newbie to p5 and imports in general

[yourfather_luke]

so i just got a 2003 p5 and have some general performance ?'s

it's the sport-tronic AT

I'm just an "ordinary" driver and not looking for anything like a street racer, but would definitely like to see about upping the performance a bit. My brother in law drives a mod'ed out WRX and that thing is fun to drive, so here's what i'm thinking about doing to my car:

1- CAI
2- Cat-back
3- ECU upgrade

With those 3 alone, will i see an increase in performance/speed? Or is it just a waste of money unless i'm going to do more?

TIA

[loccusst]

I had a short ram and went to a cai...now thinking about going back to short ram. A cai seems to lose power off the line but gain in the top end. You will definately notice an improvement with intake and exhaust done, not sure about ecu upgrade...not a big fan off them. Your not gonna get anything like what you will out of the wrx though but you can still have alot of fun. These cars are fun especialy on windy roads.

[Lil Freek]

look into getting a header as well. good power gain there.
SRI is probably the better choice... a little louder, but equivalent power gains.

[Cloudland]

ECU is not really the 3rd best option for U.

a good set of tires (if U r still running stocky) would serve U better

so does suspension upgrades. thicker (rear) sway bar, strut/spring upgrade, are good ideas as well. U don't have to be a street racer to do these.

[jlanger]

there is only one ECU upgrade that I know of and it's fairly spendy, you can get a MP3 computer but good luck trying to get one, it'll also only get about 10hp for the way too much money. Youre better off with just the CAI, cat back, maybe headers (or find a turbo :) ) Otherwise, tires and suspension mods, ie the eibach or getting some MP3/MSP parts could be the way to go.

[JOS3]

a daily driver with a little more performance?

1. intake
2. exhaust
3. header
4. tires
5. lowering springs
6. rear sway bar


note: the header, intake, exhaust combo will make your car much louder. not ricey loud, angry loud. a quick fix for that would be to upgrade the sound system :)

[Mad Hatter]

a daily driver with a little more performance?

1. intake
2. exhaust
3. header
4. tires
5. lowering springs
6. rear sway bar


note: the header, intake, exhaust combo will make your car much louder. not ricey loud, angry loud. a quick fix for that would be to upgrade the sound system :)

Couldn't have put it better myself (thumb)

[GordonJ]

Whoa, this is news to me.

So a SRI is better for acceleration than a CAI? And its a little louder? Any other differences?

I know SRI's are usually cheaper, are they more difficult to install?

So for a regular "daily driver" looking to get some more performance, a SRI is the way to go?

Hmmm...I shall have to meditate on this.

[mp3moose]

they are the bloody same. You won't seen any difference in a cai Vs. sri.

[L8R]

unless u go turbo, u wont see any increases with h/e/i, ground wires, cams, etc without the right tunning.

welcome to the board :)

[Demonya]

Merry Christamas everyone!!!

[yourfather_luke]

and the welcome. i've already started the stereo upgrades, btw. and for all of you out there that diss the basslink- ha! sounds good so far:) now i'll just be saving some $$ for components and amp for my doors...

[Hinso]

hey guys!

im a noob here aswell.

just got a 2003 silver P5 (manual of course) and this is the first car i have that i want to put some money/work into. im not very knowledgable about cars so you might have to explain some things to me. just thought id introduce myself and figured this thread would be a good place to start. thanks for the tips and stuff.