero peices from an STI and forget all the performance peices. Huge frount mounts... why subie people why? The subie already suffers from turbo lag why make it worse? If you have a big turbo upgrade and really need a front mount then ok, but most of the time a top mount intercooler would be the best option, but the "it looks cool" factor usually wins that arguement.

oh yeah and rally mudflaps.....

Give Jake a chip

I would agree with the mudflaps.



Maybe we should make a MAEC stage standard book. The book that redefines stages as we know it.

official title

The MAEC Book of Stage Standards (MBSS)



(you know.... like a MSDS.... but for cars) lol

hmmm.... I see a fault already with the acronym it's just BSS but with a M in front of it.

for a wrx i would say the "bitching" thing to do is a sti tranny swap but as far as regular shit i would think lowering or raising(depending on which direction your goin with your car), rota rims or some sort of knockoff though i know some poeple who buy rotas as advan knockoff's, most wrx guys love lambasting sti all over the fuckin place, mudflaps are huge around here cause of steve from dark performance, i also put on an fmic and got hella turbo lag so i took it off and have had it for sale for over 6mo. tmics are more then enough until a huge turbo upgrade but stis can handle a fmic cause they have a large enough turbo that they dont suffer too much from lag, that said i have broke my stock tranny twice so i would be fuckin stocked to have an sti tranny. for and sti........ honestly i dont know. for a while the cool thing to do was goin wingless. i see a lot of semi modded sti's with fmic's. to be perfectly honest i think all us subie guys just want a "full build" more then any 1 mod. as far as brands perrin is huge, cobb for the access port im sure is "bitchin" in area where people dont have buddies to tune for them or cant afford a pro tune. the thing i would like to be able to say was "bitchin" would be a full pro dyno tune. i have wanted my car on a dyno since i got her. as far as stages go yeah i used to say i had a stg 2 all the fuckin time till i realized i was wrong, then i wasnt, then i was, then i wasnt, so after further review i think nobody knows and it all started cause of the fast and the furious
oh i had a bov and know a few people that love them as much as me. so bovs make the list as well

I guess if I had one piece of advise it would be to make it your own. There is nothing wrong with getting rotas, mudflaps, and front mounts, but you are going to see a hell of a lot of people with them.

I'm happy I stayed different and went with prodrives, they seem to be a little more uncommon here in the states.

Jake is right, front mounts add a nice amount of lag, and suck in MT winters.

04 Wagon Boy wrote:

I guess if I had one piece of advise it would be to make it your own. There is nothing wrong with getting rotas, mudflaps, and front mounts, but you are going to see a hell of a lot of people with them.

I'm happy I stayed different and went with prodrives, they seem to be a little more uncommon here in the states.

Jake is right, front mounts add a nice amount of lag, and suck in MT winters.

I think it all depends on the brand on intercooler you get. I have had the same Perrin front mount on for over 4 years and have yet to even get any fin damage. I have a 20G tubo on my STi so it does warrant a front mount intercooler. Yeah there is lag as comes with all bigger turbos but the sweetest thing is when you can pull hard all the way to redline without the powerband falling off.

for the MBBS (Maec book of bullshit) I am going to rename the stages.

Stage 1
- Cool shift knob, especially one that lights up, like a red skull or something

Stage 2
- Loud ass stereo, you can call your car a stage 2 now.

Stage 3
- any Blow off valve will make you stage 3

Stage 4
- a turbonator installed into your intake, you will then be stage 4, or any crappy aftermarket lowering springs that really don't do anything but make the ride bouncy and weird.

-Stage 5
- any cone filter or short ram intake, now you're getting into real power.. you are now stage 5.

From there the sky is the limit.
So when a subie dood/doodette tells you they are "Stage 2" you will know, they have a stereo, and a cool shift knob.. and so forth.

$F-5$ Inc. wrote:

rota rims or some sort of knockoff though i know some poeple who buy rotas as advan knockoff's

I may be misreading this, but I want to make it apparent that Rota is a knockoff wheel company. They have always and will always copy other wheel companies...They've ripped off damn near every JDM wheel company. Spoon, Mugen, SSR, Work, BBS...



