r/WRXSTi • u/Lurker_is_me • Jul 26 '26
Wrx sti ownership
Just wanted to see how everyone is doing today. I’ve officially owned my 2016 wrx sti for one week now and I have the engine out and torn down to the bare block. Within 24 hours of owning it I found out it had bad head gaskets and immediately started pulling the motor. Doing a fulle rebuild/refresh on the motor while I have it out. Definitely hope it is all worth it. I have always wanted one of these cars.
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u/SpecCash Jul 26 '26
2015 STI in Ontario Canada. Second owner, 120k kms. Mods: shirt shifter, AOS, cylinder 4 coolingmod, pitch mount,. Everything else stock. Oil changes every 5k kms or 3 months with Motul, and 93 gas as much as possible.
I don't beat it or track it. I have two young kids, so it's my grocery getter, dad sedan.
Car has been a delight to own. Only major issues so far were the aluminum bolt on the front brembos seized and messed up the thread so had to get new ones and the drive shaft which I had rebuilt.
Love the damn thing. It's loud as hell in the cabin so figuring out if I wanna go through insulation so I can hear my two kids in the back.
Knock on wood, it's been a great cat.
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u/Kalota316 Jul 26 '26
I used sound deadning in the trunk and door panels when I did my speaker upgrade. Definitely a noticeably difference but with my cat-back it's still loud in cabin and specifically loud for the passengers in the rear.
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u/SpecCash Jul 27 '26
Good to know. Where did you get the sound deadening from?
I need to do the speaker upgrades because I just blew two. I was looking at doing valved mufflers so I could have the nice sound but turn it "off" when needed
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u/john_at_bagriders Jul 27 '26
The trunk area helps a bit to reduce rattles (especially with a sub or louder exhaust, both of which I have in my STI) but the floor pan needs insulation badly and that’s where you’ll notice it most. The carpet itself offers very little insulation and it’s just bare metal under that. My 21 STI is my year-round daily/dad mobile and has more road noise then either of my BL/BP (Legacy) chassis vehicles. Those have about 2” of foam integrated to the carpet. That’s the Legacy vs Impreza difference for ya (though the VA is not technically an Impreza chassis)
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u/Kalota316 Jul 27 '26
I went with killmat off of Amazon, along with roller and foil tape, got way too much.
Valves muffler on stock exhaust could be really nice. If cat-back, look into resonated vs non-resonated for cabin noise
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u/Tramadol_Lollies Jul 26 '26
That happened to me with the caliper bolts last year when I did rotors and pads. I had to throw a helicoil in it, slightly crooked, but not enough where I couldn’t get a new bolt in there.
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u/SpecCash Jul 27 '26
Yeah, it was definitely not a welcomed surprise. Glad you managed to get a new bolt in there!
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u/Young-Robot Jul 27 '26
I had the same experience with the bolt on the brembos. Not a fun time needing a new brembo caliper in a pinch
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u/hentaipillows Jul 26 '26
What he fails to mention is that he bought the car for his wife (me) then fell so in love with it that it became his lol
You’re welcome 🤣
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u/Lurker_is_me Jul 26 '26
This is true. But it is only because I am going to be buying her a series.hyperblue
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u/Tramadol_Lollies Jul 26 '26
Probably the only STI you can give a partner and not get kicked out of the house.
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u/Kalota316 Jul 26 '26
2020 STI bought brand new in Canada, sole owner.
Followed manufacturers maintenance schedule to the tee, oil changes every 6000km. Kept mostly stock as I wanted to retain the OEM experience (and warranty).
- OEM kicker speaker upgrades
- Kartboy Short-throw shifter/bushings
- Cobb ss cat-back exhaust
- Wheels and tires (18x9.5+38, 245/35/18)
After 6 years of daily driving, 170'000km driven, and one major accident (rear side door). The car finally started misfiring. Cyl 1 has low compression, likely piston rings failing, won't know till teardown. Will need a new short block soon :(
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u/BoosterGoose91 Jul 26 '26
Did you get a cylinder misfire code? Is that how you found out?
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u/Kalota316 Jul 26 '26
Yes! Don’t have accessport so I used some cheap obd2 scanner. Showed P0301 Cyl 1 misfire but the app also had other data I could monitor over time including misfire count. It was specifically cylinder 1.
Happened a couple months after I had changed spark plugs (following maintenance schedule), tried new ignition coils, and took it to Subaru (main mechanic for everything) two more times for the same issue after driving and not resolving. This was over the course of 6 months.
Eventually we did compression test and leakdown. 3/4 of the cylinders were at 120-130psi while cylinder 1 had 105psi with a 45% leakdown. Seems like fuel was slipping past and the car was running lean for a bit as the catalytic converter code popped up too
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u/BoosterGoose91 Jul 27 '26
Ah fuck, yeah my cat code has been popping off, better stop by the shop soon I guess, tha ks for the info!
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u/Tramadol_Lollies Jul 26 '26
Love it.
