daily driver upgrade path

[rcnut14]

so currently my car (2018 if it matters) is stock with the exception of a stage 1 COBB tune.

It is my daily car, and I want it to be fun and a nice little "show" car, with a little power, but I also don't want to sacrifice durability. so my current thoughts for mods are:
*turbosmart dual-port BOV
*AFE or CPE intake (open to others, those are just the ones I liked on whoosh)
*RMM
*intercooler (prolly woosh)
*at some point a catback, but not anytime soon, I don't mind having a quiet exhaust. so other mods first.

my questions are, 1: do any of these mods require an adjustment to tune, or can I just bolt them on? and 2: any concern about reliability with any of these mods? I'm not trying to blow up my engine lol

bonus question: best aftermarket tuner who will do a more conservative stage 2ish tune? I like the idea of a "lifetime" tuner but again, not trying to push my engine, which I know a lot of tuners tend to do.

Thanks!

 

[Erick_V]

1) I would change the intake to just a drop in filter, you aren't going to gain much else other than noise with a full setup, especially on the stock turbo. Plus the OEM box works great on the stock turbo. I cut the bottom of my box off to get some airflow from under the car and it increased noise too. Crossover would net some gains also.
2) I'm on a stock BPV and pushing the stock turbo, put that lower on your list for now.
3) RMM is a great upgrade, 100% do that.
4) Whoosh V3 is an amazing unit for the price.
5) Take my advice, you'll see this plastered all over the forums. Get the Thermal CBE if you do decide you want an exhaust. It's the perfect balance of loud and mature. Don't make the mistake I and so many other people have made and get the MBRP, you'll HATE it. My commute is short so it's whatever for now. Get literally anything but MBRP lol

Lastly, get a Dizzy 93 Flash Tune (or E30 if you have access to E85). You'll get a bump in power and the car will drive better. You don't necessarily need the tune but you wont gain anything from those mods without it. I've been tuned on E30 and peaking 27psi for at least 4 years and the turbo is fine. Also have close to 200 autocross runs on the car with a lot of those in Texas heat, engine is pretty stout.

 

[rcnut14]

1) I would change the intake to just a drop in filter, you aren't going to gain much else other than noise with a full setup, especially on the stock turbo. Plus the OEM box works great on the stock turbo. I cut the bottom of my box off to get some airflow from under the car and it increased noise too. Crossover would net some gains also.
2) I'm on a stock BPV and pushing the stock turbo, put that lower on your list for now.
3) RMM is a great upgrade, 100% do that.
4) Whoosh V3 is an amazing unit for the price.
5) Take my advice, you'll see this plastered all over the forums. Get the Thermal CBE if you do decide you want an exhaust. It's the perfect balance of loud and mature. Don't make the mistake I and so many other people have made and get the MBRP, you'll HATE it. My commute is short so it's whatever for now. Get literally anything but MBRP lol

Lastly, get a Dizzy 93 Flash Tune (or E30 if you have access to E85). You'll get a bump in power and the car will drive better. You don't necessarily need the tune but you wont gain anything from those mods without it. I've been tuned on E30 and peaking 27psi for at least 4 years and the turbo is fine. Also have close to 200 autocross runs on the car with a lot of those in Texas heat, engine is pretty stout.

oh don't get me wrong, the intake and BOV are purely for the noise/sound factor. I understand I won't gain anything/ very little performance from them. my question more was: do I need to tune when they are installed for safety reasons, or is it just to get a little more power out of them. basically, should I put them both on then tune the car, or is it fine to put one on, leave the car as is, then put the other on and tune it.

defiantly doing the RMM and intercooler

will make a note of that! sounds exactly what I'm looking for

 

[Jabbit]

Any mod like intake/exhaust/etc won't really add power by itself. It doesn't hurt, but it doesn't add noticeable power. Once you tune (+1 for Dizzy) you'll see the gains.

 

[LilPartyBox]

Cobb Stg 1 is enough to keep your car safe with the bolt-ons you mentioned. You won't see the total gains for the IC until you get tuned to take advantage of the cooler intake charge.

As far as tuner, Stratified, Dizzy, and Tune+ are some of the major tuners for this platform that have cemented their reps for not blowing up cars

 

[dhminer]

Can’t say enough good about the MP215 kit from mountune if you want an intake and modest tune for it. You can add other bits like a crossover, induction hose, cat back, intercooler without any adjustments to it.

If you just want noise, you don’t really need to tune for any of the mods you’ve mentioned but tuners will give you bigger power if you decided to. Otherwise you’ll just see some lower intake temps which is never bad. If you do a mechanical BOV you’ll need the Turbosmart CEL defender to avoid a check engine light unless you tune it. If you tune, the tuner can ignore the code associated. Or you can just do an electronic BOV and not worry about it.

 

[akiraproject24]

1) I would change the intake to just a drop in filter, you aren't going to gain much else other than noise with a full setup, especially on the stock turbo. Plus the OEM box works great on the stock turbo. I cut the bottom of my box off to get some airflow from under the car and it increased noise too. Crossover would net some gains also.
2) I'm on a stock BPV and pushing the stock turbo, put that lower on your list for now.
3) RMM is a great upgrade, 100% do that.
4) Whoosh V3 is an amazing unit for the price.
5) Take my advice, you'll see this plastered all over the forums. Get the Thermal CBE if you do decide you want an exhaust. It's the perfect balance of loud and mature. Don't make the mistake I and so many other people have made and get the MBRP, you'll HATE it. My commute is short so it's whatever for now. Get literally anything but MBRP lol

Lastly, get a Dizzy 93 Flash Tune (or E30 if you have access to E85). You'll get a bump in power and the car will drive better. You don't necessarily need the tune but you wont gain anything from those mods without it. I've been tuned on E30 and peaking 27psi for at least 4 years and the turbo is fine. Also have close to 200 autocross runs on the car with a lot of those in Texas heat, engine is pretty stout.

This. Add turbosmart blow off valve if you love the sound (I do)

The short shift kit from mountune is an easy install that gives shifting a faster feel. Or save some money and grab the whoosh brand. It's one of those mods that is a noticeable difference. I did the mountune and rmm (whoosh street) at same time with a Ravenol fluid change and my gearbox felt a drastic improvement.

 

[XR650R]

A custom tune is worth its weight in gold. I can't speak highly enough about Tunewerks I asked for a conservative tune with my mods and it screams.
A REAL CAI and the other intake bits will give you some gains, but the intercooler is the main thing.

 

[gtx3076]

You won’t be sacrificing any reliability at the power levels you’re talking about with a reputable tuner.