2013 Subaru Impreza WRX STI - Project Log
 

Hi everybody,
Finally saved enough to buy my dream car, a Subaru WRX Sti. I couldn't last a month before getting the ecomodding bug.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1617.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1624.jpg

Since the car is brand spaking new, i am mostly sticking to simple aero mods that will not permanently alter the look of the car (gonna hold off on rear wheel skirts or kaamback's for now).

current mods:
1) side mirrors folded in
2) Torque App to track mpg's
3) 90% lower grille block
4) Fog light covers
5) tires at 42 psi (max sidewall 51psi)
6) upper grill block

Future mods:
2) under belly tray (the nice thing about getting a sports car is that the bottom is already very flat from the factory).
3) rear underbelly tray

Current mods in the works:
1) side skirts

Side Mirrors Folded in: Version 1.0:

Used a simple bubble mirror with an aluminum bar, double sided tape.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1785.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1789.jpg

The mirror was too heavy and the heat casued the double stick tape to loose its stickiness, the mirror kept falling off.

Version 2.0: i used a different style blind spot mirror, double sided tape attached the mirror itself. This gives me a better view of my blindspot since the mirror is on the outside now
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1924.jpg

Torque App:
used my old HTC android phone with a windshield suction mount. The app is great, however, the mpg's max out at 255mpg when coasting, therefore, the total average mpg's are slightly off..so at best you'll get an accurate ballpark figure.

It turns out the old rule of thumb of "80% load to accelerate" may not be the best for this car because in 6th gear at 80% load puts me in boost...in which the mpgs drop to 5mpg.


http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1915.jpg

Building the lower grill block:
Since it's a turbo car, i know engine temps will be very important to keep an eye on, therefore, i recycled my old grill block from my del sol and cut the block into sections so i can attach/remove sections if temps start to creep up. I also left about a 1 inch clearance on the bottom of the grill block to still allow air to flow in if im stuck in traffic.

The nice thing about the STI bumper is that there is a 2 inch wide strip of unpainted bumper, therefore NO RISK OF DAMAGING PAINT! I just used double sided tape again to attach the coroplast.

It kinda looks like teeth
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1804.jpg

Coroplast lines up perfectly to sit flush with the bumper
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1803.jpg


Building the fog light covers:
I just used painters tape and masked the fog light covers. Then took a pen to trace the shape onto the tape. Then i took the tape off and put it on corolast, then cut to shape. Attached using double sided tape.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1926.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1927.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1928.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1931.jpg

it sits flush
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1933.jpg

Finished the grill block and PAINT
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1946.jpg

If you're wondering what type of paint i used for the bumper...its' flat black PLASTIDIP....i sprayed the bumper to protect against rock chips because a 3m clear bra would run me $650 :eek: The nice thing about Plastidip is that it will peel right off if i ever want to change color or touch it up.

Pseduo Results: the car seems to coast a lot longer now, no ABA testing because i know these mods definately worked on my del sol. EPA is 20mpg combined...right now im averaging about 23-24 mpg combined. The car is still breaking in with only about 1300 miles on it. MPG's should hopefully increase after my first oil change.

Next up: upper grill block and side skirts

My dog, Einstein, checking out the new ride
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1940.jpg

**Updates 8/12/13**
Building the Side Skirts - I didnt want to drill into body work, luckily the bottom of the car is already flat from the factory, so i want to build something that is lighweight and that i can attach using double sided tape. A traditional vinyl rain gutter felt a bit too heavy to be supported by double sided tape. I also wanted to make it easily removeable for ABA testing.

**UPDATES The side Skirts ended up warping and looking really crappy. REMOVED SIDE SKIRTS 8/26/2013**


Building the upper grill block
The hoodline creates a big gap, so i want the upper grill to serve a double purpose....cover the grill and cover the hood gap. I'll most likely use velcro so i can remove the block easily.

