Update - Car

[JSork25]

Alright, here goes.... much will be added, because I'm sure I forgot plenty, but I'll give it a first run:

For those that don't know.... I've got a stage 2 that I've tinkered with, and I ended up putting one of the first Kenne Bell kits (one of the first 4 sold.... before they were actually on the market) on this past august. Because I was one of the first kits (One of the guys at KB - Victor - mentioned it was THE first kit on the market ) out there.... I did a little guinea pig action for good 'ol kenne.... and ofcourse, ran into some problems with I reported to them. Nothing major.... stuff like.... make sure they have the stock intake or KB intake, because putting the kit on actually moved the throttle body forward, meaning I had to take off my Roush cold air kit (since it was hard plastic, and non-flexible) to get the intake to hook up to the t/b. The other problem I ran into was that a bolt or two were missing and/or mis-sized, but me and a buddy fabricated pretty much anything they missed from stuff we purchased at the local hardware store (no plugs here ). The only other problem I can recall is that the thermostat was a little further back (towards the cockpit) than before. This was actually quite an issue because I was unable to hook up the rad hose since it was too short. We cut the hose in half, and put a steel insert in, but this would only last a little whilte before it corroded, so I ended up buying one of those stainless steel flexible radiator hoses, ran me back quite a few bucks - works great, and doesn't hurt the eyes to look at if ya know what I mean!

Alright, now what you've been waiting for.... the kit. First off.... Kenne Bell is a saweeeeeeeeet dude. This kit is ridonk-u-lous. Everything has been running great. only problem I ran into was that the temp gauge wasn't reading. Well..... only recently (january) did I figure out it WAS working.... the intercooler has just been REALLY heat-efficient (temp hasn't gotten higher than 140*F). Now the only concern has been the engine. With all the added heat from the blower, I didn't think the stock rad would hold up as well as I needed it to (especially for my fun stints down 95 in the morning and afternoon to work in the hot summer). Also, as I mentioned above, I put in a new radiator hose - when I did this, I had to disconnect the intercooler coolant tank "out" hose. I didn't realize at the time, but this un-primed the i/c coolant tank! Boy did that make a horrible noise (this is where I found out my temp gauge was working, because it wasn't pumping any coolant, and the i/c temp was getting VERY hot (up to about 210*F). I went ahead and purchased Steeda's Ultra-Cool radiator - this I put in when I re-primed the intercooler system last weekend. The car has been running VERY cool (my factory water temp gauge is VERY close to the 'C' - I'll snap a picture when I get a chance, along with a picture of the new radiator and a comparison to the old one).

Sorry for the long post guys! Any questions are welcomed and can I say: DAMN its good to be back!! I was in withdrawal from the Roush!!

Long story short (for those of you that don't like to read long paragraphs :
Car is running fantastic! I think I've even seen a little higher than 9lbs of boost at times, and boy is this thing strong!!

Plans for the summer (since I will have the car paid off completely next month - and assuming I am saving for a WRX/WRX STi for post college - read my post in General BS'n about the WRX/WRX STi idea):

- PBR brake kit (the one from the Roush site) with those cross-drilled rotors (if anyone knows how I can get a discount from Roush, that would be GREATLY appreciated!! or I may just go with putting together a kit from the links mario posted in a previous thread)

- Kenne Bell cold air intake and big Mass Air Meter

- Shift light

- Hopefully get it tuned and Dyno'd and hopefully get to the track for my first time ever!!

everyone - its gonna be a great summer

~ Josh

[Roush2960]

Thanks for the updates Josh. I am going to get one installed soon. Do you know if KB has implemented some of your changes. I am not worried about the tb move. But more the raditor hose. Will the stock raditor work for the kit or will a better unit be required?

Have you dynoed the car since install?

did you use the KB tune or have you tuned it custom since?

[JSork25]

No prob matt - as for your ?'s....

I'm not too sure whether or not they implemented any of the changes, I'm assuming they did. I do know they fixed the 'missing bolts' issue though, so no worries there. As far as the radiator hose goes, even if they didn't fix that issue (it wasn't a huge issue, so I'm assuming they did fix it), its not a huge setback - very easy to just fabricate something to elongate your hose.... I just had a hard time getting a piece of stainless steel the size I needed. Also, as for the stock radiator. Only you can answer that. I chose to upgrade because now I have absolutely no worry of overheat on the morning journeys down I-95 for an hour to New Jersey.... letting the car sit in the hot summer heat all day.... then driving an hour to the gym..... still, without a worry of overheating. I'll snap a picture when I get a chance of the two radiators (they won't be side to side, but you'll be able to see the difference immediately. Night and day.

I have yet to dyno the car, or re-tune it (I'm running the KB tune). I intend to at some point this summer get the car dyno'd and custom tuned.

Let me know if there are any more questions!

~ Josh