Install day

I just installed a bunch of new parts on my Legacy, I can now say that I am 100% out of the dead zone and back into modifying the car.

1.  Cobb Sport Springs-  I tried forever to pick up a set of Cobb Springs on various forums like legacygt.com or Nasioc but could never find them.  Cobb stopped making these springs years ago and no online dealer has them.  Out of sheer luck I happened to find the Springs and a Cobb Rear sway bar handing on a wall at a local performance shop.  The shop sold me both for $150.00, an incredible deal which I of course had to pick up.  I had my heart set on the Cobb Springs because they are the only springs that were designed to work with the stock Legacy struts, and because I am on a budget I did not want to buy struts as well.  In addition the Cobb Springs give a raked look to the car, lowering the front more than the rear.

Below is a before and after shot of the ride height.

I also went out of my way to order a set of Tein Spring silencers as the Cobb springs are known to be noisy.  My initial impression of the Springs once they were installed was 100% positive.  The first thing I noticed was that the car hardly looked lowered, in fact as I pulled up to my car at the shop I wondered if they forgot to throw the springs on.  However once I sat in the car I immediately could tell that the car was lowered.  Also after taking a closer look at the wheel gaps it was pretty obvious, but you don't walk away thinking the car is slammed to the ground or anything.

Driving the car you could tell that it seemed tighter, easier to corner and the body roll was almost all gone.  Granted I had the Rear Sway bar installed at the same time but combined it really helped transform the car.

2.  Grimmspeed Brake Support-  I have read that this inexpensive modification is one of the best bang for our bucks.  It reduces the slack in the brake pedal and gives you a much better feeling when you apply the brakes.  I was very impressed.

3.  Cobb Rear Sway Bar/Kartboy Endlinks- These combined with the Cobb Springs almost completely eliminated any body roll in the car.  I have yet to reach the limits of this set up on the street, I can simply corner as fast as I want with no feeling of roll, or lose of traction.

4.  Rallispec Transmission bushing-  This is the one product that I am unsure of, as of yet I simply cannot tell the difference.  It is supposed to firm up the shifts and improve the feeling of the transmission.  I was told you could experience some slight noise/road vibration and to be honest that is all I noticed.  I am hoping the slight vibration settles down once the bushing gets a few miles on it, if not I may consider pulling this mod as I can feel no improvement in the shifts.

New Rims and Tires

I found a great deal on some used Drag DR-31 wheels on the LegacyGT forums and I picked up some new tires and had them mounted today. What can I say, I love the blackout look.

Moving out of the dead zone

I am slowly moving out of the dead zone, this is the same place I was in with my WRX a few years ago. After I went Stage 2 I hit a wall. I am now focusing on the exterior of the car and some suspension parts. Here are my recent purchases, I should have them installed in a few weeks and give a detailed review on each part. 1. Cobb Springs - This will lower my car and give it a nice raked look. 2. Cobb Rear Sway Bar - This will tighten up the rear end of the car and give it a more balanced feel. 3. Grimmspeed Brake Brace - This will improve the braking feel much like Stainless Steel Brake Lines would. 4. RalliTek Transmission Insert - This will eliminate the slop and some of the delay in shifting.

Final Map Review

Ok, so I received my final revision from Infamous. It's a big, big difference between the Cobb map, in fact going from stock to Cobb Stage 2 is the same difference as going from Cobb Stage 2 to the Infamous eTune stage 2. I am now going to sit back and enjoy the new power, however I have no doubt that there is a VF-52 turbo upgrade in my future.

Infamous Revision 2 and 3

I have been working on loading the map revisions and loging the results. My second map revision took about a week to get to me and the third was a little less. I can see that the whole process may take up to a month. Obviously the advantages of a Dyno Tune is you can have it all done in about 2 hours, however it will cost you about 3-4x more.

No huge gains, just some fine tunning with the revisions. Overall I am pretty happy with the results of the etune, much, much better than the OTS Cobb tune. I can see myself being happy with Stage 2 power for a while.

Infamous 1st Revision review

I received the first revision from Infamous on Monday, much sooner than I expected. I loaded the map and immediately did a log and compared the data to the my base map log. I can see that the timing was advanced and I am hitting a higher boost sooner. This all translates into a stronger and smoother car.

After a few days I will be able to give a better review once I get a feel for the revised map.

CNT Catted Downpipe Review

As part of my Stage 2 build I had to purchase a Downpipe, my first thought was to immediatly buy a Cobb Catted Downpipe. I had the Cobb downpipe on my WRX and knew it was a top quality product, however I ended up buying the CNT Catted Downpipe for these reasons.

1. Much Cheaper than the Cobb product, around $200.00 cheaper.
2. Positive reviews from those who have purchased, installed and tuned one.
3. Let's face it, who cares if it's a Cobb or CNT, as long as the performance is there.

Once I unboxed the Downpipe the first thing I noticed is the gaskets that were provided looked like crap. The edges were fraying and coming apart and there was no way I was going to use the cheap gaskets. I immediatly ordered a new set from Grimmspeed and sitting side by side there was no comparision, the Grimmspeed gaskets rocked.

Once I inspected the Downpipe I was very pleased with the quality, everything looked top notch.

My installer mentioned to me that the downpipe installed with no problems and he was impressed with the quality. I was also impressed with the sound and it reminded me quite a bit of my old Cobb Downpipe. Overall I am very pleased with this product.

Link to the product is here: