Starting around Christmas / early next year the mod work on my MY07 Liberty 2.5i will begin. At the moment I'm basically continuing my research, putting together a list of what I'm going to be doing to it, where I'm getting the parts from, pricing it all up. That kind of thing. One comment I've had a couple of times is why not just sell the current one, find a GT-B and go from there. And the answer is basically because even if I did, I'd still have to do much of the same work to it, including pulling it's engine and gearbox out to recondition them / clean them up.
The goal with this car is fairly straight forward. This car is going to remain my daily driver, and 'comfortable' mountain-runner for long road-trips and weekend jaunts through mountain roads. Longer term, once I have the room to do so, I'm looking at picking up a GT / GT-B shell, and custom building it from the ground up for track and hill-climb work. The plan being to make it a visually similar to my current one, but with some serious performance work and not for daily driving. I want the current one to be responsive, handle well (With a slight emphasis towards oversteer), and have enough power to be fun - but not so much that my fuel bills go through the roof, or that spending 8hrs behind the wheel on everyday roads requires some chiropractic work after.
Additionally; Up to this point I've been firmly a computer Nerd. I've wanted a Gen4 Liberty since I first saw one and now I have it - but now begins learning about cars and their mods. I can learn it, but there is much I have to learn, which is why I'm here asking questions of those who have the answers.
So, with the goals of this initial project out of the way, on to the mod planning;
Stage 1: Handling
- STI front strut tower bar
- STI lower arm bar
- Whiteline front sway bar
- Whiteline rear sway bar
- STI Group N pitch stop mount
Stage 1 is pretty straight forward. Get the body roll I experience at the moment firmly under control, and get the power where it needs to go. Also had a bit of a look for STI Group N engine and transmission mounts, but aside from the fact installing those would mean getting the engine and transmission out (I think?), the only ones I could find seemed specifically for WRX models. Other things I've looked at is potentially replacing OEM bushes etc with Whiteline ones, but that also starts to push out .
Stage 2: Suspension & Wheels
- ROTA Grid-R 18x9.5 +38 and tyres to suit (Suggestions?) - Still tossing up between Gold or Matt Black, but leaning towards Gold
- ?? Coilovers (Adjustable, preferably from inside the car)
Stage 2 is liable to be the second most expensive stage of this, but the main question is what Coilovers do people recommend, and what tyres for those wheels.
Stage 3: Bling
- Split facia
- Double-din headunit (red display)
- New amp
- New speakers
- Custom gauges (red)
- Footwell lighting (red)
- STI front seats
- 6000k HID Headlights
- 6000k HID Foglights
- 'Angel Eye' driving lights
- LED interior / rear lights
- STI decals
Stage 3 is more bling then anything else. I'd like to replace the OEM speedo etc with a unit that is more red in colour / more red back-lighting. The rest is fairly self-explanatory. This stuff will probably actually end up kind of scattered throughout the build, so this one is more just a checklist of stuff to be done.
Stage 4: Brakes & exhaust
- Bigger Brakes / Rotors
- STI exhaust system
Stage 4 is essentially the prep for Stage 5. Hi-flow exhaust, hoping to track down an STI setup or at least STI tips. Bigger brakes because with more power, have to balance it with more braking.
Stage 5: Engine, Gearbox, & Drivetrain
- Reconditioned STI GT-B EJ25 Turbo
- Reconditioned STI 6-spd
- ?? Performance drivetrain
Stage 5 is the big power revamp. New engine, new gearbox, performance drivetrain. Both the engine & gearbox I'll probably pickup earlier on, so that I can work on them / have them worked on prior to installation and get them all squared away, then swap out the current ones for the new.
Stage 6: Body & respray
- Gialla front bumper
- Gialla CF front lip
- Gialla CF side spats
- Gialla CF rear spats
- Ultrex CF front grill
- Ultrex CF rear diffuser
- GT bonnet
- Albero front duct fenders
- Gloss Black respray maybe with red pearl
As per Stage 3, so of this is liable to happen in other points of the build, but I may leave this until last to do in one big hit after all the performance work is done. The GT bonnet I'll probably pickup earlier on, and possibly the Albero fenders.
Thoughts? Additions? Critiques?
What am I missing? Should any of it not be done? Should I go with any particular components over those currently selected? What other small cost-effective changes can I make earlier on to give smaller boosts in power? Note I'm not overly keen on spending the money/time on tuning the current engine, as it is going to be completely replaced, but depending on how long some of this ends up being delayed I might.
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Obviously, with this being a year or more of work, and with it not commencing until early next year, there's no rush on any advice for this, but I'd like to get it all squared away and planned out asap so that I can work out roughly what I'm saving for and how much I need to save, and better plan out when I do each stage.
For those interested, the track / hill-climb build is also currently being planned, but it's a lot longer process. Looking at a full rebuilt engine for that one, at $12,000-$15,000 for the engine alone (Cosworth forged parts etc, 2.6L, ~450-500hp build).