08 GT, possible mods, opinions wanted

Ok, so im a bit of slow mover when it comes to mods. I like things to look, sound and feel like they could be OEM and for that reason, I find that I often spend a lot of time researching and wind up never pulling the trigger on anything.

 

Here are my goals, and here are my ideas. It is entirely possible that they dont line up well, and thats what im hoping to flush out with some input from others.

 

Mods Done So far:

Kartboy short shifter

Cobb knob

ebay front lip

brakeperformance.com slotted, zinc dipped rotors

Hawk HPS pads

Michelin Pilot Super Sports

 

so she stops better, has infinite traction, shifts feel solid and connected and appearance wise only slightly more aggressive. (Big fan of subtle mods)

 

Goals:

Would like more available torque at mid-rpm

Less squat, roll (tires are so sticky that suspension motions are exaggerated)

 

Ideas:

Catted DP (want to meet emissions and prevent the car from being loud)

Infamous open source tune

SPT exhaust (looking for a lower tone, but I dont want the car louder)

Rallitek springs (not looking to drop much, just lower CG, car needs to fit over speed bumps, driveways etc.)

Possibly slightly stiffer sways

Turbo blanket (want to keep underhood temps down, reduce heat soak on intercooler)

 

Thoughts? Any and all input welcome, thanks in advance for any guiding light.

dont want the car louder? stay stock.

your ideas seem good, and you should accomplish your goals with the mods you plan. Sway bars will help with roll and the springs will help as well. Keep the stock cat back since you don't want loud (which is a personal judgement anyway), if you just want a little bit of sound you can get an axle back which will make a slight audible sound but not enough to make it LOUD. Skip on the turbo blanket and just get your DP wrapped instead.

out of the two, the blanket would be most effective, IMO.

There are way better, cheaper tires than those Michelins. The Hankoon Ventus v12 Evos come to mind. Or if you want something really sticky go with RS-3's or Star Specs, although those are a bit higher in price. Still cheaper than the Michelins though.

There are way better, cheaper tires than those Michelins. The Hankoon Ventus v12 Evos come to mind. Or if you want something really sticky go with RS-3's or Star Specs, although those are a bit higher in price. Still cheaper than the Michelins though.

 

I am kind of a michelin guy, and they are unbelievable tires. I also paid ~$125 a tire, so totally worth it. Very quiet, dont track in the grooves, smooth as can be, ride quality has increased, wet handling is confidence inspiring...and all of that with a 300 treadwear! Cant go wrong!

your ideas seem good, and you should accomplish your goals with the mods you plan. Sway bars will help with roll and the springs will help as well. Keep the stock cat back since you don't want loud (which is a personal judgement anyway), if you just want a little bit of sound you can get an axle back which will make a slight audible sound but not enough to make it LOUD. Skip on the turbo blanket and just get your DP wrapped instead.

 

Anyone have a high quality sound clip of a catted DP coupled with an SPT cat-back? Im wondering if drone will be an issue with this combo...

You may want to use my Tuner seeing how your a few hours away. http://www.tuningalliance.com if you ever needed to meet up with the tuner it would be closer and he would know your set up.

 

A few of the guy's here in the east use him.

 

You could also put a smaller boost pill in and get more boost out of the turbo.

F/R sways and end links made a huge difference. They made the car much more fun to drive. I went with Hotchkis sways, avo brackets and kartboy end links.

You could also put a smaller boost pill in and get more boost out of the turbo.

 

And what would that do to my drive-ability and/or longevity?

i dont have a sound clip, but i have a catted cobb d/p and an spt exhaust... sounds exactly the way i want it to sound. Deeper. Not really 'loud', but the tones are pleasing to the ear. Besides sound, there are very minimal gains in an aftermarket exhaust at this level.

 

I would do sways, endlinks, rear reinforcement bracket next.

 

Then, a downpipe and a good tune (i loved my infamous tune, but there are some good tuners near you in CT and MA if you wanted to go that route). A catback exhaust is also a great mod, but again - mostly for sound. i would do it before the tune if you're going to do it.

And what would that do to my drive-ability and/or longevity?