Although I'm sure that rim suffered an impact that would have broken any rim, I still find it humurous.

It did bother me though when I was in Washington and a random guy commented about how good my car looked with "those Auto-X's on it", to which I replied "Those are real deal SSR Type X's, but thanks".

What do u guys consider lag? Cause I prolly won't hit full boost till around 5100 with my new 6262 but I can also rev to nine if I wanted and wil nvr drop below 6000rpm when racing. And ya rota knocks off every ballin wheel company but like jake said not everyone can afford 500 dollars a wheel. But when I crashed on my rotas it cracked, then when some dumb fk hit me with my volks it just bent the wheel. You pay for what u get. I'm cool with knock offs but don't be putn stickers on em to claim them as the real deal!

I wasn't trying to say don't rock them by any means. I used to rock a set of Drags (another knockoff wheel company). Not everyone can afford the real wheels, and truthfuly I wouldn't own 2 sets of SSR's if it weren't for the amazing deals I got on them. Now if I could only come across more deals like that! lol.

I too have noticed Rota Grids are pretty common on the Subies. Personally I like the factory BBS' that come on them. Hell, why get rid of a good quality forged wheel for one that is cast? To each their own I suppose...

I thought this was a thread about scooby mods. But i guess some tech info on wheels could be added to the Stage code book.

haproot wrote:

for the MBBS (Maec book of bullshit) I am going to rename the stages.

Stage 1
- Cool shift knob, especially one that lights up, like a red skull or something

Stage 2
- Loud ass stereo, you can call your car a stage 2 now.

Stage 3
- any Blow off valve will make you stage 3

Stage 4
- a turbonator installed into your intake, you will then be stage 4, or any crappy aftermarket lowering springs that really don't do anything but make the ride bouncy and weird.

-Stage 5
- any cone filter or short ram intake, now you're getting into real power.. you are now stage 5.

From there the sky is the limit.
So when a subie dood/doodette tells you they are "Stage 2" you will know, they have a stereo, and a cool shift knob.. and so forth.

I like it. lol

So can I assume that if you have stage 3.... it means that you have to have stage one and two done first? You have to mod in order right? lol

Ya ya kory lol. Shit I rock rotas on the ek! But that's a diff kind of style/thing I'm going for froom the teggy

Jake for turbo cars the best goal is a 3000 rpm power curve, obviously the longer the better. That being said if you make peak Tq at 5100 and hold it till even 8100 rpm's you've got a good setup. For a b-series big turbo setup 5100 isn't bad, I liked having fast power so I really wanted full boost by 3800 and I was able to hold Tq till 8500 rpm's making for a really nice long power curve. Just make sure if your getting boost that late that you have cams big enough to allow the power to stick around and make use of those high rpm's. Reving that high if you hold out Tq will make gobs more power than the stock limiter.

Sorry for the off topic comments but I'll avoid saying anything about the Subaru in thing since I don't have anything to add. The stages thing is dumb I agree but has made a lot of company's rich. That was one of the best marketing schemes the car industry has seen. Now you don't have to know anything about what's really done, all you needed was to have a higher stage to one up the other million Subaru people in town.

Shit, I've got a stage 4 part just floating around my garage... someone gave it to my brother as a joke back in the day. If anyone wants it, I'd be willing to sell it for $1200. Get at me.

+1 on the Stages meaning you don't know what youre cars got... Had a kid I work with say his dodge family car is stage 3 because it has an "electric supercharger" haha, a fart can sticking off the back held on w/ adjustable plumbing hangers, and not to mention he took some slack out of his throttle cable.... to give it quicker response... This is no bull shit. I know I am not going to be doing much modding to my next car. (It will be a subaru most likely) DD's are definitely not supposed to have coilovers or be this friggin loud. I'm looking at doing a 2010 WRX and it will only have a cat back. Call me old fashioned but some good ol' reliability and smooth riding sounds great to me. I'll say its a Phase 1. Just to be a jackass.

Just buy some nice coilovers, after I had stance coilovers I though the same that coils were not meant for DD, till i bought the KW variants. Such a nice smooth ride and no added noise. They actually include nice noise isolators so I think its actually even quieter than stock.

