i would say the best 1st mod is an up pipe, then a full exhaust

edit : im prob just gonna get a k&n filter

 

OH that's it? OK

 

The best thing you can do with a turbo car is get rid of ANY and ALL back pressure, run straight pipe or a open supertrap or some dynomax race bullets.. anything that is a straight through design..
A intake will help on a well modified turbo.. but most company's make the system work well in stock.. so just the intake filter will not see that much.. but bigger turbo, will see alot more gains from more air..

 

The ECU doesn't adapt well to mods. An intake alone has been known to cause detonation in some cars. Engine management is just my suggestion on what to get first, but all the exhaust suggestions are also good starting points. You will just feel more gains from the engine management than anything else. But as for an intake... save the money.

 

For first mod I'd go with exhaust, up-pipe, downpipe etc...
someone mentioned BOV as one of first mods...won't do shit for you (performance wise)

Their reasoning is CAI leans the car out. Any other modifications that lead to a possible lean(er) condition or bumping the boost up can cause problems without proper engine/fuel management.

...dyno proven to loose horsepower ! yay

 

Yes I know the reasons they stated. I talked with mike about this but I'm not convinced. I base my assumptions on how a mass air system works. Your mas reads a certain air count and the ecu spits out a corresponding fuel trim. I don't see how flowing more air (that the mas actually sees) will make such a drastic change that your can will go from the overly rich factory condition to borderline lean/detonatoin.
I think it has a little to do with the car being new and everyone's scared to test the boundaries of what's safe and what's not so they just listen to a few tuning companies who want people to buy products from them.
I tested my theory on Futureprospect's WRX which runs a CAI, full exhaust, and some other crap, but no ecu modification. I logged his car, he is running quite rich and timing progresses steadily (i.e. no knock).

All that aside, I'm not trying to start an argument. I'm not trying to say that turboxs or vishnu or whoever is wrong. I'm not that arrogant. I'm not trying to tell anyone to listen to me over them. I'm not trying to say that people shouldn't listen to the popular wrx tuning companies. I hope that's enough of a disclaimer.

I just like to gather information for myself and use my own knowledge.

 

haha...no disclaimer necessary

I data logged my car too, of course I don't have a cai and I was running rich, most WRX's do run rich. I did read something about velocity stack intakes...assuming these flow more air, uh (this would be easier to talk about then type, but...) like the diameter on CAI is larger, flows more air but at a lower velocity...that would be the only way I can think of how these would "trick" the ecu into thinking the condition was leaner than actually was...velocity stack supposed to flow more but at the same velocity ( I guess)

(did that make any sense?)
thoughts?

 

Ah I think you made a connection for me rob. One difference I overlooked is that your mas doesn't actually have a housing like my car does. It's actually encorporated into the intake pipe itself, so it is possible to vary the diameter. good call mate

 

remove silencer.......uppipe, downpipe, and exhaust......
then utec, larger injectors, fuel pump upgrade, fmic, and finally larger turbo..... well that is what im doing.......

 

twelvz is right. k&n's have been proven to lose hp. according to shiv pathek (www.vishnutuning.com) a k&n panel loses about 2-3whp and the stock intake is good up to around 300whp. doubt you're anywhere close to that. reduce backpressure. get a turbo back exhaust. get a new up pipe. get new engine management (ecutek). you won't be disappointed. if you don't believe me, sometime you can ride with me (or maybe twelvz if you ask nice) so you can see that stock intake is plenty alright.