Hello RA owners! I'm considering trading in my '10 GTS for an RA. My GTS is currently my DD and the RA would potentially take over that role. To make the questions easier on the eyes I'll post them in list format.

What are your major complaints with the car?
I plan on modding quite a bit as I go, what is the tuning ceiling on these cars?
How much whp/tq can the TC-SST handle reliably?
Does the car make for an enjoyable DD while also not leaving you bored? (this is the case now)
If you could go back, would you still get your RA or would you get something else, if so what?
I've always driven manual cars, when test driving an RA a year ago I didn't mind the tc-sst too much but that was a test drive. Do you fellow manual lovers hate the paddle shift or do you get used to it?

Thanks in advance

 

Please use the search function before posting... All those questions have been answered.. Probably even twice for each...

 

just turbo the GTS go to road race motorsports n buy the turbo kit its cheeper and u will still have a stick shift

 

I recently traded in my '09 SE that had pretty well every bolt on.

So happy with my decision, the RA MUCH more mod friendly then my 4b11 was. It sickens me to think about the amount of money I wasted to gain maybe 15whp.

 

complaints: none ( maybe new rims and wider tires)
tuning: look at an evo platform
whp:300-again evo if your going down this road
DD: love mine. lots of fun, great driving, smooth, and nice on the highway
others: had lots of cars........Ralliart is my favorite
Manual: passed up on this car first time cause they couldnt get a manual. Ended up trading the sports car for this ralliart in the end; love the sst. i dont use the paddle shifts, but i do use the stick (plus or minus) system lots and love it

 

I would go for the Evo if I was to go back or maybe a SRT8 Actually, I would probably have kept my Lancer '08 and used the money to buy 2 stroker 383 for the Firebirds...

The Ralliart is a nice DD and can give you some decent fun for little money... But if you plan on doing big mods, this is probably not the car you want... Look at it this way, if you want to swap for a FP Green or FP Red (or similar), you get, for the same price, 420 HP 450 TQ small block that is covered by a 30 months warranty (and the small block has a VERY good torque curve).

I see you have a TT with close too 600 WHP... You'll probably end up finding the Ralliart slow, unless you decide to do like Bryan from GST did. But in this case you have to spend big bucks...

 

True, but then you lose out on the warranty and have no AWD. I suppose it is a trade off though.

 

You will loose warranty on the Ralliart anyway if you plan to mod it... Most mods will require a retune and this void your engine warranty and potential your transmission warranty...

But anyway, you don't lose your whole warranty... The problem has to be related to the mod you did for them to refuse to honor the warranty.

 

I would probably keep RA stock turbo. In terms of modding I would only be doing the AMS stage II, suspension work, and visuals...nothing too crazy.

In an ideal world I would go ahead and get an X instead, but I'm in my mid 20s and the insurance/upkeep payments on the audi with an evo on the side would be an irresponsible financial investment.

 

Look at the GST Basemap before looking at AMS Stage II, you probably gain similar number for a lower price.

For insurance, just move to Quebec, Canada I'm in the late 20s with 3 sports cars and 1 motorcycle and the insurance for all my vehicule and my house is less than 2000$ a year But license plates are like 1000$ total for all the vehicule

And the plus is, we didn't feel much of the recession yet

 

Right, unfortunately even with the RRM turbo I haven't seen a GTS with higher than 278whp. With the RA $1700 would have me a DD driver with better numbers than an X (ie. AMS stage2).

edit: I started reading about the GST Basemap yesterday and that would also be an option. I just can't justify spending anymore money on this GTS lol

 

Or u can just get a ralliart spend maybe 700 dollars getting a gst tune and a evo x fmic and hard charge pipes. And just be happy that u can pass most cars on the road...

 

The GST Basemap is for the Ralliart, not the GTS It is made for a completly stock Ralliart but works fine with most bolt-ons.

GST Basemap (about 200$ for the OpenPort), EVO X Intercooler (max 200$ used), a test pipe (150$), a boost pill (20$) and 93 Octane gas will get you around 240 WHP. This is about 25% gain for less than 1K$...

 

I know its for the RA haha, should've worded that better. I just meant that at this point I can't see myself turboing the GTS because it doesn't make sense to spend anymore money on it.

 

To me it does not make any sense trying to modify a non-turbo lancer. I had a Lancer '08 SE and did a few bolt ons but quickly realized this was going nowhere...