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New lgt owner, first mods?


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Just bought my 08 legacy gt limited from my fiances brother, never been a car person until now and i cant wait to get some more horsies on this machine. whats a relatively cost effective first mod for her? my plan is to keep the exterior as stock looking as possible
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ive had my gt since 07 and i am now looking into modding her. i'm going to get an accessport. i'm with you where i want to keep it as stockish as possible. i don't want exhaust, i like it quiet. i don't want to slam it either. i'm just getting the itch with this thing really. i go through extra cars like crazy (prerunners, hondas, 240s, etc...) and this is the first time i haven't had an extra car. i am modding this one to stop me from buying another car. lol

 

i chose to go with the accessport because it is easy enough to use. you get some cool gains with no additional "bolt-ons" and gas mileage even goes up. i don't want to get into all the DPs and tuning on my own. i will f something up for sure. i also like the economy maps you can load for long trips as well as the others. and if you decide to add more mods later there are other maps you can load to get the most out of them.

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First thing to do is get an Infamous1 tune. A stage 1 tune will make a VERY noticeable and immediate difference. Infamous1 can be PM'd on the site here. He is also the top mod under the Tuning forum (you can find him there).

 

If you want more power after than, a DOWNPIPE is the deal. A catted downpipe to your door is $330 from ERZ/CNT and retune for a baseline stage 2. Check out the vendor forums.

 

If you want the car to drive more like it should have from the start...

 

SWAYBARS (mounts and endlinks...) and summer TIRES.

 

I would definately address those issues before even CONSIDERING anything else. Anything else would basically be a waste of money unless you are also considering doing smart maintenance mods like...

 

REMOVAL OF BANJO BOLT FILTERS (search it and fear the reaper)

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#1: decide on a goal. it's way more cost effective to have a target in mind than keep modding and re-modding because you aren't satisfied.

 

#2: research research research research research. this site is a wealth of knowledge, and if you start modding before spending at least 2 weeks learning, you're doing yourself a disservice.

 

#3: if this is your only car, ALWAYS remember: maintenance before mods :cool:

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Welcome to the forums. I'm also in the same boat as you, the only thing i've done yet is gotten ceramic hawk pads. They're no brembos but good pads really make a difference. I figured I'd upgrade that first seeing as its pointless to go fast if slowing down will destroy stock pads
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thanks dudes, trying to stay within a $2500-$3000 limit for now, i do want to do the headlights and wheels first... again trying to keep stock look but 18x8 wheels with a fender roll may look mean. whats a new downpipe and tune look to run me? and i will need a BBK upgrade with any sort of performance mod
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IF YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT WARRANTY COVERAGE, DO NOT MOD YOUR CAR. I got to the point where I gave up on my factory warranty and upgraded performance parts. Any warranty claim can be denied if they can prove that the upgrade caused the failure, and your service department knows a lot more about what mod could cause what kind of failure.

 

With that said...

 

Downpipe and retune will run anywhere from $400-1000 brand new depending on what brands you choose and who tunes your car. A brand new invidia catless dp is around $300 from the vendors on here, and most OS tunes will run between $100 and $200.

 

Don't worry about the DRL disable, on the 08 or 09, the DRLs are the high beams on a lower setting. For the 05-07, I believe that they are the low beams which burns out the HIDs faster. Unless you're going to HID high beams too.

 

Big brake kits are unnecessary unless you track your car a lot with that extra power. Upgrading to high performance pads or HP pads with slotted rotors will be fine for the most part.

It's cool; I'm with the band
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Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your purchase!

 

A new downpipe will run you between 200 and 400ish, just depends on what brand you get and if it has a cat or not.

 

Disabling the DRLs won't mess with your warranty, it's about the equivalent of taking the lightbulbs out of the interior dome light. Not a big deal, just makes it more 'yours.'

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/drl-disable-10-minutes-2117.html?t=2117&highlight=DRL+disable

 

Anyway, if you have more questions, feel free to ask!

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downpipe and a custom tune. I prefer a local guy so that I can do some road tuning, but a lot of people are happy with infamous (he’s just really busy with tuning from what I hear, kind of a hassle to get revisions for the e-tunes...please don’t hate, that’s just what I have heard from a couple local guys)

 

the DP with a tune will unlock tons of power and without replacing the cat back it’ll be a complete sleeper.

