First mods for stock 4EAT bugeye WRX?

[newguybugeye]

Hi guys, newbie here. This my first turbo car, and I had to buy it sight unseen from Auckland (I\'m from Wellington). I chose the 4EAT auto for various reasons, among them that I\'ll be doing a lot of driving in traffic and thought the auto would make my life a little easier.

I didn\'t realize that the 4EAT\'s pickup response down low, coupled with turbo lag, would make it quite slow to accelerate. This bums me out a little as I\'d thought it would be great for zipping in and out of traffic - but the reaction time is just too slow!

Live and learn though - and as I\'ve never really been into cars, I\'d like to ask you guys your advice on what I can do to get the most out of this car.

I\'ve read on various forums that some of the first mods for 4EAT often include:

- High stall torque converter

- Aftermarket up/downpipes

- Custom tune

Which of these would you recommend to start off with, to make it a bit more nimble for daily driving?

Thanks in advance.

[lachlan]

whats your budget?

forget the torque converter

prolly best spent giving it all abig once over . filters oil plugs etc .

then remove restrictions in the intake and exhaust to what ever level your budget allows

[Kiwi_Fozze]

Reflash the computer, maybe a new downpipe. Full exhaust. Handling mods!!! Stiffer suspension, swaybars, strut bracing, good tyres and get it a little lower. Some massive gains can be made in the tuning, and it can be done quite cheaply if you talk to the right people

[MercuryFree]

 kwi_fozze said:

Reflash the computer, maybe a new downpipe. Full exhaust. Handling mods!!! Stiffer suspension, swaybars, strut bracing, good tyres and get it a little lower. Some massive gains can be made in the tuning, and it can be done quite cheaply if you talk to the right people

Whilst normally I would advocate this route, stiffer suspension in a daily driver is not most people\'s cup of tea

[newguybugeye]

 kwi_fozze said:

Reflash the computer, maybe a new downpipe. Full exhaust. Handling mods!!! Stiffer suspension, swaybars, strut bracing, good tyres and get it a little lower. Some massive gains can be made in the tuning, and it can be done quite cheaply if you talk to the right people

Cheers! I was looking at Speedtech in Wellington in terms of tuning, they seem to have a good rep.

[Disruptz]

I also have a 4eat in a wrx, but i\'m sad with it.. :\'( will be swapping it out soon to a 5mt/6mt for bigger power.

I dropped in a v30, + sti pinks, v7 sti tmic + large trans oil cooler + high flow exhaust + tune

and put down 240whp, which is about same as lightly modded sti. the 4eat robs about 25% of what a manual can make,

[lachlan]

yeah they are good at that

saw a gq patrol once the guy had put a dodge viper motor in it hooked to the standard nissan automatic . on the dyno it had 310 hp at the wheels . so that means the auto was converting at least 100kw of power into heat

[newguybugeye]

 Disruptz said:

I also have a 4eat in a wrx, but i\'m sad with it.. :\'( will be swapping it out soon to a 5mt/6mt for bigger power.

I dropped in a v30, + sti pinks, v7 sti tmic + large trans oil cooler + high flow exhaust + tune

and put down 240whp, which is about same as lightly modded sti. the 4eat robs about 25% of what a manual can make,

Ah bugger!

Yeah I had considered the 5MT, but as I\'m moving to Auckland for work in the new year, with long commutes in shitty traffic to look forward to, I thought the 4EAT would be the better decision.... time (and some mods) will tell!!

[Kiwi_Fozze]

Auckland isn\'t toooo bad traffic wise. Just pick your times right and you\'ll be fine. Good workout for the legs too lol

[Disruptz]

with a tune you will deff have alot more pickup, especially if you have the stock turbo (td04), a good tune can have you full spooled by 2500rpm, I did, was an absolute killer, i loved it but power died by 4800rpm lol. So I went bigger.

[newguybugeye]

Thanks for the input guys.

Took the Bugeye in search of cool photos today. Here are some of them:

[Marky]

Is it just perspective or is the back jacked up something crazy

[Scoobydoo]

Sparco mudflaps? Cool!

[newguybugeye]

Is that a good thing? It\'s all just the way I got it from the last owner.

[optmspotts]

Woah man, not usually a fan of the bug-eyes but I really like the look of yours. Interesting tail lights it has 8)

[Disruptz]

yeah nice whipp def throw in some springs ;D +1 on the sparco flaps, nice addition.

[runrabbit]

are the rear spats a little short?? they dont seem to come around the end of the bumper ???

nice pics

she does look high tho.