WR1 Owners Club

Hi all, has anyone fitted a front mount intercooler? what can i expect the car to feel like? Is it worth doing?And a dump valve....Ive heard they dont do nothing to the performance.Why do they try to sell one with the front mount intercooler? To give you info on my 1 its running a remap from Duncan at RaceDynamix with a Green air filter and an After Burner Vortex Backbox. Doing a reolling road power run soon for exact bhp but estimate it to be around 330bhp. As always thanking you in advance Cozzy.

No point fitting a fmic with the power your running top mount is good for 380.

Anything above that will cost you thousands !


APS, Perrin, Hyperflow are the top end fmic if you decide to !

although Hyperflow do have a nice top mount that will run into the 400's ok.

I think even Andy F was running into mid 400's on the standard top mount jobbie.

its not a critical item that should be first on your list....without other changes then you won't really see any major gains..it will just allow you to run closer to the edge given your current set up.

turbo and injectors should be first I reckon.

Thanks lads. Tell me more! I have got the modding bug and want to slowly get her up to 380 even 400. I love driving cars but confess to having limited knowledge when it comes to engines. Turbo and injectors first you say Caveman, Whats the best ones in your opinion? What sort of cost can i expect to pay supply and fitted. Do any other upgrades need doing when you change these. As for the dump valve, looking back through the threads i think ive got my answer....dump them in the bin!
(By the way forgot to mention that she is running Bc Coilovers and upgraded vented front discs, not that it affects power but thought id mention)
Cheers Coz

Cozzy best way to do this is to think of a bhp number and stick too it !

You will do 340bhp and want more, an then 380 and then 400 ... you get me !

I've done the above, then thought a nice 500 will do, only for it to blow up because I stupidly tried to do it cheap, although nearly £10k for a forged 2.5 ain't cheap, it is in the tuning world.

I'm now back to around 400, an thousands out of pocket !

So choose wisely !

Thanks for the wise advice mate i will take it on board. In your opinion at what bhp did your 1 drive the best (if that makes sense). A few people have said that when you get up to big numbers there not as enjoyable to drive. Is it still a nice drive at 400bhp? (or is that a really stupid question!). 400 does have a nice ring to it!!!!
What sort of dosh would it take to gain 400bhp?.
Does it make a big difference to insurance?
Many Thanks 1mposter

Cozzy 481 wrote:What sort of dosh would it take to gain 400bhp?.

It really depends on who does the work and what parts you use...

Do your homework and don't skimp as you may well end up spending a lot more to fix "new" problems!! Having read what people have done on here there are loads of different avenues to get to 400bhp all with their pros and cons it seems...

Cozzy 481 wrote:Thanks for the wise advice mate i will take it on board. In your opinion at what bhp did your 1 drive the best (if that makes sense). A few people have said that when you get up to big numbers there not as enjoyable to drive. Is it still a nice drive at 400bhp? (or is that a really stupid question!). 400 does have a nice ring to it!!!!
What sort of dosh would it take to gain 400bhp?.
Does it make a big difference to insurance?
Many Thanks 1mposter

My Mrs always said it drove best around 370/380bhp, which needed the following mods, turbo, 3"decat, ind kit, 660 injectors fuel pump(although I think the WR1 pump is enough) you could fit a bigger tmic, but to be honest I think the standard one is good enough.

When I went for a fmic(410bhp) the car never drove as well especially in cold weather, it was to me undriveable, but this may have been due to the maf sensor... but now having gone back to 400-ish I've also a simtek ecu which does away with the maf sensor and it is far better drive, but I'll let you know in aa few weeks when its mapped to the limit.

WR 1mpostor (aka number 1 moderator) wrote:

Cozzy 481 wrote:Thanks for the wise advice mate i will take it on board. In your opinion at what bhp did your 1 drive the best (if that makes sense). A few people have said that when you get up to big numbers there not as enjoyable to drive. Is it still a nice drive at 400bhp? (or is that a really stupid question!). 400 does have a nice ring to it!!!!
What sort of dosh would it take to gain 400bhp?.
Does it make a big difference to insurance?
Many Thanks 1mposter

My Mrs always said it drove best around 370/380bhp, which needed the following mods, turbo, 3"decat, ind kit, 660 injectors fuel pump(although I think the WR1 pump is enough) you could fit a bigger tmic, but to
When I went for a fmic(410bhp) the car never drove as well especially in cold weather, it was to me undriveable, but this may have been due to the maf sensor... but now having gone back to 400-ish I've also a simtek ecu which does away with the maf sensor and it is far better drive, but I'll let you know in aa few weeks when its mapped to the limit.

hope you re enjoying having the car back???

I reckon just the simple changes as above is a good base to start. Its just basically giveing a little more lung capacity matched with a better fuel supply...but even here you are talking a best part of 3-5k.

This is within limits of the stock internals...but anything more than 400-420 you would be running the risk of doing damage on the inside.

at this point you get your wallet our and expect to drop at least 6-8k minimum having a unit built - even 4-6k if you do it yourself.