Using painters tape to see how much blockage i can get away in terms of engine temps. So far, engine temps have been normal around 188*F
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1949.jpg

Rough fitment and Mockup - i'll tweak this design if I ever have any engine temp issues.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1957.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1967.jpg

**Added 8/26/2013** See Page 6 for more details
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG2082.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG2083.jpg



**ADDED 8/26/2013** Kill Switch V. 2.0 - Page 6
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG2077.jpg

**ADDED 9/13/13** upper grill block v3.0 - Page 7
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG2223.jpg
**ADDED 9/23/13** passenger side mirror delete - page 8
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG2272.jpg

**ADDED 10/11/13** Kill Switch V. 2.1 - replaced with brake switch- Page 11
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG2415.jpg

**ADDED 10/11/13** Lower Grill Block v1.1 - One Solid coroplast piece- Page 11
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG2417.jpg

**ADDED 10/16/13** Upper Grill Block v331 completed - page 12
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG2437.jpg

**ADDED 1/15/14** underbelly tray - page 12
Front to rear
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG2779.jpg

rear under tray with rear wheel boat tails
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG2758.jpg

***ADDED 3/20/14 scangauge ii*** Page 14

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG2815.jpg

***ADDED 4/30/2014 Upper Grill block v3.4*** page 17
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG3010.jpg

***ADDED 6/28/14 Underbelly tray v2.0*** page 22
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG3152.jpg


***ADDED 8/30/2014 Windows Tinted*** page 25
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...825_181934.jpg

***ADDED 8/30/2014 Rear Diffuser*** page 25
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...830_123527.jpg

***ADDED 10/6/2014 Almost OEM Upper Grill Block page 26*** page 25
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...006_181031.jpg

***ADDED 11/3/2014 Almost OEM Lower Grill Block*** page 26
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...104_173613.jpg

Nice car! I'm just curious about "protecting" the bumper.... but you would have to repaint it right?

The paint is called "PLASTIDIP," its an aerosolized rubber paint. The nice thing about it, is that it peels right off if i want to change colors or touch it up. There are about 6-7 coats on there. I can see a few places where rocks must have grazed the paint. The Plastidip was not even phased!


Check out:
www.dipyourcar.com

I thought you'd lost your mind when I saw the painted bumper. I quickly scanned the next paragraph, hoping to see "Plastidip".
Nice idea sticking the blindspot mirror on the folded mirror. I'll have to see if I can find a good spot for some coast down tests and see how much it could help my Prius.
Looks like a fun car. I would have a hard time even thinking about driving it efficiently.:thumbup:

Yeah, don't worry everybody. Plasitdip peels right off!

They also make a clear plasitdip, but I'd have to order it in bulk because home depot/wal-mart only carry black and white.

Jdm aero
 

I found some JDM aero parts as inspriation (thanks Hockey3592).

Aero Mirrors - $839 :eek: made from Carbon Fiber...I'm sure i can copy this with some leftover coroplast and fiberglass
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...onfiber839.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...bonfiber01.jpg

Aero Antenna - S-Craft $59 hm...im sure i can do this for less than $59...but are the benefits worth all of the time and effort to make this?
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...-S-craft59.jpg

Subaru OEM Underbody trays - $75ish That's more like it!
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...r-subaru75.jpg

Or i can go fancy with aluminum - Laile - $336
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...y-laile336.jpg

Or i can do Aluminum bars/home depot/screws/coroplast - $40 :thumbup:

Hypermilling/ecomodding a STI, now that's something you don't see everyday.

I'm blazing trails :turtle:

a lot of things tuners do to make their car faster can also apply to ecomodding (ie aero parts).

Apparently, the stock tune from Subaru runs a bit on the rich side. Cobb Tuning makes a thing called "accessport" that allows me to change the ecu tuning on the fly. People say the basic off the shelf Cobb tune, they gain 40hp right off the bat plus an extra 3mpg without altering driving style(and these are people that already drive the car aggressively). I imagine i can squeeze more than 3mpg with that kind of tool

However, it costs $650...with the amount of miles i drive everyday, the payback period would be 15,000miles ...so depending on how long i keep the car, it may or may not be worth it.

Looking good! I didn't think it would be long before you got back into it!

