Skooma's '03 WRX - Hybrid 2.3L destroker build

[wanton gorge]

The good yellow

[crystal wraith]

I picked the car up in late 2016 from a dealer in Massachusetts and drove it 4 hours down to PA. 33k miles on the clock, bone stock, I was told it was traded in by an older couple. I think it may have been a weekend car, garaged for most of its life. After enjoying it in stock form for a few months, I wanted more, and bought a Tactrix cable, a laptop, and downloaded Romraider. My first mod was just an SF intake, and I datalogged for at least a month, then started my tuning journey and successfully retuned the MAF scaling.

The paint wasn't in the best shape, so I decided to detail it too. I got a Porter Cable orbital and went at it. Clay barred the whole car, then used a rubbing compound, then polish, and finally waxed it. The result was a super shiny Sonic Yellow finish.

Up next I threw a CNT Racing downpipe on and in the process managed to completely crack the O2 sensor bung off the OEM downpipe. Fortunately, I was able to sell the OEM downpipe for almost 5X what I paid for the CNT downpipe. 💰

Did I mention how clean this engine bay was?

Then I did the typical things a college kid does with a WRX, made my own straight pipe, and started testing launch control and rotational idle. While I learned a lot, I do regret some of the things I did to this car when I was younger. And my neighbors loved me.

In search of more power, I picked up a used VF48, an SSAC FMIC, DW 750cc injectors, and started tuning. Figuring out how to tune injectors was a little tricky, but I eventually managed to find good latency and scalar values that kept the fuel trims happy and started fine tuning the boost control using a Grimmspeed 3-port, as well as the timing and fueling.

The college that I went to happened to have lots of E85 stations around, but I was too cheap to buy any of the $500+ kits. So what I did was just adjust the injector scaling by roughly 30%, to account for the extra fuel needed, I drove to the station with a near empty tank, then filled it up with E85. This worked perfectly and after adjusting the scalar by a few % I was able to get my AFR's right on target with a tank full of E85, and no flex fuel sensor.

After a year or so of driving it like this, 3rd gear on the 5MT blew up on the highway and this is what I found in my drain plug. I picked up a JDM 5MT from a local importer for $700 with 4.44 gears and installed that over a weekend with a new Exedy OEM clutch and flywheel.

Around my senior year of college, and after driving the car for around 2 years on the VF48 and E85, I did some playing around in the snow and after doing donuts for 10 mins or so, the car developed a slight ticking sound. Being a college student, I didn't have the time to take it apart immediately, so I drove it around for almost 2 months before the ticking sounds got much louder. I finished my semester and had time to pull the engine, and upon inspecting the injectors, I noticed that the one for cylinder 3 was quite dirty. I took apart the block and found that cylinder three was badly damaged and the piston was destroyed. It was only a matter of time though as I was pushing 22-24 psi out of the EJ205 for a few years and I drove the car pretty hard, as any college aged WRX driver would do.

Now the fun begins. Rather than mess around with building a new engine, I decided to just go with a JDM V7 EJ207 that I bought from an importer. I installed the 207 in the middle of the winter in my parents unheated garage... and it sucked. It took me 2 days to get the engine in and the iWire AVCS kit hooked up. The worst part was it was finals week and I had engineering exams the next week. But I managed to get it in and running and drove it 2 hours back to school the next day. I sold the stock VF30 turbo and STI TMIC as well as the downpipe that came with it and recouped quite a bit of money that was spent on the engine.

A few months later I had an internship in Colorado and the WRX was my only car. So I did some preventative maintenance and took the 2,000 mile journey from PA to CO in my freshly swapped WRX. Great idea right? Yes. I made it to Boulder in one piece and then daily drove the car about 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, to and from my internship. I went to a lot of meets (CO has some badass Subies) and had a great time, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous about the car while there. But it held up.

[crystal wraith]

I then sold off the VF48 for a cheap 20G (looking back on this, wtf was I doing??) and installed ID 1050X's since the 750's were too small now.

Here is how the car sat around 2020. I had added V7 STI wheels, which I painted black (the gold paint was scratched and they were pretty beat up). I also installed V2 lip and painted my side skirts using my new air compressor and HVLP gun. I also picked up an STI grille and painted that. Turned out alright.

