Time for upgrades!!

owned my subie for a couple months now and my wallet has slowly thickened over the summer due to some odd jobs I did in the last couple of weeks before school started. I have $300 (I'm 16) right now but I should have near double that by next month any ideas for the first mod? 1997 subaru outback limited w/ 5spd manual will post pictures when I get a chance

save your money and enjoy the ride as is.

and if you'd rather blow all your money on your car instead... read this

Adjustable rear sway bar! I love my Whiteline. Improves the ride immensely.

 

But I'd make sure all the maintenance items are taken care of first before doing any mods. Plugs, wires, timing, filters, etc.

 

My second favorite mod has to be my JDM projector headlights w/HIDs.

KYB GR2 struts and some good lowering springs. and smaller tires lol. I just don't like how tall outbacks are

I second the maintenance items; make sure your car is running well before modding. All the mods in the world won't make a dead car go any faster.

Go for it man. Try cheap and work your way up. Go to a you pull it and find parts off newer cars and mod them to fix. Try doing a rattle can job on the wheels. If you take your time it'll look like you paid for it. Do let people dog on you about your car do your own mods and love it. To me any mod that you do yourself is a cool mod. A modded 90s model $1000 car is way cooler than an unmodded new car.

First mods I did were a Cobb short shifter and light weight crank pulley, really enjoyed those. Together both of those are well withing your budget and can be installed in no time with basic hand tools. Best bang for your buck mods are suspension, it costs WAY to much money to extract power out of the na EJ engines (found out the hard way).

I agree with a few these dudes. Suspension, short shifter, sway bars, used sti catback, cold air intake. Hah your pick.

i'd have to agree with the JDM headlights being one of the best mods..

 

the difference in light output is unbelievable!

I'd recommend 02-07 wrx wagon struts and springs. Did that on my wagon it made a big difference in the handling. It will lower your car a bit too.

Been trolling NASIOC complete car part out for wrx sways, springs, struts etc.. I have $400 right now.. worth it to get whiteline rear adjustable sways over oem wrx sways? or should i just call shits to all of it and find shocks/struts?

 

suspension is my main focus as that is what interests me the most (using this car as a learning tool) also KYB vs wrx/sti conversion?

 

Thanks guys for all the input it really helps will try to get some pictures up this weekend for my OB

If you're focusing on suspension, are your trying to make it handle better or ride better (i.e. ride quality...is your existing suspension shot)? If the former, and your existing shocks/struts ride fine, then I think many would agree that sways are the better bang for the buck in terms of improving handling. If the latter, and your car is bouncing like a pogo stick over any bump or imperfection in the road, then new struts/springs might be the way to go. This recommendation, of course, falls in line with my previous post of getting it running 100% before modding it to perform beyond OEM specs. Just my 2 cents.

 

Other cheaper mods if you want to go a different way that can fit in your stated $400 budget. Assuming you can do all the installs yourself, you can do all these, plus probably get at least one sway bar, for less than $400:

- Headers: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1997-2005-SUBARU-LEGACY-IMPREZA-WRX-RS-2-5L-STAINLESS-STEEL-HEADER-EXHAUST-98-98-/321153320621?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ac63ac6ad&vxp=mtr

- DIY intake, or aftermarket intake: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Racing-Air-intake-Adapter-Kit-SUBARU-Impreza-Forester-Legacy-outback-Cold-Filter-/191295805129?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1997%7CMake%3ASubaru%7CModel%3ALegacy&hash=item2c8a1e56c9&vxp=mtr

- Muffler: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=vibrant%201046%20muffler]Amazon.com: vibrant 1046 muffler[/ame]

 

- Front and/or rear strut tower bars: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Front-Rear-Upper-Strut-Tower-Brace-Bar-Bars-for-Subaru-94-01-Impreza-95-96-97-/371063723766?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1998%7CMake%3ASubaru%7CModel%3AImpreza&hash=item56651f16f6&vxp=mtr

- Vinyl wrap on various external/interior parts for some nice accents (see post 3801): http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/did-you-do-your-2nd-generation-subaru-todayi-v2-200437p254.html

- Plasti-dip to your delight!

