boon

I've heard some cars that sounded fantastic when they were parked up with the engine off. But as soon as you add in road noise and a good dollop of boxer burble your $2000 DLS Ultimate tweeters sound much the same as some $200 ones. Which is why I have mixed feelings about good SQ in cars. SQ/L is another matter... being able to be played loud, over the road noise, and sound really good doing it - that's the key to a good, practical car audio system.

Okie dokie! I have the only 2 Stetsom 10kd's in the country. They're factory modded by Stetsom, they do about 12800wrms each @ 12v @ 1 ohm and a shade over 20kw each when fed 18v. Top that

Actually you've probably unwittingly made some sort of implied contract. And now that you're 18, it's both binding and enforceable

EDIT: Actually, never mind me.

I swing back and forth with audio. Went down the SQ route, went the SPL route, now I'm running a reasonably high-end JVC headunit to stock speakers. I can't bring myself to put decent speakers and amps blah blah in a car that I bought for going quickly in. My audio collection in the garage is ridiculous. I don't think anyone on here would even come close, with all modesty.

Subject says it all really... 215/35/R18, gets driven fairly hard. What's out there?

Yes. Tons of things affect it. I repair car audio amps so I know what goes on inside them. 2 good, well built amps I would have a hard time hearing the difference between but if we're talking a shitty amp vs a good one of the same power rating, I reckon you can hear a difference. Things like transistor rise times, slew rates on op-amps, all that good stuff.

What sensors do you have, if you don't mind me asking? PM if you don't want it on the open forum.

Is your vacuum setup right? Even if the spring is a bit sad, as long as the vacuum from the pre-turbo intake is plumbed to the actuator with no leaks etc it should be sucking it shut fairly effectively.

My 34 is running like 21psi no problems. Note that they do whine just a little bit due to ball bearing center. Did you reduce the size of the restrictor on the oil feed banjo? If you went from an early journal bearing turbo to this and didn't change the restrictor it's possible it will be over-oiling and pushing oil through the seals.

That's not entirely sensible... for example my door got damaged by some numpty in a carpark so I replaced the entire door with a mint one... I didn't want any bog etc. either but if it's done like that, what's the harm?

I bought a WRX first and looked at spending some serious money on doing it up but then was like hang on, at the end of the day it's still only a done-up WRX and you would spend forever doing all the little things that the STi gets like bigger brakes, alloy control arms, blah blah blah. In the end I flicked the WRX and started again with an STi - then poured money into it anyway

For rock you really want a solid front stage, spend some money on some good 2-way components and a 4-channel amp which you can bridge to them and run some decent power, maybe 200wrms per side up front so you have lots of headroom. 6x9's are great if you don't have a sub but if you do have one all they tend to do is drag the soundstage to the rear... when you go to a concert, you don't face away from the band. Subs, flick them on Trademe and get a single good quality one in a good box. You'll be amazed what a difference it makes.

Frontal impact compliance?

I would say 7-10kg could be saved over a steel exhaust.

Titanium exhaust. Mine weighs like... nothing. It's a cat-back and I can easily lift it with 1 finger.

Pretty sure there's 2 on the rears. And if you've had the system significantly empty and didn't bleed them then it will be full of air. Re-bleed! With someone on the brake pedal.

Just gonna throw it out there, but it's not that big f*ck-off turbo sitting there boiling the brake cylinder? Or does it do it dead-cold? EDIT: And get yourself a brake-cylinder stopper ASAP. Cusco ones are cheap enough new from the Cusco importers in Auckland and they seriously improve the brake feel when you apply the jandle heavily.

How low is it? You can get some mega clunking from the rear diff mounts as well.

I have a master cylinder for a V7 STi sitting around if you need one. I had crazy bad intermittent pedal-to-floor action going on, turned out it was a shagged wheel bearing on the front left. Did you change some lines around? Just to make sure, check that you've still got the restrictor pill in the vacuum line that goes from the manifold to the metal lines across the firewall, and make sure it's the right way around. Although I'm not sure if this would cause other problems. Besides all that, re-bleed?

I think $400 is about that going rate although that depends what you're getting certed. For example minor body modifications (like extended guards) require certification but as they don't require things like putting the car on a hoist or road testing they should be cheap to get certed. Anything that requires more vigorous inspection and a road test (i.e. power increase, brake/steering/suspension changes) will cost more.

Only the Spec C came with VF34, and that was on the V7... V7 STi gets VF30 and WRX gets TD04L

It's a bitch of a job if it's an older car and it's never had any work done on that part of it. Chances are all the nuts and bolts on the downpipe and heat shields will be rusted up like nobody's business. Plus half the studs on the back of the turbo will probably be either rusted or bent.

Where is that? Porirua harbour? Sort out your spotlight covers already ~_~

Do you have a boost gauge? How much vacuum is it pulling?