Topic: Asstuna's 2012 WRB STi - Now being cared for by somebody nicer than the Tuna

[Asstuna]

Let's start with pictures;

Photo courtesy of Jellynuts, WSC Super Meet (July 2013)


Winter prep (October 2013)


Summer 2013 with goldies (May 2013)




AutoX mode (May 2013)




Winter mode (March 2013)




Summer mode (August 2012)










Current Mod List

Engine/Exhaust/DriveTrain
Cobb Access Port
Invidia Q300 exhaust Ti tip. I get quite a few questions about it, so here's a dyno run, with audio, of the Invidia Q300 TBE. Note, video taken with the stock UEL headers.
Invidia Catted Down Pipe (wrapped with DEI Titanium wrap); found here
Tuned by Airboy Tuning
Invidia EL headers (double wrapped with DEI Titanium wrap); found here
PTP Turbo blanket; found here
DEI Reflect-a-gold tape for OEM TMIC; found here
Killer B Pickup & Windage Tray; found here
Cobb SF Intake & Airbox; found here
Group N Engine Mounts; found here
Group N Transmission Mount; found here
Whiteline Positive Shift Kit; found here
Kartboy Short Shifter w/ front & rear bushings; found here
TiC Shift Linkage Bushings; found here
Kartboy Engine Pitch Stop; found here
Fluids:
- Tranny & Front Diff = Motyl-Gear 75W90 first analysis here
- Rear Diff = Motul 90PA LSD first analysis here
- Engine = Motul 8100 5W40 (roughly 3-5k intervals) first analysis here, second analysis here, third analysis here

Handling/Brakes
AutoX Tires: Dunlop Direzza ZII 265/35R18; journal/review this post
AutoX Rims: Enkei PF01A 18x9.5, black, 45 offset (4mm custom spacers to clear front coilovers, rear fender roll); found here
Summer Tires: Achilles 123S 265/35R18 (currently rubbing on the front liners)
Summer Rims: Work CR Kai 18x9.5, custom gold, 38 offset (4mm custom spacers to clear front callipers, rear fender roll); found here
Winter Tires: Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7 (studded) 245/40R18
Winter Rims: OEM Silver Enkei 7 split spoke 18x8.5
Motul 5.1 Brake Fluid
Cusco Rear Lateral Links; found here
KW V3's; installed here, journal of changes here
Grimmspeed Master Cylinder Brace; found here
Whiteline Front Sway Bar 24mm Adjustable; found here
Whiteline Rear Sway Bar 22mm Adjustable; found here
Kartboy Front/Rear End Links; found here
Whiteline Front Lower Control Arm Bushings; found here
Whiteline Roll Centre Adjustment; found here
Whiteline Steering Rack Bushings; found here
Whiteline Crossmember Mount Inserts; found here
Whiteline Rear Diff Inserts; found here

Interior/Exterior
DAMD 'D' Wheel from AvoJDM; found here
Escort 9500ix Radar Detector (oh how I love thee, let me count the ways)
Blackvue DR500GW Dash Cam
Weathertech Digital Fit floor mats
Weathertech Digital Fit trunk mat
Rally Armor Mud Flaps (black with red lettering)
Blox Racing shift knob; found here
Black STi JDM side badges; found here
LED Map lights
LED Dome light
Cobb Front Licence Plate delete
Black Hella Supertones
Front CS Lip (Bayson R)
6k LED Fog lights found here
Cusco Rear Tow Hook (this is just going to live in the trunk until winter)
20% Tint (front and rear, been lucky so far)

Close-up of the gorgeous gold rim


Dyno 23-May-2013


Dyno 10-Sep-2012

[Asstuna]

Fender Rolling 101

So I had a crack at rolling my fenders. Having never really tweaked a car before this was quite the adventure for me. The photos don't reveal my laptop in the trunk with the Youtube Eastwood fender rolling videoat hand, nor my Google searches for where to jack my car up... yes, I'm that pathetic. I've never raised a car on a hydraulic jack, nor used jack stands.

Before shot


After shot. I started with an easy roll but I was doing so well I went ahhh uckyfay and bent it all the way clear.


Listen to the hordes of experience. *Take your time*... and use your wife's hair dryer if you're too cheap to rent a heat gun.

[Asstuna]

As posted earlier, these bits arrived in the mail on Saturday.