It's also nice to see another newer performance oriented vehicle. Have you setup your kill switch yet? That may not show you as great of gains as it did me, 2.5 idling isn't as bad as 3.7. It's nice Subaru has real underbody panels, even if they aren't what you exactly want- it at least gives a nice platform to build off. Glad you got started, and I look forward to following.

I have an 02 wrx wagon, avg 32mpg could do better but it needs to be driven.

mods
lw crank and alt pulley, silcon intake and ic hoses, tbe, oil air separator, no a/c belt
heat wrapping (hood, turbo and tmic, down pipe is next)
I'm going to have my suspension upgraded next
then I have header already heat wrapped I'm waiting to put on
dunlop star specs summer (winter cheap tires)

good luck with your modding, and no matter how much you mod once you hit boost your mpg's go down.

Thanks!

No kill switch yet because im still researching how to go about it (trying to lookup wiring schematics). Like youre car, i also bought an extended warranty so i want something that is easily reversible if i have to take it in for service.

This is my first new OBDII car, how did you go doing your kill switch? ( i read through your killswitch thread...but i didnt see how you installed your kill switch and what wires/fuses you tapped into).

As soon as I got it working, I was pretty much done with the thread...that's pretty lame on my part, I will put that on my to do list to put the final details in.

I went by trial and error on a few, what actually worked for me was my fuel pump fuse. I took those little clips that get attached to wires, it's like a Y shape (electrical illiterate), broke off one piece, and plugged it in. Ran the wire from the fuse box inside, then through some PVC piping, then the switch, and back though to the other end.

With the warranty, I am not messing with any tunes- everyone who drives like a maniac (teen mpg in the same car :eek:), easily see 2+ mpg while seeing the performance boost and abusing it. Like my other mods, the kill switch can easily be removed. I even keep the original fuse in the glove box, with the box of fuses I bought, in case something goes wrong.

Sweet! It worked!

Heres the full setup:

How it looks closed up
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6...2/DSC_2219.JPG
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-O...2/DSC_2220.JPG

Fuse Panel - Note I used an extra extender thing to give me more space/room to work
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-L...2/DSC_2217.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-i...2/DSC_2218.JPG

From Door Jam to Fuse Box
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1...2/DSC_2216.JPG

Door Jam, since firewall opening is on drivers side
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-a...2/DSC_2213.JPG

What the floor looks like (PVC underneath)
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-u...2/DSC_2212.JPG

Kill Switch
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-V...2/DSC_2211.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-f...2/DSC_2214.JPG

I have to treat boost like candy....only once in a while, but not too much :)

Awesome car man, I have been window shopping the regular wrx. Along with the mazdaspeed 3 and the ford focus st. My first car was turbocharged and now I think I have the bug, my current car feels so dull although I can't complain because I am getting way better mpg and the reliability is off the charts. What you've done looks great and the car has to be exciting.

Out of curiosity what are your rpms at 60 in 6th? Have you experimented with changing up the sti drive stuff?

60mph in 6th gear is around 2300rpm

Ever since i got the torque app, i played around the 3 different modes to see what affect they have on MPG. Driving on a flat freeway, foot steady, i would turn the knob to the 3 different modes:

Intelligent mode - eco mode gets the highest mpg.
Sport mode - mpg instantly drops by 3mpg vs "I" mode
Sport # mode - mpg drops by 5mpg vs "I" mode

I totally forgot the intelligent mode was essentially an eco driving mode. I was also going to ask if you're putting premium in and if you're willing to see difference octane ratings have with the car?

The problem with using lower octanes is engine knock, a retune or engine map could account for it but it's not recommended with forced induction. The higher the octane the more it resists detonation. Basically without tuning for the lower octane mpgs would be worse, or cause more damage in the long run even with a tune/map. It is debatable, but dozen have burnt out cylinders from lower octane or the wrong a/f ratio in these and other high performance engines.

The car is new, it should be more than capable of handling lower octane fuels. It is just up to the discretion of the owner. People keep saying it will net lower mpg number I am just curious as to how much of a difference it would make.

No.

