I’m one of those people who thinks modifications are fine, as long as they can’t be seen from the outside. So I did not replace any side skirts or added a spoiler to the car. My car is a 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX and has the following mods:
Forge bov Scoobysport downpipe Scoobysport exhaust ITG panel air filter QSP racing seatbelts OMP strut brace Bridgestone Potenza RE 070 225/45/17R ECU TEK Hawk HPS breakpads
As you can easily see, no changes were made that will in any way change the car in its looks.
Forge bov The Forge bov was added, because I simply like the sound of it. There is no real advantage in terms of performance. It is also set in a way, that it won’t make the typical sound all the time, but only when I rev over 3000 rpm. My main goal is to have a car that I can drive every day.
Scoobysport downpipe & Scoobysport exhaust The exhaust and downpipe dramatically improved the sound. I decided not to replace the center pipe, because this will not add performance but makes it a lot louder.
ITG panel air filter The Air filter is a special one, it uses grease instead of oil. This way the airflow meter won’t get oily and stop working.
QSP racing seatbelts I only use them when I drive on the Nürburgring or plan to go quick. Otherwise they are quite unpractical, because you can’t move your upper body anymore when you wear them.
OMP strut brace this adds some stability during cornering.
Bridgestone Potenza RE 070 225/45/17R the original Potenza 050 212/45/17R were quite good but did not really withstand the beating I gave them that well, so when I decided to get new tires I took the ones the STi has as a standard from the factory. The sidewalls are a lot stiffer and the weight of the tire also increases by quite a bit. However it is worth it. Once the roads are dry, there is no corner that you can’t take. Be careful in rain, they are semi-slicks and rain is just not the right place for them. I drove on the ring and because of standing water and totally wet conditions I only managed to drive around in 11:45 minutes. So they will work in wet conditions, but you should know how to catch the car once its going somewhere you don’t want it to.
ECU TEK In combination with the exhaust mods and airlifter I pulled around 290 HP on the rolling road.
Hawk HPS brake pads They stop. They really do. I considered upgrading the break system, but after I drove these pads, I don’t think there is a need to. They did not show any signs of fading on the ring. I normally don’t drive laps on the ring back to back, but next time I will give it a go, just to see if the pads are able to withstand 42 km without fading.
General After all the mods were implemented you could really feel the difference. I noticed a lot of noise from the exhaust after it got really hot and when I shifted gears. You know this kind of noise from rally cars. There was no one behind me so I could not see if there were flames coming out. But I will check that soon. The noise is just fantastic.
