Can't make a decision... looking for some info!!!

[BigT]

Ok, so heres my dilemma. I want to mod my car to make it superfast and kickass, but I am starting law school, and as you can imagine money is going to be short. I talked to a couple of people about AP, probably Cobb stage I. It looks as if the dealers won't be able to detect it for now, but they may be able to in the future. I then called my dealer and he said that mods void the warranty if they are the cause of the problem. I am thinking that if the dealer can figure out that I have mods I might as well go Stage II and get an UP, a DP, and probably exhaust. My real question here is does anybody have any stats on problems arising from these mods? As in what are the chances that I'm going to bone myself by doing these. Also, are these problems that will be constant, ie will something break one week, and something else the next? Will I need to be throwing money left right and center until I get fed up one day and remove all the mods, but at that point I would already have done irreversible damage to the car? Also, assuming that there is a low risk factor associated with these mods what are we talking about in terms of costs. Do the problems that typically arise form these mods cause hundred dollar problems or thousand dollar problems? I would like my car to last at least 7 or 8 years and about 100K to 120K miles. Are these unreasonable demands for a modded car? Somebody please help me make a decision!!!

[TSiWRX]

BigT,

 

Although some of our LGT brothers have had Cobb Stage II going for quite a while now - and even moreso in that there are quite a number of rather high-mileage and "hard-use" WRXs out there with this particular mod in-use, I still think that we, as a community, are simply too "young" to make any true long-term judgements.

 

In many of the other import sport-compact tuner communities, we've got vehicles that have 12+ year-old chassis and have run 200K+ miles on many components, and some even that many miles and years on certain mods.

 

I feel that in such cases, yes, a true assessment can be made of the durability/reliability of those modifications and upgrades.

 

However, with most modded Scoobys - WRXs to an extent, and LGTs definitely - being simply so tender in age and often also tender in miles, there's just no supporting data, either way good or bad, to back up any hypotheticals.

 

What we know is that yes, these mods will put additional strain on our hardware. And certainly, more aggressive driving, even if it is only once in a blue moon, will further add to such strain. But what we don't know is how excellent, regular preventative maintenance will work to negate such extra wear/tear, and whether or not our chassis and mechanicals will truly hold given years and miles.

 

Certainly, our LGTs seem to be very well built - both by subjective feel as well as by reviewing the specs on the firmware. And just as reassuring is that our WRX brothers and sisters seem to do fairly well, given the mileage that some of their modded rides have put on over these past few years.

 

But alas, without true data, one can never be certain.

 

These tuners/vendors have spent countless hours trying their best to make sure that their products are quality items, and will both net good gains for our money as well as will not cause our beloved vehicles undue stress. They've worked hard to make sure that reliability and durability isn't going out the window.

 

However, mechanical laws and physical properties cannot be chucked out the window, either, and so it becomes a choice you have to make.

 

The old adage in hot-rodding and tuner circles is "you've gotta pay to play," and it holds as true today as when our grandfathers and great-grandfathers were first tinkering with their vehicles.

 

Cowboy up, is what I say.

[Mblock66]

I have to agree with the statements above but I think I would also like to put in my 2cents.

 

I started modding at 1500 miles on this car. I am stage I with pullies already at 3200 miles. I have an uppipe downpipe lower thermostat and high pressure radiator cap sitting in the garage going on next week.

 

These types of mods but extra strain on the car but not all that much. If you were to put some SERIOUS power in the car I think you have more to be worried about. In fact opening up the ehaust to breath better is not only better for an engine, it can prove to give better MPG too.

 

As far as price, to do AP UP DP you are looking around $1150 and then installs if you can't do it yourself probably another $200-400 depending on the shop.

 

hope that helps

 

I say just do it. you can always revert to stock and bring it to the dealer

[biturbowagon]

In this message I'd like to focus on one detail you touched upon in your message: detectability of mods by dealers.

 

Trying to deceive a dealer about mods and warranty service is FRAUD--a subject that I'm sure you'll be studying when you're in law school.

 

Just FWIW.

 

 

 

Ok, so heres my dilemma. I want to mod my car to make it superfast and kickass, but I am starting law school, and as you can imagine money is going to be short. I talked to a couple of people about AP, probably Cobb stage I. It looks as if the dealers won't be able to detect it for now, but they may be able to in the future. I then called my dealer and he said that mods void the warranty if they are the cause of the problem. I am thinking that if the dealer can figure out that I have mods I might as well go Stage II and get an UP, a DP, and probably exhaust. My real question here is does anybody have any stats on problems arising from these mods? As in what are the chances that I'm going to bone myself by doing these. Also, are these problems that will be constant, ie will something break one week, and something else the next? Will I need to be throwing money left right and center until I get fed up one day and remove all the mods, but at that point I would already have done irreversible damage to the car? Also, assuming that there is a low risk factor associated with these mods what are we talking about in terms of costs. Do the problems that typically arise form these mods cause hundred dollar problems or thousand dollar problems? I would like my car to last at least 7 or 8 years and about 100K to 120K miles. Are these unreasonable demands for a modded car? Somebody please help me make a decision!!!

[melayout]

biturbowagon, talketh teh real deal.

 

Just don't do any mods till you've got at least 5 grand saved incase something breaks and you've got to pony up.

 

I've been enjoying my bone stock LGT for a year with 31k miles on the odo and tomorrow I'm doing my first "mod", new Toyo Proxes 4.

 

Modding is not cheap, parts will fail, installations will be botched and you're tight on $$$$. Think long term, stay stock and enjoy the car. Trust me, the extra power will be nice one in a while but that's it. Plus, it looks like it is your only car, which makes the decision a no-brainer.

[sutter2k]

I'd do AP and stock looking uppipe (gutted stock, sti, or bosal).

 

Put 1500 in the bank(just in case). If turbo goes, get a better turbo.

[HansGT]

if you play you pay.

[BigT]

Hey thanks for the help. Especially MeLayOut. I need that voice of reason sometimes. All the advice has been a great help. I think I'm gonna leave it stock for a while at least until I win "Win for Life"... :)

[deneb]

I'm another LGT stocker as well, FWIW I'd stay off the mods till you're out of school, and have a good job. School can get REAL expensive REAL fast. Waiting till the warranty expires probably wouldn't hurt either.

 

Melayout: Let us know what you think of the Toyo's!!