By 8 Must-Have Mods for the 2015+ Subaru WRX
In this article, we discuss the must-have mods for the 2015 and up Subaru WRX with the FA20 engine. Since the early 2000s, the Subaru WRX has been an extremely popular car among enthusiasts because it’s affordable, makes great and reliable horsepower, has all-wheel-drive performance, and Subaru’s retain their resale value exceptionally well. In the hands of tuners and gearheads, they’ve been able to squeeze consistent, reliable, inexpensive horsepower out of these boxer engines. And frankly, Subaru’s just sound better doing it. Now, the 2015 and up WRX is a hugely popular platform among enthusiasts and tuners and for good reason. It’s a great platform, but it does have a couple of shortcomings.
The previous generations of the WRX featured the battle tested EJ series engine, which could be tuned past 450 warlocks and take its beating like a real man. But this new engine is the FA20, and it’s a great engine, but when you tune past 350 horsepower, it’s known to start breaking rods and bearings. That means if you’re planning to make big boy power, you definitely are signing up for major internal engine work. Now they are also known to blow out throw out bearings in the clutch assembly, even if you haven’t tuned it aggressively. And the suspension leaves quite a bit to be desired.
8 Must Have Mods for the 2015+ Subaru WRX Video
1. Sway Bar Upgrade
WHITELINE SWAY BARS
Our first must-have mod is in the suspension department. As with most Subarus, the rear sway bar is far too dainty to deal with the body roll and it is no exception in these new big body style WRX’s, even with all-wheel drive. That lack of torsional stiffness can lead to understeer. An aftermarket sway bar setup is going to use thicker Chromoly steel bars adding more torsional stiffness to help keep that body roll under control. It’s also going to allow you to make adjustments and tune the exact characteristics of the sway bar, depending on the handling characteristics that you’re looking for. Most good kits are also going to come with adjustable end links, which will be handy when you lower your vehicle. Now in the aftermarket, one of our favorite brands is Whiteline BSK012 and their kit comes with front and rear sway bars, adjustable end links, and lateral locks for under $600.
2. Coilovers
One of the main differences between the WRX and the WRX STI is the claimed better suspension on the STI. All that really means is better valving, a lower ride height, and stiffer spring rates. Even STI owners are going to be looking for improved suspension, and they’re going to be looking at coilovers. Now, coilovers are going to allow you to adjust ride height, spring rate damping, and they’re going to allow you much more control over the performance of the suspension, as well as the styling that comes with being able to lower the vehicle.
Coilovers are one of those mods that are both for styling and performance. A good set of coilovers is going to give you a ride height adjustment, so you can control the exact ride height that you want with your wheel and tire combination to get that perfect stance.
BC RACING COILOVERS
In addition to that, though, you can also adjust things like spring pre-loading compression and rebound damping controls to control exactly how your suspension performs. One of the best values in the industry is going to be BC Racing’s BR Series Coilovers, which is going to give you ride height adjustment, damping controls, and spring preload for right around $1,000. If you’re looking for the next level up in performance that can handle street as well as bringing the heat at the racetrack, consider a set of KW Variant 3 Coilovers, which offer independent compression and rebound damping controls as well as a piggyback reservoir, which ensures cool and smooth operation under extreme conditions. Go ahead and call us at 833.MOTOROSO for a deal on those KW’s.
VIDEO: BC RACING COILOVER SPOTLIGHT
VIDEO: WRX COILOVER INSTALL GUIDE
3. Short Throw Shifter
The next step on your must-have mods is getting a short-throw shifter and shifter bushings. Now there’s not a ton of slop in your shifter, but the rubber bushings are known to wear out so proactively upgrade to a set of polyurethane bushings to get that long-lasting smooth performance. Now, when you look at the shifter throw on your Subaru, it feels a little bit more like you’re rowing a dinghy than driving a performance automobile. Brands like COBB, Kartboy, and Perrin make short throw shifters that will give you a little bit more race car, a little less rowboat.
4. Exhaust System
Now we’re going to write an article, all about exhaust systems for the WRX, with the FA20 engine, and we’ll cover the whole system of the exhaust in that article. In this article, we’re only going to talk about the things where you’re going to get the most bang for the buck and that starts with the headers. Now with the headers, you are going to be deciding between keeping that classic Subaru rumble with the unequal length headers or boosting your low-end torque by going with equal-length headers. In both situations, you’re going to be getting more air into the turbo, seeing a major bump in horsepower.
