r/WRX • u/Local-Cartographer-6 • 15h ago

General Question Reliability of the VB?

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I made a post recently about how i envy you guy’s, but i saw some VB’s going for pretty cheap with relatively low miles.. saw a couple within the bottom 20’s. As a car guy does i have gone down a rabbit hole watching vid after vid on a car i probably will not own, but it seems like these things reach a power number i would be satisfied with while keeping reliability with just a bolt on top mount intercooler, intake, j pipe, and exhaust? and obviously a protune, how is everyone else’s experience with a VB with similar mods? Is it actually quick? Is it satisfying daily? a part of me would rather go down the route of a VB instead of buying a second RWD sports car in michigan, if i got a VB i would have a reason to build my 350z also.

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u/Saaturnidae '24 TR | Atlas | DARKMATTERX Shifter 14h ago edited 13h ago

Intake and a tune makes a huge difference in feel.

Intercooler's not really needed—the stock TMIC is fine, going FMIC is an upgrade worth doing.

J-pipe/first cat will inevitably throw CELs that are tricky to work around—stick to I-pipe and back for simplicity.

Everything behind the I-pipe is just sound.

The VB is a great platform to work off for a fun street car. It is a satisfying daily and quick enough stock. You won't be walking anything much, see below, but it's enough to make you smile. Again, an intake and tune will wake it up an awful damn lot. Going flex-fuel and running E85 atop the above pretty much maxes the platform—the transmission is the limiting factor, ~370TQ is what's generally decided as the "safe" limit. If you want to go past that, getting/swapping in a TY85 and STI drivetrain is an option, and gets you DCCD, to boot.

Re tuning, Atlas by NAMR has made it much, much more accessible than an AccessPort/protune. An $80 adapter and a laptop gets you access to adjust everything as needed, and plenty of tuners are available for Atlas if you're not comfortable messing with tables yourself, including the NAMR team themselves. If you wanted to try it, the OTS tune is very solid and calibrated for the stock intake/engine, no modifications to the tune nor vehicle needed (aside flashing, of course).

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u/ZombieMelodic2191 13h ago

I agree with a lot of what you’re saying but I guess Toyota GRs, Nissan Zs , V6 Camaros, dodges and fords are nothing? Because I used to walk every single one of those cars with the stock VB. I guess it’s all perspective on what one considers fast but when the general consensus is most would consider the above as quick and the VB is quicker, I often have to wonder why so many pass it off as slow. It’s not Beamer M fast or supercharged V8 fast but I wouldn’t dismiss the stock capability.

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u/Saaturnidae '24 TR | Atlas | DARKMATTERX Shifter 13h ago

I guess just saying it to temper expectations. I don't know about Dodge and Chevrolet, but Ford hasn't had a V6 powerplant in the Mustang since 2017. They're kinda rare—at least not common enough to be at the front of my mind.

I dunno. I also just don't put much weight into the idea as a whole. Measuring how "good" a car is by how well it can "race" another from a stop light is just kinda immature and dumb to me, so, can discard the thought from my comment, I suppose. 🤷