The car is built to run on premium, it's a forced induction performance car. If you ad 87 it will knock, even if you don't hear it, and pull timing. The computer will add the timing back in, causing knock again then pull timing. It will continually do this because the ecu doesn't know you put crap gas in it.


OP that bumper looks terrible. You have a brand new STI that looks like it was wrecked already. Plati-dip doesn't stop rock chips totally, but you will find plenty of other places that will get chipped up as times goes by.

You may be able to use just the Glossifier instead of the regular plastidip.

Edit: Here, pretty reasonable http://www.clearbra-kits.com/store/p...&nSubmodel=753

hmmmm,
My son got his 2013 STI a few month's ago, he took me for a ride the day he got it to show me the 0-100/160 mph/kmh acceleration in 4 nano seconds and 100-0 with the Brembo's in 1.5 ns and 27g on the skid pad. Well that's what it feels like when you drive a fully loaded cargo van every day and refer to the wife's Wrangler as the sports car :)
He took us to lunch last weekend for his mom's bday, and she slapped him upside the head for his driving. Not the sorta rig I'd think anyone would buy to hypermile.
Life's to short, what ever makes you happy ;)

Performance vehicles are great for ecomodding and hypermiling!

Kill Switch page is done, let me know if I missed anything.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...elp-23225.html

So you think the car can't even handle a few tanks on regular and midgrade I don't believe that for a second. I am not saying they switch to lower grades for good, I just want to see how much the fuel effects economy.

If they didn't want to do that, I would totally understand.

Throwing mid grade in the mix now?

As far as 87, I don't think, I know. Subaru doesn't have any provision in the tune to handle low octane. Nor should they on a turbo charged engine. Forced induction, timing tables meant for high test, and low octane equals detonation, and possibly a blown motor. Detonation damages everything from the top of the piston on down, ending at the bearings. It would make sense to you if you had a better understanding of engine management and tuning. Take it from someone who does, or better yet do a search.

Some performance vehicles can run either 87 or 91/93 based on a versatile factory tune that will switch but those are reactive systems and not ideal. The OP could pay for a Cobb Accessport and find a Subaru shop that would try to do a custom 87 octane tune. It would cost him over $1000. He would void his warranty, lose power, drive-ability, and probably MPG.

The STi is designed to run on 91. Going to 89 probably wouldn't induce part throttle detonation, but I'm not sure. Light detonation would not be heard while driving so you might have a problem you aren't aware of. 89 would in my opinion cause some detonation under wide open throttle. With the minimal cost savings for the gas it would be better not to risk it if you ever plan to push the pedal down.

My CTS-V is naturally aspirated and it can't function with 87 in the tank. Even with the knock sensors pulling timing the amount of detonation at part throttle is scary. I have a separate custom tune for 87 but I have to load it onto the ecu before filling up because the car can't be driven without detonating. I don't use it though, the car is somewhat lethargic in comparison to the normal tune and the mpg loss negated the fuel cost savings.

i'm with the others on the 87 octane. that is a precisely tuned performance engine, it's designed to run on 91/92

Yes I have a case if 6 cans of glossifier thinking I can use glossifier only. However, after using one can, I realized glossifier is too thin to use it by itself. The bottle itself says its best used on surface that has already been plastidipped.

The black is only temporary for now because it is the only color available at my local home depot. Online forums say that the best way to make a clear bra with plasitdip is to use clear matte as the base, then glossifier on top. However, the only place that sells clear matte is online, so it would only be worth it to buy in bulk. I'll eventually get the clear matte when I get tired of black.

No I didn't buy this car with the intention to hyper mile, I'm not insane. This has always been my dream car ever since I was 15years old. When I graduated highschool, only could afford a Honda del sol. Like a typical kid, I souped it up yada yada. Then as I got older, gas prices started to rise, my job wasn't paying too well, then I stumbled onto this site and got into hypermiling. The best I achieved on the del sol was 50 tank mpg, I averaged about 40-44mpg. It's nice to have a hobby that can actually pay you back and not turn into a money pit.
So I finally got a better paying job , saved for a down, and bought my dream car. However the hypermiling bug stayed.

