Member Profile - ferret89's MY04 GT

[ferret89]

I thought it was time to post up a build thread. I bought the car in July 2011 with 153,xxx kms on it in pretty good condition. Full service history, interior was looking great for a 7 year old car and it was my first turbo car so I was loving how quick it was. I upgraded from a MY05 Impreza RS 2.5 N/A so it was a big difference.

Mod List:

Engine
Cosworth Air Filter
JDM ABS and Battery covers
Kobe MAF + Inlet silicone intakes
Turbosmart Kompact BOV

Interior
JDM Sports Alloy Pedals
3M Carbon Fibre wrapped door handles and stereo surrounds
STi Shift knob
DAMD Red stitch steering wheel
Pioneer X3500 6.1" Double din DVD/BT

Exterior
Front STI Replica lip
Ultrex RS 18 x 8 Gunmetal rims
Kumho KU31 225/40 R18
Club Liberty number plate frames
STI Oil cap
STI Radiator cap
STI McGard black wheel nuts
Subaru Sports Mesh Grille in #33A
STI Rear lip spoiler

Brakes
Front DBA T3 4000 316mm Discs with QFM HPX Pads
Rear DBA T2 Slotted 290mm Discs with QFM HPX Pads

Exhaust
Custom Turbo-back system with Ultrex Quad Tips

Suspension
BC BR Coilovers
Front and rear Whiteline adjustable sway bars
Rear AVO HD RSB Mounts
Front STI strut brace

Tune
Tuned by Coyote

How the car looks now:

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So here is how the car was when I bought it.

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Completely stock, except for a catback exhaust for a bit of a louder growl. First thing I did was go out and buy a K & N panel filter and put that in, gave it a good wash and polish and enjoyed turbo driving!

January 2012 I got new Potenza RE002s fitted all round, great tyre and then I pretty much left in alone till July/August 2012 when I joined the forum and started looking at the possibilities!

Next mod: I bought a replica STI lip off ebay for just under $200 delivered.

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Fitment was good, quality was pretty average though. It looks good from a few metres away and wasn't hard to install (with a few ramps from Autobarn). $10 metal sti badge from ebay and it looked the goods!

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Next I bought some engine bay bling:

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How the bay looks currently:

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I really liked how the car looked with the STI front lip, but it still didn't look right. Needed some new wheels and some low...
So I bought some Ultrex RS, with some Kumho KU31 225/40 tyres.

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Sorry for the blurry photo there, I had the camera in some sort of strange setting

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Then I needed some fancy wheel nuts to set off the new wheels/tyres. So I found these on ebay:

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I liked them, not in your face and don't stand out too much but look good once you have a closer look.

[mitch2147]

Probably my favourite colour for the Gen4. Nice car, I'm looking forward to seeing photos of when the rims were put on, plus whatever else you plan to do with it.

[zch91]

Where are the pics with the wheels and coilovers?! Looking good man.

[ferret89]

It continues, with the new wheels on:

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It was still sitting way too high at the front though as you can see, although the way the back was sitting I was happy with:

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Time for coilovers, and after some research I came to the conclusion that the BC BR were the best bang for buck and the way to go. So I talked to Paul from Street to Track and arranged for a set.

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Once they were on, I set the dampers to 10 clicks from full soft and I'm pretty happy with how it rides. Not too firm but not as wallowy and bumpy as when on full soft.

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The front has been dropped a little bit, to match the way the rear sat and now they are pretty even.

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I think the car looks the goods now, and its not too low to have to be too careful over speed bumps and whatnot although some of those concrete blocks in front of parking spaces I have to watch a bit.

1) Future plans are to change the exhaust to a full turbo back system with Ultrex quad tips.
2) A tune to follow that
3) STI rear spoiler
4) DBA Slotted discs all round, T3 4000 at the front and T2 rears. QFM HPX pads and clean up and possibly paint the calipers
5) Possibly STI front seats?

I've also bought some carbon fibre wrap to fix up a couple of things of the interior

[alessandro132]

Pretty much bang on ride height for intended purposes

Car is looking great!

[SH30RB]

Nice wheels

I had a little trouble finding lug nuts that fit with my Ultrex RS's
Im guessing you had no drama's what so ever?

I like your list of mods, too, and as another member has said, i definitely like your colour!

[ferret89]

Thanks for the comments guys

Yeah the McGard nuts fitted with no problems at all, can't use a torque wrench though

[shav]

Nice ride Dan, welcome to the forums.

very tasteful mods you have there too.

[kiahatsiu]

May I recommend a set of series 4000 front rotors and some remsa pads from brakes direct/GSL? Very good buying and great brakes for a street/track day/ blast over the hills.

[ferret89]

Already ordered! Apparently GSL are out of stock at the moment and are expecting more from DBA mid to late Feb.

Here is the latest mod though:

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Genuine STI tower brace

Overall shot of the engine bay as it looks now:

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It might be all in my mind but the front end does feel a bit more connected and turns in better with the brace, if anything not a huge difference though.

Next to come will be TBE + Quads and/or the DBA brake upgrade.

[SH30RB]

It might be all in my mind but the front end does feel a bit more connected and turns in better with the brace, if anything not a huge difference though.

I noticed a difference too when I installed my ultrex strut brace too!

so no need to worry, you're not going crazy

[shav]

loving your work Daniel. Nice pics and nice upgrades.

[ferret89]

Car at Rob Bliss Exhausts as we speak, custom made turbo-back painted in VHT high temp matte black with ultrex quads

More to come...

[shav]

awesome. please post pics and sound file.

[ferret89]

Ok back from the exhaust shop, its been pissing down rain here though so I just grabbed a few quick shots.

Love the sound, its a bit louder than my previous catback with lukey mufflers and we'll see how we go with drone.. hopefully there won't be any and it'll all be good. Seems to pull harder near the top end but I didn't really get a chance to test it properly on the way home, lots of rain and heavy traffic. I'll get a sound file up sometime this weekend.

Closeup

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Close up

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Rear view

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Side view

Definitely need a good tune now