 

You'll need to have the car tuned, but it will give you more hp. As long as the tune it good the engine will be happy for a very long time. If you keep it a couple of more psi then stock the oem tmic should be happy. If you get up to 17psi or more you'll need to re-enforce the clamps or go aftermarket for the tmic.

 

In fact its known that the stock tune in these cars is less then ideal. You don't want your car on the oem tune.

Also - keep your eye on the oem BPV depending on how high you go (psi wise). Some people get them up to 21 psi with no leak, others leak at 17.5....

He sounded like he was keeping the stock turbo, so I didn't think he'd get that high in pressure.

He sounded like he was keeping the stock turbo, so I didn't think he'd get that high in pressure.

 

interesting, can you expand on that a little? (indulge the engineer lol)

Talking about the bpv. However some have failed with a mild stage 2 tune at a moderate psi of 17 and change.

 

Mods Done So far:

Kartboy short shifter

Cobb knob

ebay front lip

brakeperformance.com slotted, zinc dipped rotors

Hawk HPS pads

Michelin Pilot Super Sports

 

Goals:

Would like more available torque at mid-rpm

Less squat, roll (tires are so sticky that suspension motions are exaggerated)

 

Ideas:

Infamous open source tune

Rallitek springs (not looking to drop much, just lower CG, car needs to fit over speed bumps, driveways etc.)

Possibly slightly stiffer sways

Turbo blanket (want to keep underhood temps down, reduce heat soak on intercooler)

 

I track the Michelin Super Sports and really like them. They handle a ton of punishment. Data logger showed an instantaneous 1.1G cornering in the last session.

 

Upgraded swaybars will help with the roll. I use Cobb swaybars. The front is fixed, and the rear is set on softer setting (still 215% more than stock). Solid AVO end links with Cobb rear bracket stiffener. I used Grade 10 hardware to assemble everything (coated for corrosion resistance). Swaybars was my first mod and made a lot of difference in handling.

 

Turbo wrap and a shield will help keep the turbo warm. If you are looking to keep everything else cool, you'll need to vent the hot air from under the hood. And/or wrap the intercooler and other heat-sensitive parts in a heat reflecting foil (http://info.thermalcontrolproducts.com/blog/bid/138982/Gold-Foil-vs-Aluminized-Fiberglass-with-PSA-vs-ZeroClearance or http://www.designengineering.com/category/catalog/design-engineering-inc/heat-sound-barrier/reflect-gold).

 

Depending on where you want to be with your power, do a dyno run first to see what you have. Then get a tune. Then dyno again. You should define what mid-range is as well. Is it mid-range relative to redline or mid-range of being on boost? The more specific you can be with your goals, the better the tune will be.

 

If you want to move the CG, you need to drop the car a lot (measure a speed bump...they're really not that high). Another option to help with the roll is to dial in a lot of camber. The Pilots will handle it. If changing ride heights, you should adjust your shocks to match. If you drop alot, you should get steering bits, too.

 

The rest of your mods will add noise. Search youtube for spt exhaust and listen to several videos. The DP will add more noise when you get on the throttle (at least it did on mine).

 

Your comment about over-researching is valid. The only other advice I would is to change one thing at a time, especially with suspension mods. It doesnt take very much to make a large difference.

interesting, can you expand on that a little? (indulge the engineer lol)

 

OOPS, I meant to quote that part about the stock tune being no good hahaha, that was sloppy. Im just curious whats no good about the OEM tune...

the stock tune is choppy, not smooth, and certainly leaves a good chunk of power and torque on the table to be tapped. you can either buy an accessport and flash the stage 1 tune with a stock setup or find an open source tuner to tune you a stage 1

I track the Michelin Super Sports and really like them. They handle a ton of punishment. Data logger showed an instantaneous 1.1G cornering in the last session.

 

Upgraded swaybars will help with the roll. I use Cobb swaybars. The front is fixed, and the rear is set on softer setting (still 215% more than stock). Solid AVO end links with Cobb rear bracket stiffener. I used Grade 10 hardware to assemble everything (coated for corrosion resistance). Swaybars was my first mod and made a lot of difference in handling.

