Tuesday, August 31, 2010

300% More Exhaust Tips!

Our friends at TurboXS haven't had a specific exhaust for the STI before now, so we initially installed the single-tip system indented for the WRX hatchback.  That fit fine, sounded great, and was nice and light, but especially after we fitted up the STI accessory rear garnish bits, it always seemed like the car was missing something over on the left side of the rear valence.

That's remedied now with a new TurboXS rear exhaust section with four very nice polished stainless steel tips.  The new rear section actually bolted right to the rest of our existing TurboXS exhaust, so if you are in the same boat as us and previously bought a single-outlet TurboXS turbo-back, you will be able to just purchase the rear section to get the new multi-tip style.

I thought the sound would be a lot quieter than the single-tip system (after all, the muffler looks about three times as big), but it sounds very similar to the old system.  It might be a tiny bit deeper in tone, but the volume level didn't seem to change.  The look is great.  Some systems for the STI have a pronounced "drain pipe" that hangs down just before entering the muffler, but the TurboXS system tucks nice and close up to the body.

The new quad-tip TurboXS system for STI hatchbacks will be available for purchase on our web site in the near future.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Rota D-Force Wheels for STI

D-Force test-fit on STI
If you follow this blog you've probably seen me complain that there aren't many wheels available that are both wide and high-offset to fit the GR-chassis STI.  Although there ARE lots of 5x114 wheels around, most of them have the wrong offset -- typically around +35mm -- and would stick out on the WRX STI.


In an effort to remedy this situation we worked with Rota to spec out a wheel that would be nice and wide, but still fit under the fenders of the wide-body STI.  We just got them the other day.  They're called D-Force, and they're 18x9.5", +40.  They have a very large (2.75") lip, which is really unusual for wheels that fit the big Brembo brakes of the STI.  At 22.6 pounds, the weight isn't too bad, either.

D-Force
For now, we only have this wheel in flat black.  Other colors to come will certainly include "Hyper Black," which is a smokey silver color.  I'm open to suggestions on what other colors you'd like to see.  Also, we could do the wheel with a polished and clear-coated lip.  Comment at the bottom of this post if you have an opinion either way.

Want them?  As I write this post, they are in stock and you can buy them.  You can find them at our web site.