Just got a 05 LGT w Auto...

Ok, so this subie is going to be a daily commuter, 85K on the clock, will be driven 80 miles a day. I do not have much experience w turbos and I want her reliable, but I also have the performance mod bug. It came with Borla CBE and KN Air Intake. What should I do first for mods? Things like suspension etc are given, but more power is always good! Your recomendations and ideas appreciated.

Standard answer: up-pipe, downpipe, transmission cooler, stage 2 custom tune.

Find an STi up-pipe, contact Infamous Perfomance for downpipe and tune. A couple hours turning wrenches and about $500 takes you from 250hp at the crank to 250hp at the wheels, and even more torque, and a whole new beast.

I just got one as well a little over a month ago with 73k. First things I did: catless uppipe, transmission cooler, transmission flush, oil change, and checked the oil feed to the turbo (the screen in the banjo bolt can become clogged and lead to turbo failure- mine appears to have been removed sometime in the car's prior history).

Just yesterday I got a Cobb Accessport and flashed the provided stage 1 map, and the car is definitely much more responsive, with much less overall lag in both turbo spool and throttle response.

perform a 90k service

congrats on the new purchase. Do lots and lots of research, particularly on the 5EAT. Remember that the auto trans does not like lots of low end torque. Doing so could damage it and require replacement. Anything beyond a simple stage 2 (especially since it had that on there at 85K miles), you may want to look into doing the IPT Valve Body upgrade. Just do a search...

Originally Posted by notthesnail

Standard answer: up-pipe, downpipe, transmission cooler, stage 2 custom tune.

Find an STi up-pipe, contact Infamous Perfomance for downpipe and tune. A couple hours turning wrenches and about $500 takes you from 250hp at the crank to 250hp at the wheels, and even more torque, and a whole new beast.

Whoa, whoa... uppipe, downpipe, intake, exhaust and tune gets you 250WHP?

Can anyone else verify that? Seems a bit optimistic...

I have 239 at the wheels with up, down, intake, 94 octane, stock exhaust on my 5eat, it really does pull well. If you plan to do more soon do it all at the same time to save paying for tuning twice. 16g would be nice.

That's truly amazing... (to me) I've seen stock numbers at around 195-ish, so it's pretty darn impressive how a good tune can make it all work together.

What happens to your gas mileage with a stage 2 tune? Hopefully that doesn't go down the drain...