Just spent $1500 getting it to run perfectly (engine/transmission) lol everything is fine in that department I just want to get in to modifying my car if he replies I'm following a page on NASIOC that has 04 sti sways front and rear for $130 so I'll look into that.. Headlights are fine right one got replaced a couple months ago, I might be interested in headers later but both of my parents live on AWESOME mountain roads (divorced) so I really just want to get it handling better. From what I hear cold air intakes don't do too much for our cars but I keep hearing about hybrid intakes but I can't find any info on them could any body explain those to me? Once again a big thanks to everyone's contribution to the thread the input really helps! Special thanks to Zeus Marine for putting together that awesome upgrade page I have read it multiple times I just wanted to know what everyone thought upgrade número uno ought to be.

If the car is up to speed on maintenance/reliability and you want better handling, then the sways you're looking at (or others like Whiteline) would be a good bang for buck. I'd look also into some quality tires too...people seem to mod the suspension hardware but forget the part of the suspension that actually grips the road. Good tires make a difference!

 

I think the How-To for the hybrid is in one of the stickies thread; just have to search for it.

Yea I was planning on getting new wheels/tires but with my limited budget it might be a while lol

05 subaru impreza wrx lowering springs $350

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/pts/4632795852.html

 

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05 subaru impreza wrx lowering springs $350

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/pts/4632795852.html

 

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iOS: http://bit.ly/CL_iOS

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Wow, if I was local I'd really be interested in picking those up.

Me too

Swaybars. Seriously. I have a 98 Outback and the swaybars were by far the most noticeable improvement. Just a rear sway bar will work wonders. It will make the car a lot more neutral (less prone to plowing understeer) and will make it handle so much flatter.

 

Not to mention, it's a relatively inexpensive upgrade, and the REAR bar is so easy to do you can swap it in 15 minutes.

Just picked up a set of jdm headlights and jdm fogs. Our cars came with awful headlights. Threw a set of HIDs in the projectors, and WOW. Huge visibility improvement. Also the suspension bits are a good idea as well. Did the Joni inserts with 07 wrx springs and tophats (daily driver) and that made a world of difference as well. And yes...dip it!

owned my subie for a couple months now and my wallet has slowly thickened over the summer due to some odd jobs I did in the last couple of weeks before school started. I have $300 (I'm 16) right now but I should have near double that by next month any ideas for the first mod? 1997 subaru outback limited w/ 5spd manual will post pictures when I get a chance

 

You should save that money in case the headgaskets go bad. Don't want to be without coin if/when that day comes. But hey, it's your money. You spend it however you want.

 

That being said, I will start you out with a list of mods NOT to do (from experience):

- Cold Air/Short Ram Intake - Not only is this a complete and total waste of money by itself, (especially that plastic Spectre crap from AutoZone,) but it actually hurts your gas mileage with no power gains whatsoever. When you delete the factory air box and snorkus (intake piece inside the fender) it allows a sound frequency to resonate and vibrate the wire in your mass air flow sensor. This tricks your motor into thinking there's waaay more air at a certain RPM range than there actually is, so it dumps more gas to compensate. My mileage went from 17mpg to 9mpg. Don't do this.

- Cut Springs - Do not and I repeat DO NOT cut your springs to lower your car. I cut my front springs and I have not been able to get an alignment done right ever since. If you want your car lower, buy some lowering springs and good shocks. Maybe just a coilover set. Regardless, suspension is one of many things you do NOT want to ghetto rig.

- Painted Tail Lights - For the love of god, if you're going to tint anything other than your windows, use a vinyl wrap. That whole VHT Nightshades fad has come and gone and people are ready to do it right now. I put red tint over the top of the amber on my taillights and I love it. It makes it look unique, but still stock. I also put really bright bulbs in my headlights and used a VERY light shade of black over them. It keeps them from oxidizing and it looks like they're really shiny all the time.

 

That's my rant for the day. Hope it helps you make a decision.