On Sunday I started this... my winter tire change over. Getting married next weekend and heading off to Miami for a week, so now is the time. While the car is up, why don't I get some other stuff done...


That was the first time *ever* I had raised a car on four stands. After a little confusion, initially, I managed to overcome my ground clearance issues and raise the car to a height I could wriggle under. I didn't quite like that so I raced back to my new friends at Napa and bought one of their cushioned floor trolley thingys. For $20 it was a bargain and I never banged my head, nor pinched myself on the swivel castors once.

My garage is not attached to the house but thankfully my wireless is strong enough that I can have my bookmarked pages on hand as required. All that easily available data didn't stop me from forgetting a crucial cable tie... more on that later.

First things first, I consider this the breaking of my virginity; more so than the fender rolling... I pulled apart the inside of my car to get to the nitty gritty shifter upgrade. There was a fair bit of sweating involved as I had no idea where the 2012 pins/screws were, despite many how-to's. More research and several replays of a youtube video and I was in like Flynn. Laptop battery levels still okay at this point.


Yet another OEM/Kartboy comparo


Wasn't happy about the condition of the Kartboy shifter bushings, but meh, they're not so critical and torqued low anyway. A little bit of fine sanding and some white lithium grease...


2012 OEM tranny mount doesn't look much different to the Group N. I was having a WTF moment when it came out but a quick thumb nail compression test helped me realize I hadn't wasted my money


Transmission crossmember brace is out (all of it), exhaust heat shield is out, O2 sensor disconnected (how about the amount of cable wind-up is required to reinstall the damn thing?). Here is the OEM rear shifter stay bushing vs the Katboy equivalent. Like a tennis ball vs a hockey puck. My first threaded bolt. uckfaying thing was tight but wouldn't torque. Other side was fine.


Changed out the Shift linkage bushings for the TiC replacements. Ended up using the "push the tranny" method to pull the bolt rather than punch the 1/4" pin. Needed a pinch bar for this. A second set of hands would really have helped here as my new Napa cart thingy wasn't good for applying load to the gearbox. As you can see, the OEM is crushable, the TiC is not. This was, by far, the hardest thing I did all day. I will *never* bother to re-install the OEM bushes if I sell my car. A buyers win.


Front shifter bushing. I literally pushed this out with my thumbs. isspay weak. Everyone should swap this.


Last thing to go in... the Whiteline positive shift kit


Even more tips for anyone else attempting this :-
- The reverse lockout cable thing isn't a huge drama. Use a prop to hold the gearbox connection at maximum extension... your wife's hair ties are perfect when pinned against a screwdriver
- re-aligning the reverse lock-out pin is made easier using your 3/32" punch from the back and using your hand to begin pushing the pin through with, itshay, anything rigid which holds the pin
- you don't need a friend to hold the gear lever when pounding the 3/32" pin in/out with a hammer. Lots of padding and long, dexterous fingers are handy
- it's possible to do the shifter stay and linkage bushings without dropping the aftermarket exhaust... what? you have an OEM exhaust? you should kill yourself.
- DO NOT FORGET to attach a second cable tie/zap strap/enispay ring to the reverse lock-out cable or the additional 1" of cable you push through the boot will rub on the drive shaft. It's the last thing you want to hear.

For the sake of those who have never seen the underbody of their car from a hoist (self included), here's a Whiteline "map" showing what goes where. My friendly Whiteline Tech advised me that the map is right, but the item codes are not. You can do your own research or you can PM me, I'm more than happy to help. Oh, one more thing, don't try to put a Whiteline [KCA334M] ALK on a >2011 STi, use a [KCA425M]... and no, I'm not thinking about one yet, I don't think I have the fortitude for it.

[StickyTires]

Coming together nice man! I like I like!

[Asstuna]

Now the front is sloppy and the rear is sloppy. I'm going out of my mind because the winter tires are a bad reference point for mod's

And while I'm at it, Funk32, thanks for the valuable advice. I owe you a beer... come to Clagary

[richie_rich]

Great start, car looks awesome!

[YvanF]

Car looks good man. What camera are you using?

[Asstuna]

Car looks good man. What camera are you using?

For my own pics, a Canon EOS 350. You can see the metadata on Flickr. The Tunerworks shots were done with a Lumix, I think. I'm just a hack photographer.

