Car Mods

Other Chit-Chat
1

Well I just leased a 2007 Subaru Impreza 2.5i in the second week of february. And right now it is in the shop, getting a new clutch, at 1786 miles. Yes…I know…You seriously don’t wanna know what I did…But when I get it back and get home for the summer I wanna do some things to well I guess “Trick it Out” My origonal plan was to get the under seat subs for the front seats, until I saw the price. Then I was thinking about putting my own under the seat, and saw something in the user manual about “only using Subaru speakers” for under the seats. So when I get home I am gonna go to the dealership and make sure I wont get introuble for doing it and making sure it wont interfere with the SRS airbags, etc. then I am gonna put in some speakers into the trunk I already own them, they are pyle red label 600 watts a piece. (how do you measure them, to the mounting loacation or cone diameter?) And Then I was thinking about CCFLs for the inside around the foot area.

I was wondering if anybody had any pictures of what they have done to their cars, or have any ideas. The biggest problem is I don’t want to go against the lease. I have thought about underlights but as far as I know you can get ticketed in NYS for them.

Thanks,
-John

2

Just one suggestion: Please don’t put a big spoiler on it! Please Please Please!

My suggestion would be changing out the wheels for some nicer ones, ad the stock ones are a bit heavy. Also, if the lease will let you, put a cold air intake on the front, and some X pipes coming out the back… That will skyrocket your performance.

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Look at at from my point of view, do you want to put $4000 into something that you have to hand back in 40 months? And as for the rims, well…I don’t know about that…I already messed the stock ones up in a snow parking lot. When you power slide into the drive through window curb you make a noise.

I have already thought about all your ideas, and if anything I would rather paint it yellow and put a huge spoilor on it along with a hood scoop. But if I wanted to do that << I should’ve went for the WRX. And instead of cold air intake I would probally put a turbo on first. Just because if I throw a single turbo on it, a new air filter (more surface area), a cheap intercooler and put some pure acetone in the gas then it will jump by up to 100 HP easy. Trust me I have been thinking about the performance side for about a year now.

I am basically looking for something to do that will make it more fun but also improve the appearence. I think I may still stick with the 8" Subs under the front seats. Who doesn’t love 500 watts of power under them?!

-John

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Good point. Sound system mods then. Though the cold air intake and pipes would only be like 500. Take a look at Summit racing, they have good and cheap stuff. Our racing team puts Summit parts on all our cars. The first thing we do is replace the air filter and put the cold air intake on, and replace the pipes out the back with better flow.

But yeah, if you have to give it back… Just mod out the sound system.

5

Could you or anyone here help me with finding a nice Amp on ebay. I am new to car audio and just have alot of questions about things. I want to get the amp now so I have it when I get home from college in 13 days so I can put it in within the next few days. Or atleast test it with my robot batteries and my laptop.

-John

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The best resource I ever found, and then bought stuff from there cause they were reasonably priced for the do-it yourself car stereo system installer was crutchfield.com

They have been in the audio business since the 70’s I believe, and really know their stuff.

I obviously don’t work for them so that’s not the reason I’m touting them, but it’s because I have had very good luck with them in the past, and they have always been a great resaource to answer questions for the Audiophile in all of us.

I need to upgrade the stereo system in my new car (04 Cavalier) and will be heading to them and their catalog and webpage sometime over the summer to do so.

Speaking of catalog, they have a place where you can request one for free.
Check it out.

7

I have heard of crutchfield before, but even after looking at their site they are still a much high price then ebay. I have had good luck with the large dealers on ebay, and the products cost very little. I just bought this a little while ago today, and this is the second set of them I have bought, and in my friends car they sound nice. I just plan on using these under my front seats for now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=012&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=220105127357&rd=1&rd=1

The only problem I have had is that most of the amps I am looking at are low priced higher end amps that are made for 2 ohm speakers which means I get alot less power out of the amp. So I think for these I am just gonna buy a 300W x 2 channel amp made for 4 ohm speakers. Which means I will have about 150W per channel.

-John

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Just remember it’s leased, so check if they’re gonna want it back to original when you turn it in. Otherwise it can get expen$ive…

If the lease docs say it’s OK, go wild. But remember, it’s only a car.

Don

9

Actually, it might be necessary if he does anything beyond show with that car. The Impreza is well-suited for a drift racing car, and legitimate spoilers do help stabilize the car (keep in mind, he would need to replace the engine with something with a little more power, among other parts, before that would really be an issue). Ridiculously oversized spoilers, though, are unreasonable.

10

Look at the WRX. It has the same size engine as a my Impreza. That would be fine on the dirt for the rally car at heart. But for drifting your right it would need a bigger engine. A 3.8 with twin turbo a nice intercooler, would be a nice start to a drift car, but I don’t know as much about cars as I do about robots.

-John

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A great site for car audio stuff is Ike Sound. They have a large selection of items from discount brand-name stuff to really cheap no-name stuff. They have just about every amp under the sun and everything to go along with them.

As for modifing a leased car, I would advise against it. Heck, I would advise agaisnt leasing a car at all. Too many rules to follow and lots of stiff penalties if any of the rules are broken.

Anyhow, good luck with your car!

12

I have been in car audio on and off for the last 5 years. My biggest suggestion to you would be to see/hear what you want before you buy it. Under the seat subs, in my opinion, are very expensive to install and can be very difficult as well. Cars that have powered seats mount the motors right where you are talking of putting the sub. Also, if the seats aren’t powered, there is still VERY little room under there. In order to have a subwoofer function properly in a box it needs to have a certain amount of area in the box specified by the manufacturer. The space under a seat doesn’t allow for this in most circumstances.

