Michael's Touge WRX

[michaelwilliamson]

oh, and not to forget about this...







That waterbottle you see next to the radiator was full of piss. Someone threw it out their window and it busted straight through my grill, dented the hood, and ruined the radiator.. and that was after I got a 3-4 gallon plastic tank of some other liquid straight to my windshield (about a month after I replaced it) but, luckily, it didn't break. Pretty fun stuff hahah

[rice4life]

Ouch man. Did you get their plates? I hope insurance can cover the cost of new parts.


If you ever find who did this you should make their life hell. Was it a lifted truck?

The dent in the hood looks like it could be pulled out, you can get a used grille for sub $75 and it's a good time to upgrade the cooling system anyway? Mishimoto makes some real good shit, I have their hoses, racing thermostat and catch can. Real good stuff. Keeps it nice and frosty when going sideways.


Hopefully the next update is better.

[michaelwilliamson]

I didnt get their plates :/ i was following just some focus hatchback but it might have been a semi that was in the other lane. Don't quite remember, I never even saw the water bottle, just the jug that hit my windshield. But, yeah, at least its an excuse to upgrade

[mikethevilla]

Geez that's nasty. Some people on the roads are idiots.

I'm going to go against the grain and say that I actually like the blacked-out bumper bar and roof. I know they're cliche and perhaps a bit ricey, but I think they're one of the better trends that have come about. And I love when WRXs run spoilerless. So much cleaner looking.

Rice4life clearly knows his stuff, and sounds like a good dude to be listening to.

It helps to know a few Subie experts off-forum as well. I'd argue that some of the best couple hundred bucks you could spend would be taking it down to a well-known specialist specific to your needs (i.e. not just a great Subie mechanic, but a shop known for performance Subarus), and have him run it around a few blocks or canyons and tell you what he thinks would be the best use of your limited budget.

It's easy to get into a brand-name bragging right match on the internet, and often times it can result in completely overbuilt cars - not a bad thing, unless you're on a limited budget and can't afford to do an overbuilt car.

I'm not a Subaru guy, so I don't have any specific advice, but I do have a real-world example:
On my BMW 2002, brake options are pretty limited - you either spend big bucks on a full Willwood setup, or get real handy (which I'm not) piecing together a late model BMW/VW/Volvo frankenstein setup. However, after communicated my needs my local race mechanic, we decided to keep stock brakes with new steel lines and performance pads and shoes. It may not sound like much, but now my brakes are one of the strongest components of my build. If I was doing a full-hotrod horsepower maniac ride, it may be a different story, but for a spicy, fun, canyon carver, the upgraded stock brakes are a great balance.

Now, that's not to say you should keep your stock brakes (again, I don't have any Subie-specific advice), just to say that instead of getting everyone's advice regarding specific parts, it's important to approach the build and your goals as a whole and go from there. The best canyon carvers aren't the ones running a select few high-dollar parts, they're the ones that are most balanced, and have spent hours and hours being tweaked specifically to their owners' goals.

Keep up the awesome.

[CHIF8008]

looks fine. more low would be awesome, but then again it is stanceworks.

i think a different wheel color would be a nice touch

[michaelwilliamson]

Mike: I never thought about bringing it in somewhere, but thats an awesome idea. Theres a good Subaru performance shop not far from me. Regarding brakes, im glad to know sticking with the stock system was worth it to you. I'm more and more leaning to doing that with those upgrades. But thanks the input! 2002's are on my list of favorite cars for sure. Happy to meet someone on here with one.

Chif: I'm surprised this is the first comment telling me to go lower haha. I drove around slammed for a couple months but decided rubbing on every turn (literally every single turn) wasn't worth it. I'm leaning on the performance side of things for sure.

[cosmo135]

but decided rubbing on every turn (literally every single turn) wasn't worth it.

This and bouncing all over the place due to stiff spring rates is exactly why i'll be raising my car with meaty tires and flares. Sucks about the bottle that hit your grille dude, but hey always a good time to upgrade

[michaelwilliamson]

Hell yeah! Wide wagons are the shiz dude!
But yeah, That's what's keeping me from feeling bummed about this whole situation hahaha

[FunfGang]

I would not go with Mishimoto for the upgrade, but that's just my experience. The radiator I bought from them busted in like a month and they were complete assholes and lied to me while I waited for a new rad.

[michaelwilliamson]

Damn man, whatd they lie about?

[rice4life]

I would not go with Mishimoto for the upgrade, but that's just my experience. The radiator I bought from them busted in like a month and they were complete assholes and lied to me while I waited for a new rad.

Ouch man, that sucks. I bought my stuff about a 40k miles and year and a half ago, maybe something changed??? My friend nick just got a radiator for his gen from them and we're waiting to install it. Gonna do a leakdown test before it gets dropped in now hahaha.

The lifetime warranty is a bit tricky, but you have to get the form on the mishimoto website first, fill it out, then send it in with a receipt and the item. If it turns out that you bought it from a non certified vendor, then you are SOL.

I only buy from certified vendors when it comes to all of my parts so I can get a manufacturer warranty, and when I did have a problem with the hose that mishimoto sent me with my catch can they offered to replace the hose with a better one at no charge.


I still stand by mishimoto's products, as I haven't seen one fail yet and have seen how well the products that I have purchased and worked on are put together. Take funfgang's experience with them into consideration though, his probably isn't the first time that it happened. A pissy radiator is the last thing you want too. I would go around and get some more reviews man.

[mikethevilla]

Mike: I never thought about bringing it in somewhere, but thats an awesome idea. Theres a good Subaru performance shop not far from me. Regarding brakes, im glad to know sticking with the stock system was worth it to you. I'm more and more leaning to doing that with those upgrades. But thanks the input! 2002's are on my list of favorite cars for sure. Happy to meet someone on here with one.

Chif: I'm surprised this is the first comment telling me to go lower haha. I drove around slammed for a couple months but decided rubbing on every turn (literally every single turn) wasn't worth it. I'm leaning on the performance side of things for sure.

Yeah. One thing I've learned from my mechanic is that just because things look good on paper/the internet doesn't mean they translate into meaningful, real-world gains.

In my opinion, the input of someone who has seen/experienced dozens or even hundreds of different modifications done to one platform is going to go a lot further than input from dozens or hundreds of people who have experienced one set of modifications (aka owners/stanceworks members).

[Grime]

Loving the vibes of this thread. All this input is why it's probably one of the best forums out there. Sub'd to see how this turns out, love the direction your car is heading.

[michaelwilliamson]

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UUUUUUUPPPPPDDDDDAAAAATTTTEEE

First off, I'm sorry its been so long. Moved back into school and have been working ALOT with classes and my job.

Totally agree Grime, im loving all the input, a youngin like me needs some every once in a while.

Installed the new radiator. Its a fully aluminum no-name brand with a 30-40% higher capacity than my old one. I know, I know, its better to go with established, brand name parts, but this thing has been perfect thus far. 700+ miles including three, 2 1/2-hour trips from Tacoma to Portland and hasn't missed a beat.
I'm also averaging around 3-4% lower temperature than I was with the stock unit. Will post pics soom

[michaelwilliamson]

Oh, and I took the plastidip off











I sorta hit out the dent in the hood, but trust me, it looks worse in person.