and plus being from the WRX community ive seen tuners blow up wrx/sti motors just off a poor tune.

 

That’s about what I paid all said and done for my STS. I'm one that did the install my self in my garage.

 

Thanks for the input. I will keep the 6K rpm in mind.

I want to use the GTM 4.24L Stroked Long Block and the APS Extreme TT kit. I want to be ale to push out some big power, and I figured I'm going to need a pretty stout engine build. Hopefully everything works out.

 

true but it has been proven that the block will hold 600whp without any sleeving. it all basically how you drive your car that will dictate the longevity of it.

 

I come into this from a rather unique standpoint ... I bought a G (Randys_G) that was already setup with FI. I sold my stock '04 6MT with 16k miles and bought my current with 32k miles + Vortech/wheels/exhaust/spacer/etc. I got a steal of a deal on the car and only spent an additional $2500 over what I sold my stock G for and gained well over $17k in aftermarket (along with an additional 16k miles).

Now ... if I had the chance to go back, I wouldn't change a thing. I know that so many out there have poured their blood, sweat, and tears into building their rides and that is a large part of the experience. I decided to take a shortcut because the opportunity presented itself to me. When I bought this car 2 years ago I was already feeling the urge to go upgrade to a new '06 G or something similar, but when this car went up for sale I thought to myself ... hmmm, all the work is done, it's been driven hard and has held up just fine, and it looks sweet to top it off! The hardest part was convincing the wife

In the end I made a decision that I am still very happy with. I think it's mainly because the install was done properly and it is tuned VERY well with low boost. No it's not going to walk over every car on the street, but it has more horsepower than 95% of the cars on the road in an average day.

This car has been boosted for over 33k miles now and I still enjoy it every time I drive it (which now averages about 7500 miles a year). Oh and some other things to note ... no gauges (yeah I know!), stock injectors, stock fuel pump.

This car has been to the dragstrip and to the road course several times and has performed flawlessly. At the track I ran about 6 gallons of 108 octane unleaded just to be safe.

And to the point about the Vortech being noisy ... mine is not IMHO. I have had the idle increased to 750 RPM's which basically eliminates the infamous Vortech "gargle" at idle. While driving under no boost, you will hear the boost being purged at the bypass valve (aka BOV). When you step on the gas, I hear the blower "spool" as it draws more air with no noise from the bypass valve until you take your foot off the gas and you hear the typical "woosh" of the pressure being released all at once.

Hope this helps someone out there to make a decision one way or another...

 

Maybe I overlooked something, but what is the average maintenance cost that is spent on FI in a period of 6 months or so?

Are there certain things that just wear out after time that need to be replaced?

 

If you take care of your car (check oil level) and dont drive it like you stole it then maintance is your regular Oil Change, Filter Cleaning and Spart Plug every 10k miles. Those changes are pretty normal even for NA cars, maybe longer for the spark plugs. With SC then there is keeping an eye on the Belt but that is it. I had my Kit for almost a year and around 10K miles and I just cleaned my Air Filter and Changed my Spark Plugs.

 

I do common sense things like check my oil level every 1500 miles, check the condition and tension of the serpentine belt, sometimes swap out the 2nd K&N filter when the other gets filthy. Other than that there really isn't anything else that I do...

 

^Oh I'll be the first to admit that, no doubt ... but tell me this, if you had the same opportunity presented to you, wouldn't you consider it too?

 

I guess I'll find out when I go JWT TT in a year or two from now

.

 

I think another big mistake I made (aside from not having a beater) was that I completely underestimated the risks of the kit itself. I was focused on preventing engine and transmission damage, but I never thought long and hard about the reliability of the supercharger (or turbo) kit itself. And that turned out to be my biggest problem. The [now] notorious bearing failures, impeller warping/contact with housing, belt slippage. I had this perception that superchargers were ridiculously reliable, probably because I was thinking of roots type blowers on domestic V8s running low boost. But that didn't translate too well to a centrifugal blower with a turbine spinning twice as fast!

And I never could foresee all of the stupid little problems with peripherals - my plenum spacer bolts had to be torqued a little more, my first UTEC remote map selector failed, now I'm having some rough idle issues, suspect it's my big a$$ 650cc fuel injectors, my map is probably off at low RPMs. You may need a strong stomach though, cause the little things add up.

So I think it boils down to preparing yourself for potential damage to the existing system (stock block, transmission), PLUS a lot of potential issues with any upgraded part (be it the FI head unit, injectors, plugs, belt, piggyback unit, plenum spacer, high flow cats, etc).

 

So true....

Everytime I read threads about Turbo vs SC .....I "LMAO"

Most always say " Go SC because it wont blow your motor...but Turbo's will"...a point I refuse to agree with But I have been reading alot about SC failures. With a good tune a Turbo or SC is safe...but there is nothing to save you from badly build equipment

 

I believe that if you plan your build either SC, TT or even single T ahead of time then most will last a very long time, these stories you hear of engines blowing up and cars being in the shop forever are those that may have not planned for a complete build. Again this depends on how much power you plan to attain as 400 and below you don't necc. need a built motor but after many years of boosting, fatigue will set in and eventually it may lead you to getting it done anyways, plus who ever says they have enough hp

I have been boosted now for 91,000 miles, clocked just turned over 91K this week, and I have slowly but surely added the necc. items I needed to be sure that the car is safe and reliable and built to handle the power I need. So far my car has been down 3 months in the 4+ years I have owned it and that was for the build, tune and additional items to be added, if you plan ahead and do your homework like most have done then I guess the majority of those that went FI would say they would never go back.

These cars weren't made for boost so take your time, save your pennies and do it right the first time and you will never look back

Lastly a great tuner is the key, they will have the knowledge and experience of doing this job and the tune goes without saying.

Ok I'm off my soapbox.

 

It's like finding out your wife has herpes. Hahaha. No matter what you do, you're f'ed.