 

Turbo wrap and a shield will help keep the turbo warm. If you are looking to keep everything else cool, you'll need to vent the hot air from under the hood. And/or wrap the intercooler and other heat-sensitive parts in a heat reflecting foil (http://info.thermalcontrolproducts.com/blog/bid/138982/Gold-Foil-vs-Aluminized-Fiberglass-with-PSA-vs-ZeroClearance or http://www.designengineering.com/category/catalog/design-engineering-inc/heat-sound-barrier/reflect-gold).

 

Depending on where you want to be with your power, do a dyno run first to see what you have. Then get a tune. Then dyno again. You should define what mid-range is as well. Is it mid-range relative to redline or mid-range of being on boost? The more specific you can be with your goals, the better the tune will be.

 

If you want to move the CG, you need to drop the car a lot (measure a speed bump...they're really not that high). Another option to help with the roll is to dial in a lot of camber. The Pilots will handle it. If changing ride heights, you should adjust your shocks to match. If you drop alot, you should get steering bits, too.

 

The rest of your mods will add noise. Search youtube for spt exhaust and listen to several videos. The DP will add more noise when you get on the throttle (at least it did on mine).

 

Your comment about over-researching is valid. The only other advice I would is to change one thing at a time, especially with suspension mods. It doesnt take very much to make a large difference.

 

Thank you for that input!

 

Yesterday I took a very tight windy road on my way home and really tried to find the limits of those tires and couldnt. I was downright aggressive with turn-in and couldn't get them to growl or squeal. I am more than impressed, im confident that neither my driving nor the car in its current configuration could even stress these shoes.

 

I have listened to a bunch of clips online, but most have been taken with cameras that have a tinny sound and dont do it justice. One of these days ill have to hear this setup in person.

 

As far as tuning, im nervous about two things: 1) I know little to nothing about what tuners are reputable, 2) I dont want to compromise the reliability of the car (within reason, I overclock computers all the time so i know there is always a compromise, but what i dont want is an engine on the edge of its life).

the stock tune is choppy, not smooth, and certainly leaves a good chunk of power and torque on the table to be tapped. you can either buy an accessport and flash the stage 1 tune with a stock setup or find an open source tuner to tune you a stage 1

 

I have noticed (*NOTE: RANK TURBO AMATEUR TALKING), that when I get on it, at RPM's less than say 3250, that the turbo "feels" like it spools quickly, then weazes a bit, chops in and out of boost and then pours on hard...

 

I really like this idea of getting the car tuned even to Stage 1, so suggest to me the closest place that you guys trust to central NY. I know there is STM near Rochester, and Moon Performance in Lake Placid (tempted to go here because ill take any excuse to go to Placid...)

ask in the tri-state forum

There is a timing flaw in the oem map, the Tuners have found it and know how to fix it.

 

When I told my buddy who owns a automotive machine shop that does a lot of work for the dealerships of all types, about the timing flaw, he said, that may explain why we see so many Subaru EJ255's with bad valves.

 

When I took in my heads last month which have been on Cobb AP since dec 2004 and at 8000 miles and a custome tune by http://www.tuningalliance.com at 19+psi for the past 3 years.

 

He was amazed, he said my heads didn't look like all the heads they get from the dealer. It was easy to see there was something different about this engine.

 

When I talk to him a few months back about doing the heads he mentioned a price plus depends on how many valves it needed. My heads still have all the orginal valves in them.

 

My heads had 154,000 miles on them.

 

You can also PM HAMMERDOWN, he's from your area and uses the same tuner I do.

Yesterday I took a very tight windy road on my way home and really tried to find the limits of those tires and couldnt. I was downright aggressive with turn-in and couldn't get them to growl or squeal. I am more than impressed, im confident that neither my driving nor the car in its current configuration could even stress these shoes.

 

An agressive turn-in will be unlikely to squeal. It takes more of a steady state to get them to squeal. With your stock setup, the front end will be understeering (the car turns a wider circle than the steering wheel would indicate) long before you get the squeal.

 

If you could find a clover leaf highway interchange, you might be able to generate enough lateral force to make them squeal. Personal experience says 60 mph is a good range to be in.

 

Try an autox. You'll know you're going fast enough when they chirp. When you get the swaybars, you might be able to slide the rears.

 

On a track, you would be able to get them to squeal, especially with your stock suspension. It would be a white knuckle ride, but doable. The suspension loads up and then stays there, which will put the tires in the correct audio range.