My suggestion on a sub would be to either mount it in your trunk in a box enclosure or look into a stealth box which is much smaller and takes up less room. Not to mention they look really clean.

Also, street glow (under lighting) is a bad idea in NY (or anywhere for that matter) because of the weather that we see and it’s a waste of money because they break relatively easy with out adding function to the car, just my opinion.

Spoilers are the same way, just a waste of money and they don’t do much. The vehicle was engineered to be aerodynamically sound and putting an aftermarket spoiler on your car increases your drag effectively making your car slower. They are pure form with no function.

As long as what you are putting into the car can be taken out with no adverse affects, it should not void your warrantee. I would still make sure to check with your dealer to find out what is allowed.

As far as finding an amp on Ebay, I would not suggest this. While you may get lucky and get something that is worth the price, most of the time I have found that audio products on Ebay do not stand up to what they are advertised as. Best Buy has a good warrantee plan. For $40 more than the purchase price of the product, you get a 4 year warrantee that if the product stops working for any reason other then physical damage; you get the purchase price back towards another product. This happened to me and I was able to buy a brand new amp 3 years after my first one for about $20 more that was a better quality than the original. Crutchfield is a good company to purchase from because of there large selection and have been in business for a long time. Although as far as I know, they do not have the warrantee plan that Best Buy does.

If I recall correctly, your car is a 2.5L NA motor and the WRX is a 2.0L Turbo. When you get into upgrading an NA to a turbo, there are a lot more things that can go wrong. I would strongly suggest not putting in a turbo as it is a lease car and more then likely something will break that will void the warrantee.

I am a firm believer on function over form. So if it increases the driving experience, go for it.

Good luck
Jake

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@ jake for mounting under the seats,
My seats are not motorized and have a good 5 inches under them, also considering Subaru makes their own speakers/amps for under the seats without looking I would assume that there is enough room.

About the turbo, and etc. Yes, my car is a 2.5L but what does the NA stand for? And where did you get the info saying the WRX is a 2.0L? If you go to Subaru’s website it says right there that the WRX is a 2.5. I would never put an mechanical parts into a lease car because I would need to take them out.

About the spoiler, I would only put a spoilor for form and not function. I am not gonna be racing my car or anything. So the whole point of me putting one on is because I would like how it looks.

14

Sorry, I re-read my post and it may have sounded like a personal attack, which was not the case. For that I appologize (if that was how it was taken).

If subaru makes them and it is possible to do, go for it. It’s your car and you should do what you want with it. I just know that I have heard them before and didn’t care for the quality nor the “vibrating seat”. Granted, what I heard was a 12" custom floor mounted subs (some of the floor pan was cut to make room for the sub).

As far as my understanding of the WRX, I may be incorrect for the newer models (newest generation). The WRX STI was a 2.0L Turbo Charged motor making roughly 300bhp (base horse power or crank horse power). The base model WRX was, as far as I remember, a 2.0L turbo charged motor that made roughly 200ph. I don’t know much about the newest generation but I assume they would have kept the same trend.

NA= Naturally aspirated. In other words, the air is not forced into the motor via a supercharger or turbo charger.

FI = Forced Induction (IE Turbo of Supercharger).

If it is a spoiler that you want for the form of the car, go for it. Just remember that most require rigid mounting to the trunk or rear quarter panel via drilling holes and hardware.

I hope that clears a few things up. Good luck to you with whatever you choose. BTW, I like the new impreza’s look much more then the old.

EDIT: The North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club (http://forums.nasioc.com/forums)is a really good source for information, I suggest checking there.

-Jake

15

You do realize that spoilers do what their name says, they spoil the airflow. Spoilers are very bad things to put on cars unless you plan on going very very fast (then you need them to dump the lift your car creates as the body basically becomes an airfoil at high speeds). Otherwise, they just look stupid and add weight and drag.
As for the speakers, I have a similar opinion about them. They just add weight and are overpriced… You should be listening to the sound of the engine in a car like that anyway.

Just my 2¢

16

Nah I didn’t take it personally, but yea the new WRX’s are indeed 2.5L.

But as for the subs under the seats, if done correctly sound fine. My friend had them in his old car. Like 2 years ago. Right now I have small 6.5" speakers for under the seats and, for the amp i am gonna adjust it to put out mostly low mid range to low range. Other wise you have too much treble coming from everywhere. And in the impreza’s with the base system the treble sounds awesome. The bass is so-so.

@ alphaone
In a car like what? It is like cheapest Impreza you car buy. I can understnad if you have a corvette, or a Lambo, but my Impreza don’t really have a performance sound. Besides with the windows open you can’t hear anything anyways.

I will post the results when I get around to doing it. But like I said before it will porbally be about a month before I get anything done.

-John

17

I was just saying that because my 318ti has a little (but still very high strung) 1.9L I4, and your Impreza has a 2.5L H4. And I like listening to the engine on my car, helps with shift timings too. Like I said, just sharing my opinion.

18

I am not saying there is anything wrong with your opinion, I was just wondering if you understood me or something. Becuase I can’t usually hear my engine with the AC on. I do need to keep myself cool. I got into my car the other day and it was about 90 degrees in there! and this is potsdam in the spring! But usually I am never focused enough to listen to the engine. I can tell when to shift by how fast I can accelerate and timing and how fast I am going.

-John

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