I wanted to start running an actual flex fuel tune, but still didn't want to pay the ridiculous cost of the Cobb or Delicious Tuning units. So I made one myself. I used an $8 Arduino, some code I found online, and a GM flex fuel sensor. Instead of using the TGV's like most of the kits, I decided to wire it into the rear O2 sensor but wiring up an old sensor plug I had laying around. I wrapped the wires in a loom and put them in a small plastic box I found and zip tied it to my firewall. Coupled with the Carberry ROM and speed density, I now had my own plug and play flex fuel kit for a measly $60 or so.

Around this time the 2nd 5MT blew up, so this time I got a long ratio 6MT from a JDM Legacy Spec B. I specifically wanted the longer ratios as my long term goal was to drag race the car. I also picked up an R180 and a set of DriveShaft Shop 800HP axles so I could use my 5x100 hubs with the R180. Now the drivetrain is pretty strong and no longer a worry.

[crystal wraith]

I also got rid of the V2 lip and installed a generic black one which looks much better in my opinion. I also installed a set of HKS equal length headers. The fitment on these sucked and you can even see where there was a bad exhaust leak on the flange. I sanded the flanges flat and was able to get them to fit properly. I also got rid of the cheap knockoff EWG I was running and bought a Tial 44mm.

[crystal wraith]

So that's pretty much it for now. I have a set of FIC 1650's, IAG fuel rails, and an Aeromotive FPR that I will install when I feel like it. I currently run a mix of 60% ethanol as the 1050's a bit too small for the 30R. I've been dialing in the tune as I drive it and fixed 3 boost leaks and a few exhaust leaks as well. This video was a little test hit at 20psi while I was dialing in the tune. It now targets 22psi and after fixing all of the leaks is spooling a lot faster, it was super laggy for a while until I found the leaks.

I also took the car camping recently before the leaves all fell. While there I found an empty gravel road and couldn't resist doing a few pulls.

Since the WRX was getting to be a bit much to daily, I picked up this clean '05 GS430 to drive during the week. Now I'm thinking of boosting the 3UZ or maybe just building a JZ for it.. but I also want it to be a reliable daily.

[sweet falcon]

thats hot

[dim ridge]

I too make bad decisions and swap spicy engines during finals week, and then road trip them lol

[crystal wraith]

Road trips are the true test of your mechanical capabilities! When I was in the middle of Kansas I just started thinking to myself "what if I didn't torque that bolt properly.."

[dim ridge]

Mine started for the first time Saturday at 2am, the day after my last final. It was broken in, aligned, and tuned in time for a 1600 mile road trip Wednesday morning lol. I was shitting bricks the entire time.

[crystal wraith]

That's awesome. I'm pretty sure I saw your car at Boxerfest this year. Those autox runs were impressive.

[dim ridge]

If it was rather sideways and hitting shit every damn run, that was me lol

[crystal wraith]

At least you put on a good show. It looked fast from the sidelines.

[dim ridge]

I mean, I got a trophy and had a lot of fun considering what the course was, but it was frustrating that I never put down a clean run after run 1.

[viral ember]

@crystal wraith yo - I also have a bugeye and am looking to replace my transmission with a 6 speed of some sorts. you have the JDM legacy spec B trans in? and all you needed for it to work was the special hybrid axles in the rear to go with the R180 Diff?

[crystal wraith]

The R180 technically isn't even needed. I ran the R160 for a while, you just have to use an AT driveshaft from a 2.5RS since it's a different length. Another important thing to note is that the Spec B 6MT does not have a vehicle speed sensor built into the trans. You will have to get your VSS signal from the ABS sensors. I used a VSSPro from iWire to do this.

If you want to run an R180 you either need hybrid axles, or you have to swap hubs and everything else and run STI axles. I chose to ran the DSS hybrid axles for the simplicity, although I believe you can still purchase DIY hybrid kits from Suberdave. There are also Spec B axles which are very difficult to find that supposedly will work with the 5x100 hubs.