Defo worth swapping ecu to Simtek or Syvecs (new name for Solaris) with any of the changes really.

buffy wrote:

WR 1mpostor (aka number 1 moderator) wrote:

Cozzy 481 wrote:Thanks for the wise advice mate i will take it on board. In your opinion at what bhp did your 1 drive the best (if that makes sense). A few people have said that when you get up to big numbers there not as enjoyable to drive. Is it still a nice drive at 400bhp? (or is that a really stupid question!). 400 does have a nice ring to it!!!!
What sort of dosh would it take to gain 400bhp?.
Does it make a big difference to insurance?
Many Thanks 1mposter

My Mrs always said it drove best around 370/380bhp, which needed the following mods, turbo, 3"decat, ind kit, 660 injectors fuel pump(although I think the WR1 pump is enough) you could fit a bigger tmic, but to
When I went for a fmic(410bhp) the car never drove as well especially in cold weather, it was to me undriveable, but this may have been due to the maf sensor... but now having gone back to 400-ish I've also a simtek ecu which does away with the maf sensor and it is far better drive, but I'll let you know in aa few weeks when its mapped to the limit.

hope you re enjoying having the car back???

Only drove her back to home, she's on the drive an not moved since monday eve, and wont be used on the roas until 1st March.

Although cleaned her today 1st time in 18months ...gleaming ....apart from a dig on the boot near the key, so will need to respray boot which aint going to be easy with all the badges on there ! plus 2 scuffed wheels one dig on the spoke, the other on lip bit of the rim but not on the edge, can only think it was cause by the ratchet straps going to an thro mapping...wheels were refurbed a few weeks before engine went bang Will speak to CPA tomoz.

WR 1mpostor (aka number 1 moderator) wrote:

buffy wrote:

WR 1mpostor (aka number 1 moderator) wrote:

Cozzy 481 wrote:Thanks for the wise advice mate i will take it on board. In your opinion at what bhp did your 1 drive the best (if that makes sense). A few people have said that when you get up to big numbers there not as enjoyable to drive. Is it still a nice drive at 400bhp? (or is that a really stupid question!). 400 does have a nice ring to it!!!!
What sort of dosh would it take to gain 400bhp?.
Does it make a big difference to insurance?
Many Thanks 1mposter

My Mrs always said it drove best around 370/380bhp, which needed the following mods, turbo, 3"decat, ind kit, 660 injectors fuel pump(although I think the WR1 pump is enough) you could fit a bigger tmic, but to
When I went for a fmic(410bhp) the car never drove as well especially in cold weather, it was to me undriveable, but this may have been due to the maf sensor... but now having gone back to 400-ish I've also a simtek ecu which does away with the maf sensor and it is far better drive, but I'll let you know in aa few weeks when its mapped to the limit.

hope you re enjoying having the car back???

Only drove her back to home, she's on the drive an not moved since monday eve, and wont be used on the roas until 1st March.

Although cleaned her today 1st time in 18months ...gleaming ....apart from a dig on the boot near the key, so will need to respray boot which aint going to be easy with all the badges on there ! plus 2 scuffed wheels one dig on the spoke, the other on lip bit of the rim but not on the edge, can only think it was cause by the ratchet straps going to an thro mapping...wheels were refurbed a few weeks before engine went bang Will speak to CPA tomoz.

hope you get things sorted unlike you i wouldnt be able to resist the temptataion to drive it after that long lol,, hope all goes well for you

Thanks lads sound advice. Duncan Race Dynamix said his car drove best at 380 too. Im not going to rush into this and im going to do plenty of research/picking you guys brains. Question; Swapping the ecu, does this cause problems with the saftey features the car has? Many thanks, keep you posted.

Cozzy 481 wrote:Thanks lads sound advice. Duncan Race Dynamix said his car drove best at 380 too. Im not going to rush into this and im going to do plenty of research/picking you guys brains. Question; Swapping the ecu, does this cause problems with the saftey features the car has? Many thanks, keep you posted.

safety features? Thats your right foot isn't it?

they will be uneffected anyhow.

True.

Personally, and having done plenty on RS Fords (sorry!) I'd always go for brakes and suspension first ( not necissarily applicable for a WR1) then reliability items.
A top mounted I/c will always be subject to more heat soak than a fmic, And a fmic can showup to 14bhp gains in peak power on one of these engines, and similar % gains in torque.
Now some will argue until they are (WR1) blue in the face, but it's a fact that a turbo car will perform better on a cooler day than a hot day, ergo a fmic will reduce inlet charge temp consistently and allow maintenance of boost and power. It's a reletavely cheap way to increase and maintain power (Japspeed do a good one for imprezas).

We have,with R9SY B pretty much covered everything,our WR1 drove great at 480bhp,hard to tell it was not a standard car until you put your foot down,now its closer to 600bhp it feels a bit more touchy but still drives nice,but we have done everything,engine,exhaust,rotated turbo,Motec ECU,APS frontmounted intercooler,and some good mapping to bring it all together.
Aiming for a nice 400bhp with the right up-grades should be good.