Most improving mod??

[oncesir]

I have a 98 LGT as my daily driver. Ive searched this forum and NASIOC and havent found the exact answer to my question. What bolt-on mods have the greatest effect on the EJ25? I'm not looking for anything crazy just the basics.

Im in a debate on whether I will be lowering the car or not. I plan to get an outback RSB with whiteline or kartboy endlinks. It seems that the selection of springs that only lower the car 1 inch or so is hard to come by. I know Eibach made Pro-kits for the BD but have since stopped production. Any insight on these 2 issues would be helpful. TIA

[LunchBox04V]

Hi there. I have a 99 Wagon L(Cali edition :-( ), but I got the best gains out of an intake and cat back. The stock intake was very restrictive (DEATH to SNORKUS :twisted: ). I made a custom intake out of a '93 Legacy 2.2 intake (it actually came off the car my buddy wrecked, never thought I would see it again!).
http://nmc.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30111646&id=199600328
It works great, but I would like to remove the center flex area due to the fact that it is corigated. That effectivly reduces the flow. Other than that, a cat back with a free flow muffler would be good. Best of luck!

[auspex]

welcome.

You're going to get a bunch of different answers, I'm guessing.

In the case of HP; deleting your snorkus and replacing your stock intake with a performance oriented air filter and piping is going to net you some nice gains. It sounds badass and can be purchased on ebay for pretty cheap.

A lot of guys here will also tell you upgraded brakes and/or wheels and tires are going to be one of the most noticeable differences. An easy brake upgrade is to replace your stock rotors/calipers with those from a WRX for the front and an Outback or 2000+MY LegGT for the rears. Again, these brakes can be had for pretty cheap since a lot of WRX owners ditch their stockers for brembos or whatever. Even a simple brake fluid change and new padsn will give you more brake bite.

It really all depends where you want to start. I got my intake first and loved the how it sounded and felt. Had me driving super fast everywhere, so now i'm upgrading the brakes to keep me safe. lol

anyway, have fun with it.

mike

[Wiscon_Mark]

You really aren't going to get anything terribly noticeable out of any one mod. I would put intake near the bottom of the list too - it certainly helps out, but it's not a ground breaker. I would say, intake, exhaust, cams, getting a higher CR (heads, thinner headgaskets) and engine management would make the car pretty peppy.

[scottzg]

nice stereo was the biggest improvement on my daily.

[Reason]

nice stereo was the biggest improvement on my daily.

haha That's funny, but yet true. The best thing I did was my suspension and brakes. All the performance mods I did really didn't do too much. Just made the car sound pretty sweet. If I did some Cobb stage 2 cams and engine management I would have benefited from those mods.

[Plays_with_Toys]

I would say, intake, exhaust, cams, getting a higher CR (heads, thinner headgaskets) and engine management would make the car pretty peppy.

I like the headgasket idea because, well, you have a 2.5 and your headgaskets are going to go at some point anyway.

But yes, these cars are not going to be super fast without quite a bit of work. You can gradually build a naturally aspirated car, you can gradually accumulate turbo parts and turbo later on but have no gains in the meanwhile, or gradually build money for a swap and have no power to tremendous power instantaneously. For the subaru's, sound is where it is at. Get it breathing and out better and you'll love the sound. The engine is music to my ears, hence no stereo mods. A good set of tires and the sway bar will definately help too.

[oncesir]

Its funny that you mention the HG issues. Luckily the car I bought had new heads and HG installed before I bought it. New t belt, oil separator and seals, all at the dealer. I have the bill, $4g's.

Heres what Im thinking, snorkus delete, SPT or STI rear axle back muffler, outback RSB with whiteline endlinks, kartboy short shifter with bushings. Just an idea. TIA

[Wiscon_Mark]

Don't expect to get much out of just the axleback besides sound. A full exhaust system should get you some nice gains.

[oncesir]

I did the snorkus delete and the p0420 spark plug non fouler fix. I used an airsaw and cut the resonator box and tubing off. I cut it so that the 10mm nut (the one you see in the engine bay)still secures the left over tubing. Sounds a little louder but nothing crazy. The hum at idle isnt much more than it was with the resonator box installed.

Since I cant stand the CEL staring at me and I can use the Honda pgm tester at work I cleared the CEL and installed the spark plug non fouler. So far no CEL, but I guess we will see. If anyone needs some advice on this I'd be glad to help.

[Huffer]

Tires.

[sansMYSTi]

Handling - tires and a heftier rear bar with some good endlinks
Shifting - tranny mount
Power/sound - axel back and intake

[jey]

Tires.

+1. Get some nice sticky summer tires.

[rougeben83]

Tires.

ditto. Namely, wheels and tires.

[dropdfocus]

Magnecor wires & Perrin light weight crank pulley are pretty cheap upgrades.

[Reason]

Magnecor wires & Perrin light weight crank pulley are pretty cheap upgrades.

Who the hell is this guy???

How bout some NOS???

[dropdfocus]

$79 for the pulley and $85 for the wires...
Of course an eBay intake pipe w/ a true K&N filter is about the cheapest route in almost every case.

[Wiscon_Mark]

I'd say that the wires would be a waste unless you had some serious mods, and were tuned for them.

OEM wires are plenty for a (mostly) stock application.

[rougeben83]

Oh yeah, I forgot to add, my 50 cent bathroom freshener.

Man, my drive is so much better with fresh breeze waffing in the car. :grin:

[Perdue]

I'd go for chassis and suspension mods. You'll get more for your money than the normal bolt ons. The engine bolt ons won't make a big difference until they are backed by a cam and/or increased compression ratio. P&P on EJ25 heads is about worthless unless you want to spend huge money...they already flow more air than LT1 heads IIRC.

[scottzg]

How bout some NOS???

good point! the hp per dollar is fantastic.

not as satisfying as a good stereo though.