[crystal wraith]

Decided it was time to update my fuel lines. Redid all the lines from the firewall to the rails with -6AN PTFE and AN fittings. Used a Radium fuel filter, Aeromotive A1000, and IAG rails. While I had everything off, I took the time to paint it all in VHT black engine enamel and did the manifold and TGVs in wrinkle black. Turned out pretty good imo.

I made a custom bracket out of aluminum for the FPR. I never liked the way peopel would mount them on the strut tower or the pitch stop brace. Always looked out of place. So I integrated it into the existing A/C bracket.

Using a filter bracket I found on Amazon, I using the existing fuel filter bolt holes, to mount both my filter and flex fuel sensor in the same spot.

Here it is all buttoned up. Uploaded a base tune for the injectors using Fuel Injector Clinics scalar and latency values. It ran super lean at first, so I bumped the latency up around 10%. After this, the fuel trims were all within 5% and it idled and drove great. I still have to fine tune things like the tip-in and cranking IPW tables.

This is Dexter. He likes to sit in my passenger seat for hours while I work on the car. He is just waiting for it to start up so he can hang his head out the window and listen to the turbo sounds.

[viral ember]

cutie

this has to be one of my favorite subies ever

[red zodiac]

This is an epic build in all but why would you mode one with 30k miles?

Still, I do like it

Club spec evo 5 yellow

[crystal wraith]

I didn't pay much for it in 2016. Sure it would be worth more now if I never drove it or modded it, but this car taught me a ton, encouraged me to get through engineering school, and introduced me to new people. I'd rather have all that than garage it for the past 7 years and sell it for a few thousand $ profit.

Currently it has around 110k miles and I still take road trips in it.

[red zodiac]

👍

[crystal wraith]

The next step of this project. An EJ257 case with Darton sleeves, o-ringed. 100.5mm piston, +2mm rods, 75mm crank from an EJ205, and JDM V7 EJ207 heads. The result is a hybrid, destroked EJ257, that comes out to 2.34L with a 9.0:1 CR using a 1.2mm head gasket.

[sly sentinel]

You gonna chamber match the heads? Quench area is going to be massive

[crystal wraith]

Yes that's being done currently. Having a buddy do all the head work, CC matching, bowl blend, etc. Will be running a set of AVCS Brian Crower 268* cams, Supertech titanium valves, GSC beehive springs and Ti retainers. Should all work together well for 8500 rpm.

I currently have a GTX3076R with a .62 hotside, I'm thinking of either swapping the largest hotside I can find onto it or going to a bigger G series turbo.

The VE on this engine should be great.

Skooma's '03 WRX - 2.34L destroker build

Skooma's '03 WRX - Hybrid 2.3L destroker build

[sly sentinel]

Nice. Any particular reason to use 207 heads instead of 257?

[crystal wraith]

Currently running a full V7 207 swap so I can retain my current wiring harness, ECU, AVCS, etc.. and this all allows me to run the Carberry ROM too which is my preferred tuning method.

And the castings I have are very nice.

[sly sentinel]

255/257 S-AVCS heads are identical in terms of wiring

[crystal wraith]

Wrapping up the headwork on these. I picked up an ETS rotated kit for pretty cheap with an undivided T4 flange. Planning to run a BW S362 SX-E turbo. I like the specs on it and believe it will support my goal of around 600whp just fine.
https://agpturbo.com/borg-warner-s362-sx-e-8376-62-68-13009097056/

I think the 0.96 A/R with a T4 / 3" V-band will be perfect

[sly sentinel]

Press F to pay for a new block

[crystal wraith]

It should be able to handle this just fine, if not more.

[sly sentinel]

I hope it does, but especially without inserts the lifespan probably is significantly shorter

Would love to be wrong though

[crystal wraith]

What inserts?

[sly sentinel]

Closed deck inserts

[viral ember]

@crystal wraith what are those headlights, how much, and where did you get them?

[viral ember]

they look awesome. also, how does one achieve that stustustu sound here? (im assuming bigger turbo to start) like a certain boost control setup/blowoff valve?

your car is pretty much exactly what i want mine to look/sound like, except its blue and a wagon

[crystal wraith]

They're made by Depo. Basically a copy of the STI headlights. I recommend getting genuine STI lights as these don't have the best build quality.

