Some tips for performance around $1000?
 

I'll admit right away, I love to drive cars, but I know nearly nothing when it comes to performance upgrades. This summer I have been saving money up to get a turbo kit, good one from my research about 5k. Some stuff came up and all I have left to play with is around 1k. I was just wondering what I could do for the best bang per buck with my price range. I am pretty handy, so if given instructions I could install some things my self (Can't tune to save my life though). I was considering the Nitrous Express 15lb kit, seems simple enough to install, but that is my last resort. Just wondering what you guys around this forum think I could do for around 1k to give my car some more power (Or a lot more if possible :bonk:)....

Also please forgive me if I posted in the wrong place, let me know where to put this and I'll put it there instead! Thank you in advance!

Also in case any of you were wondering, I got the car in about March of this year. LOVE the handling, now just to make those imprezas have to try a little harder at stoplights :)

e85 tune

That was something I was also considering, I heard that the Flex Fuel Kit V2 by Visconti Tuning is good, but is it ok to run pure e85 off it, and also how much HP and Torque gain could I expect? Thank You!

What kind of performance are you ideally looking for? Handling performance, power performance, break-yuh-neck performance?

The flex fuel kit from Visconti likes to catch fire randomly. Get one from Moto East instead. It'll need to be tuned, which means an Ecutek license and dyno time, which means it may well be above $1K.

Maybe an openflash tablet and header with a stage 2 map?

Power, the handling is good enough for where i'm driving right now. Doubt I'll get to break my neck for a G, but that's the goal!:D

I heard about openflash recently, I am not too familiar with it though. My understanding is that its a tablet that directly hooks up to the ECU with a bunch of free maps? Would I just get it and load a E85 map or something? Sorry I'm really new to tuning. I heard headers are a good idea, do you recommend any?

There are multiple threads about it in the software tuning forum. They're definitely worth a read if you're interested in going that route.

Basically, it's a tool that lets you reflash your ECU. It comes with some preloaded maps. I'm running stage 1, which is basically OEM header and everything and an optimized ECU tune. It was a noticeable difference over stock. It really is a "set it and forget it" kind of thing. And it takes 5-10 minutes to do a flash. It's quick.

There's also stage 2, which is an unequal-length catless header, air filter, and tune. This makes a significant difference because the OEM header is pretty restrictive. I believe it comes with E85 stage 1 and E85 stage 2, as well. Plus, if the map you want isn't preloaded, there are a ton more maps on their website. Chances are whatever you want to do has been done already and there's a map for it. Maps are free.

Further, you can use it for custom tunes. Turbo, supercharger, electric supercharger, whatever. A few free programs on your computer and someone with tuning experience and you're good to go. It can also be used as a set of real-time gauges, if you want to rig up a mount for your car.

I encourage you to check out the software tuning forum and see what your options are. I went with the OFT because it was quick and damn near stupid-proof, plus it gave me easy expandability for future mods.

That actually sounds pretty amazing, It definitely will not be a waste when I decide to get more upgrades! Thank you very much for the Help. I will look into it with the Header!!!:thanks:

Tires and suspension are apparenlty the best mod to do to the car, but for cheap worthwhile mods, get a airbox filter (K&N are great.)

Easy gains in hp for less than 50 bucks, great bang for buck. I enjoy my transmission insert a lot for the money, (under 30$) and mtec springs were well worth it along with a heavy shift knob. Trust me)
subframe bushings and engine mounts are great mods and cheap, which improve response, and a master cylinder brace improves brake feel.

Tune is worth the money if you have access to E85 (500-700$). If not it's still something (maybe 5-10hp) but a tune can emphasize bolt-ons like header-back exhausts. Also ECUtek and OFT is known to make the car run smoother.
Exhaust is expensive but was worth it for the sound.

-All in all, a turbo is the only way to make more than 40hp over stock. Good luck!

+1
but I would say OFT + OFH with an E85 tune(free upgrade from stage 2 if you have access to E85)

Open Flash Tablet (OFT), and Open Flash Header (OFH) combo comes in right at $1000. But you may want to try a different header if you want it now. There is currently about a 3 month lead time for the header. As for performance; on an older tune they were getting ~ +30hp/+20tq and +30tq in the dip.


If interested strictly in power, I believe that is the best bang for the buck you will find for $1000. For more info check out: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...=51962&page=11

Wow, this Open Flash Seems pretty cool! I'm tempted to order now, but 3 months?! You are right I do want it sooner, I forgot to mention that my FRS came stock with the TRD exhaust, but I'm assuming the OpenFlash has maps for it. What would be a good header I could order alongside the OpenFlash to get it in my FRS sooner?
Also I want to thank you all for all the Help!

+1 on this, im running it and its great, but remember no header and tune available is gona match a turbo. also, this is my hater face for people who have access to e85. :mad0260: