GTO and car photography BS

Well this thread originally started out as a place to display this:

2013 WRX


DSC02996-2 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr


After a lot of thought and after watching about 3 different Subarus blow up over the course of 6 months...I decided to part ways with it and trade it straight across for this:

2006 LBZ Duramax


DSC04807 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr


After owning the truck for about 2.5 months, and realizing I had no use for a Boeing 747, I sold it and then got into a car that I'd been wanting before my Subaru was even sold:

2006 GTO


DSC06080 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr




So now this thread is basically a mumble-jumble of my old Subaru, car photos that I've taken, and BS that you probably don't want to sift through. Enjoy!

_______________________________________________________________

Plans for WRX:
-Cobb Accessport
-Rally Armor mud flaps
-Cobb Shift knob
-Intake
-Exhaust
-Downpipe
-Aftermarket wheels
-Coilovers


8/9/2016
I can officially say that everything I had listed below is now done. I'm very content with how the car is sitting right now and it does exactly what I had intended for it to do-fun, reliable (i think), and a good-looking daily driver.


As it currently sits:

DSC00813 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr


The Progression:


12/14/2014
Car is currently stock aside from some aftermarket gauges and GrimmSpeed heat sheild. Previous owner put the AEM oil pressure/air-fuel gauges in. First mod I did was hook up an SPT boost gauge.

DSC02315 by joshipps132, on Flickr


6/13/2015
Picked up a used Cobb Accessport V3 for a pretty good price. Car is now running a "Stage 1" Cobb OTS tune and feels very nice compared to stock. Seems to pull a smidge harder once boost comes on and feels a bit meatier in the 3k+ rpm range compared to the stock tune.

Untitled by Josh Shipps, on Flickr

11/8/2015
Picked up some tail light overlays from Mixxed Auto to get rid of the horrendous clear taillights that come stock on the hatchback Imprezas. I wasn't too pleased with the material and I really had to work it for a while to get them to form to the contours and curves on the lights. However, it was a bit cold when I installed them because I'm impatient so that could be to blame. Overall, they look great from about 5 feet, but have some little wrinkles where I just said F$%# IT and slapped them on. Cheap and simple mod that makes the Subabooty look infinitely better.
DSC07065 by Josh Shipps, on Flickr

12/7/2015
Impulse purchased a Cobb SF intake around Black Friday because I just couldn't resist. Definitely a good driver mod, mainly for all the cool sounds this little box makes. Butt dyno is definitely happy, but maybe it just feels faster cause it sounds faster


1/7/2016
Threw on a Corsa Performance catback exhaust during Christmas time. I'd been scoping this exhaust for months just because the sound clips I heard on Youtube just made it sound so good. Zero drone on the highway at any speed, nice and tame when light on the throttle but really comes alive when you want it to. Cold starts sound amazing and rev-matched downshifts emit a nice burbly pop and grumble. And it'll only get better with a downpipe installed. Great mod. 10/10. Would install again.

Untitled by Josh Shipps, on Flickr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL7jiyCPvJQ&ab_channel=JoshShipps

5/23/2016

That pesky mod bug struck again. I decided that I wasn't about that stock wheel life anymore and decided to purchase some Enkei Kojins in matte silver.

18 x 9.5 +45 wrapped in Nitto NT555's

Stock suspension in this photo:

DSC08936 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

And of course I had to buy coilovers while I was at it, so I picked up some ISC N1's.

DSC09199 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

After the install:

DSC09204 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

The ride is honestly fantastic considering they're a slightly more aggressive spring rate (12k/10k). But the handling and overall feel is miles beyond the worn out stock suspension that I was so used to.


6/24/2016

Picked up a Cobb catless downpipe for dirt cheap after a buddy of mine upgraded exhaust. Actually a bit of a rare find considering Cobb only produces catted downpipes now. I uploaded a new map to the Accessport from Torqued Performance based out of Oregon. I spent the next week or so sending logs back and forth with the tuner. He was extremely helpful and made sure things were looking good. Overall logged and refined the map about 10-11 times over the course of a week. Car runs and sounds extremely good now. Definitely get some nice faint turbo whistle while cruising around, rev-matched downshifts sound amazing, and definitely comes alive when on the throttle. I've gotten quite a few compliments on the sound of the Corsa exhaust mated with the downpipe.

After the install:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL7jiyCPvJQ


Photos:



DSC03099 by joshipps132, on Flickr

Tilt Shift by joshipps132, on Flickr

Untitled by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

Snow by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

DSC07121 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

DSC09866 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

DSC00825 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

DSC01443 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

DSC02354 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

DSC04764-Edit by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

 

Nice, man. Subbed for a cool project. If I wasn't such a Mustang fiend, I'd do exactly what you're doing.

 

The first pic in the snow made my fall in love with it already haha.
Good build so far!

 

My last two vehicles were Subarus, both Outbacks with the H6 engine in them. One heck of an engine--torque down low but still likes to rev and you can't kill it. Funny, looks like you have the exact same steering wheel. Mine even had "Momo" engraved in the leather--pretty cool for an Outback.

Skip the Cobb AP, pick up a Tactrix OpenPort cable and talk to Ed Millington here: http://www.xtremeracingtuning.com/

He remotely retuned my last Outback and it was a night and day difference--on a naturally aspirated engine. He has you send him logs and goes through them with a fine tooth comb after every revision so he can tweak it to exactly what you want. You get a custom tune for less than the Cobb AP would cost you.

 

Thanks man. Deep down i have a thing for Stangs Wyoming winters aren't very RWD v8 friendly so my options were kind of slim for a fun/affordable vehicle. FWD was never an option

Haha that is by far the best picture i've ever snagged of my car

 

Haha that is pretty cool! I've seen those Momo steering wheels on some other forums and thought they were pretty sweet

As far as the tuning goes i'm leaning towards the Accessport simply because i'd prefer being able to have control of the vehicle on the spot. I have a phone number for a tuner up in Montana which would be about a 2 hour drive for me and i could get my car tuned for probably close to half of what the Accessport costs. The real-time info and additional info you get from the Cobb is appealing and its a guaranteed "safe" tune i guess you could call it. Not that professional tuners can't do the same thing but i think as a package the AP would work well for me.

 

Got some goodies in the mail today

Untitled by joshipps132, on Flickr

 

Got some goodies installed today.




DSC03346 by joshipps132, on Flickr


DSC03341 by joshipps132, on Flickr

 

Subbed...

 

Subbed...

I used to have an 02 WRX. Very fun cars as long as you take care of em.

 

It'll be kind of a slow process since le Taco still needs some lovin. But its fun

Ahh good old bugeye I plan to have this car for a while so it gets taken care of pretty well. Lots of fun though, by far the nicest...and fastest vehicle i've ever owned

 

Very cool ... The down pioe and exhaust really liven these things up and at a pretty fair price too have fun be safe

 

Not that anyone cares but a couple weeks back i had a check engine light issue that was becoming a nuisance. Consistently throwing code P0300 (random misfire) and had a noticeably rough idle literally every time i started the car. I believe Corey (Monster Coma) had the same exact issue with his 2013 WRX.

Did some research and came across a random thread in the dark depths of Google and found some info about the problem. In this wiring harness is a ground wire which branches off into 4 separate exposed wires...Like so:

Not my picture


Dropped a big glob of solder onto where the wires branch off from eachother and the check engine light/rough idle has been completely gone ever since.

Now that i've shared all this worthless Subaru information on a Toyota forum...i guess moral of the story is that electrical gremlins are dirty little bastards.

This stupid little 20 minute fix saved me a 2 hour drive to the nearest Subaru dealership and the additional headache that comes with going to a car dealership...so that was pretty cool.

 

Hmm, that makes no sense to me.... Haha

 

I've heard the same thing! Supposedly the stage 1 tune on the Accessport is quite a nice change from the stock tune. From what i've heard the downpipe and Cobb stage 2 is like night and day difference.

 

Haha i was pretty surprised too, but miraculously it worked some guy on the internet told me to do it so i did it...That's usually how most of my mod decisions go

 

So a single ground wire splits up into four separate pieces of wire that just sit there exposed?

 

Well they are raveled up in a few layers of electrical tape. But once the tape is off then yes they are exposed. I though that was a little hokey. That entire harness is inside of a chunk of wire loom which is then covered in an ungodly amount of electrical tape. That picture is with all the tape/loom/ect taken off.

 

subd

 

Nothing new just some middle of the road pic action


DSC03361 by joshipps132, on Flickr