The pronounced turbo noise is because I don't have a blow off valve/bypass valve on a significantly larger turbo than stock, coupled with a dozen other things like the intercooler, 4" intake..

[crystal wraith]

Test fitting this lip from Rokblokz. Looks better than the old lip I think. More race car looking.

[crystal wraith]

Test fitting the new uppipe and turbo. Fits great. Planning to get rid of the coolant reservoir and will block off the coolant ports which will clean up the hoses a bit.

[winged peak]

That things is looking magnificent, what turbo did you put on there?

[crystal wraith]

BorgWarner S362-SXE with a .96 A/R hot side.

[winged peak]

Hell yeah man.

[winged peak]

I always liked the yellow, quite unique

Out of curiosity do you know the production numbers on the 03?

[crystal wraith]

Not 100% sure. Some people say they made 1000 sonic yellows sedans and 500 wagons

[winged peak]

Oh, also, what is different on the 03 then the 02?

All I can think of is the ignition ring lol

[crystal wraith]

Brake pad size

That's about all I can think of lol

[winged peak]

Yeah it’s kinda funny, I have an 02 and can’t think of anything besides that

[crystal wraith]

They changed the brake pad shape on the fronts midway through manufacturing the '03 so it makes buying pads a pain. I bought the wrong size my first time I changed them

[winged peak]

Oh and the gears

I think they made them wider in 03

[crystal wraith]

Oh yeah I've read they're a bit stronger.

Mine still blew up. 3rd gear sheared while I was gradually rolling into boost on the highway, with only a VF48. Swapped it for a 4.44 trans and that broke 2nd during a hard turn as I got into the throttle with a 20G turbo

[winged peak]

That sucks

My 02 right now is a bit disassembled

[sly sentinel]

Stumbled across this thread and noticed the tape. You wager that actually does something for IAT or did you wrap it for the looks?

[crystal wraith]

I did it to cover up the old chipping ceramic coating on it since I had a roll laying around. I will say that pipe does feel cooler after I stop, but idk how well that would affect the air temp

[sly sentinel]

There's the argument that phenolic spacers on manifolds don't work because so little of the air is in contact with the manifold and for so little time, same could be argued for intake plumbling. But the wrap does look nice

But if the pipe actually remains cooler, there's less heat absorbed in the engine bay and I'd say that's always a good thing

[crystal wraith]

Yeah it makes more sense to use it around the turbo or header, since thats where you'd have the most radiant heat

Like if you wanted to protect the bottom part of the radiator or bottom of a tmic

Anything directly facing a heat source

But it is blingy and looks cool too

[sly sentinel]

Yeah. I'd like to paint the piping black but IDK if it'll absorb significantly more heat compared to the reflective raw aluminium.

About the cooler to touch, it could also be that the tape just conveys heat slower and therefore it feels cooler, but the pipe underneath may not actually be that cold

[west flume]

after reading all of this, what would you say was your biggest hurdle with your upgrades?

Also looking back. What front mount kit is that?

[crystal wraith]

Finding good information, and reading enough to be able to make educated decisions about things is the hardest part imo

And its a knockoff turboXS core

[sly sentinel]

How's the fin density? The TMIC they sell has about 1 fin per row

[sage swift]

i aspire to eventually have a story like this but I need to get a lot more hands on knowledge with cars first hopefully I can do that with my 2.5i until I find 02-05 wrx or sti

[crystal wraith]

Glad you appreciate it. I didn't even know how to do an oil change 8 years ago.

[sage swift]

yeah my car knowledge runs about as deep as checking oil and fluids, and refilling some of them. Just learned recently how to check the timing belt, take out the overfill tank to do that and checking how much tension is in my serpentine belt

trying to figure out where I should go from here to get started with actually doing work hands on more or less, im actually in a pretty similar situation to you

19 atm, in the marine corps (Reserves atm because im doing college)

[crystal wraith]

Suspension work is pretty easy and a good way to learn without worrying about blowing your motor or transmission up

[sage swift]

I’ll look into it