Whoa, whoa!

Phase? What is this word Phase?

Is that better than a stage? lol

Ya I'm repn the tanabes coilovers and love em. Nice and smooth not hella stiff but also not soft as stock. And seems to me my car handles pretty good with em just not a fan of the neogen tires on my car!

rotas are def. knockoffs, but if you try to explain that to some people with them they get all butt hurt and think you are talking shit about their rims. turbo lag....... when i had my fmic on with my stock turbo i had a full almost 4sec before i got any power from my turbo. with my stock tmic....
1st 2000rpm-3500rpm full boost for that gear about 11lbs then around 4500rpm she falls
2nd 2000rpm to 3200rpm full boost for that gear about 13lbs again around 4500rpm
3rd 2000rpm-2700rpm full boost at 17.8 till about 4500-5000 then she falls to 10ish
4th 2000-2500 full boost 17.8 and about 4800-5200 she falls to around 10ish
5th gear is full boost pretty much the whole fuckin gear.

Lukaru explained the stages for me a couple times. Makes sense to me. There is no set in stone type definition but his first post in this thread is about as clear an explanation as you will ever find for it.

The "stage" thing is definitely more of an import deal. In domestic land we have bolt-on mods or power adders. That's pretty much it. And even then, there is debate over what constitutes what.

Hey Owen,
What stage does the belt driven leaf blower put you in? lol

For real though.... I'd like to go for a ride in your car to see what that leaf blower does for it. Nothing like some belt drive action if you ask me.

Dr.Auto wrote:

Hey Owen,
What stage does the belt driven leaf blower put you in? lol

For real though.... I'd like to go for a ride in your car to see what that leaf blower does for it. Nothing like some belt drive action if you ask me.

????? OWEN DID YOU ADD FORCED INDUCTION TO YOUR STANG? fuck caps was on sorry i wasnt yelling for you internet folk that think all caps means someone is yelling

Added a Kenne Bell twin screw blower back in November.. Got it used locally from a guy who was selling his rustang.

I do think it's kinda funny because even though very few people in the domestic world use "stage" to describe cars some of the vendors do sell kits like that. My supercharger is a "stage 1" and there is a "stage 2" if I want to buy it. It's a tune and a bigger throttle body good for about another 20-30 @ the crank.

Here's a thread on the install, with tons of pictures:
http://mustangforums.com/forum/4-6l-v8-technical-discussions/621161-kenne-bell-2-6l-stage-1-diy-install.html

Luke did the wiring work for me. Did a great job on it to.

My truck would be at stage (or because its domestic would it be phase??) 7 at least. Which had been down graded from stage 10. But thats only counting the performance upgrades, do you factor in suspension and asthetics also??

Having owned a subaru STI and been around the community, I would say the biggest in thing to do for everyone is to enhance and increase the suby boxer rumble. From subarus n/a to ones turbocharged, the most common thing done first is exhaust modification. (side note: even though many dont realize that if they actually eliminate the "rumble" by getting a more free flowing exhaust starting at the header that they would gain a bit more power even yet)

todd, i had a header and full exhaust and the rumble was still there loud as fuck, th only difference i noticed after removing the header(it cracked cause it was a cheap ebay brand) is it wasnt as deep and loud. and as far as i know adding a header doesnt do shit for a turboed subaru cause the stock manifold is good to around 400whp. and also i have know desiels that have a chip with tunes that range from stg1 to stg 10?.......... im assuming they are supporting tunes for mods done to the motor.

owen, so how much boost are you running now and how much quicker do you think your 1/4mi time will be?

It's got the 8.5psi pulley on there now.. It is supposed to hit around 440-450rwhp.

I took Sam for a drive with me and he said it felt like 12s to him. Did a 2nd-3rd gear pull. 1st gear is useless right now and the car sometimes wants to go sideways in 2nd. I need drag radials because the goodyear summer tires aren't gonna cut it any more.

At sea level people are pulling mid to high 11s with the same setup.. Keep in mind this is a manual RWD car with enough power that it's going to take actual SKILL to launch it even with good tires. So much of it is dependent on the driver. And honestly.. I've got a LOT left to learn.

