Introduction
 

Hey guys,

Just got my first speed3 last night for my wife. I currently drive a 2013 wrx and have always had a secret love for these cars.

My wife and I decided we would get one, car is completely stock and only has 37k miles on it. Have been reading through the do's and dont's, but we do not plan on modding anytime soon other than maybe an exhaust.

Well, that's about all I have to say for now. Hope this is in the correct location for my introduction thread, if not... My bad!

Pics of wife? Perhaps the car as well?

lolz, no... No pictures yet.. We did not finish up at the dealership until almost 10 last night, and I have been working all day.. I will try to take some after work today.. Maybe even get ya the wife in there as well ;) lol.

welcome. :burnout:

...said every new mazdaspeed owner, ever. Save the money on the exhaust and do the mod thing the right way...and wait til Black Friday and buy all the things. Or Labor Day. I would wait til Labor Day...then buy all the things.

Also, welcome!

You can lie to yourself. But you can't lie to us.

Exhaust is pointless and a waste of money...just take pics of wife and post them :headbang:

I hear ya on the exhaust is pointless.. But we have already put enough money into my wrx and want the speed to stay as the daily/vehicle to use for trips..

He's a WRX guy. What did you expect? They like loud cars that sound like V8's missing on 2 cylinders.

;)


Welcome!

when you right, you right! lol.

Welcome. Ignore the miscreants. Or better yet, become one.

Pic.1

Only pics I have as of now.. Wife hid behind door in first pic.. sorry guys, I tried..

Just to make sure I have got this correct, if.. and that's a big if, I do decide to mod.. Firsts mods should be rmm, hpfp internals, sri/tip/ap for tune.. Maybe a test pipe as well, not sure if I want it.. Wife just likes the "whoosh whoosh" noises from an intake lol.

Also, I noticed you can etune your car. but require a ap.. Is there anyway to tune without an ap.. Don't feel like spending that much money for a tuning device..

I went opensource with my wrx and it cost me 100 bucks plus the 80 dollar tune to tune it...

Also, since this car did have 37k miles on it when I got it... is there any easy way to tell if it already has the rmm, or the internals?? Thanks for any input.

There is a recent thread that exemplifies how tricky diagnosing a fuel pump issue can be after installing the HPFP without an AP. As a rule of thumb and just general good advice, I would do the interals and AP at the same time (IIRC, Edge offers a bundle deal). Without a monitoring tool, you have no way to know if the internals were installed correctly. While the install of the HPFP is pretty straight forward, its also very easy to mess up so having the AP to see instantly if it done correctly is a great benefit. You can also get a DashHawk or Torque App for your mobile/tablet to help monitor fuel pressure after install. They are relatively cheaper, Torque being the cheapest, but you can't really beat the AP.

I would get a RMM next followed by intake. Since you don't think the mod bug will hit you, just go stock size intake especially since you're already a bit hesitant to tune. If you do end up with the AP and think you'll be modding down the road, just get a 3.5in intake that way you're ready for anything down the road.

From this point with the HPFP, you're free to go pretty much anywhere on the mod path. Tons of threads on exhaust options (TP vs. DP vs Catback) and all that good shit. I went TP due to ease of installation and relatively similiar gains for a TP compared to a DP.

As far as I know, we have only the VersaTuner and AP. Not sure if there are other tuning solutions but I'm 100% sure those offer e-tuning capabilities. DashHawk might? Torque app I know can't. That's more of a monitoring kind of thing and still pales in comparison to the AP. Reach out to one of the E-tuners.

Edit: For internals, no real 100% way of knowing unless you take the fuel pump apart. RMM should be fairly simple to find. Just get under the car and look for yourself. There are some DIYs on how to do the RMM install. They show the stock RMM. Should be fairly simple to figure out once under the car.

Please don't slam the speed3 to the floor like your wrx.

haha the wrx is on air, it was static... got sick of it.. I knew i would catch some flame for it, but it was what it is. The speed will stay stock height lol. thank you for all the information.

I think you touched on one of my other questions, as to why there are "staged" intakes for this car.

haha, yeah a little strange but basically intakes are grouped: Stock size SRI (typically stage 1). Stock size SRI and TIP (typically stage 2). After that you get into the larger than stock intakes 3in, 3.5, and I've seen 4in. but you probably won't head down that road. I've had a stock size SRI+TIP, 3in and 3.5. Not a huge difference between any of them on the k04 but there were some gains with each step up, FWIW, which is why I said if you were planning on doing a tune might as well get the 3in or 3.5in intake. But to each their own.

Okay cool. Thank you for the break down of that. when i first saw the different stages, i was just like whattttt :wtf1:.... Figured there was probably a simple explanation lol

Welcome!

Welcome.

I suggest picking up an Access Port, its a fantastic diagnostic tool, gauge set, and as an added benefit you can have more torque via tune. Seeing as the car was purchased used you will want to do a complete service, and give the car a once over. At a minimum I suggest the following:

Tranny and brake fluid
Spark plugs
Air filter
Cabin filter
Scan for codes
Log/perform boost leak test
Log CDFP pressure and A/F

Okay I will look into it.. And I considered an ap for my wrx because of its versatility and theyre kind of a waste on the wrx.. but everyone with a speed strongly suggests them and they seem more useful so I will definitely start saving up! Thanks for the advice.

I like the Cobb AP because the gameboy unit is convenient and autonomous. It can flash tunes and record datalogs without a laptop attached to it, plus it has a variety of performance-related PID's that it can display as live data at CAN (very fast) speeds. I don't know of any open source engine management software for this car. I wish that was an option.

As for the intake, I think a 3" is the sweet spot (skip the stock style intake/TIP combo ones...just more connections to go wrong...plus on MSF some people have documented slight performance gains from larger sizes). With the 3", no ECU relocation is required.

You don't have to mod this car much to see huge gains. A RMM, Cobb AP (used V2's are super cheap BTW), fuel pump internals, an intake, and an E85 or methanol mix with a half-decent tune will easily net you 40 or 50 wheel horsepower over stock for under $1000, assuming you go VIP and buy stuff used on the FS forums like I did. And believe me, it's a huge difference. I went from not being able to spin the tires at all, even in first, on the stock tune, to what I just listed and was easily able to annihilate the same tires in second gear.

Welcome!

Dont hesitate on purchasing an AP, it's definitely worth every penny.

Who says a daily driver has to be less than 300 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque? Mod that shit newb.

Orrrrrr, leave it stock for that fuel economy yo!

Idk, after driving it for a few weeks I am definitely getting the urge to mod. But I have a lot of future plans for the wrx.. Only time will tell what will happen!

Actually, with all my mods (not super modded), I get 2-3 mpg better than stock. This really all came from the new air intake. The other stuff hasn't made a difference. So, more power and better fuel economy. Done and done.

Betting that brennermoore will be asking which turbo to go with, bnr s3 or Corksport within six months.