Advice on some first mods?
 

Hey guys, I'm a newbie modder that has been researching and taking input from numerous people across the internet and I'm starting to come to a conclusion on what I want to get as my first mods.

From what I've been told, a new header is a safe bet for ez HP gainz and to sound meaner, and I've been suggested this header as my potential choice. If there's a specific header that any of you recommend, I'm always open to suggestions as long as it remains under $1000 for this specific part. I'm also interested in getting a throttle body spacer, as it'll free up my engine a little bit and costs virtually nothing in comparison. I could, to tag along with that, get an entirely new throttle body as well.

Let me know what your thoughts are, and what I should go ahead and do. It's just kinda intimidating as these mods are a decent chunk of change and I want to make sure it's the right choice for my vehicle.

Thanks in advance! From what I've seen you are all generally helpful people, so I'm looking forward to seeing your responses.

New tires. Finally switched from stock and holy chit, it makes a huge difference.

Ah yeah, I actually forgot to include this in my main post. I've been considering 18" 245's, as I've seen both 17" and 18" 245's in some posts around here as recommendations.

Throttle body is a do last item that will give very little gains even then. Don't mod random things just for the sake of modding.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96158

I'm assuming you have a 2017, since your profile says you have an 860? If so, the first things I'd do are a drop-in filter as well as a Perrin inlet hose to delete the resonator box and sound generator, unless you like that stuff. On my 2017, I didn't have the wing that you do, so I put that on first, and now I'm doing a Subaru auto-dimming mirror w/ compass and rexpeed polarized wide mirrors since headlights bother me at night and I do a lot of my driving at night, but next up for performance is a TRD catback + the two intake mods I mentioned.

I don't know, this smells of troll. Anyone who took a minute to search would learn the throttle body or spacer has no real gain. And you really have to look for that on part sites.

This is correct, I do have a 2017 860. I've been told about drop-in filters as there's no point in getting a whole new CAI. I've heard about catbacks, but what does it do for performance? Thanks for the reply.

Not a troll. I just don't think I know how to research properly *shrug*

Catbacks do nothing for performance they just sound like they do.

What are your plans for using the car? Unless you have the exact same goals and plans as others then all the suggestions you will get are just a waste of time.

For simplicity's sake, to look nice, sound nice, and go fast. My car is a daily, and sometimes I do the occasional drive up fifty or so miles through some mountain roads. So, not sure exactly what you mean by these suggestions being useless.

Quick edit: I also have plans to track in the future.

You will have guys telling you to turbo, slam, go with light weight pulleys, do engine swaps and all sorts of other weird and wonderful things. Some of those things are a great idea if tracking, hard parking at shows or drag racing but are piss poor for a daily driven street car. That is what I mean by some suggestions would be useless.
If you simply want to enhance the driving then start with the header, drop in filter and tires. Then drive for a bit to workout for yourself what else you may want to change. Don't base you plans on what some random stranger on the internet says he did. There are guys on here that will have you totally screw up your car if you follow their advice so tread carefully when following recommendations.

Thank you so much, and that's exactly why I've been waiting and observing for so long because I'm just unsure. If a header, drop-in, and tires are what you recommend then I will go ahead and begin. Is my header choice in the OP up to par? I've heard good things.

A catback won't do too much for power gains, but it's, in my opinion, a necessary step to accomplish before you do a header. A catback might net you a couple hp, I know that Toyota advertised 10hp for the TRD CAI + catback a couple years back, but mostly the catback will get rid of the weak Camry/Impreza sounding stock exhaust note.

A drop-in filter definitely sounds like the way to go since most tuners say the stock airbox is actually the best option for this car, it's just that the stock filter is garbage.

A catback will increase exhaust flow to get you ready to put a header on, but just note that with a header you'll likely need a tune but I've seen some people put a header on without ever actually getting an engine light, and as far as I know, there are no tunes for 2017s quite yet. Until we get tunes, I'm not doing my header so I'll focus on other things like better wheels and tires, some aesthetic stuff like carbon fiber replacement shift trim and door handles as well as carbon fiber hood struts to delete the prop rod.

You could also replace the front and overpipe but I've heard that it's essentially useless except for sound, I had a guy at my work (I work at a Subaru), with a BRZ go with a catless Borla header, catless Borla front and overpipe, and Borla catback and it was extremely obnoxious, he ended up reverting the front and overpipe back to stock and it sounded much more controlled which still sounding mean, but not obnoxiously loud.

Read fully the thread that Tcoat referred to. That is the first thread I read when I came here, and still refer back to it.

Then - come back and ask specific questions in the relevant subforum!

BTW - there is a subforum specifically for all things track!

GL and Welcome.