I like knowing I can have the best of both worlds. Go fast fun and good fuel economy. It's like having my cake and eating it too.

It seems like what you said is mostly true, specific to the sti, I can understand that the car is performance oriented but it seems like it would be good practice to throw in the knock sensors just for back up.

I could not find anything for 2013 sti but it seems like for the 07/08 ish models they didn't have the ability to retard timing for regular octane. Which I thought was weird, and was kind of what I was going off of from the beginning. I thought surely the newest one would have the ability to retard timing enough.

Okay finally found something, apparently in the manual it says it can run on 87 temporarily for emergencies, however it's for a 2010 wrx. I can't tell if the warning beforehand says it doesn't apply to the sti. That's what it looks like, though. Does it cost a lot of money to add knock sensing capabilities to the computer? Is it like entirely a thrown out idea because it's the sti version?

Now for an aside about the cts-V, how is rearward visibility? People always complain about how weird the back looks does it make a difference? I like the design of the rear, although, it does kind of make the car look stout. Which kind of goes with the trying to be muscle-y.

They both have knock sensors and the ecu accounts for it, the difference is that adjusting for more knock will damage valves, pistons, and in prolonged use worse. Any car that requires 91+ octane can use 87 for "emergencies", it not suggested to run a full tank. There are easier ways of gain mpg's or testing mpg performance in these type of cars. If you're looking at paying less at the pump a performance car isn't for you or save up and buy a tesla then never use the performance because using the 0-60 gets you a lot less miles.

Jedi,

I was a young man once building and driving 160 mph and 12 second cars.

like I said, life is short, do what makes you happy:)

It not about cost it is about wondering how the different octanes will effect the car. Mostly mpg wise, because there are a lot of varied accounts from it works fine to only for emergencies and keep off boost. It is purely out of curiosity, and the inability to find a reliable source on the matter. Everyone seems to have their own opinion on this, but someone on here now has a new sti I was just wondering if they were going to look into it at all.

Even the difference between 91 and 93 I think would be interesting. Although I imagine it is negligible outside of computer when it comes to premiums, but that's just my guess.

I love your car!!!

I tried the 87 octane fuel on my Talon running my own maps with ECM Link management. It got to the point of making the car a total dog and defeated the purpose of owning it in the first place. So I gave up and now just run 91 octane fuel or better.

I built a a belly pan/parts and oil catcher also out of Lexan. But I can't run it during the summer month's. So I haven't recorded any stints with it yet. As soon as it cool's down i will put it back on.

I can see everything pretty pretty well, I have a sedan. I think the visibility is an issue with the coupes and wagons.

I have an 02 wrx as I stated, I have a tactrix cable that I can run diagnostics on my pc and even with 93 I receive knock on occasion. But with wear and tear it's expected, I do need a service and tune to fix my a/f but 60% of it is poor octane. I've put 87 in when I had to and burned through it fast, stayed out of boost and would have more backfire during dfco mode.

Sure, I'll run maybe 1-2 gallons of 87 to test it out, but thats it!

Have you considered a gearing change? IIRC the STI has shorter 6th than the WRX's 5th. Though, Cobb Accessport would be the bigger bang for the buck, especially if you're willing to run ultra-lean (increases NOx emissions).

Here is my manuals info on octane ratings

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...1_19-31-40.png

Yes I've considered a gear swap. Is putting a wrx 5th gear as my 6th gear possible? I'm just worried it might void my factory warranty.

No, nobody buys one of these things to hypermile, but when you're not busy scorching the pavement you might as well. That's how I got started.

Telling a Subaru forum that you hypermile can be very entertaining. :D

Jedi Sol said:

a lot of things tuners do to make their car faster can also apply to ecomodding (ie aero parts)


I absolutely agree, however convincing many of them is near impossible. To me, ecomodding is sport-driving in itself. Anyone can drive 90+ mph, however very few can maintain even 30+ mpg. Add in the cost of traffic tickets, insurance, and higher possibility of a traffic accident, and I'll take ecomodding over performance any day.

By the way, your grill block and foglight fills look GREAT!