I liked my MY08 3rb “out of the box” and was a little hesitant to get some mods done at first. Initially I was hoping for a slightly more aggressive exhaust note, extra power would have been just a bonus but what I ended up with is simply phenomenal.
Firstly I took the car to Mark at Exhaust Technology on Goodwood Road in Kings Park SA. There I had some custom tuned headers fitted together with 2 x high-flow st steel cats, a hi flow st steel magnaflow resonator and 2 x st steel magnaflow boxes with twin tips. Piping is mild steel 2.5” into twin 2.0”. Total cost here was $2,550. (See pics link below) They did an excellent job, at idle and off throttle you can barley hear the motor but under load its deep and aggressive, much more so than standard and with no boominess. From 4,000rpm to redline its like my own nascar. Have a listen! http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=6VR6BJ3du6Y
The car was taken straight around to Sean at S & J Automotive on Woodlands Tce in Edwardstown SA and put straight on the dyno which read 131kw atw (127kw is the standard reading). After ecu reset it read 137kw so we can assume the exhaust added around 10kw atw. After retune with Ecutek type 4 the result was 149kw so we can assume roughly 12kw for the ecutek. This equates to +22kw over factory! (See dyno link below) The cost of Ecutek was $1,950. This re-tune is essential for a significant exhaust mod such as this and the guys at S & J have spent a phenomenal amount of R & D hours on libs to perfect this tune. The car now drives and sounds like a beast, especially in the 4,000 to redline. It pulls away with a smooth aggressive shunt from any rev in any gear with no lag and pulls like a Jumbo Jet all the way to red-line with a porches-like sound. My misses says it’s like taking off in a plane. The ecutek has removed the factory throttle blip after gear change so the revs fall the instant you lift off the gas pedal, which couples brilliantly with the sti short shifter (mentioned next) for a quick and seemless gear change. I’m in heaven. Oh and apparently I’ll get better fuel economy as well……who cares!!!!!!!!!!
MORE MODS
On the second trip to S & J I had fitted:
1) STI springs
2) STI short shifter
3) Whiteline 22mm rear swaybar and heavy duty links.
The car is now complete. The sti springs seem to make the car sit perfectly. I don’t notice the gap above the front wheels as I used to. It always looked too big compared to the gap at the back. The ride is slightly firmer but still quite palatable and smooth. It’s by no means a bone shaker but f$%k this thing handles well. With the new sway bar the back end tucks in tight through corners now and sits flat as a tack, there’s just no camber or twist in the body. The sti short shifter has a really nice expensive solid feel to it. The total cost here was $1,955.
The car is now perfect. Its like driving a really expensive luxury/sports car for a fraction of the cost. Total mod cost was $6,455. I don’t consider this too bad considering the overall transformation of the car. I have driven an sti lib and imo mine is a much better drive. The linearity of acceleration and power is so sweet, I’m not a big fan of turbo lag and sound like this will never come out of the exhaust of a 4cyl!
Long live the h6!
ONE MORE MOD
Added front sway bar May09. Now the car is trully complete. Didn't realise how much difference this would make. It's like a go kart now (but with leather seats and awsome stereo). There is no flex in the chassis whatsoever. You just point it into the corner and accelerate at the apex. It now seemingly takes any corner at any speed. Car seems to have "bedded in" now its done 33,000km. It feels quicker now than it did when it ws first done. It also sounds better. I can hear the individual cylinders now in a porsche like note. Its no surprise that Jarvis subaru are completely sold out of all the 3.0R spec-b's demo and new. Could this car get any better?
ONE LAST MOD
After a long wait got some new badges to make it stand out!
http://forum.liberty.asn.au/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6861
Dyno
http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo172/thezone525/30LSIDRIVEa.jpg
Headers
http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo172/thezone525/Headers_2a.jpg
http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo172/thezone525/Headers_1a.jpg
Zorst
http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo172/thezone525/et5.jpg
http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo172/thezone525/et4.jpg
http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo172/thezone525/et1.jpg
http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo172/thezone525/Lib_Zorst_1.jpg
http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo172/thezone525/Lib_Zorst_5.jpg
The Liberty STi isn't so much about power, because it's only a smidge more than the GT, it's more about the dynamics with the suspension and Brembo brakes.