A little on further down the line is going to be the downpipe also sometimes called the J-pipe. This is going to help exhaust gases get out of the turbo much more quickly which unlocks hidden power in the low end of the power band. This is honestly one of the biggest bangs for your buck and it’ll make your Subaru sound quite a bit better. And of course, there are several brands out there making downpipes for your WRX and you can shop for them on Motoroso.com. You’re going to find that COBB is going to be one of the most popular options because of the ease of the off-the-shelf tunes. The Invidia is going to be a little less expensive than the COBB but has a little bit more raspy sound to it, and Grimmspeed is known for offering the least amount of drone.
5. Tuner Module
COBB ACCESSPORT
Now that you started playing around with engine performance, it’s time to invest in a tuner module. This is an absolutely critical tool to have in your arsenal because you need to be able to maximize the gains that you get out of the mods that you’ve installed so you haven’t wasted your money, while also keeping your engine running clean and reliably, keeping that air-fuel ratio safe. And you guessed it Cobb Accessport.
6. Clutch Upgrade
ACT CLUTCH
As we mentioned at the start of the video, one of the known issues with this vehicle is the throw-out bearing failing up in the clutch assembly. This is one of those things we think you should get ahead of because we’ve heard cases of the clutch throw-out bearing going out within 20,000 miles of normal driving without any tuning. This is something that you can expect to happen, especially if you add more power. If you’re going all the way in there, you might as well do an ACT Clutch while you’re at it so you can handle more power and get a better clutch feel as you boost the power in your WRX.
VIDEO: ACT CLUTCH FOR WRX SPOTLIGHT
VIDEO: WRX CLUTCH INSTALL GUIDE
7. Brakes
STOPTECH PADS AND ROTORS
The brakes that come on your current generation WRX are just okay, so you can definitely make some improvements in that area as well since 70% of your braking forces come from your front brakes. A cost-effective solution is to replace the pads and rotors with something like these StopTech Street Axle Pack, which is only going to set you back about $300 for a market improvement in braking performance. Now you can also add for another $100 stainless steel braided brake lines, which are going to give you more braking force and a much firmer pedal feel.
STOPTECH BIG BRAKE KIT
If you’re really serious about performance driving, or you’re planning to take your WRX to the racetrack, you should strongly consider something like the StopTech Big Brake Kit, which includes replacement lines, calipers with more pistons, larger rotors, and performance brake pads. Now, this is going to set you back a pretty penny around $3,000, but this is going to have a massive improvement in braking performance, helping you shorten your lap times on the racetrack and keep your safety on the street.
8. Wheels and Tires
Of course, no build project is complete without upgraded wheels and tires, and this is the mod that pretty much everybody is going to do. There are literally thousands of options of different wheel sizes and tires. The designs are very much a personal thing, but we think on a WRX, this is one of the most important things. Maybe more important than any other car, because Subaru did a really weird thing. For some reason, they didn’t update the wheel and tire sizes when they went to this big body styling, so the wheels are too small, the offsets are too far in, and they can’t fit a big tire. Now we can’t tell you what sort of style of wheel to run that again, that’s going to be your decision, but we can encourage you to run an 18” wheel with a maximum width of 9.5”. That’s going to allow you to run up to a 285/40R18 tire, depending on your ride height. If you want to lower sidewall and you want the car more slammed, you’re going to go with something like a 285/30R18. We have literally tens of thousands of different options of wheels and tires on Motoroso.com, and we’re happy to help you find the rubber bands that are going to work for you.
9 (Bonus): Forged Internals
And lastly, if you’re planning on going big on power, doing a turbo upgrade, fueling, and pushing your tune past 350 horsepower, please strongly consider upgrading your engine internals with pistons, rods, and bearings. The reason for this is because catastrophic engine failure out there on the road is not the end of the world if you blow your engine but depending on where you are it’s probably not going to be fun, and it’s almost certainly not going to be safe. So, if you know you’re going to tune aggressively, why not get ahead of it and do it before you go BOOM.
When you’re ready to shop for your parts, check us out at Motoroso.com. We have live chat, email support, and you can call us toll-free at 833.MOTOROSO anytime. We love helping you guys with your build projects, it’s what we’re here for. If you like this article, consider subscribing to our YouTube channel because we’re always doing build projects, install guides, and product reviews with info just like this.