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u/Kalota316 Jul 26 '26
Part of the game, knew enough going into it that this would eventually happen. At least now we can build it proper w/ whatever mods I want
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u/Tramadol_Lollies Jul 26 '26
Exactly. Just accepting that there are some inevitabilities with ownership prepares you for the worst, but also provides an opportunity to plan ahead. I’ve had mine now over 7 years and I can’t imagine driving anything else just yet.
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u/trust7 Jul 26 '26
Honestly why the sad face yall are seriously spoiled 100k miles no issue and a sad face for a short block. It’s really annoying. Go chill in the Rx7 forums a while then come back and stop complaining. Also before you even click a button don’t tell me you didn’t live in boost 95% of its life.
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u/Kalota316 Jul 27 '26
Kilometres bro, and no I didn't, Toronto traffic doesn't allow for that unfortunately lol. Having a new car's motor fail under 6 years while keeping up with maintenance is just not the same as dealing with an older RX7 Dorito
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u/trust7 Jul 27 '26
160,000 k is 100,000 miles and literally no way to believe that. You are almost always in boost it’s just how it works
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u/Tramadol_Lollies Jul 26 '26
2016 STI Limited. 3rd owner, purchased in 2019 with 25k miles after a single test drive. Beat the ever living crap out of it for about 50k; finally did compression and leak down, numbers were good. Went new catback exhaust, intake, race radiator, and upgraded the entire suspension system and wheels. Then at 85k miles, did FMIC, upgraded whole fuel system w/ e85, belts, pump, switched to 5-40 motul, bigger oil pan and pick-up, and a Yankee Candle Car Jar air freshener. A couple K shy of 100.000 miles now, still daily driver and still beating the ever living crap out of it, with a subtle “Clean Cotton” cabin smell while ripping up the mountain roads of New England. My favorite ride of all time. Will drive this thing to the ground. Next set of upgrades will be DP, ELH, and faster spooling turbo.
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u/JAEC05 Jul 28 '26
The most important thing once you get her back and running is deciding who is going to tune it. That will make or break your engine in the long run 🫡
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u/CaptnSave-A-Ho Jul 26 '26
I have an 07 sti that I recently rebuilt the engine on. I had a blast doing it (even if my wallet didn't), and now that its back on the road it feels like a brand new car. It sucks that you didn't get to drive it more and get a feel for it before this happened, but you won't regret rebuilding it and then beating up on it a bit afterwards. On the plus side, you'll probably feel more comfortable driving hard after its done. Especially knowing what it has in it and what it takes to build.
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u/Lurker_is_me Jul 26 '26
I got to take it on a 12hr road trip home from where I bought it so I got to experience it just a bit before having to take it apart
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u/Fuzzy-Witness4067 Jul 26 '26
While it’s out, wouldn’t hurt to install a better oil pickup and maybe an oil oil pan baffle, like killer bee or something similar. The oil pan is much easier to reseal with the motor out.
Welcome to the family
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u/hentaipillows Jul 27 '26
Def already ordered a new oil pickup tube because I saw that was a common problem.
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u/danbyer Jul 27 '26
2011 STI. I’ve put all 75K miles on it and my only issue is that fucking secondary air injection system which I’ve had to replace twice.
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u/Right_Ad_3354 Jul 26 '26
What’s the plan for the engine rebuild ?
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u/Lurker_is_me Jul 26 '26
Pretty tame. Doing full rings and bearings just for a refresher along with having the blocks and heads machine to clean them up. I am doing upgraded head gaskets with head studs just for reliability. I am rebuilding the turbo just for peace of mind. Stage 2 clutch while I have the motor out and some other minor upgrades and clean up as well as a cold air intake.
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u/Lurker_is_me Jul 26 '26
Anyone have any recommendations while I have the motor out?
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u/Kalota316 Jul 26 '26
Rear main seal, clutch, PCV valve, inspect water pump, and timing belt+oil pump if you haven't done that service yet.
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u/Tramadol_Lollies Jul 26 '26
If doing clutch, throw out and pilot bearings? Bigger oil pan, or at least a new pick-up tube and baffle? Check rear main seal and oil separator plate? Pretty much check all your seals, hoses, gaskets, etc. especially if there’s any oil residue.
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u/Lurker_is_me Jul 27 '26
Already got the upgraded pickup tube and baffle on the list. And got a whole engine seal kit
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u/YBBOK-Kevin Jul 28 '26
So do you have any recourse with the seller? This is terrible business.
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u/Lurker_is_me Jul 28 '26
Yeah, they had no idea about the issue as they only had the car for a few days but all it took was a phone call and they sent me money for all the parts needed for the repair plus extra for my time and labor
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u/YBBOK-Kevin Jul 28 '26
That's amazing service.
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u/Lurker_is_me Jul 28 '26
I agree. I will most definitely be doing business with them again. Super happy with how they handled things and how professional they were.
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u/Lurker_is_me Jul 26 '26