Riptide wrote:

It's got the 8.5psi pulley on there now.. It is supposed to hit around 440-450rwhp.

I took Sam for a drive with me and he said it felt like 12s to him. Did a 2nd-3rd gear pull. 1st gear is useless right now and the car sometimes wants to go sideways in 2nd. I need drag radials because the goodyear summer tires aren't gonna cut it any more.

At sea level people are pulling mid to high 11s with the same setup.. Keep in mind this is a manual RWD car with enough power that it's going to take actual SKILL to launch it even with good tires. So much of it is dependent on the driver. And honestly.. I've got a LOT left to learn.

i am saying this as your friend, everytime i have heard "this person ran that with the same setup i have" they were disappointed with their time. there are so many variables to take into consideration as im sure you know such as ambient temp that day and track temp and tier temp and so on and so fourth. so what else did you add? cause obviously you arent running stock injecors are you? the reason i ask is i have a hard time believeing A. 8.5lbs of boost will give you over 125 extra whp and you cant just add boost without changing some shit right? i mean you can but your motor will let go very quickly. nowe with all that said, i dont own a mustang and have no idea the power adds from certain mods and anything that pertains to that kind of shit. so this is all stated as multiple questions. you were running what 14.7's last time or 14.5? i do understand that adding that kind of power and drag slicks cant take hella time off your original time. hence why i dont have 4 drag slicks for anastasia. A. not enough supporting power and i dont feel like breakin my tranny over and over......

I for one think your car is going to kick ass next year. I am very excited for the upcoming season as there are a fair amount of people on here doing some serious power mods over the Winter break. I bet you will hit 12s pretty easy.

stock NA 4 cyl is slow right ?

stock NA v8 is not fast but probably twice as fast as the NA 4cyl.

now add boost to the V8 and you have a fast car , if it hooks .

now i have heard the honda guys say something on a NA honda that was running 10s ? that impressive if you ask me .

sorry for the hijack thread...

Guys have been running 9's NA for a few years now in Hondas. Vids are all over youtube, easy enough to find.

Jeremy. It ran a 13.9 @ 100 last time I ran it out there. After that I installed a few more bolt-on mods. The car should have been good for a 13.5-13.6 @ 102-103 at that point but since Gillis had the track then the place was a mess. Didn't get a good attempt in so never really got to see what the car could do with that setup.

Now that the supercharger is on there I need drag radials. That's gonna cost me around six bills and I may not be able to afford that next summer. I have some debts to pay down on and I don't wanna risk blowing my motor before some of that stuff is off my plate. So tracking the car is pretty much up in the air next summer.

I said in my earlier post that the limiting factor with the car will be ME. I have never driven a car on drag radials and have never even done a burn out before. I'm a complete newb and have been a bit of a pussy about it. And on top of that it's a manual car which increases the difficulty factor. I have no doubt that the car is worth 12sec times up here but the big question is whether I can extract that out of it or not.

Riptide wrote:

Jeremy. It ran a 13.9 @ 100 last time I ran it out there. After that I installed a few more bolt-on mods. The car should have been good for a 13.5-13.6 @ 102-103 at that point but since Gillis had the track then the place was a mess. Didn't get a good attempt in so never really got to see what the car could do with that setup.

Now that the supercharger is on there I need drag radials. That's gonna cost me around six bills and I may not be able to afford that next summer. I have some debts to pay down on and I don't wanna risk blowing my motor before some of that stuff is off my plate. So tracking the car is pretty much up in the air next summer.

I said in my earlier post that the limiting factor with the car will be ME. I have never driven a car on drag radials and have never even done a burn out before. I'm a complete newb and have been a bit of a pussy about it. And on top of that it's a manual car which increases the difficulty factor. I have no doubt that the car is worth 12sec times up here but the big question is whether I can extract that out of it or not.

ok i see. so what supporting mods for the supercharger do you have? and bro its a manual, floor it pop the clutch then hit the brakes right afterwards and watch teh smoke roll. i have done it a billion times! though not with w supercharged motor.