[funk32]

Now the front is sloppy and the rear is sloppy. I'm going out of my mind because the winter tires are a bad reference point for mod's

And while I'm at it, Funk32, thanks for the valuable advice. I owe you a beer... come to Clagary

haha, ya soft side walls make it hard to tell how great the suspension can be.

Ill be down in the spring/early summer for a tune haha

[Alex]

subscribing... sweet build so far!

[Guglianoh]

Great write, good first mods not sure what to think of you "ahhhh uckfay it" mentality though lol

[skylineguv]

Great write, good first mods not sure what to think of you "ahhhh uckfay it" mentality though lol

Don't let his comment put you off. The most OCD Aussie I've ever met......even his wife beater is ironed to perfection 

[Asstuna]

Hah, I suspected it was you Mark.

[skylineguv]

Hah, I suspected it was you Mark.

 

[drewfuspx]

Can't get over how good that rim, lug, color combination looks on the car brother! I had no idea when you picked it up it would end up like that! I didn't get a chance to hear your exhaust except briefly when you rolled out from the event at SoC. One of these days I'll find you on the open road and listen to a pull!

Props on getting your gloves dirty on this, it's one thing to mod, it's another to mod yourself!

[kijho]

Looks awesome man!

[Asstuna]

Updated the first post.

Today VEX installed the following :-
- Group N Engine mounts
- Kartboy pitch stop
- Killer B oil pickup and windage tray
- Grimmspeed master cylinder brace
- Whiteline steering rack bushings
- Whiteline rear crossmember bushing inserts
- Whiteline rear diff bushing inserts

My impressions :-
- engine mounts - I can hear *everything*... everything little whirr and wheeze... which is just perfect. I love the intimate touch between man and machine. It reminds me of bike racing when you feel everything through your hands, balls and feet. Actually, just hands and feet as your balls are pushing up into your throat somewhere.

- pitch stop - my shifting feels more... uhh... precise? After a couple of hard off-the-light pulls I no longer feel like there's a chance I'm going to stuff the second to third shift (I still managed this once even after I did the Kartboy SS shifter and shift link bushings).

- Killer B - peace of mind. The OEM is a POS. Look at CanehdianJ's photo (shamelessly stolen below). The 2012 version looks no different minus the crack


- Grimmspeed master cylinder brace... a) it's cold and the roads are wet/icy. I don't reef on my brakes in these conditions so I really can't tell the difference and b) I don't usually drive on the street so hard that I need to brake like a demon and feel the flex. At this stage, this was a want rather than a need. Next season change will be fluid. Let's see if there's a difference then.

- steering rack bushings - things feel "tighter" but I find it hard to give at 'er when it's night, the roads are trash and anywhere I can go hard has to be away from anyone who is going to flip out seeing my headlights switch L-R across their lane. Maybe later.

- rear diff and rear crossmember inserts - remember how I whinged about how it was hard to compare suspension changes on winters tires? Well uckfay me, I was... ruh, ruh wrong. The back of the car is tighter. I've noticed more predictable wheel spin on hard launches. The back steps out more concisely when I make a throttle/wheel request and the overall feeling is one of control. Perfect. Next, sway bars. Oooh, maybe coil overs.

[RhinestoneChow]

I love your car. What kind of sway bars and coilovers do you have in mind?

[Asstuna]

KW V3's
Whiteline Front Sway Bar 24mm Adjustable
Whiteline Rear Sway Bar 22mm Adjustable

oh, and thanks, I love my car too.
No, I loooove my car (where's a gimp mask smiley when you need one)

[Asstuna]

Wait, while I remember (I'm drinking beer so that's chancy)
I respect a vendor who tells you *everything*. I cannot stand it when someone finds something about, or does something to your pride and joy and then fails to mention it or even worse *hides it from you*. In VEX I have have found a vendor who is open and honest about what they find/see in the workshop. I respect that and will continue taking my business there. Ryan and Jimmy /salute.

[cmyles]

Beautiful STi man, just realized I hadn't checked out this thread. Well done!

[seat safety switch]

The motor mounts and transmission mount will gradually break in over the next few days and it will sound less manly.

It will still feel great though.

[DIGGGS]

Very nice! car looks like its all comimg together. Beauty!!!

[Asstuna]

Updated first post.

Quiet days at work = some research and planning, spend some money.
Now twiddling my thumbs waiting for stuff to arrive. Then hide it from my wife.

[Alex]

What license plate delete did you go with?

Also, where did you get the wheels painted?