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A HASSLE TO GET REVISIONS? Those guys are idiots. Infamous1 is VERY good at returning TXT and Email - they were obviously PMing him. I always get a response to txt.

i PMd him with no response but it is also the weekend, probably out enjoying the summer

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most OS tunes will run between $100 and $200.

 

Don't worry about the DRL disable, on the 08 or 09, the DRLs are the high beams on a lower setting. For the 05-07, I believe that they are the low beams which burns out the HIDs faster. Unless you're going to HID high beams too.

 

here come the dumb questions... OS tune? whats that stand for...

if i get HIDs youre saying i need to disable DRLs? or will it just look goofy with both

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here come the dumb questions... OS tune? whats that stand for...

if i get HIDs youre saying i need to disable DRLs? or will it just look goofy with both

 

OS = Open Source. (http://www.romraider.com)

 

Your 2 main options for a tuning solution are Open Source and Cobb Acccessport. The Cobb AP is probably the easiest way to go really. It comes with stage1 and stage2 maps and you can still get a custom tune. The AP costs about $700 though. :(

 

If you already have a laptop and some computer literacy then you can get a Tactrix cable for about $170. (http://www.tactrix.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=17&category_id=6&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53)

 

The Tactrix doesn't come with any kind of mapping and you would be spending about $150 for what is known as an etune from one of the tuners. An etune consists of the tuner sending you a basemap that you flash on to the car. You drive around and do some data logging and send them the info and they adjust it a couple of times to get it right.

 

You can get an etune with either the Cobb or OS. You can also do it right and get a dyno tune from a real protuner though that will cost a bit more. ($4-500 is about normal).

 

If you're going to spend the money on the tuning then do yourself a favor and at least get the downpipe first. It along with the tune makes most of the difference on these cars until you upgrade turbo and fuel. Most other parts after this setup won't really yield noticeable results until the new turbo/fuel.

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Newbies don't have "dumb questions"; it is just that a lot of people on here have gone to the trouble of consolidating information that you need to become familiar with to morph your dumb questions into informed inquiries, so see here to begin:

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/attn-new-members-look-here-first-67940.html

 

here come the dumb questions.
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A HASSLE TO GET REVISIONS? Those guys are idiots. Infamous1 is VERY good at returning TXT and Email - they were obviously PMing him. I always get a response to txt.

 

i PMd him with no response but it is also the weekend, probably out enjoying the summer

 

:rolleyes:Like I said... TXT or EMAIL him!:rolleyes:HE IS PROBABLY OUT MAKING SOMEONE GO FAAAAAAAAAAAAST!!!!!!!!!!!! It is the weekend - EVERYONE IS OFF so they scheduled to see HIM!

 

here come the dumb questions... OS tune? whats that stand for...

if i get HIDs youre saying i need to disable DRLs? or will it just look goofy with both

 

^BETTER TO ASK DUMB QUESTIONS THAN ASK FOR HELP AFTER DOING A DUMB UPGRADE!!! OS = Opensource and more importantly go spend a little time on ROMRAIDER.com and read some newb forum info. Yes it is totally overwhelming but if you find it intereting, move toward using your laptop and a tactrix cable. The reason to disable DRL is because you will go thru hid bulbs quick if you run them all the time. I suggest you not disable DRL (and if you do, dont post it on the internet - who knows how it would effect you insurance-wise in an accident) but RE-enable the DRL to the foglights like some have done. I am considering this as my solution too. I want HID upgrade lows and DRL fogs.

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i just realized hes in socal and im east coast... i dont see this being a match made in heaven. long distance relationships are not my cup of tea. there is a shop near me though that specializes in subarus called Area 1320, anyone ever hear of them?
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Like I said...don't look at me. Just going from what I have heard.

 

I like having a local guy because he can sit in my car and do it. Then we can go for a drive and if it still isn't running right it can be fixed right there on the spot.

 

To each his own.

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i just realized hes in socal and im east coast... i dont see this being a match made in heaven. long distance relationships are not my cup of tea. there is a shop near me though that specializes in subarus called Area 1320, anyone ever hear of them?

 

Dyno tunes are great, but relatively expensive, esp is you're doing progressive upgrades. Infamous is tuning my 2 LGTs at one time. I just received his 2nd revised map for my Stage 2 wagon earlier this evening (Sunday). Very responsive/responsible tuner. And I had a great Stage 1 tune from Infamous in April. Emails improving my performance - how sweet i that?

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