This will be kind of long, so if you dont want to read it, then leave now haha.

I bought a 2010 AS ralliart in May that had 28K miles on it. All stock nothing done to it. Within 2 weeks I had my wheels powder coated black and had my windows tinted 5%. I just bought Eibach sportline springs that will be put on next week.

So what I need some opinions on:

I want to get some wheels, I looked at the Wheels/suspension thread and I saw that 18x8 was the biggest I could get without rolling my fenders. Is that correct? or can i get a wider rim and it will fit?

I want to do some engine work. I went on the AMS website and I saw they have a stage 1 and stage 2 kit. The stage one has intake and exhaust and I have to send my ECU out to get reflashed, i have no issue that that. Stage 2 has the upper inner cooler pipe, new AMS inner cooler, AMS test pipe (HF cat for me) and another ECU flash. Stage one is $1600 and stage 2 is $1689. I also found some cams. I guess my question is, is it worth it? or is there something else better or different stuff I can get that will give me the same result.

I also want to get a header, but I cant seem to find any, except for Ebay, and I dont know if I really want to get a header on ebay. Where can I get one for a reasonable price?

Finally, exhaust. I found a HKS, Cobb and magnaflow. I am used to having V8s. I have had a 5.0L mustang and a 04 Hemi ram. Both were pretty loud. So i want something that will be throaty. Which one of these exhaust would be the best for that result?

Again, sorry for being long, but Im new to the Ralliart/evo world. Any tips or advice will be appreciated.

 

For wheels - you can fit an 8" without rolling, but it depends more on which offset you choose, along with what size tire you choose to run. If you look for a safe offset, you should be fine, anything aggressive and you are more likely to have to roll the fenders.

For power - stick with bolt-ons. No need for cams on this car, because really you'll be limited by the TC-SST anyways...no to mention install time of 6+ hours. If anything, a turbo upgrade is the most you'd want to look into. I run full AMS bolt-on's with my car and it's awesome. Intake, IC piping, IC, downpipe, H/F cat and their dual exhaust. The car sounds so amazing with their dual exhaust...plus the car made around 300whp. I later upgraded to a BBX-Lite turbo, swapped injectors, BOV and a few other things and the car made 400whp on E85. Currently at 365whp on 91oct.

AMS Bolt-ons:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gates311/5100076098/http://www.flickr.com/photos/gates311/5100076098/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/gates311/, on Flickr

18x9.5 +22 Volk CE28N's and 245/40/18 Nitto NT05's (work in progress...major rolling required )

 

Thats what I thought about the wheels. I mean i dont need any right now. I mainly just want to keep it stock looking for now and do engine work.

I thought about doing AMS bolt ons and adding power that way since they seem like a great company.

 

You dont have to send your ecu to ams to have it tuned. You could have it e tuned which is basically the same thing but you load the map onto your ecu yourself that the guy at AMS would make for your car. You also dont have to do it in those exact stages. With the stock turbo the stock intake and manifold should work fine as far as power gains. Your biggest power gains are going to come with the cat upgrade and a tune. I thought about going the etune way but I personally decided to have a reputable shop tune it for me by taking the car to them. They can boost leak test it and do all the logging in the same session. If I were you I would upgrade the bpv to a X or IX, upgrade cat, sometype of boost controller wether it is a boost pill I went with the grimspeed 3 port and a tune. After that upgrade the ic piping and ic and complete the exhaust.

I am running the ams single exit exhaust with a ur test pipe and it sounds great.

 

I'd start with the GST tune with a boost pill and then move up to a larger IC and pipes. replacing the air intake on the RA won't do much until you have replaced the stock turbo. Cat-back exhaust are fine, but some people on here havde proven you can make close to 400 awhp on the stock unit. Look into replacing the down pipe and stock cat for a decent HP increase.

There are many ways to go to build HP in the RA. Check out the engine section for some great tips on building hp safely, so you don't screw up the tranny or blow your motor.

 

The AMS exhaust does sound really great but I personally believe that the Ultimate Racing exhaust is the deepest and loudest by far. I love mines and i always get compliments on it by the V8 guys